kraftwerk 

Thanks Guys. I have enjoyed reading all the suggestions. Still have yet to decide, probably going to go fluid. My brother is a serious rider says I should get rollers with resistance and some kind of front wheel support until I heal up then I can ride the rollers later on and next winter. I am itching to just call my Dr. and just ask him when I can ride again..

hhnngg1

Having just recently moved out of LA myself, I completely agree. While the weather is cooperative year-round, traffic, darkness, and scheduling are definitely not in that hi-density area. Weekends are great for riding as the traffic dies down, but weekdays is no-fun, even in the early morning unless you're already remote to begin with. I rode a lot of trainer in LA year-round (but never subbed out a weekend outdoor ride for the trainer.)

Genaro

Another cool thing for me is, I have a 3 yr old and if my wife needs to make an appointment or go somewhere, I can jump on the trainer and watch Dora or Sesame Street with her during my intense workout - Been doing this on Saturdays. Sundays I have to get outside.

hikerinmaine

Look at the KK Rock N Roll trainer, it's really nice and I gave away all my other trainers after getting it. I found a deal on one locally for $329 and while it was more than my other trainers, it's been worth it. There is just no substitute when you toss it into a high gear and stand on the bike, tossing it like you would when sprinting or kicking a big hill. I have it set in front of a TV in the spare room and it's easy to swap bikes (the wife rides too) with just a flick of a lever. Most of the time I want to finish the movie, so I'll just sit there and pedal.

If you do get this, opt for the additional rotating front riser block since a standard block doesn't shift well with the rest of the bike.

generalkdi

I have a KK R&R and I'm pretty happy with it. I had the same questions and endded up going for a Fluid. Then I searched for the best fluid and ended up going for a KK!

nhluhr

Every resistance trainer in the world is "low resistance" if you ride it in a low gear.

It's worth knowing how each type of trainer generates resistance to make your choice.

With a wind trainer (See: Kurt Kinetic Cyclone or CycleOps Wind), it's really straightforward. You have basically a small centrifugal fan (impeller) that you spin and the act of blowing air is the resistance. These obviously don't have problems with heat in the resistance unit but they tend to be very loud. They do have a fairly versatile resistance curve, although the power curve won't be quite realistic, you can still reach very high resistance at high speeds. Again, these are durable, simple, and LOUD.

With a mag trainer (See Computrainer, Tacx i-series, CycleOps Mag and Magneto, etc), you have various methods of generating resistance. There are electronically controlled units that use eddy-current braking to alter the resistance, but these are extremely expensive (think Computrainer, Tacx i-series, etc). Then you have simpler units that just have magnets passing each other (Examples of these are getting harder to find). The problem with this setup is the resistance is 100% linear. If the magnets are fixed-distance, the total power is based on how many interactions per time unit and so resistance starts out too high at low speed but then at high speed isn't high enough. For many people this is fine but particularly for stronger riders, they find themselves over-running the resistance curve at higher speeds. Most mag units (CycleOps Mag+, Kurt Kinetic Magnetic) include a manual adjustment (moving the magnet poles closer together to increase resistance) but again this will still be a linear resistance (just steeper slope). More advanced mag units (CycleOps Magneto, Giant Cyclotron Auto) have centrifugal based progressivity that allows the magnets to get closer based on centrifugal force, creating a more outdoor-like curve. So as the speed increases, the magnets get closer together so you have not only the rate-based increase but also the distance-based increase. Still though, the range of these is limited and after the initial ramp, you'll be out of the progressive portion of the range into a more linear part and it'll act like a normal high-resistance linear mag unit. See https://www.cycleops.cz/files/trainers.pdf for a detailed look at how each style will act. Also, moving parts mean potential failures. My 6 year old Giant Cyclotron Auto has started to have problems. Not sure what's going wrong but i'm running out of gear on workouts where I need to go higher than FTP. I'm guessing the magnets have stopped moving inside the unit and are stuck in a lower resistance position.

With a fluid trainer (Kurt RoadMachine, CycleOps Fluid2, etc), the resistance is based on an impeller rotating through a viscous fluid. Like a wind trainer, these will have naturally progressive resistance curves more closely approximating the speed vs resistance feel of outdoor riding. A significant improvement fluid trainers offer over wind is the sound of silence. They can be very quiet depending on how they are made. The main things to look for on a fluid unit are going to be build quality (leak-prevention features) and cooling (keeping the resistance curve stable). Depending on the design, the main failure mode of a fluid resistance unit might be leaking. Certain trainers have long warrantys to allay this fear or they have a design that inherently eliminates this possibility (Kurt Kinetic). Also, since many viscous fluids will change viscosity with respect to temperature (and generating resistance generates heat), and heat can also deteriorate bushings/bearings/etc, you need a model that will reject heat as fast as you can make it. I think all the CycleOps models have small fans to blow air over the cooling fins on the resistance unit while the Kurt models just have much larger cooling fins. Generally though, you're going to have a big ****ing fan blowing on YOU to keep you cool during the workout so as long as the resistance unit has lots of large cooling fins, it should be fine. I mentioned leak-proofness as a selling point for the Kurt Kinetic fluid trainers. I think they have a cutaway at the Seattle REI that demonstrates this but basically the fluid and impeller are 100% enclosed with no axles or any other penetrations into the casing. The drive torque from your tire is coupled through strong rare-earth magnets. Having no o-rings or labyrinth seals to worry about means this fluid trainer cannot possibly leak. Somebody posted here just the other day that they had another brand trainer that magically lost all its fluid.

There are some feature considerations that concern all types of trainers too. Frame stiffness, ease of use, and flywheel weight. Generally, frame stiffness is 'good enough' with all but the crappiest department store trainers. It could be argued that a too-stiff trainer frame could just move those stresses into your bicycle frame and stress the frame in ways it wasn't built to resist. Indeed, there are trainers out there that allow for lateral rocking motion to prevent the possibility of hurting your bike frame. Ease of use varies. I don't think it gets any easier than the enormous quick-cam lever on the Giant Cyclotron, but the CycleOps and Kurt units are pretty good too. One thing that you'll feel every time you ride is the flywheel. The flywheel is what keeps the trainer turning through your pedal-stroke's dead spots. If for example you are doing one-leg drills, doing it on a trainer with no flywheel will be very difficult while doing it on a trainer with a big flywheel will be relatively easy. One thing is for certain, larger diameter and heavier flywheels feel more like real outdoor riding because they create more of that coasting feeling. I suspect though that having the smaller flywheel may also train your legs to pedal through the deadspots more effectively, developing a rounder pedal stroke. You'll find detractors of this idea too. The nice thing about the Kurt Road Machine is they give you the option of using the standard flywheel (still a relatively effective 6+lb large-diameter disk, more rotationally momentous than most, 15-second coast down from 20mph) or add on their additional "Pro Flywheel" (60-second coast-down from 25mph).

hhnngg1

Holy crap that was a long and detailed post.

awesome

oespinoza83

I have had a CycleOps Fluid 2 (got it off CL for a steal) and have loved it ever since I rode. I spun on a KK once and while it felt good, I just wasn't a fan of it's HUGE footprint. The thing is a monster.

WhyFi

wut.

nhluhr

He's talking about the KK Rock N Roll, which is indeed huge. The Road Machine is absolutely traditional in size.

WhyFi

I figured that might be the case, but assumed that only an idiot would fail to specify that when offering such an apples-to-oranges comparison.

insylem

I just googled trainers and read about that one. It seemed neat and was about to post a question about it when I searched. Then found this. So maybe if I get one, I'll get that one.

DGozinya

With EVERY trainer, remember to get out of the saddle every 10-15 minutes....make believe it is Contador tryin to jump you, Schleck advancing before he deploys the chute, whatever, just GET OUT OF THE SADDLE! With this tactic, you can enjoy trainer rides longer than 30 minutes, maybe even 90-120.

insylem

N00be Question: Why is that important? What happens if you dont?

ClydesMoose

Your ass gets tired. Its good to stand up every now and then. Being on the trainer is different than being on the road, you don't move around on the seat nearly as much.

At least I don't.

jbchybridrider 

My vintage 80's trainer is the bees knees, realistic to ride blows plenty wind over the front of me and all parts are from real bikes so I can keep this puppy going for ever!
Currently running a mix of Campy Record Shimano 600 and 3ttt parts

Gramercy

If I have a chance to pick up a travel trac fluid trainer for under $100, should I jump on it? When you guys bought trainers, would you bring your bike to a LBS and try out a few? Do they let you do that? I was going to call and ask but I'm not even sure if the LBS in the area have them lying around.

Gramercy

Also, can you use any sort of apps like Strava on a stationary trainer? How does that work? I assume you have to manually upload data?

Ghost Ryder

I have Cyclops fluid2, but now wish I went with the KK rock &.l roll. This lil gimmick makes it seem like I'd enjoy training out of the saddle more.
My cyclops gets the job done when needed.

nhluhr

If you have a power meter and/or speed/cadence sensors, the data will still be collected on your garmin for upload to strava. If you leave it marked as "Stationary Trainer" when you upload it, the "miles" won't be counted in your monthly/annual/alltime totals. It is nice though to use it to look at your intervals during the trainer session if you don't already have something like trainingpeaks, etc.

Perhaps a better utility for use with a stationary trainer is a website called TrainerRoad that uses speed data from your ANT+ sensors (like the Garmin one) and correlates that to popular trainers' known power curves to give you virtual power. It overlays on your computer screen so you can also watch netflix or sufferfest or whatever gets you off.

Basically, get at minimum a speed sensor for use with a trainer.

bobones

A contrary view:

You can put 520w into a Tacx Satori (inexpensive mag trainer) at 60rpm whereas a KK Road Machine will top out at around 320w at 60rpm in 53x11 so it's a myth that (all) mag trainers are too weak. Graeme Obree (the Flying Scot) recommends magnetic trainers above all else for their consistency in his book, "The Obree Way". As for the KK being accurate or even consistent over temperature changes? Here's some anecdotal evidence to the contrary https://www.cyclingforums.com/t/48336...curve-too-high

Ghost Ryder

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/10/2...endations.html

dissident

KK road machine and sennheiser HD 280 pro headphones really block the noise out nicely.

Gramercy

Any thoughts on the Ascent fluid trainer? $130 including shipping from Nashbar right now.

Kopsis

Depends on how you plan to use it. Most inexpensive fluid trainers will eventually start leaking at the shaft seals. Kurt Kinetics avoid this by using a rare-earth magnet coupling to a completely isolated impeller in the fluid chamber. The amount of mileage you plan to put on the trainer will determine whether this matters.

The other negative is that there doesn't appear to be any published data on the Ascent's power curve. Trainers that have a documented (and reasonably consistent) power curve allow you to do power-based training programs with nothing more than a bike speedometer and graph of the trainer's power curve. If you're only interested in endurance miles or heart rate based training, then this may not be important to you. I find that knowing my power output (or lack thereof) is one of the few ways to get me motivated to really push myself on the trainer