What type of bike trainer do you use?
 

going to be picking up a bicycle trainer, and I'm wondering what type the clydes use? My wife has a jacked up achilles and really misses riding, so i'm going to get her a trainer to help 'alleviate' the angst, and i figure it may as well be good for me too. I'm about 250#

My wife likes spin class, so one day we got her an actual spin bike from Costco. I think it was about $500. I hate the very thought of riding on a trainer OR a spin bike, but she enjoys it and uses it. It's sturdy as heck and takes up a lot less room than a bike on a trainer would, so there's that.

When I HAVE to ride inside, my trainer is a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine. Very nice fluid trainer, but I hate riding inside. It just isn't the same as putting miles on the bike outside. That said, in your case, it should scratch your itch. Checkout Craigslist in the bikes and bike parts section. I picked up mine with about 12 hours total ride time on it, skewer, video (worthless) and riser block for $150.

+1 for Kurt Kinetic Road Machine with Zwift = awesome

Don't currently have any but I prefer rollers to a trainer.

I use a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine with TrainerRoad and Sufferfest videos.

Kurt Kinetic Sufferfest videos and Trainerroad to keep me honest

I've used trainers in the past but now have an actual Spin bike, and really prefer it over a trainer...

I also use a KK Road Machine + TrainerRoad. I have the inRide Bluetooth Power Meter, which works well (especially now they added proper spin-down calibration to TR iOS app). In the non-winter months when I suspend my TR account, I still occasionally use it with the KK app, which allows you to do structured training with the inRide pod, but for free. ;)

I just had to share a chuckle I had based on the title... There is a difference between own and use. I own a trainer, and have for at least 4 or 5 years, and it has about 3 hours use on it.

However, with that said, I purchased and occasionally use a Kurt Kinetic trainer. I picked it because it was approved for use with a tandem, so I figured it would hold me.It works well, it is just that I can't tolerate riding a trainer... I still hope to develop the discipline to do it, but not so far.

Over the winter I started doing SufferFest videos... made riding indoors so much more bearable and productive... Huge fan of them...

I agree, riding on a trainer pretty much sucks. But with the long winter both my legs and my gut thanked me for it this spring. ;)

It may be just our model but I'm not a fan of the weighted flywheel... someday I'll do some measuring and see if I can get it set up like my road bike but I'm just not comfortable on that thing.

I picked up a cycle ops 2 for $75 from goodwill. The had it for sale as a rowing machine attachment? I don't use it as much as I should, but when I do use it, I put it on the patio and put a nice fan on the patio table in front of me to simulate that I'm actually moving forward.

Rollers, it didn't take me very long to get the hang of it and I get to use my bike.

And folded up they take up very little room, easily fit in a closet.

I'll have to try something like that.

I definitely need to keep that in mind, maybe it will make a difference. I can actually try to get into good habits and start before winter by using the trainer during inclement weather.

I run the BKool Pro trainer/simulator. I can run it with a computer, a smart phone, a tablet, or if you have one a smart TV.

I can put any of the routes I ride into it, ride other people's routes, ride sections of the popular bike races (Tour of Spain, Tour de France). I also can ride virtually with other people so if my buddy is on his trainer at the bike shop and I am on my trainer at home and we are on the same route we can ride together with voice communication if we are within 50 feet of each other on the route.

Yes some of the features cost a monthly fee to use ($15.00), but overall the $650.00 for the trainer (one time cost), and the monthly fee is still less expensive than joining an exercise club for me (nearest one is 30 miles away).

I am 6 foot 3 inches and around 360 pounds, and I was about 390 pounds when I started on the trainer. The trainer was an answer to the question how and when can I ride when it is dark outside and the roads are icy, and now it is an answer to having to ride in desert heat (100 degree average days).

I have a few hundred miles on my trainer so far and I purchased it in October 2014.

It is compact, and fits under our sofa table, then I pull it out and extend the stabilizer bars and plug it in, and go for a ride... get done with the ride put it back, wipe the laminate flooring with a towel to wipe up the sweat and away we go.

Also you can set up robots to ride against on a route to give you some competition if that is what you need to keep you motivated.


I had a Giant magnetic trainer and it sat and only got used once for about 10 minutes.

Another Kurt Kinetic Road Machine user. I just watch movies when I use the trainer.

I've never used any of the training videos or software with it. I ended up buying just a cadence sensor(wahoo) instead of a speed cadence sensor (since these phone apps all use GPS for speed already) so I would need to buy another speed/cadence sensor to use any of those. Didn't even enter my mind to think about that when I made the decision on what kind of sensor to get.