I have ridden the Keiser and the Lemond lots as a spin instructor (and the Cycleops for some testing) and I would say that if you wan't the most authentic feel go with the Cycleops. The Keiser feels okay but is very much a spin bike meant for the masses. The few that I have ridden have been wildly inconsistent and inaccurate on the power function and the saddle is meant for heavy asses. I don't have the same complaints about the Lemond, its a solid, adjustable bike that i could ride for hours it just doesn't feel quite as smooth or as "road like" as the Cycleops.

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I have the cycleops and am very happy with it. It is a bit different from most spin bikes in that it will freewheel. This is fine for me, but my wife has complained about it. If you want to go with high cadence / low resistance you need to be smooth. Also, the handlebars will not go super low. I'm about 5'10 and ride what I think is a typical position and the bars are about as low as they will go. My TT bike position is just a bit lower than what I can get on the Cycleops.

I rode a Keiser at my wife's work, where she teaches spin classes. The power readout is way higher than reality, and the distance number is not in any units. In fact the Keiser website admits that the unit is somewhere between miles and kilometers. So if you want actual units, don't get a Keiser.

Thanks, great feedback. I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a refurbished 300P. I've ridden the Keiser and really enjoyed it, but couldn't get the position I wanted. I figured the power was not realistic, but as long as it would be consistent I could be okay with that. The ability to freewheel is what's making me strongly consider the Cycleops.

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Life IS an endurance sport. Finish Well
www.fwe1.net

Curious, what did she not like about the freewheeling aspect. To be honest, I hadn't given it much thought until I was doing Spinnervals with very short rest intervals - I thought to myself, man, this would be a real pain if I had to brake or spin down a heavy flywheel in this short amount of time. So the freewheel aspect is what is drawing me to the Cycleops. Besides not getting low enough (which has me thinking since I like a lot of drop), how would you say the 300P differs in feel from your bike on a trainer?

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Life IS an endurance sport. Finish Well
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I think she is mostly just used to a spin bike. On a spin bike you can just stand up and mash the pedals, on this you need to be smoother. If I want to go at a cadence of somthing > 120 or so I have to concentrate. On a spin bike a smooth stroke would not matter. It does feel a lot more realistic than my bike on a trainer. I guess due to the heavy flywheel, but the feel of my bike on a trainer never really bothered me. I'm 5'10'' and have short legs / long torso. If you are taller or have longer legs the drop may not be a problem at all. The Bike / Joule works really well for short intervals. I should probably do more of them.

Thanks. I'm about 6'1" and I do have long legs. What I don't want is a bike where the flywheel does all the work for me. That I suppose is main concern with a spin bike versus a real bike on a trainer. I want the dedicated setup though so my wife and I can both use it. Our schedules (like most) are packed, so we don't want any downtime to swap bikes off and on a trainer, plus we will be more apt to use something that is already setup. Plus, I would love to train with power.

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Life IS an endurance sport. Finish Well
www.fwe1.net

I have no clue where you're at, but if you are ever in the SF Bay Area, M2 has a ton of the CycleOps 300Ps: http://www.m2rev.com/ He may have some for sale, I'm not 100%. They are awesome bikes, but like ToddM says, they don't go very low.

That being said, I train with both the CycleOps as well as a Kurt Kinetic+Powertap. After a weekend, the KK is where I "store" my bike so there is very little downtime/setup involved. To be honest, if both you and your wife are going to be using the same CycleOps, the time it takes to readjust the dimensions on the CycleOps are around the same as throwing your bike on the trainer. You might find that the trainer+PT training wheel might come out cheaper in the end.

I have a Revmaster (Classic). I bought it as an ex-LifeTime Fitness piece from when they switched to Schwinns. It is extremely adjustable and I have it set up in my tri configuration. I have the same saddle I ride with on there, same pedals, the foam aero armpads on it, and an extra bottle cage. I know the downsides - flywheel, no coasting, it's dumb (no data). I do like the fact that replacement parts are cheap and easy to get and that I can rebuild it it pretty easily if something goes wrong. Mine has been bombproof and being an ex-gym piece, I'm sure it has tons of time on it. I spent the whole Superbowl on it last year even ~4.5hrs and probably put ~100-120hrs/yr on it. The crank arms are 175mm, if it matters. There are computers for them - cadence, heart rate, distance, time, and cals.

If you go with the Revmaster, no sense in buying new. Tons of these are out there used from gyms and spin classes. It won't be hard to get one in the $4-600 range on Craigslist and at used gym equipment places.

Edit: it'd take about 30secs to swap from you to your wife's settings, just mark both of them. You can also buy a second saddle slider so you can both use your own saddles.

i've been using a cyclops trainer for years. not a power model or freewheel model. just the basic. it' great for me. it will be way quicker to adjsut for two people than putting a bike in a trainer (i used one of those before). putting bikes in trainers usually also includes putting on a dedicated rear wheel if you don't want to wear out your good tires. also, between wear and tear on gears, chains and tires plus costs on dedicated rear wheel/cassette and trainer a used spin bike is very economical.
as to the fixed gear ones. you get used to that very quickly and very easy. unless you are on really light tension and spinnig really fast you can stop the wheel in 2 - 3 revolutions with no effort. and if you want to do it quicker it simply a matter of pushing the stop knob. it's real easy.
as to the spin of the flywheel doing the work, no issues. there is a friction pad for a brake so it doesn't spin any more than you let it.
my only complaint is that they used to have a tension adjustment knob on the end of the bar so you could turn in without moving your hand, they've taken that away so it's harder to change tension, for example when doing a standing climb you have to take a hand off to increase tension.
good luck

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"Competetive sport begins where healthy sport ends"

Thanks. True about time to swap bike from trainer. If both bikes were sitting in the same place as the trainer and had dedicated trainer wheels on them it would be a quick swap. When bikes are downstairs without trainer rear wheels on them, and the trainer is upstairs, at 5:00 in the morning that becomes a tedious process.

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Life IS an endurance sport. Finish Well
www.fwe1.net

The time it took to constantly swap out wheels and set my bike up on (or off) the trainer just became annoying. Probably the main reason I bought a Cycleops 300 Pro. The other reason was the save wear and tear on bike components like chains, rings, cassettes, etc. I'm also not 100% convinced the use of a trainer does not cause some kind of damage over time to the bike frame.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

exactly! well put.
also, if you are a little handy you can make some modifications to the bars on the bike. at one point i replaced the bars with a 2x4 (clamped on) and was able to experiment with pad types (cut pvc pipe), widths and different bar configuration (again using pvc) to decide how i wanted my tribike set up. lots of things you can play with when it's not your on the road bike.
good luck

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"Competetive sport begins where healthy sport ends"

I have the CycleOps 300PT (older model) and it works great for me and my wife and kids. Very adjustable. A bit bulky, but does what it needs to do.... The only thing missing is the interactiveness of, say, the Computrainer.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Isn't the "Q-factor" on the Keiser ridiculous? I've ridden one quite a bit and it seems to be setup just as you said, "for the masses" with heavy assess (also wide). While it was better than nothing when traveling, I can't imagine using one enough to warrant purchasing it.

How long have you had the 300P? My challenge right now is finding one in my area to test ride. I would love to find a refurbished one, but I don't see a lot of them around. I've seen a couple of used 300PTs out there, but I don't really know how that model differs from the 300P. I'm very excited about the concept of training with realistic power.

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Life IS an endurance sport. Finish Well
www.fwe1.net

I've had it since November... so about four months. Purchased the TT bars and arm pads as well. I lucked out and was able to get 25% off.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Wow! Where did you get a deal like that??

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Life IS an endurance sport. Finish Well
www.fwe1.net

Trisports.com had a 25% off promo sale. The 300 Pro was very recently added to Trisports.com around that time. Normally, bikes and power meters are excluded from all Trisports promo codes but my guess was they had not updated the exclusion policy to add a product they had just begun selling. I'm pretty sure I got that price on a technicality so I wouldn't expect the 300 Pro to be on sale like that again. Who knows though.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Plainsman,
I have a 300PT working as new in great condition, willing to sell. If interested, reply.
DblJ

Thanks DBlJ, I actually bought a 300Pro a few days before your post. Thanks for the offer though.

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Life IS an endurance sport. Finish Well
www.fwe1.net

Hi plainsman;

I was a Spin instructor for 15 years on the Star Trac and Schwinn IC Pro - never had any problems. We introduced the Keiser M3 to the program (against my wishes) and within 3 days I started developing hip issues because of the Q factor. Had to teach off the bike.

Definitely avoid the Keiser M3 - go with something more biomechanically correct - the Cyclops is a good trainer. Avoid wide Q factor, as it will lead to miserable hips, knees, or ankle issues.