Review on Wahoo Fitness KICKR Headwind: Ultimate Training Companion in Sleek Black by Dustin Miller

I was very skeptical about spending so much money on a fan. In my previous setup I had a ceiling fan running as well as a stalled spinning fan pointing at me about 6ft away. I thought that was enough and didn't realize how inadequate it was until I started using Headwind. The headwind can be controlled in three ways. You can use the Wahoo Fitness app on your phone/tablet to control it manually, you can use the heart rate sensor paired with the ventilator to control it based on your heart rate, or you can use a compatible Wahoo Kickr trainer pair and get A trainer controls fan speed based on bike speed. Controlling via the app is pretty simple. The headwind could be seen immediately by the application and is controlled using the slider. My Wahoo Kickr trainer is older so I can't control the headwind. But I don't think it would be helpful as I don't care about realistic wind when riding with my trainer. I'm worried about staying cool. For example, if I'm only going at 8 km/h but climbing 12%, I'm using a lot of energy to move forward, so a 8 km/h wind won't cool me down much. I found controlling the fan speed with my heart rate was the most desirable solution. Pairing is pretty easy, and there's a guide on how to do it, so I won't go into too much detail here. Once paired, I can go to the Wahoo Fitness app and set the band I want it to work on. I set the speed to 95 bpm and the max speed is 155 bpm. My maximum heart rate is 178 beats per minute, so that's a little lower. I've been using Headwind for about a week now. I hold it about 5 feet in front of the bike so I can feel the air on my chest and face. Ejects a lot of air at full speed! Much more than my ceiling fan or other fan could offer. And since it's connected to my HRM, I just put the strap on and the fan turns on automatically when it sees my heart rate. It's that easy! So when I start a ride, the fan blows very lightly, but when I put in a lot more energy and my heart rate goes up, the fan speed increases with it. I've seen reports that people who have tables (which I don't have) in front of their bikes block air and may need to place the Kickr on the side instead of in front of them. Overall I am very happy with this purchase. That's a lot of money and I hope it pays off over time. If so, this is a great purchase and a great addition to my Cave of Pain.