Wahoo Kickr newbie question: how long to setup and takedwn for daily use in small apt

[moonhoo]

A couple of questions from someone who has never once used a trainer:

I’m a city dweller in a small apartment and it’s not practical to leave a trainer set up all day.

In real world terms (sliding out the Kickr from the corner, laying out the mat, affixing the bike, etc) about how long are we talking about for setup? The videos make it appear to be about a 5 min process?

And along a similar line of questioning for Kickr core users specifically in city apartments: is it ever loud enough that your neighbor next door or downstairs would hear it loudly in their place?

[fkelly]

Just set up my first Kickr 5 days ago. It took a few hours of fiddling to get it set up right the first time. Need to get it level, have a mat to put it on, get the height right (there are settings that are loosely documented), your handelbars level, etc. Get the app running and connected to the bike. DCrainmaker has some nice documentation that is better than Wahoos.

Once that's done and you've tested I'm going to say 5 minutes to remove the bike from the kickr, 5 minutes to put it back. The kickr itself is pretty compact for storage but I'm not sure storing the kickr and bike separately is any more space efficient than storing them together. It just depends on whether you are using the bike separately also ... in that case you will be removing and adding back the rear wheel frequently.

[kohagen]

I’ve used my KICKR in a couple of locations. Setup is fairly quick, opening up the legs, putting the rear dropouts into the unit, doesn’t take more than about the five minutes you’re estimating. That’s even with taking the rear wheel off the bike.

[OtayBW]

Pretty much takes about the same time as it does to change a rear wheel...

[kppolich]

A couple of questions from someone who has never once used a trainer:

I’m a city dweller in a small apartment and it’s not practical to leave a trainer set up all day.

In real world terms (sliding out the Kickr from the corner, laying out the mat, affixing the bike, etc) about how long are we talking about for setup? The videos make it appear to be about a 5 min process?

And along a similar line of questioning for Kickr core users specifically in city apartments: is it ever loud enough that your neighbor next door or downstairs would hear it loudly in their place?


Quick Release or ThruAxle?
-QR is faster and the bike can be installed/removed without any allen keys unlike ThruAxle.

Noise?
-Anything after the first gen is pretty quiet, but I can't speak for any vibration the feet might put into the floor and what they might sound like for your downstairs neighbors if you have them.

[joosttx]

Pretty much takes about the same time as it does to change a rear wheel...

I would say add another 2minutes to put it away and wipe the area down.

[moonhoo]

Wonderful. This is very helpful. Thank you.

[Seamus]

You can lay some exercise floor tiles over the area you'll have the trainer setup to take more floor vibration out vs. a thinner trainer mat.

Also, in older apartment buildings, some floors naturally will have more creak away from the supporting walls as they've settled over time. If you can situate yourself in a corner/near a wall it should be more stable (and level).

[trener1]

It depends a bit on what you are setting up and breaking down.
I also live in a small city apartment.
I have to unroll a rubber mat that I use, move the trainer from the corner to the middle of the room, also set up a music stand that holds my iPad and set up the fan, then take rear wheel off bike and install it on the trainer.
I never times myself but I am guessing 7-8 minutes set up time.

BTW if you haven't purchased yet, I would suggest the Kickr over the Core, with the folding feet and built in handle it is much better for apartments.

[cash05458]

setup is pretty easy...no biggie at all...you will love Zwift or whatever locked inside...life saver for most in these times...congrats and very good call!

[kramnnim]

Bikes drivetrain is louder than a Core

[MagicHour]

Once you get in the habit takes a couple minutes to set up. I do use a crank based PM instead of Kickr’s power which saves some time vs Wahoo spindown procedure. Alternatively you can stop in the middle of your warmup if you do one and run the spindown then.
Small annoyances: forget to plug In Kickr-doh!; need to also pull out my fan and plug that one in too.mainly a pain because of outlet placement in our bedroom.