Kickr Snap issue - help/advice

[jseski]

Ok, here's my issue issue. Just yesterday, day 6 of my 7 day Zwift free trial period, halfway through my ride on my 2 week old Snap (delivered to the bike shop direct from Wahoo late January, & yes, it's the new unit with rotating skewer cups) started making this ungodly, ratchety-whine. I'd ridden the 5 days prior to that on Zwift just fine, & even before that, I'd ridden 4 or 5 times with just the Wahoo Bolt head unit's pre-programmed rides with no issues. In fact, I had been crazy impressed, first with the Bolt connectivity/control of the Snap & then with Zwift. So when it started the crazy noise, I slowed some then sped back up, eventually stopped & restarted to try to reset it, but nothing affected the noise. The response of the tension to the hills in zwift (even drafting!), my watt correlation, and my speed, all seemed to continue to be working perfectly fine, so I finished my ride. My intention was that when it was over I'd unplug (as I had been per your recommendation) & hopefully it'd "reset" or something for today's ride, kind of like rebooting a computer. Unfortunately, that did NOT happen. Instead, I not only found the same noise - but today, the responsiveness of the unit seemed glitch-ridden. Very shortly I realized that regardless of changing gears, hi-rev or low-rev cadence, and even a slight incline change on the Zwift route, the Snap resistance didn't change & my displayed wattage stayed at a constant 55 (on Zwift & on the Wahoo Fitness app). The cadence did change, but did not seem to correlate/react with what was actually happening with my feet, and my speed was totally wonky. I only rode for a very short while (I think a mile & 1/2 total) because something is obviously going wrong. I took a short video of it so you can hear the sound & see how my cadence/wattage changes aren't getting sent to Zwift or the Fitness app correctly. However, here is one on YT already that this dude has almost the same sound issue (his has better video quality than mine). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XkzOW8eopk (if you want to skip ahead to the noise, it starts at 1:28)

Definitely seems like an issue w/the snap. Have any of you had other units experience these issues? Is there something I can do to fix? or is this possible to correct via the Utility app??

BTW - I don't need a direct trainer. I have three bikes of my own I occasionally alternate for training (each with different cassette needs), and then my daughter likes to put her bike on the trainer sometimes when she comes home for breaks in her college schedule, and on RAAAAAARE instances my wife wants me to hook it up for her to go for a spin...I do NOT want to have to change that spindle each time or have a bunch of spare cassettes around. I've used various wheel on trainers mag & fluid for a couple decades now - they've served me perfectly fine. But after one week of this stupid Zwift thing & I'm hooked. I dig the interactive control, I just need it to work.

Thanks - sorry for the super-long post.

[makoti]

I don't know what the answer to this is, but I do know that the people at Wahoo are really helpful. Give them a call tomorrow (if that's you who posted that you opened a ticket, I'd call anyway). I'm sure they have some ideas or can set up a return, if necessary. That sound ain't right.

EDIT: The post that follows mine reminded me that Wahoo wanted me to make a short video of the sound mine made (Kickr, bad bearings) before sending it in. I'd go ahead and do that so it'll be ready

[Spaghetti Legs]

Contact Wahoo, they are pretty good with customer service. The video you linked was the same one I sent to Wahoo before I made my own! Here is mine:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9b1ZyRTMY-E

It turned out to be a bad bearing. Wahoo sent me a list of things to check, checking tightness of bearing fasteners etc, but removing the cover where the serial number showed a lot of grit and debris. Mine never had any resistance issues, however, and the riding in Zwift, other than the noise, was normal.

Wahoo response was good, they shipped me out a refurb right away but I was disappointed in that I sent mine back neatly packed in the original box with all the styrofoam etc and my replacement arrived in a beat up, partially open box with the unit just dropped in a pile of packing peanuts and missing the skewer. It works OK so all is well I guess.

[Wayne77]

Definitely sounds like a defect. These are typically very reliable...built like a tank. I'd call Wahoo right away. Even better work through your shop. They'll probably take care of you. Maybe they can secure a replacement for you sooner than it takes to ship the defective unit back to Wahoo and for them to ship one back.

[commonguy001]

Had the same thing happen to my first Snap purchased in late 2016. The unit had maybe 7 hours on it when it started and sounded like both those videos posted. Having bought it at REI they exchanged it without any hassle.
For the record - the replacement was flawless. I never had another issue and put upwards of 200-225 hours on it before I sold it for the Neo I'm using now.

[jseski]

all good info, crew! Thanks for the encouraging support/advice :beer:

I will call in today