Wahoo Kickr V5 review

A great smart trainer for Zwift racing and general training

Wahoo Kickr v5
(Image credit: Wahoo)
Cycling Weekly Verdict

With a smooth feeling erg mode, a compact packaway size, and in not needing to be manually calibrated, the Kickr ticks more boxes than any of the other trainers on test. It’s also not outrageously expensive – at least comparative to other top-of-the-range direct-drive turbos.

Reasons to buy
  • +

    No need to zero offset

  • +

    Smooth feeling erg mode

Reasons to avoid
  • -

    Relatively expensive

  • -

    Short middle leg reduces fore/aft stability when sprinting

You can trust Cycling Weekly. Our team of experts put in hard miles testing cycling tech and will always share honest, unbiased advice to help you choose. Find out more about how we test.

The Wahoo Kickr has been around for a while now, with updates to the smart trainer generally being more incremental than transformative. But considering the performance of each edition, that’s no bad thing.

For the V5, Wahoo has added feet to reduce vibrations from the trainer and to add a little sway, as well as increasing the claimed accuracy from ±2 per cent to ±1 per cent and removing the requirement to manually calibrate the trainer.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Wahoo Kickr V5 turbo trainer249w
Shimano Dura-Ace power cranks245w
Garmin Vector 3 power pedals239w
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Row 0 - Cell 0 Effort 1Effort 2Effort 3Effort 4Effort 5
Wahoo Kickr V5 turbo trainer400w389w399w400w399w
Shimano Dura-Ace power cranks379w372w371w383w385w
Garmin Vector 3 power pedals366w360w360w372w370w
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Row 0 - Cell 0 1 sec 5 sec
Wahoo Kickr V5 turbo trainer 1,104w 1,020w
Shimano Dura-Ace power cranks 1,063w981w
Garmin Vector 3 power pedals 1,295w953w

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