With the approach of winter I am looking for an indoor trainer. I'm leaning toward a stand-alone unit like a Kettler ErgoRacer, LeMond Revmaster, Johnny G or the new CycleOps Indoor Cycle because (i) I don't really want to clamp my beloved road bike into a rear-wheel resistance trainer and bang away at it, and (ii) my wife might use a stationary bike to break up the monotony of her daily treadmill routine. Trouble is, these things aren't cheap and I have no real sense of their relative merits. The Kettler seems to use an "Electromagnetic Eddy Current Braking System" for resistance, which sounds like a more sophisticated approach than the felt/leather friction pads used on the others. And I assume (perhaps foolishly) that they all use standard road pedals. (I would fit clipless pedals and buy my wife a pair of shoes.)

Any advice would be much appreciated.

I have no real advice towards which model you should purchase. However, having used the simple old exercise bikes with a belt for resistance and a fancy Schwinn which uses the fancy system. I'd say the Schwinn offers much more modulation, and the feel is much closer to being on a real bike. However, I believe these systems are much more expensive, but they are worth the extra money if it was up to me

G/L

Ming

Just by a wind trainer and put a crappy old wheel and tire at the back. Just dont stand up while riding it or go to hard. Spin...

I hear rowing machines are the best all around work out for when you can't get out on the bike. Anyone have any experiences with them ?

They're more boring than being on a staionary bike. It does work your upper body a little better though....

Overall, I dont like them as much as stationary bikes.