Update 8/30: Wahoo confirmed the Climb at Eurobike like we reported.
Rumors about the KICKR Climb has been circulating around for a couple of weeks now and even some photos leaked on some social media and forum.
Now we can confirm Wahoo Fitness has been working behind closed doors on their KICKR Climb. Basically just like you see in the photo, you can connect your bike front fork to the Climb and control slope manually via a remote control, or automatically via when riding in Zwift for example.
The idea behind the Climb, is to work on the different muscles that you use just as you do when climbing in the real world.
“The world we ride in isn’t flat, which is why we believed the indoor riding experience on the Kickr should follow suit,” explains Wahoo Fitness CEO Chip Hawkins.
Here’s What We Know
- KICKR Climb is manually controlled via remote control or Wahoo ELEMNT and Bolt bike computers.
- Adjusts up to 20% and -10% descents
- Only compatible with KICKR 2017 (released today) and Snap 2
The Climb will only communicate with the KICKR at this point, which means the KICKR will send gradient information to Climb rather than Climb receiving that information directly from Zwift or other apps. This basically limits the Climb to only Wahoo’s smart trainers but remove limitations with apps so it can work out of the box with apps such as Zwift or Kinomap without waiting on them to add support for the Climb.
The Climb should be available later this year probably around the holidays and will cost you $600. You can purchase it directly from Wahoo Fitness.
KICKR 2017
Wahoo also released a new KICKR, not the previously New KICKR, or like we call it KICKR 2016. Now we have a KICKR 2017 which will be compatible with the Climb. So if you updated your KICKR already, and you want the Climb, you will need to update it again. Wahoo tried to make the Climb compatible with older KICKRs but failed.
There is a small hardware piece that you need to add to the rear dropout to prevent your bike from torquing onto the cassette as the Climb move up and down. Without it, you can damage your bike.
Other Improvements to the KICKR 2017:
- Added compatibility with 12×148 thru axle
- Expanded compatibility 12×142 thru axle
- Improved disc break clearance
- Compatibility with KICKR Climb
Here is a preview video by DC Rainmaker:
