I've been meaning to get an indoor smart trainer for a while. I ruptured my ACL and partly tore my LCL and MCL a couple of months ago and I have surgery coming in three weeks.
My PT says light cycling on an exercise bike would be good for rehab before I am strong enough to actually ride outside. So I am wondering if I should get a trainer now for low- or no-resistance work. I am looking at the Wahoo Kickr Core 2 and wondering if it can work for knee rehab and then later as a real smart trainer with Zwift or similar.
I would like to just use the trainer in "dumb" mode for rehab - I'd like to avoid subscribing to Zwift and setting up a tablet or monitor until I can make full use of it. I figure I'd need little or no resistance, just a way to get some movement as I recover for a few months
Does anyone know how low the resistance is on a Kickr Core 2 if it is not paired to an app and is just working in dumb mode? Does this seem like a reasonable way to get some PT rehab work but still have a decent smart trainer proper use for later on? And if I do this should I just get one with the cassette or with the Zwift cog? (I don't quite understand how the Zwift cog works)
I don't know anyone with a trainer and I have never actually put my hands on one or seen how the mechanism works. So, I am hoping someone can advise if this is a sensible way to solve both my immediate need for light low resistance after surgery and my long term need for a trainer to use with Zwift as one would normally do. Thanks!