Trainer for the winter months
 

Any suggestions for a good trainer for the winter months? I have heard that some trainers tear your bike up a bit. Not really psyched about that after having just spent $1700 on a new R1000. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have used a fair number of trainers over the years: wind, magnetic, and fluid resistance and none of them, not one, tore up the bike at all. Now I think I had one that tore up the tire a little but that really was not a big deal.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=38623

Try that thread, and might try the search as well. I am leaning towards a Cateye CS-1000 which will measure distance, watts, etc.

Hi,
I recently got a Kurt Kinetics trainer. It's good, expensive, take a look at the reviews on their website.

I purchased a 1up trainer (1upUSA.com) after reading reviews on roadbikereview.com. It was rated a top trainer on this site. It's everything the reviews say and more. Quiet, smooth, and really provides a feel as close to a rode ride as possible. Not cheap but well worth it.

I think most of the trainers that just clamp your rear axle are fine. You might want to use an old QR skewer, but I don't think it damages them. Some trainers had you remove your front tire and clamp your fork to a support (don't see them much anymore). Those tended to cause a lot of stress on the fork and frame, and often led to "indexed steering", because you never (in fact, couldn't!) changed the direction of the handlebars. Regardless, when the bike is mounted in a trainer, you should straddle the frame, then climb on to the pedals keeping your weight centered over the bike, as opposed to clipping in from the side and throwing a leg over.

Most people seem to prefer fluid resistance over mag or wind, because the resistance is more realistic. I've got a Performance TravelTrac Millenium fluid trainer. No great shakes, but I have no complaints.