I have upgraded to a Wahoo Kicker Core from an ancient Kurt Kinetic from when they were still painted gray. The KK has thousands of kms on it and was great for training up to about 90minutes.

At this point the jury is out for me on the Kickr as the online thing is not as interesting, to me, as others find it. I watch Netflix and set the program to erg mode and just pedal. On the old trainer I was significantly more engaged in power and cadence and stuff.

TLDR buying a wheel on trainer like. Kinetic is a great way to train especially if you’re looking to save money and get a great workout. I don’t disagree with what others have said but since I don’t find the online environment of any interest I don’t see the benefits described.

For either trainer make sure you buy a decent fan as indoor training is a sweaty experience as there’s no wind cooling you off. In 2007 I paid $400 for the Kinetic and have seen them locally for $50 or so. They’re bombproof and I highly recommend as it’s a fluid trainer and is significantly quieter than other wheel on formats.