At the end of 2025 Wahoo launched new versions of both its flagship and entry-level indoor trainers, the KICKR Bike Pro and the KICKR Core 2. Charlie Allenby has already reviewed the former, writing: “Improved touch points give the best-in-class design a premium feel that was lacking from previous iterations.” Although it might look as if I got bundled into economy while Charlie turned left to perch regally on his range-topper, I can confirm that despite its relatively rock-bottom price, my experience with the KICKR Core 2 has been anything but cheap seats.
In case you missed our original launch story, the new KICKR Core 2, which gets its first update in seven years, now comes with WiFi connectivity, a sensor bridge and a new design that makes assembly and setup a total cinch. The overall spec is similar – the same maximum resistance of 1,800 watts, accuracy of +/-2%, the same maximum and minimum simulated grades (16% and -10%). The product weight itself is lower, however (13.6kg compared with 18kg). You can now choose between an 11-speed cassette or the Zwift Cog and Click for the same price of £499/€549/$549.
On the subject of price, the KICKR Core 2’s has increased by just £40 over with the outgoing version, compared with an increase of £400 for the new KICKR Bike Pro, which is now £3,499/€3,999/$3,999.
I chose the Zwift Cog and Click version because I am a Zwift user and I have bikes with different numbers of sprockets on their cassettes. Apart from giving you the freedom to use any bike, the biggest benefit of the Zwift Cog version over the traditionally-shifting cassette version is its quietness. Zwift Cog and Click basically turns your bike into a singlespeed with the gear changing taking place silently within the trainer’s own resistance, activated by gaming console-style buttons that you strap to the handlebars or hoods. This virtual shifting eliminates the clunk of a derailleur shift, which always seems to be much louder indoors and is annoying for family and neighbours. However, Zwift Cog and Click will obviously only work with Zwift. If you use another indoor training platform you’ll need the traditional cassette version of the KICKR Core 2.
Incidentally, since the freehub is the same for both versions, you could swap the Zwift Cog for a Shimano/SRAM cassette or vice versa. Or if you only use your indoor trainer for workouts in ERG mode and do any group rides or racing, the Zwift Cog will do it for any platform. It is literally just a cog. There are options and configurations to suit everyone.
Wahoo has always been famous for the ease of setup of everything it manufactures, from head units to training hardware, and with the KICKR Core 2 it has gone a step further in its idiotproofing. The only bit of home assembly you have to do is to bolt the legs on. There’s an Allen key supplied with the bolts and the legs themselves are colour coded with chevrons so that there’s absolutely no way you’ll put them on wrong. Additionally, the profile of the leg and underside of the strut it mates to are one-way matched.
The Zwift Cog comes pre-installed and axle adaptors are supplied for thru-axle and QR. These are mounted to a labelled card for easy ID. To fit your bike to the trainer you shift the derailleur to a mid-cassette position so that it lines up with the Zwift Cog while the dropouts line up with the ends of the KICKR Core 2. You lower the chain over the Cog, seat the dropouts, bolt or QR it tightly and you’re good to go. If the chain is not precisely aligned with the Zwift Cog, there’s micro-adjustment you can do by twisting the ratcheted orange housing of the Cog, moving it inboard or outboard in small increments.
That’s it for the hardware. The software pairs and joins the WiFi just like any other device, and the new LEDs on top of the trainer indicate its status. I had no problems at all getting the whole thing assembled, connected and up and running. It all happened in a matter of minutes and if you need extra reassurance you can refer to Wahoo’s instructional video as you go.
Ride impressions
I had got very comfortable doing all my indoor riding on my Wattbike Atom, which I bought during Covid – clearly a little too comfortable. The KICKR Core 2 reminded me that all the little cheats I’d unconsciously adopted when the wattage ramps up didn’t work on a real road bike. No sitting upright and holding onto tri-bar armrests or ‘running’ with hands off the bars, for example, even though the KICKR Core 2 is stable enough for that. It just felt wrong and I decided this was a good thing. For best results, real riding ought to be trained for on a real bike because specificity is of course one of the golden rules of training. OK, admittedly changing gear via the Zwift Click buttons on the handlebars is not the same using the bike’s own shifters, but you can site them more or less anywhere you like, including on the hoods. I did find in the heat of the moment that I instinctively went for the bike’s actual shifters instead of the Zwift Clicks – that’s something you need to train your brain out of.
The chain noise on the Zwift Cog was impressively low – obviously not as low as the Wattbike’s belt drive enclosed in a case, but still quiet. I found pedalling against the resistance to be smooth and fluid, and the 5.4kg flywheel provides just enough inertia to keep up the illusion of riding at speed in a big gear. It did feel a little harder to drive the pedals round, but to check this I compared it with the latest SRAM Force AXS power meter chainset using Zwift Power’s data analysis tool and found that they were within 1.5% of each other, with the KICKR reading that fraction lower.
Verdict
For a £500 smart trainer the Wahoo KICKR Core 2 has everything impressively covered. This update, most importantly adding WiFi and easier assembly, arguably advances it to the position of leader within this price category. Setup is simple, in use it is predictable, solid and reliable both in its connectivity and its physical ride feel. Rachel Jary recently reviewed the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt V3 and stated that before she tested it her main concern was that Wahoo might have done too much to the “neat, straightforward device that I’ve always loved for its usability”. She concluded that Wahoo hadn't. It seems to me that the KICKR Core 2 is the smart trainer version of the Bolt and, as with the Bolt v3, Wahoo has stuck to the original brief. It supplies everything needed for effective indoor training without the complexity or the high price. The KICKR Core has made an art form of the stripped-back, no-frills approach. This has to be the most refined budget smart trainer on the market.
Visit Wahoo's website for all the details and full specs.
