trainer use - Kurt Kinetic

[mpete631702]

Hi folks --

I'm hoping someone more experienced than me can give me a bit of advice about trainers!

I just bought a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine trainer (http://www.kurtkinetic.com/roadmachine.php). Wasn't cheap, but people on this site and at my local bike shop seemed to think it's one of the best trainers around. During the long Minnesota winters I put in a few miles on a trainer, so I figured it was worth it.

But now I have a worry about it, which is that it doesn't seem to offer enough resistance. I tried it for the first time last night, pumped up my tires, set the thing up, hopped on, and found I could gear all the way up, whizz along, and barely break a sweat after 1/2 hour.

So I'm wondering whether there's some adjustment I'm missing, or what I can do to make it more challenging. My old magnetic trainer had adjustable resistance, but this one doesn't seem to. I tried using the hand screw to press the trainer's roller more tightly against my tire, and that did increase the difficulty level, but then the resistance was very uneven and jerky.

Thanks for any advice!!

Best,

Mary P.

[smoke]

i haven't had the 'uneven and jerky' problem. i do crank set the resistance at different levels for different rides. i set it about where they recommend when i'm doing a recovery spin. a little higher for aerobic work. wa-a-a-ay high for a climbing workout

[late]

Something is wrong. Their trainers provide resistance similar to what you would see on the road. Call Kurt, explain the situation, they will take care of the problem.

[tippy]

I have one and the only adjustment is the friction adjust to the tire. It has no load adjustment other than the RPM the unit spins at (the faster - the harder - just like real road affects).

Could it be the roller is not tight enough to the tire, you could spin the tire on the roller. When I shift to a very low gear, I can spin the tire on the roller. Your not hearing rubber screeching are you?

What kind of bike do you have on the trainer? Is it a low-ish geared bike (MTB) or a higher geared bike (road). What's your "high" gear number?

What was your cadence at the high gear? The trainer's resistance increases as its RPM increases. If you were doing (very) low cadence in high gear, the resistance might not have been as high as you would feel at high cadence.

I have my TREK 1000 mounted on the trainer and when I go high gear, I definitely feel it.

Well, if the tire is not slipping on the roller for some reason or another, I'd have to say something is defective with the trainer.

Good Luck,
d.tipton

[mpete631702]

Thanks for the advice, folks! I've been trying to find the right amount of pressure of the roller on the tire, but am really having the "uneven and jerky" problem if I put much pressure on at all.

In answer to your questions, tippy, I haven't had any problem with the tire spinning on the roller, and the bike is a Bianchi Giro road bike, plenty high-geared, I think! I don't know what my high gear number is -- are you thinking of the number of teeth? And I was spinning pretty fast when I tried it, in the highest gear.

One more question: do you think it could have to do with my rear tire? It's a bit old, and maybe it's uneven and causing the uneven and jerky feel?

Thanks again for all the help!!

Best,

Mary P.

[late]

Mary,
I screw the roller down until it doesn't slip when
I pull fast on the spokes. But you really should call Kurt Kinetic.
They can walk you through the problem. And if the trainer is defective, they'll get you a new one. My experience when I first got it was that it was too draggy. I was used to stop lights and downhill glides. The trainer never lets up, and the thighs just burned to a crisp.