WAHOO KICKR ROLLR Upgrades to Power

In a move that seems like it took forever. It’s finally here. And the best part is that’s free for anyone that already owns it.

The Wahoo KICKR ROLLR is one of my favorite tools when it comes to indoor bike trainers. It’s compact, easy to use, and won’t set you back a lot of $$.

We have covered this piece of equipment plenty of times before …

… Going back to the early months of 2022 when Wahoo launched the innovative indoor trainer. Up until that point, the unit was 100% solid, assuming you had some sort of power meter on your bike. If you didn’t, it still offered a great option as an alternative to rollers, but it didn’t give you all the bells and whistles as, say, the KICKR Core did at the time.

That said, at $799 (at that time), it seemed like it was a little short on features. Despite that, beginners and bike fitters really liked the option, and WAHOO has continued to enjoy decent sales of the unit. So, this update seems to be just what this little package needed to keep it moving along.

Let’s talk about how to get this update.

The UPDATE can be found on the WAHOO app. You’ll want to make sure you have the latest update first.

Find your KICKR ROLLR in your devices tab on the lower right. Once connected , update it to Firmware 1.1.31. This took me about 45 seconds to update – the speed for you will depend on your internet connection.

Once updated, I renamed it something cool and was greeted with this new option screen instead of the always annoying “Power Meter Not found” I used to see. Now you will have options – either “Built-in” or “On-bike” (assuming you really want to be specific with your +/- %)

With this update Wahoo claims that there are three major new additions. (Although I would say that it’s really just one thing as you no longer need a power source to achieve the full benefits of the KICKR ROLLR whether you’re following a “TV watching style training program” or a virtual one. Now a non-power meter user can connect fully with Wahoo SYSTM, Zwift, Rouvy, TrainingPeaks Virtual, MyWhoosh and more.)

How does it stack up?

Because we JUST got this update we haven’t had a ton of time to check this out. But we did have enough time to look into it to get a general idea.

So I connected the Trainer to ZWIFT

and I connected my Pedals to my Computer Head unit.

Made sure everything was working and then went into “UTOPIA” ( Which I don’t really like doing in the summer) But it has its purpose.

Hit start on both Zwift and Bolt 3 (indoor mode)

30 mins later I hit stop and allowed both sources to upload to STRAVA.

PS the new ATHLETE INTELLIGENCE on STRAVA is about as good as AI for coaching..

Thoughts….I would say this..

Considering the factors that are in play this is a pretty damn solid first result.

You’re always going to have a little different percentages when comparing a pure pedal source verses a “Roller,” and if you are looking to do a lot of ZWIFT racing I couldn’t really recommend you use the ROLLR to do so. But what 90% of the active users on ZWIFT (and for sure the multi-use households that have a limited number of bikes and trainers), this update has just fixed a lot of issues that one might have had with either using, keeping, or buying the setup.

Since its launch in 2022 The current price has dropped on the WAHOO KICKR ROLLR from US$799 to $699.

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