General Cycling Discussion - Bike trainers......

My son would like to buy a trainer to use in the winter time. I know zip about trainers but I told him I try to find a few good reasonably priced trainers for him to choose from.

He rides a Kona MTB he bought two years ago so it's pretty new as bikes go.

I'm open to any reasonable advice that I can share with him.....

What say you??????

Look for a used 1. Some people just hate them, and can't wait to sell them.
The magnetic ones are noisier than than the fluid ones, and he'll know how he feels about them after he tries one.

cyclops makes a good one, so does graber.

there are different types, fluid, mag, air.

fluid is smoother, more expensive, mag (magnetic) is usually less expensive and usually will be good enough, and air is not bad but not awesome.

brand new, you are looking at $200 - $300, depending on what you get.

upper price point offers a computer interface, so more like a Bike riding game to play ..

I'd probably go with blackburn, cyclops or kurt kinetic. They seem to really stand behind their products. Magnetic trainers are fine. Fluid is the way to go with noise, smoothness & resistance but tends to cost more. Just starting out ? go magnetic with an ally roller & be sure to get a cheap slick tire. It will cut down quite a bit on noise & save his good trail tire.

all the above is good advice, in particular the "buy a used one". Buy a slick tire to use on trainer, and cheap box fan, to cool you off while training, otherwise you just overheat and sweat tons. I listen to loud '70s rock...to set a good tempo...so a loud trainer is fine for me

I paid $100 for a Cycleops Mag Trainer on Craiglist. I use a beater bike (also bought on CL). I also bought a set of bike rollers. I have to say, I hate the bike trainer and want to get rid of it but it's such a pain to ship. I wouldn't buy new unless you think he will really use it

I have a CycleOps JetFluid PRO and I love it. It was just under $400 at the LBS, although you can probably find them online cheaper. I researched quite a bit before I bought and I'd definitely go with a fluid trainer. Like most things, people get frustrated or lose interest in using them if the quality isn't there.

Also, since he's using a mountain bike, I'd recommend getting an extra rear wheel and mounting a slick tire on it. It's much easier to swap a wheel than a tire.

Folk's since it's best to remove the middle man (me) from relaying info in this thread to my son I sent him the thread link so he can read it all for himself.

I haven't talked with him in the last couple of days but I'm sure he's been reading your input on this topic. Thanks.........

I can't say that fluid is quieter. My fluid trainer is just as noisy as my mag trainer. But the mag one is adjustable and the fluid one is not.

noise? I have a rim-driven trainer thats, well, not silent, but damn near! its a Minoura magTurbo, that I got off craigslist for 60 bucks.Its magnetic friction, and the adjustments dont work real well, but it was well worth 60.