ONE Kickr vs. TWO bikes
 

So here's the situation, thinking about getting Kickr Core for two bikes:


Bike A: Tiagra 11-34T, 10-speed cassette with 50/34T rings

Bike B: Dura-ace 9100 11-32T, 11-speed cassette with 52/36T rings (Di2)

(I already have a spare 11-34T, 10-speed cassette that can go on the Kickr Core)


Option 1: install an 11-34T, 10s cassette on the Kickr for both bikes to use.

Option 2: buy and install an 11-32T, 11s cassette on the Kickr for both bikes to use.

Option 3: buy an 11-32T, 11s cassette (to an already existing 11-34T, 10 speed) and swap them for each bike respectively.


Question: is Bike A more suited to run on Bike B’s cassette on Kickr, or vise versa?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!


PS. Option 4: Buying a Kickr Snap haha

You can't run a 11sp cassette on a 10sp bike or vice versa.
Pick one bike to use on the Kickr and install the appropriate cassette or put up with swapping cassettes when you swap the bikes.

Cheers, Dean. Kickr Snap is starting to look a lot better, ie the spin down vs. swapping cassettes doesn't seem so bad.

PS. One bike is mine, another one is my girlfriend's XXL and XXS frames. Swapping is a must here....

Two Kickrs. Done! :D

In all seriousness, the wheel on, ensuring correct tire pressure, ensuring correct resistance pressure, spin down routine gets old extremely quickly if you're going to be riding the trainer multiple times a week. Plus it's loud.

You're already buying a $900 trainer - why not spend another $300 dollars to upgrade the Tiagra to 105 levers, rear derailleur and cassette and not have to deal with the kludge factor?

The Kickr Snap is a pretty nice wheel-on trainer that totally solves your problem. Doing a spin down to ensure accurate power readings is going to be way less annoying than swapping out the cassette every time you want to ride.

Or get an old 10sp bike for yourself just to use on the trainer, rather than using your good bike.

Swapping cassettes should be fairly easy. And the road feel of a direct drive trainer is worth it.

I spent $90.00 on a used frame and parts from an old bike and have a dedicated trainer.

it is important to have a bike on the trainer 100% of the time so no excuses, i also put mine infront of a tv so I can spin away as i watch stuff. For the trainer bike get the cheap stuff from aliexpress sensa 11sp 1x will do

I have this same issue and this is what I did. My Emonda has been running a 11-28 with a short cage, and my wife's bike, my Domane, and my CrossRip all have been running an 11-34. I recently purchased a R8000 long cage to put on my Emonda so if I want to run some wider cassettes for my trip to the Carolina's later this year, I can. Now, I can run the 11-28 on my wheel and use the 11-34 on the trainer with my Emonda without having to change chains, as the r8000's keeps better tension. I got a 11-34 off ebay and put it on the trainer.

Oh and I also am now running a 14-28 on my Domane and did not need to remove and links, and can still use the 11-34 cassette on the trainer.

One Cassette to rule them all.

Well done. But how does that solve the 10sp/11sp problem he has?

Unfortunately it does not, as I was stupid and did not pick up on the 10 speed\11 speed. Reading is fundamental don't you know.... :o

I have an 11-25 cassette on my trainer and use the the realism slider in Zwift like changing cassettes. If I am riding a course with a lot of climbing, I will lower realism, which essentially flattens the course out.

Wouldn't putting a cassette spacer on the Kickr's hub allow for running my 11-32, 11-speed bike on the 11-34, 10-speed cassette? And when I switch back to my 10-speed, 11-34 bike, I just take the spacer out?

wouldnt also need to adjust your limit screws?

You need a spacer to run a 10-speed cassette on an 11 speed freehub, regardless - you wouldn't be taking it off and putting it back on.

More importantly, the cog pitch, the distance between the centerline of the individual gears of the cassette, is slightly different between Shimano 10- and 11-speed - it's about 1/4mm narrower on the 11-speed. This means that you could fiddle with your indexing so that your current gear is smooth and noise-free, but with each successive gear change, up or down, it'll get more and more crunchy. So, realistically, you're not going to be sharing a cassette on the trainer between the two bikes, whether the cassette is 10-speed or 11-speed (unless you decide to upgrade at least the right shift/brake lever and rear derailleur to 105 on the Tiagra bike, which still seems the most sensible to me).

From a practical standpoint, you're also not going to share the trainer by swapping between 10- and 11-speed cassettes, as needed, either - it would be a total motivation-killer for whomever doesn't have their cassette on at the time. While it doesn't sound like a big obstacle, believe me, it would lead to a lot of skipped workouts, for one or both of you, over the course of the off-season.

Spouse and I solved that problem with the Snap. Thanks to Wahoo’s fine customer service we are now on our third unit in under 15 months. :notamused: Still preferable to switching cassettes. When I want road feel I ride on the road.

Thanks for the explanation. This is the education I needed :thumb:

Yes, Snap seems like the one to get.

Out of curiosity, what was the problem with the other 2 units?

It also depends on what kind of rides you do on your trainer. I have two bikes but only use one of them on the trainer.
A Canyon with 52x36 and 11-28T on the road, but I use it with an 11-30T on the trainer. Di2, SS RD with the chain sized for 11-30T.
A Cervelo C3 with 50x34 and 11-32T. This never goes on the trainer. Slightly oversize chain for the 11-32T cassette with Di2 SS RD.

The Canyon is set up a whole lot more aggressively in terms of riding position, and gets used for intervals and such. Trainer rides for me tend to be short (2 hours or less, typically 45-90min) and climbing heavy TTs or intervals (push on steeper grades, recover on lower grades - sometimes effectively done by simply staying in the same gear as the grades vary), on Rouvy. Not unlike similar efforts on real hills. The C3 would be preferable for a 5-8 hour ride, but I just don't do rides like that on the trainer.

They developed unacceptable noises. The first sounded like the whine of a bad bearing and the second was a rattle, as though the shaft or some rotating element had come loose or out of balance. As I implied above, both problems were addressed speedily by Wahoo. This one has been good since October. Fingers crossed. I know others here have had theirs for years without problems.

Good luck and happy sweating.

Was that a first or second gen unit. I had a first gen SNAP and it worked flawless, but I know someone with a second gen version that might have this issue. Very intermittent at this point, but it does happen.

The solution also depends on how much you and your girlfriend want to ride an indoor trainer?
Is this a known factor or has one or both of you had little experience with them?
If one of you dislikes them the problem will be solved.
If you both like it a lot you may want 2 trainers which will also sort of solve it.

I don’t know the generations, but the first was purchased in September 2019 and had, I think, a 2018 serial number. Wahoo sent us the second one in December and that one had a 2018 number for sure. The current one is 2020.

From what I’ve seen on the internet, the direct drive units have not been trouble free either.