Review on Kinetic Kurt Road Machine Control by Andrew Dickens

My Kinetic Road Machine fluid resistance trainer has served me well for years, so I've decided to switch from a fluid resistance machine to a digital/electronic machine that can work with Zwift and offer some new features . Zwift's experience with this trainer was great. It brings me closer to the feeling of real driving, and the presence of other drivers creates friendly competition and encourages me to work harder. Setting up/pairing the trainer with Zwift is very easy - I took the advice of other reviewers and bought an ANT+ dongle with a USB extender and I've had a 100% flawless connection. The large flywheel on the trainer gives a smooth and realistic feeling of ups and downs. I use Zwift's default tilt resistance sensitivity settings and they work very well for me. However, there are a few issues that I think Kinetic should address: 1) The documentation for the Kinetic app is not up to date with the latest version of the app. The app has settings that don't appear in the documentation and vice versa. I contacted Kinetic support about this and they basically said the app is updated too frequently for the documentation to keep up. There are some features/settings in the app that I would really like an explanation for, but I can't find them. 2) There is a braking/resistance "position" setting in the app. It doesn't seem to work - increasing the position to anything above zero gives you maximum resistance. If this setting worked, it would be possible to manually adjust resistance without Zwift. I think it would also be possible to drive without electricity. 3) You need to use the app to calibrate the machine (Zwift doesn't), so for each ride you need to open the app, connect to the machine and warm it up. set up, calibrate, unpair, start Zwift, pair, select workout, ride! quite a bit of time 4) The treadmill power connector sticks out straight and it is easy to hit or trip/pull over the power cord and damage the socket inside the machine. I read about it in one of the other reviews and tried to be careful but still managed to break it. I ended up disassembling the device, removing the broken socket and then soldering some wires which I then connected to the power cord with an external connector (see photo). I think Kinetic should reconsider their strategy of connecting energy to this unit. 5) What is the USB port on the resistance unit for? None of the documents says anything about it! Most of it is a nuisance, and a broken outlet is my fault. Given the excellent drag control, Zwift compatibility, and overall ride quality, I give it 4 stars out of 5.