Eurobike 2018: Wahoo's new £699 Core smart trainer and that £200 fan + video

We caught up with Wahoo at the recent Eurobike bike show to get the latest on its 2018 trainers, which includes an all-new £699 Core trainer, £199 Headwind fan and revised Kickr, which uses a bigger flywheel to produce a claimed silent operation.

The Core is all-new, taking everything that is great about the Kickr, including the direct mount interface but brings it down to a £699 price that puts it right in line with the Elite Direto.

It's fully compatible with all Wahoo's newer products such as the Climb and Headwind, and the max power is 1800 watts compared to the updated Kickr's 2200 watts.

- 6 reasons to buy a smart trainer this winter

We predict this being a really popular choice this winter, for those people put off by the heady price of the range-topping Kickr. We’ll be getting one in to test as soon as this amazing summer is done and dusted.

The new fan, called the Headwind, can be controlled manually, via buttons on the front unit, by the Wahoo smartphone app, or it can automatically increase the fan level to match your power output. Pedal harder and the headwind increases.

It might have seemed like a gimmick when it was first announced but after a closer look, there are some things we like. The fan speed increasing in response to bigger efforts sounds properly useful. But whether it's worth £200, well we'll hold judgement until we get to review one.

The Kickr has been upgraded with a bigger flywheel and a near silent operation, ideal for cyclists who live in flats and don’t want to upset the neighbours. The flywheel weight has increased from 12 to 16lbs and the max power capacity has increased to 2,200 watts from the previous 2,000 limit.

Disc brake clearance has been increased and it's thru-axle compatible out of the box, in keeping with the ever-growing popularity of disc brakes. 

More coverage from Eurobike here.