8 September 2024
This will be a relatively quick post, as it’s really not all that complex. In conjunction with Zwift’s standalone Zwift Ride Frame announcement, Wahoo has also announced a reduction in pricing across the board. This includes all of their smart trainers and smart bikes. The move is likely the result of a number of factors, including the ever-decreasing price-points of smart trainers, plus factors like the new JetBlack Victory at insane pricing levels (though, to Wahoo’s credit, they shared this pricing info during a meeting back in July, exactly an hour *before* JetBlack announced their trainer). Still, the trend/writing was on the wall already.
In any case, here’s what’s changing (these numbers also change by roughly the same mounts for both EUR and GBP, I don’t have other currency numbers):
Wahoo KICKR Bike V2: From $3,999 to $3,799
Wahoo KICKR Bike Shift: From $2,999 to $2,499
Wahoo KICKR Move: From $1,599 to $1,299
Wahoo KICKR V6: From $1,299 to $999
Wahoo KICKR ROLLR: From $799 to $599
Technically, the Wahoo KICKR ROLLR one happened recently, not as part of the other group of reductions announced.
To me, the two big stand-out ones here are the KICKR Move from $1,599 to $1,299, and then the KICKR V6 down to $999. We’ve never seen a full-sized KICKR below $1,000 before. It’s always been some variant of $1,099 to $1,299, throughout its entire history. Wahoo introduced the KICKR CORE at $899 back many years ago, and then that price has slowly decreased down to $499 (with either cassette or Zwift Cog).
Meanwhile, I see the KICKR Move price drop as a solid “your move” to Garmin and the insanely priced Tacx NEO 3M ($1,999 + $129 for the WiFI module). While the Tacx NEO 3M is pretty easily the most accurate indoor trainer out there today, it’s not meaningfully more accurate than the Wahoo KICKR. And more specifically, the Wahoo KICKR Move has better forward/back movement, built-in WiFi, and a few other tidbits that make it all-around a better moving strainer. You could combine the Wahoo KICKR Move + KICKR CLIMB, and still have money leftover compared to a Tacx NEO 3M.
Of course, I go through all those differences (as there are some other Garmin benefits) in this comparison post here, albeit that’s before the huge pricing adjustment. Not that I meaningfully changes the outcome.
Meanwhile, at the upper end, I don’t think the pricing for either the full KICKR Bike V2, or KICKR Bike Shift will meaningfully change the sales of those units. The Zwift Ride has completely undercut the majority of that market at Wahoo’s pricing. Sure, there’s still some minor things people want from a smart bike that the current Zwift Ride doesn’t deliver on (around crank length adjustability for example), but paying thousands more is a hard pill to swallow for a few millimeters, for most people.
In any event, it’ll be interesting to see if others follow in some of these price drops. Note, I don’t see this as a case of there being something wrong with the market. Rather, I think we’re seeing more normalization in the indoor trainer space. Some of the previous price points simply didn’t make sense, even when comparing within a given company’s product lineup. This gets this back to a more logical pricing scheme.
With that – thanks for reading!