Kickr Snap Trainer Preview

Paul Horta-Hopkins

The Kickr Snap Trainer is on preview, just in time for winter training.

The Wahoo Kickr Snap is one of Wahoo’s two smart trainers; the other being the Kickr. While the Kickr uses a direct drive system, the Kickr Snap goes with a traditional rear wheel drive method. First impressions are of a solidly built piece of kit; bend those knees before moving it!

The Kickr Snap should help get me ready for summer!

The black powder coated steel Kickr Snap weighs in at 38lbs, of which 10.5lbs is the freewheel. Two fold out legs and a wide 26″x29″ footprint should provide a stable platform. As a smart trainer all the resistance is controlled remotely, so no levers to twist. A 100-240V power cord provides the power needed to replicate up to 12% climbs.

Being a wheel-on design, there’s no need to remove your wheel. You clamp the trainer onto your QR and screw the roller onto your wheel. Some designs use a rider’s weight or a spring to hold the roller against the wheel, be interesting to see how consistent this method is. A front wheel riser block is included to keep you on the level.

The Kickr Snap uses ANT+, ANT+ FE-C and Bluetooth Smart protocols to connect to your device. Formats supported are iOS, Android, Mac and Windows, so you shouldn’t have any problems getting connected. Once you are connected then you use one of the many online services to get training. Which one to choose from is a whole other can of worms.

Included with any purchase of the Snap are limited time subscriptions to Strava, Zwift and Trainerroad. So plenty to get you started on in the world of virtual cycling.

The Kickr Snap is controlled remotely by a 3rd party app, so no more levers to fiddle with

I’ll also be trying out Wahoo’s Tickr heart rate monitor and their Kickr Floormat to keep my floor sweat free.

So I now have no excuse to get the miles in. With the Kickr Snap I can forget about falling on ice and having to clean the bike yet again. I can get some quality training done inside, without the other half worrying about me heading out on another night-time chaingang. I’ll try the Snap out on a few different platforms and will let you know how I get on.

Kickr Snap

Wahoo