I have trouble taking a Wahoo product seriously when it's spelled correctly. I would have expected them to stylize it as "Headwnd". Also, for $250 it'd better make me a sandwich.
So.... the best use of this fan is not all the cool smart features, but using it to manualy to change it between what appears to be 4 fixed settings within the app (25%/50%/75%/100%). My pain cave is sporting a $30 tower fan that I bought from Costco. It has a dedicated remote that lets me control the fan speed and it has 4 speeds too, but I usually run it at either the minimum setting or the maximum setting and don't much care about what's in the middle. My fan is also silent and has 2 different "wind gust modes" where the fan speed kicks up and down to simulate gusts. It's a fun little feature. Plus it has a timer to auto-shutoff after 1h/2h/3h/4h of use and can oscillate if needed (which i don't usually use). All of these features can be controlled from the remote. So i hop on my bike, and use the remote to control the fan. I usually have it on the low setting during warmup and 20 minutes in I grab the remote and move it to the top speed. I would argue that the dedicated remote is even easier to use than opening up an app on my phone and clicking through tabs and moving a slider. Just my two cents. I was actually interested in this Wahoo headwind, but after seeing the price and Ray succumb to just using the manual adjustment on his phone, then I think I will save $220 and stick with my $30 fan instead. If anyone else wants the same $30 fan its right here: www.costco.com/Cascade-40-Tower-Fan-with-Remote.product.100405139.html You might be able to walk into your nearest costco and find it too, i just saw it on an endcap at my location a few months ago and grabbed it. No regrets. I feel even better about it now. Oh and unfortunately the $30 fan doesnt have upgradable firmware, dangit.
Got this for $150 after discounts on REI. So far quite impressed as the unit is super quiet yet puts out a massive blast of concentrated air where you sit on the bike. The fan rpm ramping is silky smooth and responsive. Well worth the full price - just one of those devices that simply works the way it was meant to be.
Just got one, it's very good. It creates a wind feeling with the stream of air that actually feels like a breeze with variance. One thing that could be improved as mentioned the speed setting does not make the fan blow full strength if you set the max speed at 25 or whatever. It is more a limit on the strength of the wind at that speed.
Great review Ray. I like how Wahoo is trying different things to make riding indoors more interesting. Beach balls, smoke machines...Magic. You guys are having too much fun. Now if I could get one to review I would be all set. 😀
Expensive but really good and useful. Probably much more than Climb or any other gimmick like rocker plates etc. For people who have problems with overheating it might make world of difference.
It's one of the best unique pieces of indoor equipment out there. Trainers, desk units, heart rate monitors, all are pretty similar but this fan is unique in its auto stepping functionality and perfectly focused air blast to keep you cool, while ramping down when your efforts decrease so you don't end up actually getting too cold. I have my setup in a room with a lot of papers on tables and curtains on the side and none of it ends up being blown around as it would if there was a regular fan and its stray wind patterns.
Wait until the cycling VR bike helmet happens...everything all inside the helmet with surround sound and internal helmet cooling...give it 5-8 years if that.
Next week Ray reviews the Wahoo rain/storm attachment for the wind machine...soon we will have a pothole machine, angry car driver(road rage levels 1-5) and the rabid dog attachments. Can't Wait
Good grief. I was wondering whether it was April 1st. What's their next product - a robotic dog that attacks your ankles? A UV light to give you a sunburn?
What I immediate notice was smallish fan=more noise at a given setting. Am currently auditioning my zero-noise Stac Zero in the living room and my large ceiling fan (it has remote) is doing its job silently at very low RPM, I think I will stick with that.
Your article is the only place I've found that this fan will eventually get multi channel BT connections but haven't seen it implemented on my fan yet. Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks DCR. "It's a fan. A $250 fan." That's what I kept thinking the whole time Shane was gushing like a school girl over this $250 fan in his review.
This has one application- VR. Tacx Neo + Kickr Climb + Headwind all interacting with Zwift. Take a turn out front and the resistance goes up but so does the wind. Feel resistance kick up w the gusts at the top of ADZ. Maybe even some day a random gust on an exposed flat let’s you know it’s time to set up an echelon. That’ll be an exciting day.
Ray i need some help: I always ride indoor with my TT bike (so...a lot of my rides are in aero position except when i 'climb' on zwift). Because i'm a class A sweater i need a fan even in winter, even if my paincave is not heated and there are 5/10°. But i usually have to protect my bike with a towel (and during a 2h workout i need about 2 towels...4 or 5 when i train in summer !!!). So i think that the towel could block the airflow if iuse the Headwind on the ground. Do u think i can put the Headwind on my desk , near the monitor i use for zwift (about 50 cm from my head when i ride in aero position) ???
The Fact that if you have the Desk & can’t use it head on. Killed it. Yeah Not down with Fan Tech. Get the Desk for the money. But your right. Make it 120 bucks. I would probably buy. Maybe make a Dum version. Just the fan no Tech. And 100 bucks. I would buy for sure.
Is this some kind of April fools joke from Wahoo that is several months late.... $250 for a fan seriously what is this world coming too and is there someone out there stupid enough to pay that much for a fan. $35 fan from stratco does the job.
Thanks for the extensive review. I too LOOOOOVE the desk, but i will pass on the fan... 229 EUR is too much for a fan that i would basically always use full on...
A ball of wool, cut into tufts and tied to a stick, would have been far more useful than your smoke machine. Or even a small flag. Glad you had fun doing the video though.
hello ray, maybe you can help me with this one question. Is the air stream directed enough not to hit the shoulders but only the upper body? I have the problem, that when my shoulders get cold the muscles block and I get a bad neck.
At $250, the boat, the train, and the target were all missed. Not to mention it's wide of the mark. And is it fixed, does it not tilt? Great thinking outside the box, but come on Wahoo.
To be fair, I love Wahoo products. I own an original Kickr, an Elemnt, a Bolt, and a couple of Tickr monitors, and they are all great products. It just feels like they could sell so many of these fans and the tables if they were more reasonably priced. Who knows, maybe they are. Just my 25,000 cents.
Hmm... not sure if this product is worth $250. Seriously, I could have got a GoPro or a Garmin that are more useful than blowing air. My fan can rotate if I'm too cold, has a remote to change speed, rotation and doesn't break a bank. Even if this product is sold $125 bucks.. I still won't buy it. It's a just a fan... The goal is to cool me while riding indoors.
30 dollar pedestal fan with remote. Keep the remote in your jersey pocket and change when needed. But I'm sure a lot of suckers will buy this. So easily fooled
Jeff Rejent those same suckers are those like me who were on the verge of putting together the DIY version posted on Zwift forums about a year ago that can only do 3 speeds even in automatic, and cost at minimum an Arduino, a fair bit of soldering, likely a good deal of troubleshooting, etc, and voiding a decent bit of warranties. I also was looking at getting a variably controllable fan and recoding some of the code for that (and adding different actuators to activate it), but that'd be even MORE time and money. If I didn't value my time at all, that fan would be likely 70-90 dollars to get equivalent airflow. Add in the Arduino and parts stuff and it's definitely over $100 (probably over $150), but likely with lots more bugs, troubleshooting, and general jankiness. And if it goes wrong, I don't have any customer service to call - just hours to spend myself scratching my head. So if you don't find the "smartness" valuable then yeah it's dumb. But if you do then compared to the only other options out there right now... it's actually not that badly priced. The same was true for smart trainers themselves at the start, although granted this is moreso finishing that idea whereas smart trainers were starting it.
I have trouble taking a Wahoo product seriously when it's spelled correctly. I would have expected them to stylize it as "Headwnd". Also, for $250 it'd better make me a sandwich.
So.... the best use of this fan is not all the cool smart features, but using it to manualy to change it between what appears to be 4 fixed settings within the app (25%/50%/75%/100%).
My pain cave is sporting a $30 tower fan that I bought from Costco. It has a dedicated remote that lets me control the fan speed and it has 4 speeds too, but I usually run it at either the minimum setting or the maximum setting and don't much care about what's in the middle.
My fan is also silent and has 2 different "wind gust modes" where the fan speed kicks up and down to simulate gusts. It's a fun little feature. Plus it has a timer to auto-shutoff after 1h/2h/3h/4h of use and can oscillate if needed (which i don't usually use). All of these features can be controlled from the remote.
So i hop on my bike, and use the remote to control the fan. I usually have it on the low setting during warmup and 20 minutes in I grab the remote and move it to the top speed. I would argue that the dedicated remote is even easier to use than opening up an app on my phone and clicking through tabs and moving a slider.
Just my two cents. I was actually interested in this Wahoo headwind, but after seeing the price and Ray succumb to just using the manual adjustment on his phone, then I think I will save $220 and stick with my $30 fan instead.
If anyone else wants the same $30 fan its right here: www.costco.com/Cascade-40-Tower-Fan-with-Remote.product.100405139.html
You might be able to walk into your nearest costco and find it too, i just saw it on an endcap at my location a few months ago and grabbed it. No regrets. I feel even better about it now. Oh and unfortunately the $30 fan doesnt have upgradable firmware, dangit.
I bought 2 honeywell turbo fans for $20...best dollar for dollar investment in my pain cave so far. They're nearly silent and provide great airflow.
J. Alexander Curtis & it’s BLACK !!!! So gonna go to Costco today 👍🏼.
When I saw the email announcement this morning, I forwarded to my wife with the title “I’ve found my gadget limit”.
Got this for $150 after discounts on REI. So far quite impressed as the unit is super quiet yet puts out a massive blast of concentrated air where you sit on the bike. The fan rpm ramping is silky smooth and responsive. Well worth the full price - just one of those devices that simply works the way it was meant to be.
Just got one, it's very good. It creates a wind feeling with the stream of air that actually feels like a breeze with variance. One thing that could be improved as mentioned the speed setting does not make the fan blow full strength if you set the max speed at 25 or whatever. It is more a limit on the strength of the wind at that speed.
Move the fan *here*
Ray has just created the Wahoo Crosswind!
Oh, I thought I did that every-time I eat beans?
Great review Ray. I like how Wahoo is trying different things to make riding indoors more interesting. Beach balls, smoke machines...Magic. You guys are having too much fun.
Now if I could get one to review I would be all set. 😀
just got my kickr working today. think i need a cheapo fan next. raining sweat.
Expensive but really good and useful. Probably much more than Climb or any other gimmick like rocker plates etc. For people who have problems with overheating it might make world of difference.
It's one of the best unique pieces of indoor equipment out there. Trainers, desk units, heart rate monitors, all are pretty similar but this fan is unique in its auto stepping functionality and perfectly focused air blast to keep you cool, while ramping down when your efforts decrease so you don't end up actually getting too cold. I have my setup in a room with a lot of papers on tables and curtains on the side and none of it ends up being blown around as it would if there was a regular fan and its stray wind patterns.
He's right. $125 MSRP discounted to $99 would be about right for this device.
DJ Lama in the house!
Fan is incredibly powerful and you don't get a drop.... Only thing with wahoo is the overpriced devices. The rest is perfect.
Wait until the cycling VR bike helmet happens...everything all inside the helmet with surround sound and internal helmet cooling...give it 5-8 years if that.
Next week Ray reviews the Wahoo rain/storm attachment for the wind machine...soon we will have a pothole machine, angry car driver(road rage levels 1-5) and the rabid dog attachments. Can't Wait
Shhh....don't be taking away my thunder!
Would have been nice to touch on how it performs compared to other fans. Noise level, airflow, cooling sensation...
Can this be paired to any trainer? Or just wahoo’s?
It arrived today and I asked for a refund tonight. I find it really unacceptable that a fan costing € 229.99 makes such a loud noise.
Good grief. I was wondering whether it was April 1st. What's their next product - a robotic dog that attacks your ankles? A UV light to give you a sunburn?
Shh... don't give Wahoo any ideas. Sadly both of those are better ideas than this one.
Wahoo TANNR and Wahoo DOGGR! This is like Shark Tank.
Can’t wait for the Wahoo ANGRY DRVR. The large robotic vehicle that moves up behind you really close and lays on the horn.
The comments are too awesome. You guys are the best!!
a setting that spits flies and road debris at your face
“I could buy a lot of blowing devices for 250 bucks”. Hehe. Hehehehehehehe
He did tee that up....
@LouisRJr
Does the fan have an odor? I've a review about a bad odor. Possibly electric motor smell, possibly plastic off gassing. Just curious.
No odor
A smok’n vid. What a hoot. Well done
It looks like a Kuerig coffee machine.
I am guessing that either the price will come down because no one is buying it or Wahoo will take their losses and stop producing it.
What I immediate notice was smallish fan=more noise at a given setting. Am currently auditioning my zero-noise Stac Zero in the living room and my large ceiling fan (it has remote) is doing its job silently at very low RPM, I think I will stick with that.
Your article is the only place I've found that this fan will eventually get multi channel BT connections but haven't seen it implemented on my fan yet. Am I doing something wrong?
Good demonstration of why you shouldn't use the Kickr Climb for sprint training. Great vid.
what's wrong? in all seriousness I thought that was surprisingly stable?
there was a lot of vertical movement at the front end.
Thanks DCR. "It's a fan. A $250 fan." That's what I kept thinking the whole time Shane was gushing like a school girl over this $250 fan in his review.
I knew I should have worn the dress I have. Next time mate. Next time.
Shane Miller - GPLama .. just be sure to hold your skirt down if you got that $250 fan running.. lol.
😂Done.
This has one application- VR. Tacx Neo + Kickr Climb + Headwind all interacting with Zwift. Take a turn out front and the resistance goes up but so does the wind. Feel resistance kick up w the gusts at the top of ADZ. Maybe even some day a random gust on an exposed flat let’s you know it’s time to set up an echelon. That’ll be an exciting day.
Why the Tacx? Does the Climb even work with the Tacx? It certainly doesn't work with older version Wahoo Kickrs.
IT blowing on my knees, and blowing wind is not good for knees, how can i solve that?
I'm not sure how to solve that issue. I'd suggest not cycling.
No fan for me. I have a better fan than that, that operates from a remote control too, at £80! Sorted.
Ray i need some help:
I always ride indoor with my TT bike (so...a lot of my rides are in aero position except when i 'climb' on zwift). Because i'm a class A sweater i need a fan even in winter, even if my paincave is not heated and there are 5/10°. But i usually have to protect my bike with a towel (and during a 2h workout i need about 2 towels...4 or 5 when i train in summer !!!). So i think that the towel could block the airflow if iuse the Headwind on the ground. Do u think i can put the Headwind on my desk , near the monitor i use for zwift (about 50 cm from my head when i ride in aero position) ???
The Fact that if you have the Desk & can’t use it head on. Killed it. Yeah Not down with Fan Tech. Get the Desk for the money. But your right. Make it 120 bucks. I would probably buy. Maybe make a Dum version. Just the fan no Tech. And 100 bucks. I would buy for sure.
And the Wahoo Headwind box literally says, "Kickr Desk Compatible"
David Turpin lmao
Still cheaper than Dyson fan.
Is this some kind of April fools joke from Wahoo that is several months late.... $250 for a fan seriously what is this world coming too and is there someone out there stupid enough to pay that much for a fan. $35 fan from stratco does the job.
Thanks for the extensive review.
I too LOOOOOVE the desk, but i will pass on the fan... 229 EUR is too much for a fan that i would basically always use full on...
A ball of wool, cut into tufts and tied to a stick, would have been far more useful than your smoke machine. Or even a small flag. Glad you had fun doing the video though.
What an utter waste of money. I bought a super cool tower fan from Amazon and does a better job for half the price.
Nice t-shirt!
What heart rate strap; is it an arm Strap?
I had both a Scosche 24 on as well as a TICKRX
Would expect G home & Alexa integration at least at this price
Nice fan...but I will stick with my Amazon basic fan.
Nice but too expensive. Maybe with time the price will come down.
Do you have to turn it on with buttons every time you go to sit on your trainer?
Ingenious review and fantastic engineering but this is probably a solution to the most '1st world problem' ever
Great review, excellent video 😊👍
Smoke cigarettes while on the trainer. That would be interesting in several ways.
Smoking cigs or wahoo headwind I know which one I’d choose 👍🌪🌪🌪🌪🌪🌪💨💨💨💨
hello ray, maybe you can help me with this one question. Is the air
stream directed enough not to hit the shoulders but only the upper body?
I have the problem, that when my shoulders get cold the muscles block and I get a bad neck.
It is, if you can setup the direction in the right way, which will need some tweeking.
Just buy ordinary fan save 90%
you didn't really talk about the air speed of the fan and how cool it is compared to other fans, that is like the only thing I wanted to know.
If you could add a block of ice to it, for some poor man's AC it would be a winner (in the UK at least)
Yup, totally!
Ridiculously expensive
its $400 in canada $460 w taxes
$399.95 in Australia (+ $9.99 shipping). Still cheaper than most Dyson fans. Personally I have a $15 pedestal fan from K-Mart.
339 in BC
At $250, the boat, the train, and the target were all missed. Not to mention it's wide of the mark. And is it fixed, does it not tilt? Great thinking outside the box, but come on Wahoo.
It has little legs below it that allow it to flatten out/prop up.
To be fair, I love Wahoo products. I own an original Kickr, an Elemnt, a Bolt, and a couple of Tickr monitors, and they are all great products. It just feels like they could sell so many of these fans and the tables if they were more reasonably priced. Who knows, maybe they are. Just my 25,000 cents.
Where is your join button?
Hmm... not sure if this product is worth $250. Seriously, I could have got a GoPro or a Garmin that are more useful than blowing air. My fan can rotate if I'm too cold, has a remote to change speed, rotation and doesn't break a bank. Even if this product is sold $125 bucks.. I still won't buy it. It's a just a fan... The goal is to cool me while riding indoors.
how many watts does this fan push?
lol great unedited video, nice
This video makes me feel no so alone in the world.
You look like you really enjoyed that one Ray. Just missing the mirrors I guess? Keep up the good work - keep smiling.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed! Sometimes ya gotta have fun!
$250 bucks for a remote controlled fan lol.. come on!
Is ot just me or he looks quiet awkward and badly fitted on that bike
30 dollar pedestal fan with remote. Keep the remote in your jersey pocket and change when needed. But I'm sure a lot of suckers will buy this. So easily fooled
Jeff Rejent those same suckers are those like me who were on the verge of putting together the DIY version posted on Zwift forums about a year ago that can only do 3 speeds even in automatic, and cost at minimum an Arduino, a fair bit of soldering, likely a good deal of troubleshooting, etc, and voiding a decent bit of warranties.
I also was looking at getting a variably controllable fan and recoding some of the code for that (and adding different actuators to activate it), but that'd be even MORE time and money. If I didn't value my time at all, that fan would be likely 70-90 dollars to get equivalent airflow.
Add in the Arduino and parts stuff and it's definitely over $100 (probably over $150), but likely with lots more bugs, troubleshooting, and general jankiness. And if it goes wrong, I don't have any customer service to call - just hours to spend myself scratching my head.
So if you don't find the "smartness" valuable then yeah it's dumb. But if you do then compared to the only other options out there right now... it's actually not that badly priced.
The same was true for smart trainers themselves at the start, although granted this is moreso finishing that idea whereas smart trainers were starting it.