Wahoo has today unveiled the Kickr Run, which it calls a smart treadmill. It is the latest product in the brand’s Kickr lineup, but it’s not like anything else the that bears the Kickr name.
Wahoo says it will “transform indoor running in the same way that the Kickr Smart Trainer did for cyclists.”
Since its inception in 2009, Wahoo has been a brand that focused almost exclusively on cycling. As a result, it is a brand that resonates strongly with our readers. The Elemnt Rival smartwatch had features that catered to triathletes, and in our guide to the best heart rate monitors, the Tickr X was titled the best for cyclists who run, but pretty much every product the brand launched would, at least in part, cater to its core audience of cyclists. With the Kickr Run, that’s set to change.
Wahoo Kickr Run details
The new Kickr Run features something that Wahoo calls RunFree Mode, which promises hands-free changes of pace. Thanks to sensors that detect where you are on the belt and a motor that reacts “in milliseconds,” Wahoo claims you can simply run faster and the belt will adjust its pace automatically to suit.
It can also connect to Zwift and Wahoo SYSTM, allowing users to follow structured workouts with the speed controlled by the apps, or to freerun through virtual landscapes and automatically feel changes in gradient in the same way cyclists can when using a smart trainer.
Wahoo also says the belt will tilt laterally to more accurately simulate road running, with the secondary benefit of providing the ability to level the belt, should the Kickr Run be placed on uneven ground.
It can provide a pace of up to 4:00/mile (2:29/km), and can be connected to the Elemnt Rival watch, Tickr heart rate monitors, and presumably the Kickr Headwind fan.
There’s an integrated laptop shelf up front, as well as USB ports to charge your devices, WiFi connectivity, and the Direct Connect ethernet port as found on the latest Kickr smart trainers.
The indoor running revolution?
Chip Hawkins, founder of Wahoo and a keen runner himself, explained that the Kickr Run has been in development for seven years. That suggests the project started in 2017, arguably in line with the real uptick of indoor cycling’s popularity. The original Wahoo Kickr smart trainer launched in 2012, and Zwift came later in 2015.
It’s no surprise that he and Wahoo want to…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…