Kinetic R1 Direct Drive Smart Trainer

I have been riding the R1 for about a month. This is my first smart trainer. Rode a cycleops fluid trading for 3 years. I love this trainer. Easy set up, sturdy, and connects every time. The road feel is authentic as is the rocking action. I would recommend this to anyone and would buy it again in a heartbeat!!!

This is my second unit. The first unit had issues with keeping resistance with power figures sent from Zwift. This unit was loud and got louder over time. It always had issues with keeping a smooth resistance curve when used with Zwift and other apps. The unit would be following a steady grade and have hard resistance one second and let off the next. You cannot do a workout on Zwift with this trainer. It does not follow the changes in wattage fast enough to keep up with the workouts. There was a firmware update to help with that at one point but it was rolled back. The firmware hasn't been updated in over a year. The noise from the unit at first was a cap over a bolt on the unit. After that was taken off there was still a grinding noise. I used the unit up until last week. After stopping using it last week I see that the belt is frayed and worn. It would seem the manufacturer has given up in fixing the issues with this trainer.

Now that I have worked though all the issues I had with this trainer I love it. However when I got it the freewheel was dry causing lots of noise and some mechanical issues. Reached out to customer support and they helped me figure it out right away. All it needed was a little oil which they provided for free. The other issue I had was that the resistance would change erratically when using Zwift. Once again reached out to customer support and they told me that the trainer performs much better with Zwift though ant+ rather than Bluetooth. Switched to ant+ and no more problems.Ultimately if you are using it for Zwift, make sure you use ant+. Additionally check to make sure the freewheel is well oiled when you set it up. If you do these things it is an amazing trainer.

I am having to huge issues with the R1. An uneven belt is making climbs impossible and a terrible grinding noise (over 75 decibels) seems to come on and off without rhyme or reason, spoiling the use of what is otherwise a very quiet trainer. I genuinely suspect I may have received a faulty unit (though I see some YouTube reviews also comment on the grinding sound...). I have reached out to Kinetic and I am keen to see what they suggest. I want this to work. When/if it does, it’s an incredibly good value trainer compared to similar offerings by Wahoo and Tacx. The rock’n’roll freedom to swing around a bit is a relief on long rides. The fact that this includes a virtual cadence sensor and adjustable feet puts Wahoo’s KICKR Core to shame. But there might still be major quality control issues as of November 2019. I know this has been announced and delayed repeatedly already. Maybe not enough. I’ll update if/when company makes a move to fix this. But for now my advice is to wait until next winter before considering Kinetic ready for the wheel-off market.Mid-December 2019 Update:The company has been responsive and offered to send out a new R1, which has now arrived. My early impressions are that it is still a very loud trainer but in different ways from the previous unit. I will keep testing and update this review — but at least you know you can count on a responsive customer rep service.

Awesome trainer, doesn’t lock the bike into a ridged stance. Allows for movement of rider and bike to ease discomfort

Noisey. Loses connection sometimes and loses ERG as a result, necessitating restarts. Plastic bit inside flywheel came loose and made tremendous noise at one point, apparently a known issue. Website directed me to krazy glue it, which worked, but all the same: if it’s a known issue it should be resolved. The price was good (compared to others...still not cheap) and it serves its purpose, but overall I could be happier. It was a big investment for my income level and I didn’t expect it to be quite so troublesome.

The unit is kind of noisy, but my wife won't complain and we live in a small apartment, the resistance unit feels different from the wahoo kickr a little bit slower not so refined but still good.The Rock and Roll motion is just too good to let go , I can ride my bike on the outsides for 4 hours give or take with no pain, but indoors I could only do it for about 1 hour after that I could still ride but I was on pain. I've done 4 races on rouvy for 2.5 hours each and when I finished I had no other pain than the normal fatigue in my legs, the feeling is so good that it compensates for the lack of refinement on the model. My unit works , I'm not too picky I can tell the difference with the wahoo , I had the Kickr 17 unit and I could not change the freehub body to XDR , that's the reason I had to change it. $1200 was too much for me for the Kickr18 , This one I could afford and after I tested the Rock and Roll motion even knowing the trainer is not as good on the electronics and if I could afford the wahoo, I would pick the Kinetic R1. The feeling of not having pain is priceless.

I really wanted to love the R1. Sadly my unit had a serious manufacturing defect: one of the side legs wasn't drilled properly and so it needed to be put on blocks to level the bike. But besides the obvious manufacturing defects, it just isn’t ready for prime time. It was my first smart trainer and yet I knew the resistance control just isn’t there. Climbs were terrible, with the resistance ebbing and flowing constantly, cadence was all over the map, power readings as well. I really think Kinetic needs to pull the product from the market. I bought at Tacx NEO 2T to replace it. Yes, the Tacx is substantially more expensive, but it also supports side to side motion (though not as much as Kinetic) and its control is spot on. It is also much quieter and even simulates road feel (something not other trainer does, AFAIK) and it does it surprisingly well. I wish I could recommend the R1. But I can't. Instead I need to recommend that you NOT buy it. Kinetic needs to start over.

Superbe HT, rien de négatif à dire