Early this morning I heard the rain hitting the skylight in the bathroom. I knew this would mean no bike ride today since the forecast called for rain most of the day.
This was an opportunity to setup my Kickr Snap smart trainer and tryout Zwift. I wasn’t sure how this would go but I read the instructions that came with the Kickr and after eating breakfast and reading the newspaper I went out to the garage for my Blue Norcross AL bike.
The Blue Norcross AL was my choice because I could dedicate it to the Kickr and my Canyon Endurace CF SLX has through axle skewers which require a special skewer for the Kickr which I don’t have. I aired up the tires to 90 psi, wiped the bike off and carried it inside to avoid getting the tires wet and making a mess on the floor. I swapped out the rear quick release skewer for the Wahoo provided one, adjusted the position of the Kickr some and attached the bike in the grip of the trainer. Plugging in the Kickr the red and blue LED’s blinked and I felt like I was making progress. Not so fast there Rick!
Opening up the Wahoo Fitness app on my Pixel 3 XL phone I proceeded to go through the “setup” process. This went okay pairing the Kickr to the app, the Tickr heart rate monitor paired and the cadence sensor using Bluetooth.
I got on the bike and started the setup program. The first requirement was a “spin-up” and a “spin-down”. The problem was the spin-up was to 23 mph to calibrate the Kickr Snap. After three or four tries I got close to 23 mph with 20 mph but I couldn’t get to 23 mph. Fortunately there was an option to skip that and I did. Now I rode about .5 of a mile and saw data in the Wahoo Fitness app.
Feeling confident I decided to install Zwift on my desktop computer not too far away. Up to this point I didn’t have too many issues but trying to connect the Zwift program to the Kickr was not easy. I checked Zwift for help and then Wahoo. The Bluetooth would not connect to my desktop computer. I then installed the Zwift Companion app and more frustration followed. I tried about every thing I could think of. Then I got the heart rate monitor to connect with the Zwift app and it showed up on the computer monitor. Next I got the cadence sensor to connect followed by the speed sensor. The speed sensor took me down a wrong path because it wanted to connect a non-smart trainer from a list that didn’t include the Kickr. Deleting the speed sensor allowed me to get out of that choice tree.
By now I was two hours into the Zwfit setup with no success. I looked at the Wahoo help website again and found one sentence that said the Kickr could only connect to one Bluetooth device at a time. I turned the Kickr power off and waited several minutes. While I waited I made sure the Wahoo Fitness app on my phone was closed. Turning the power back on I opened the Zwift app and then on my computer I went through the Bluetooth steps again and ZAP the Kickr Snap came up and paired.
With the Kickr and other sensors connected Zwift went into the “First Ride” introduction and I got on the Blue to ride. While I rode I saw a biker on screen which was me being passed by a bunch of other riders. Numbers starting showing on the screen from my Kickr via the Zwift app and I was a happy biker.
I went through the ride and finished about 3 1/2 hours after I started the setup. While I rode only 6.6 miles in Zwift I felt like I rode 20 with all of the getting on the bike and then off the bike trying to get everything to work.
Wednesday and Thursday it supposed to rain more and I will be back on the Blue Norcross AL, the Kickr Snap and Zwift. Hopefully the next ride goes smoother.
I took some video with my GoPro. Watch to see some of what I went through.
