Road Cycling - Best type of cycle trainer

I'm thinking of buying a cycle trainer. I have used a trainer that works by rubbing a friction wheel against the side rim of the wheel - I was worried that this could cause the wheel to buckle if used for an extended period. Are the trainers that run against the tread of the tire any better or worse? What are the pros and cons of each type and what is the best brand to get?

I like the Kurt Kinetic 'Road Machine'. It's bullet proof and a great trainer. Will last you many years of hard training. About 350.00 last I checked...so it's a bit more expensive...but it's built better than the Cyclops and other mass produced machines. It's a fluid trainer with a 'leak proof' chamber...and it is whisper quiet. Feels like the road!
http://www.kurtkinetic.com/

The best trainer you can buy is a Heart Rate Moniter.

Why do you want a trainer when summer is just starting?

perhaps he lives in oz where winter is just starting :)

Why do you want a trainer when summer is just starting?

In three months winter will be starting. It's good to plan ahead.

Have you considered rollers? If not, it might be worth your time to do so before making any final decisions.

55/Rad

I second the rollers statement. No stress on frame or tires.
Alot of trainers, regardless of make model etc. will cause tires to wear
fast requiring either different wheels/tires for trainer, or buying alot of tires.
I have both fluid trainer and rollers and don't really use the trainer anymore.

planning ahead is a good thing.

marty

I would recommend rollers as well. No stress on your bike frame, you improve your balance and smoothen out your spin, and bike computers with front wheel mounted sensors still work :)

Depends on what you want your roller/trainer to do. Rollers are good for learning balance and smoothing out your spin technique, but they do not have anywhere near the resistence for strength improvement as the trainer has.

For about 6 months I read and asked questions in 3 different forums about rollers and trainers and the type recommended the most was the trainer; and the trainer recommended the most was the Cyclops Fluid 2. The Fluid 2 is about $100 less than the Kurt Kenetic; and for even the best of riders your not going to max out the wattage rating of 750. Lance Armstrong's sustained power output for 1 hour is 450 watts, so do you think you can do more? Of course not, and Kurt Kenetic advertises 2,500 watts? Your never going to get close to that!! Don't get me wrong, I think the Kurt Kenetic is a excellent machine but it's an overkill. The Cyclops Fluid 2 is more in line with real world wattage output of even the elite cyclist. All Cyclops come with a lifetime warranty as well, so there's nothing to worry about.

I bought the Cyclops Fluid 2 after testing Cyclops cheaper little brothers ( and another brand with the side rim type), and found the Wind and the Magnetic just did not have that natural road feel, and the Wind was very loud; plus neither would go higher than 250 watts. But the other two, the Cyclops Magneto and the Fluid 2 were very smooth with a road feel to them; both were very quiet; but the Magneto max wattage was 450 while the Fluid 2 was 750. So I opted for the Fluid 2 so that I would always know that I have room to grow. BUT, if you don't want to spend more than $175 or so, the Magneto is the best buy.

http://www.1upusa.com/bike_trainer.html

A friend of mine raves about this trainer, and it has one stellar review after another at roadbikereviews.

The Fluid 2 is about $100 less than the Kurt Kenetic; and for even the best of riders your not going to max out the wattage rating of 750. Lance Armstrong's sustained power output for 1 hour is 450 watts, so do you think you can do more? Of course not, and Kurt Kenetic advertises 2,500 watts? Your never going to get close to that!! Don't get me wrong, I think the Kurt Kenetic is a excellent machine but it's an overkill. The Cyclops Fluid 2 is more in line with real world wattage output of even the elite cyclist. All Cyclops come with a lifetime warranty as well, so there's nothing to worry about.

I know that no one can do or sustain 2500 watts....that's not Kinetic's selling point. That statistic is just proof that Kurt is a better built machine and should hold up for many years....it's bullet proof. I have owned a few cyclops machines and they all eventually broke. I'm on the 3rd year now with the Kurt. I like 'overkill' as you say. I'll pay an extra 100 bucks for the overkill.

I have both roller and a Trainer, and I ride the rollers, more and I am trying to sell my trainers. Trainers are boring you won't see me ride on a trainers for 20 minutes, but on my rollers I would be riding it for hours, but since summer is now here, the rollers is now gather dust

Just a sidenote here, my fluid2 was an early model which
had a tendency to develope a leak in the fluid housing.
At 2 years old thats what happened, I contacted Cyclops and
they sent me a new unit, with return postage for the old one
no questions asked.
Their service is impeccable.

Marty

Just a sidenote here, my fluid2 was an early model which
had a tendency to develope a leak in the fluid housing.
At 2 years old thats what happened, I contacted Cyclops and
they sent me a new unit, with return postage for the old one
no questions asked.
Their service is impeccable.

Marty

I second the Cyclops. I agree that they tend to break easily. I had the Magnetic version for awhile and I went through 2 replacement of the resistance unit with no questions asked on replacement. When I asked if I could have the Fluid unit and how much to add, Customer rep said, no problem just send the broken magnetic unit and they'll send the fluid unit free of charge. Good CS and lifetime warranty IMO. I've had the fluid unit and no problem ever since. Yes, you will need a resistance trainer "tire" specifically for this purpose becuase you will eat through the tires really fast. Get those cheap $10-15 ones. One more thing, I started getting back to riding by riding the trainer since I can get some good quality time on it (i.e. no traffic, stop lights, etc.).

If my budget (and space) were unlimited I'd have both rollers and a high end fluid trainer. Rollers are more pleasant to ride, better for the bike, teach you good form, provide decent resistance and I find I can ride them longer. Cyclops or similar high end trainers excel at maximum strength sprint intervals which you may not want to do on the road.

I try and get out on my bike regardless of the weather, but when I'm stuck inside, it's rollers for me.

I have owned a few cyclops machines and they all eventually broke. I'm on the 3rd year now with the Kurt. I like 'overkill' as you say. I'll pay an extra 100 bucks for the overkill.

Everything eventually breaks; you say you had a few Cyclops break, did their lifetime warranty take care of it? I know plenty of riders at my LBS who ride their trainers every day in the shop who use the Cyclops Fluid 2 and the older modelsl, and they haven't broke after 3 years yet either. One lady had a 5 year old unit blow it's seal about 3 months ago and Cyclops replaced it with a updated Fluid 2 instead of just fixing it and returning it within 30 days postage paid.

so I see Cyclops Fluid 2, Kurt Kinetic and 1upsua as good trainers.. what brands/models of rollers do you guys recommend?

thanks

For rollers THE brand is Kreitler.
Expensive? yah but worth it in terms of bearings, smoothness etc.
All of the others are about on a par, and that is to say not bad.
I have a set of Minoura rollers (large drum) with Alu rollers,
much smoother than polyurethane rollers.
The other brand that I've ridden was Tacx, nice but not metal rollers.
Cyclops has rollers, not sure who manufactures them but
they are ok.

Everything eventually breaks; you say you had a few Cyclops break, did their lifetime warranty take care of it? I know plenty of riders at my LBS who ride their trainers every day in the shop who use the Cyclops Fluid 2 and the older modelsl, and they haven't broke after 3 years yet either. One lady had a 5 year old unit blow it's seal about 3 months ago and Cyclops replaced it with a updated Fluid 2 instead of just fixing it and returning it within 30 days postage paid.

Yes, they did replace the resistance unit with the lifetime warranty. In fact, I had the very old version at first (thin tube frame) and they sent me a new one (the whole unit). When the magentic resistance of that gave way, they replaced the resistance unit. When that one also gave up, I asked for the fluid and how much I should add to get it - they just replaced it with the fluid2 with no additional charge.