Fifty Plus (50+) - Indoor trainer- Give me a clue

I wife and I have been thinking about an indoor trainer.
I have no clue. Help me.

http://emails.nashbar.com/viewmailerservlet?d=6426_15123_6339_6339_6336_6366&e=curtis@corlew.com/

Nashbar sent me this 50% off thing. But Magnetic? Fluid? What's the difference, and do I care? I'm pretty sure the wind ones are loud, after that I need advice.

I am price sensitive. We don't race. I'm looking for the sweet spot where I get reasonable quality, but perhaps no bells and whistles.

Hints?

Having used both magnetic and fluid I would strongly recommend fluid. They are quieter and better at simulating road riding.

Why fluid? The liquid (oil) acts as the wind. The faster you go the more resistance you get. Fluid trainers don't have a lever to adjust resistance, the liquid does the work. You only use your regular shifters to increase or reduce the workload.

I have a Kinetic Road Machine, it's really nice. Solid, relatively quiet, and it will never leak. It's the only fluid trainer that will never leak due to its construction. The other good fluid trainer is the CycleOps Fluid2, this one can leak but it seems this #2 design is a lot better.

But a warning. Trainer is never equal to being on the road yet it's probably better than getting wet but may be not by much. It can be extremely boring yet it can also be very efficient. Some watch movies while on the thing, for me what works are the Spinervals DVDs. Great workouts.

My recommendation would be to get rollers. The best and quietest use metal (not plastic) drums. The smaller the drums, the more resistance. Rollers more closely simulate road resistance, and they greatly improve your balance and your ability to ride in a straight line. Eventually, you'll get good enough to ride no hands, and to take off and put on a t-shirt while you are riding.

Rollers are really good for warmup; most of the trackies in Burnaby and in Seattle warm up between races on rollers rather than on trainers. I used to ride rollers 15-20 minutes every morning (how long it takes before you start sweating). When I was in Mexico in the early 90's for an international stage race, you'd always see the Russian team lined up on the sidewalk before breakfast, riding on the rollers.

Regardless of which way you go, rollers or trainer, it's a good idea to lay a towel over the bars and top tube when you ride. You will be sweating like a pig after 20 minutes, and sweat is very corrosive.

Luis

Thanks you two. It's my wife who's really interested. I did rollers in the 70s and a crappy wind trainer in the 80s. It's not my favorite. But she wants to give it a shot, so we will.

Fluid trainers are far from quiet, but they are much closer than the magnetic type.

While I prefer rollers, I also have a Cycleops Fluid 2 trainer and it has performed very well. I like to sprint and simulate climbs out of the seat and lighter built trainers (Blackburn) have a tendency to spread and drop the skewer.

...

I have a Kinetic Road Machine, it's really nice. Solid, relatively quiet, and it will never leak. It's the only fluid trainer that will never leak due to its construction.

+1 ^^^

Got my first trainer (KK RnR) and I completely agree with most of the positive reviews I read about that brand. Have had it for about a week and love it - apart from the boredom of being in the basement and not out on the road.

While I prefer rollers, I also have a Cycleops Fluid 2 trainer and it has performed very well. I like to sprint and simulate climbs out of the seat and lighter built trainers (Blackburn) have a tendency to spread and drop the skewer.


I also have a Cycleops Jet Fluid Trainer. Quiet enough that I don't need to increase the volume on the TV. Love mine.

I have both the fluid and magnetic Cycleops trainers. http://www.saris.com/p-309-fluid.aspx

The magnetic is noisy and the loading linear but resistance is adjustable so you can use the easy setting for faster cadence. The fluid is quieter and the loading is expotential. For indoor applications while listening to music or watching video, I would go of a fluid trainer.

I'd love to help you, but as those who know me will attest, I am without a clue. sans clue, bereft of clues. In short, I'm clueless.

You might want to check out this thread: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=597103. There I recommended a cross trainer that I use as well as cycling. It is great exercise.

I have a Performance adjustable fluid trainer and Performance rollers. I find a use for both during the indoor training season. Performance warranties the equipment forever and it is 1/2 the price of higher end units. The fluid trainer offers resistance while the rollers help develop the pedal stroke and handling skills.

If you are using a multi-geared bike you don't really need an adjustable resistance fluid trainer. I take my bike and trainer to an indoor cycling class where the adjustable function helps. The class instructor creates the drills and intervals based on the Cyclops Fluid's resistance curve. In order to have the same resistance I have to set the Performance adjustable trainer to the 2nd level, not a big deal I could just drop a gear if I didn't have the adjustable.

I wife and I have been thinking about an indoor trainer.
I have no clue. Help me.

http://emails.nashbar.com/

Nashbar sent me this 50% off thing. But Magnetic? Fluid? What's the difference, and do I care? I'm pretty sure the wind ones are loud, after that I need advice.

I am price sensitive. We don't race. I'm looking for the sweet spot where I get reasonable quality, but perhaps no bells and whistles.

Hints?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WANTED: Not a darn thing. I've got it all. Life is good.

If you've got it all, and life is good, why the question?? :D

Seriously, thanks for asking. :thumb: I've been thinking about the same thing.

If you've got it all, and life is good, why the question?? :D

Seriously, thanks for asking. :thumb: I've been thinking about the same thing.


OK, shhhhhhh. I'm thinking Christmas for my sweety. I'd generally rather ride in the rain. But she's tough.

My recommendation would be to get rollers. The best and quietest use metal (not plastic) drums. The smaller the drums, the more resistance. Rollers more closely simulate road resistance, and they greatly improve your balance and your ability to ride in a straight line. Eventually, you'll get good enough to ride no hands, and to take off and put on a t-shirt while you are riding.

Rollers are really good for warmup; most of the trackies in Burnaby and in Seattle warm up between races on rollers rather than on trainers. I used to ride rollers 15-20 minutes every morning (how long it takes before you start sweating). When I was in Mexico in the early 90's for an international stage race, you'd always see the Russian team lined up on the sidewalk before breakfast, riding on the rollers.

Regardless of which way you go, rollers or trainer, it's a good idea to lay a towel over the bars and top tube when you ride. You will be sweating like a pig after 20 minutes, and sweat is very corrosive.

Luis

Don't forget the learning curve with rollers. I like them also but initially not for the feint of heart.

You might take a look at the 1up trainers.

+1 on there being a learning curve with rollers. FWIW, I always thought of rollers as being for racers or the very hard-core and overkill for just getting/staying in shape. I use a Blackburn fluid trainer (purchased used on eBay) and HRM for intervals to maintain my hard-won conditioning during the winter.

Assuming you go with a fluid trainer, invest in a 'home trainer' rear tire too. Trainers can wear out a tire in a matter of weeks or months. Continental and Vittoria make them. They're made of a hard rubber compound. (Do NOT ever use one on the road! Highly unsafe.) Mine's going on its third year of regular use with little perceptable wear. Howver, they can be a bear to mount and remove. You might want to leave that to the LBS, or get a tire jack tool (http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cgi?id=290490616559&d=single&c=Tools&sc=Tire-and-Tube&tc=Tire-Levers&item_id=KS-TJ) for mounting difficult tires.

My recommendation would be to get a really cheap trainer with a note saying that after 30 days of use, if she wants better ones you'll buy her what she wants. If she's happy with the cheap one, then you'll take her away somewhere for a weekend of riding in perfect weather. I've seen too many people invest in relatively expensive trainers to discover that they hate them, and the trainer simply ends up collecting dust in a corner somewhere.

Has anyone used a 1 up trainerhttp://www.1upusa.com/bike_trainer.html?

Has anyone used a 1 up trainerhttp://www.1upusa.com/bike_trainer.html?

I've got one. It's on its third year without any problems whatsoever. I put the Conti training tire on for for the duration of winter. With the tire, it is very quiet.

I would get one again.

Two years ago we got a Cycle-Ops. It's loud.

Last year we got a Kurt Kinetic. It's quiet.

They're both boring. I watch a Cyclo-core or Coach Troy Video (that came with the Kinetic) or unleash a playlist from one of my Spinning classes. :eek: It's easier to ride base miles in the rain than to be warm, dry, and suffering indoors.

My vote is for a fluid trainer; esthetically it's more pleasing.

almost 40 years and I still haven't found a better option than a good set of rollers
Cadence, controll, maintaining a straight line. No other indoor trainer will allow you to hone those skills as well as a set of rollers.

KK road machine. While it is described as "quiet", that's a relative term. The flaw in all trainers and rollers is just the boredom factor, and I find that the biggest problem. In the winter I find spin classes, even though they are unstructured from one class to the next, a better way to keep some edge for spring. They're much less boring, so I'm willing to do it more...

If I get a trainer, will my family be safe? I am fearfull....:)

Here's my trainer update from my blog post.

Tricia had been talking about getting a trainer. I thought I'd get her one for Christmas and started researching them. I'd decieded on fluid rather than wind or magnetic, and the Kinetic got the the best reviews. It also appears to have earned the "least likely to leak" award.

Then I found an ad on Craigslist for this Road Machine at a reasonable price. Heck with waiting for Christmas. I bought it.

It set up easily, and we just finished installing Tricia's first road bike (her Trek 1500) on it.

I haven't tried it with my Kestrel yet. I don't know if I'll turn out to be much of an indoor cycling guy, but I'll give it a shot. Rumor has it that indoor riding can be good for short suffer-fests that result in increased strength on the road, so it may be worth it.

The geek in me is looking forward to trying out Coach Troy, Chris Carmichael and Graham Street DVDs.

The geek in me is looking forward to trying out Coach Troy, Chris Carmichael and Graham Street DVDs.[/I]

I must not have that part in me. Nothing in me is in the least bit curious what is in whichever of those videos it was that came with my Kurt Kinetic Road Machine. It is stashed away somewhere with the cellophane wrapper intact.:)

Another use for a trainer is for an indoor recovery ride or injury recovery....simply because you can dial in your stress level more closely, predictably, and consistently. I can't stay on a trainer longer than an hour or so-- which makes it more useful for drills and structured training than logging miles. For those of us still working 9:00 to 5:00 during short winter days, it beats nothing.

Has anyone used a 1 up trainerhttp://www.1upusa.com/bike_trainer.html?

I bought a 1up usa acouple of years ago after shattering my femur in a crash. As '47 said, it works very well coming back off of an injury. I started out very easy and worked up. I really like the increase in resistance as you peddle harder, and it is very quiet. Would not hesistate to buy another one, even though, with a life time warranty, I probably won't have to.
I will also be using it for rehab again as I have more surgery in Dec to fix a hip that never healed right.

I have a Kurt Kinetic, my son has a CycleOps Fluid 2. Both are good. I would be happy with either one, although my son prefers his. He uses his more (he's an active racer, I'm a relatively inactive one). I used to have a Blackburn magnetic one. Trainers have gotten a lot better.