Barry2 

EDIT: Post 11 in this thread provides a far better method that requires a no removal of the covers.
There is even a video of the process in post #15.

Below I leave the details & link to the method I used. I leave this here for anyone needing to disassemble their bike for reasons other than a BB change.


At a little over 4000 miles my Wahoo Kickr bike developed a wobble in the bottom bracket (BB).
When holding the crankarms I could move them left/right. I could actually feel this BB wobble during my pedal stroke.
Wahoo support provided a new (same cheapie OEM unit) BB but no instructions on how to replace it.

At 5000+ miles and with the cold/wet weather over, it was time for me to risk downtime and do the deed.

I can replace a road bike BB in under an hour, in comparison, the Wahoo Kickr Bike took me 4+ hours.
A lot of this time was care & discovery related, in not wanting to break my $4k trainer.
Both the cost and the Ear Battering I'd receive from the wife being great motivators.

I did search for hint tips regarding this process, but all I found were youtubers suffering the same issue & no solutions.
The solution is tough, risky, time consuming, and might lead to a non-functional trainer, but I did post the cliff notes for those interested.

All the best

Barry

unterhausen

Thanks for the writeup, that's incredible. Indeed, you can't make this up.

given all the people that have fried their kickrs with the wrong power supply, I would have made sure the power supply was near the bike but in a box or something.

Barry2 

The different room comment was tongue in cheek.
"Unplug" Unplug" "Unplug" being the important part.

You don't want stuff moving on it's own while fingers are in close proximity.

Barry

unterhausen

It doesn't have a motor though.

Barry2 

The Kickr Bike DOES have a motor.
Once the bike is powered up. tap a crank arm and the heavy flywheel powers up and spins itself.

When riding Fulgaz and going down hill, I can hop off the bike for a "break", the bike continues to roll down the hill with the flywheel spinning all the way down.

Barry

Pacelineg

This is super helpful Barry...thanks for sharing it!.......hopefully I won't need it, but if I do I'll know where to find it.

himespau 

Wow, that sounds like a pain, especially for all the people I know who went to the Kickr bike because it was going to mean a lot less maintenance than their road bikes on a trainer.

unterhausen

It does seem weird that they didn't design it like a bike. Lots of engineers think they know better though. I would never imagine you had to mess with the electronics to change bb bearings.

Barry2 

It's not terrible, the DS plastic cover has to be fully removed and the the power input socket to the bike is attached to that cover.
What makes it bad is that you can't really see the retention clip where that power cord connects to the circuit board.
Electronics was my profession, so it didn't phase me in the least, I recognized the plug type.
I guess I should have taken a pic of the removed plug, but didn't think of it at the time.... sorry

Barry

PeteHski

Many thanks for posting this Barry. I was wondering about BB replacement on my Kickr Bike. It's still going strong at 10,000 km but I don't expect it to last forever. This will make life a lot easier when the time comes.

rgurney

Barry - It's been posted on FB that the job can be easily done without removing the plastic cover housing. Zip ties are used to anchor the belt wheel to the housing, then the spider is removed with the crank spindle. After the BB is changed, the spindle easily slides back into place, 5 bolts replaced/tightened, etc.
If I would going to change the BB, I would not use a Wahoo replacement, but would instead go with a ceramic BB, such as the Chris King. Expensive, but guaranteed to last a long, if not lifetime.

While you had the cover housing off, did you adjust the belt tightness. Although way beyond the recommended maintenance suggested by Wahoo, since there are no service centers for the bike, the only choice for service is the onerous task of sending the bike to Wahoo and likely paying for their service.

I welcome any comments and feedback. Thanks.
Ron Gurney

Barry2 

Hi Ron,
Bhahahahahaahaahahhaha
I didn't see that coming.

I "assumed" (yes I know about assumed) that the crankset ring was attached to the outside of the spider just like my Shimano stuff.
This would have stopped the crank passing through the plastic cover.

I just looked and the ring IS attached to the INSIDE of the spider (closest to the frame).
Meaning that by removing the ring bolts, the spider will pass through the plastic cover leaving the ring still inside.
Well #%^&* me.

The only issue I see with this method is getting the ring back on the spider with the belt tension still on it.
Did FB cover how this was achieved?

Oh, and no I didn't see the need to adjust the belt tenson.

Thanks for posting

Barry

rgurney

Barry - Check out the video posting on "Wahoo Kicker Bike Tips and Tricks" on FB by Rick Schultz about replacing the Kickr Bike Bottom Bracket. Although he used the wrong tool to remove/replace the actual bottom brackets and accessed the brackets the hard way, (It would have been much easier with Park Tool BBT-69.4 16-Notch Bottom Bracket Tool.) , he got the job done. Another poster on FB, ( may have been Glenn Stokes, but I can't find the post with the picture) showed a picture using zip ties to anchor the belt wheel to the cover housing while removing the spider/spindle to replace the DS BB. That prevented movement/shifting of the belt wheel out of position. I'm planning on doing the job in the near future and will post my results here. Thanks for your response.

Regards,
Ron

PeteHski

I don't think belt tension will be too critical in this application and is probably not set very tightly anyway.

unterhausen

That facebook group looks like a good one to belong to if you have a kickr bike. Here's the video

Barry2 

Thanks for posting the video. I don't FB.

rgurney
You are my HERO.

I was unimpressed by the BB I installed, but couldn't face replacing it again.
Now with this method I can knock it out in 1/2 hour.
Thank you for taking the time to video the process (if it was you).

Barry

unterhausen

It's not his video unless he goes by an alias.

It definitely would be easier with a socket for the bb. And it's nice you can use aftermarket bb.

I'm impressed by the amount of sweat on the bike in the video. At least he cleaned it up and put grease in places where it would accumulate

Barry2 

LOL I think you're right, it's not his video.
Yes, I used a socket. It's the same size as the Shimano Center lock disks.

I know people sweat different amounts... but wow.
I had no corrosion and no signs of sweat. However I always use a high velocity fan (Wahoo Headwind) and it evaporates sweat very well.

That bike in the video had to been making some seriously nasty noises for quite some time.
Even the shaft on the crankset was torn up, and the bearing inner race were all but falling out.

Barry

unterhausen

It made me feel like a pretender. Oh, you train indoors do you? Is your bike covered in sweat when you're done?

scot

Anyone know the specific details for the bottom bracket to get a third party onet?

I have already gone through one officially from wahoo, and the second one is already randomly clicking again after another 1000mi. I'll go third party/high end, though not ceramic as I don't believe that is the right direction. Just quality cups with name brand bearings.

Honestly its a 10 minute job with the right tools, or even a knockoff tool from amazon. 5MM allen, torque wrench (yes, get one) and search for 16 tooth 44mm to get the actual bb cups off and you are golden.

unterhausen

It is a Shimano, I think. You can measure the bb axle seats to make sure they are 24mm.

rgurney

I put a nice Chris King ceramic 24mm BB on my Kickr bike. Should last much longer than the stock Shimano.

unterhausen

Shimano bb's are a bargain though. They do sell better ones, which of course use their own tool. Still cheaper than a SRAM bb.