magohn

Hi all,

With the darker nights closing in and living in an area that gets lots of icy days, Im contemplating an indoor trainer for "occasional use". Im a big "ride in any weather" guy but I wont ride in ice/snow as the trepidation of riding in ice is counter-intuitive to a good workout where I can push myself to a sweat. So this weekend Ive been actively looking for a good used Kurt Kinetic or a Cycleops 2 Fluid trainer. However, 4 yrs ago, on a Costco whim, I bought this $100 Schwinn trainer:

https://www.amazon.com/Schwinn-1031R-.../dp/B000AAYC8G

Its a mag trainer that I used twice in 2007 and it almost killed me as I found it very difficult (extremely out of shape and not riding at all). I put it away and never used it again. So today, I mounted the Roubaix on it and did 20 mins as a test. Jeepers - the sweat was pouring off me with pools of sweat literally gathering under the bike. I was happy though as I was way stronger than I was 4 yrs ago when I was not cycling regularly and once I got my cadence going, I settled into a nice rhythm. I kept my cadence around 85 and my HR around zone 150bpm.

So my question is, will I benefit from buying one of the more modern "fluid" type trainers or is what I have so close that it wont make a difference. One big advantage in getting the Cycleops is the "quick-mount" system - I could mount the bike on and off in seconds if Iwanted to use the Roubaix on the road. The schwinn is more of a manual adjust and feel setup that takes 5 mins or so....

The $ isnt that big of a deal as I have seen both trainers for less than $180 - gently used and I could probably get $60 for the schwinn as its had close to zero use. So we are talking around a $100 to upgrade.

Thoughts?

Thanks all.

gunner65

I bought a cycleops off craiglist $75 and love it, well I love it as much as you can love a trainer. I have not other experience to compare it to. I put an hour a day on it 4-5 days a week last winter.

ClydesMoose

I have a Kurt Kinetic and its awesome. Super quiet, and the quick release on the one side is a very nice feature. Good resistance and feel too.

CliftonGK1

If you really want to improve over the winter, get a pair of rollers. There's zero mounting time; just set the bike on top of them and start going. You'll start the year with better balance and smoother, higher cadence than just using a stationary trainer. I picked up the Nashbar parabolic (the cheap red ones) for $120 on sale and haven't regretted the decision.

ill.clyde

Those are the ones I'm looking at

magohn

Thanks for the replies guys.

Cyclemoose - I thought the KK did not have the quick-release system but more of a screw-in type lock? Thats the main reason why Im looking at the Cycleops

Clifton - I worry about rollers and falling off them! I just have visions of losing my balance and shooting through the drywall in the garage

ahultin

Dont know your weight so dont know if it makes a difference or not but when I bought my cyclops i called around to all of the companies that I had available and found most are rated no more then 250lbs while the cyclops was rated to 1200

magohn

Thanks so much for the information - Im 288lbs so that is good to know!

CliftonGK1

Don't worry much about rocketting off into the wall; I had a horrible time with a first try back in college, and then despite that I went and bought the Nashbar set. It took me all of a week before I was confident enough to move them out of the doorframe.
Here's my vid of first time back on them so you get an idea of how to set yourself up in a doorframe for maximum stability. (Now all I do is set them up, stand on the side step, and get pedalling with one foot to stabilize myself before clipping in my second foot.)

ill.clyde

Is that liquid courage in the jar?

Biggziff

Wow...are they as noisy as they sound in the video? I bought a few sets to try and mine were nearly silent.

magohn

Thanks Clifton - that was a great video. Unfortunately, I know myself and I dont have enough focus to keep the bike pointing forwards like that.
Thanks again for sharing.

CliftonGK1

Listen to how loud it is when I clip in to my pedal, too. The VholdR/Contour cams love to pick up and amplify ambient noise. That's why all my race videos sound like a coffee can full of change dumped down a garbage disposal in the middle of a hurricane.

markm109

I've used a Kurt Kinetic for about 5 years and passed it along to my wife last winter when I picked up one of these at my LBS.

https://www.lemondfitness.com/product...ond-revolution

It is much more stable than the Kurt Kinetic, and feels very realistic - I feel like I'm actually on the road. The only thing I don't like is when you get really moving, the fan is very loud. I'm not sure why there is a fan as the heavy flywheel provides all the resistance as far as I can tell. The cassette it came with was 10sp so I had to swap it with an extra 9sp I had laying around. It's very easy to pop a bike in and out, put the wheel back on and away I go outside. No worries about wearing out tires. It is a bit expensive though.

gunner65

and you would think for nearly $600 it would come with a 9spd cassette.

Jaytron

I'm actually picking up a set of rollers soon myself. It's going to be fun.

RichardGlover

HTFU and just ride through the winter.

magohn

As stated - I do. I rode all through last winter and it was a lot of fun (avg of - 75 miles per week). However, through the winter, we had a good 5-6 weeks of sheet ice on our roads (I live in a rural community) that would just be dumb to attempt to ride on.

The Lemmond trainer looks good but I dont really want to take my whole wheel off as I will be switching out the bike regularly.

Thanks all.

gunner65

Anybody can get caught in it but only a fool goes out in it. I like to stay off the bike when it gets below say 35F. Being miserable is just not fun and I really dont want cycling to be not fun.

CliftonGK1

There's also a difference between the weather where you are, and up here where we are. I lived over your way for a while and remember a lot more snow every year than I've seen in all 7 years I've lived in the Seattle area. I didn't do much outside riding in the winter when I lived in Cincinnati, but here you typically just need a heavy base layer and good rain gear.
I agree with the OP, though. When we do get snow/ice, the city is so poorly prepared for it that the best course of action is to stay home unless you own a 4x4 with chains. Or a snowmobile.

oldschoolbiker

+1 on rollers

magohn

Thanks all - REI was having a 20% sale so I picked up a new cycleops fluid 2 for $270. I love it! Very slick and rock solid.

Thanks for all your help!