Road Cycling - Bike Trainer's which is better?

;) With winter coming up thought about purchaseing a bike trainer for indoor workouts. Which are better the magnetic or the fluid types? And are their any with
special features that make it worth the extra money?
Can you recommend a specific brand?

Thanks,

Hi,
this is what I use.
http://www.kurtkinetic.com/editors_choice.cfm

I have the cheapest Performance fluid trainer and it has worked well for the past two seasons and so far this season. At $140, it is relatively inexpensive and of decent quality.

That said, you should search the forum. This is something that has been done several times thus far this fall.

I have the Cyclops Mag trainer for 8 years and it's great.

I would recommend the Fluid trainer if using in the house, since it much more quite.

You live near Tampa and you're wanting to get a trainer? It doesn't get that cold there!
I'm still riding in shorts and l/s jersey.

But when cold weather does get here and I don't feel like riding outside I'll get my CycleOps Magneto trainer out of storage.

And now for something completely different......

1up trainers. They are not magnetic or fluid.
http://www.1upusa.com/bike_trainer.html

I have one and love it. It gives a very realistic feel. You use the bikes gears, not a resistance setting, so there is no spinning at 35mph withiout breaking a sweat. What speed you can do on the road is what you will get on this. It is relatively quiet (you can watch TV at a reasonable volume level). Easy to set up. Folds up easily and no maintenance. The workmanship is basically like a piece of art.

One slight problem. They don't give them away. If you are looking for cheap.......you ain't gonna find it here. But, you will never have to buy another trainer.

Anybody else have trouble with Avalanche's link?

I'd like to see that trainer, but I get the dreaded "page cannot be displayed' message.

Works okay for me... Anyway, here's a picture of the trainer:

There are a few trainers out there that don't contact the rear tire, but contact the wheel rim on both sides. You can adjust them for any bike or tire, and I've been told they're pretty quiet.

Thanks, Grendel. (The link now works for me, too.)

How much wear (if any) will a trainer cause on your rear tire? Is there a big difference in designs in that regard (as Dchiefransom suggests)?

Some trainers can be pretty hard on tires, depending I guess on the roller tension and roller size. I have a couple of old tires that I can swap out and use for trainer 'mileage'. I'm looking into getting one soon, or maybe a health club membership to get me through what passes for winter here. Although it doesn't get very cold we do get a lot of sloppy, wet weather in Jan-Feb.