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I've seen one of these at decent price locally with only 62hours use on it.
However, a brief Google shows that there is a history of some failures - is it worth the risk?
I would say it depends on what 'decent price' means specifically, as to whether it's worth the risk.
And can you try it out before handing over the cash?
If it's cheap enough & you can have a spin on it beforehand, then it's probably worth a punt.
How much is it? Only I have a 2020 kicker core that's gathering dust and it probably has less hours use than that
It's £250
The newly announced Zwift hub is going to be £500 I believe, so in my eyes it is in the territory of of is it just better to buy a brand new trainer?
I have a shoulder operation coming up, so proper riding may be off limits for a while so have started looking at turbo trainer options for the winter
Edit; Elite Direto is currently £399 at Wiggle which could be an option
I’ve got a kickr core and it is decent.
Not sure I’d take a punt for £250 on a secondhand one.
That diretto for £399 brand new sounds a good option
I've just bought a 208 Kickr Core off eBay and I'm going to have to return it because it's got a click on every rotation...
https://www.halfords.com/cycling/turbo-trainers/smart-turbo-trainers/saris-h3-silent-smart-turbo-trainer-296806.html £474, you might get 10% British Cycling membership discount off it too.
I'd say it is quite cheap for such little use.
I bought a first generation KickR for £300 a few years ago. It had been used a lot and I used it up until last year when I moved to a full smart bike.
The KickR is still going strong on a friends setup and gets used 3 or 4 times a week in anger.
If it is in good basic condition and nothing bent or abused, I'd not worry about a second hand one.
£399 sounds good for a new Direto. I've had one for a while now - 18 months or so and it's been rock solid.
At £250 it's a bargain. I have one of these model 2's. It's not silent but does have a handle (important). Not had any issues but mine is not heavily used. I would and I paid over 3x that for a reconditioned unit from Wahoo.
If it's local and you can check it over then it could be a bargain!
£250 😯 I have a 2017 V2 KickR Snap with about 20 hours of use as I quickly went to a direct drive due to the noise that I tried giving away last week and the person didn't want it.
Edit ignore
My Snap has done 25,000Kms.. No issues.
The newly announced Zwift hub is going to be £500 I believe, so in my eyes it is in the territory of of is it just better to buy a brand new trainer?
Which is a rebadged Jet Black, so thats another one to look at in case theres a better deal
Gen 1 kickr here. Bought second hand a few years ago and gets thoroughly abused in the winter. Been through a few belts, but otherwise seems sound.
Hopefully yours has had enough use to show any issues, such as the overtightened flywheel (which I think is the cause of the click on every revolution mentioned above). A warranty issue Wahoo were quick to replace units on (if you were first user).
Not sure at which point they sorted this but my resistance decreases with temperature. So much so that if I don't bring it in to the house to warm up when it's below 3 degrees out then the first 15 minutes of a workout need to be on slope mode to build up enough resistance to use ERG. Subsequently I have an ipad running Sufferfest getting data from power meter, and then SF actually controlling the kickr from a laptop which I can then boost or reduce the resistance to get what I should be getting, shown on the ipad. Faff, but it works for me and doesn't involve buying a new turbo!
£250 is a really good price imo. I'd go for it (I'd actually consider upgrading from my 2016 one for that).
Some smart trainers last a long time without issues, yes. But many fail as well.
I've had three different models and every one has failed at some point, some warranty replacements have gone on to fail too. Two of mine failed in the first weeks, and were replaced under warranty, but a couple failed much later, outside warranty, at 2-3 years. I think that's true of all the most popular trainers, whether Wahoo, Tacx or Elite.
For me, to buy a used one, it'd have to be very very cheap indeed, and I'd have to be in a position where a new one is unaffordable.
If it's going to be about £250 vs £400, i'd definitely try to buy the new one if i possibly could.