I've gone with stall mats, bought at any local feed and tack store. No need to go too thick though -- 3/4" mats are HEAVY. 3/8" is plenty. Only problem is that if your concrete isn't sealed VERY well, you'll get mold under them.

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Some are born to move the world to live their fantasies...

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http://www.mjolnircycles.com/

I really like the padded flooring from wesellmats.com. We have the kind that looks like fake hardwood flooring in my 3 year old's room and it has held up great with both kids spilling things on it, riding trikes, etc for the past couple of years.

I have rubber flooring in my basement and I love it. It was a bit expensive, but worth it. We had a contractor order it from us from a floor store or something. We occasionally get some water in the basement and it causes no problems.

I put 3/8' Tight-Lock Rubber Tiles down from RubberFlooringInc.com. Easy to install, did it myself, extremely pleased with it.

I got mine at Overstock.com but shopped around a lot for a good price. Set it up in my garage and its pretty cool. If you have rollers I don't recommend them though. When you climb on the bike, the roller legs dig in and the roller ends up touching the rubber. Good for providing resistance but no way to see how much without a power meter :-D

Going to second the Stall mats. Other then weight making it a pain to get in and out of the car/house I don't think there is anything of better value per sqft.

I've got 5 sheets of the 3/4 plus a single piece of plywood as a lifting platform covering my whole workout area.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/...tall-mat-4-ft-x-6-ft


The 3/8 stuff is cut to length (4ft wide) and actually more expensive then the pre cut 3/4 stuff.

Thanks for the posts, anyone use a laminate type flooring for a training area? Have a home office that i am setting up a computrainer in and want something that can double as a work out area/office.

Best,
GS

I did same thing. Cost me about $1000 and a days work for my 17 x 13 or so room. I am very happy with the result.

I currently have a treadmill and trainer set up in my pain save with mats underneath and on top of hardwood.

I am finding that mats aren't doing a good enough job of protecting the hardwood from sweat and moisture, as after a few months, I can start to notice a slight difference in the wood around the set up.

Curious as to whether anyone has had a similar problem, and if so, what they did about it?

I would hate to get rid of the set up, but I'd hate more to wreck expensive hardwood.

Do you think these would lay well over carpet given their weight? I'd rather not tear up carpet to concrete if I dont have to but dont want it to be to squishy/slippery/etc either. Also do they come rolled up? And how about the smell? These seem like half-priced or better compared to the interlocking tiles, pretty shocking.

I think individual pieces would work fine on carpet due to the weight, if not top plush. I'm not sure if multiple pieces would stay aligned on carpet though. I'm renting and got permission to remove it, well roll it up if I pay to have it reinstalled.

The smell is a little strong for a few weeks but not something nauseating or anything. They store them outside at most stores so you can go smell them anytime :).

They come in flat sheets, you can kind of roll them, I folded them like a taco shell to drag them down my hall.

My only fear over carpet would be it leaving marks.

thanks!

I just bought a new house with plush carpet in our extra bedroom that's about 12x12. I want to make it a dedicated training room (all I have is trainer, and maybe we'll pickup a treadmill for now) for at least a few years until we need the extra bedroom for little ones. So flexibility to go back to a bedroom is desired.

If I went with the rubber floorings, do they sit on top of the carpet? Will sweat drip through and cause issues? Will it ruin the carpet?

If the rubber flooring isn't the best option, what do you all recommend? I'm open to just about anything...

Our basement has low pile office style carpet. I bought cheap yoga mats at a TJ Maxx store for $7 ea to put under our bike trainers. Only purpose was to avoid getting the carpet dirty / wet from sweat. They haven't been there long but so far are working like a dream.

Carpet can absorb some of the noise from the trainer and the treadmill too.

I'm in a 1 story house with the extra bedroom tucked away from the rest of the rooms... so noise won't be much of an issue for me.

I know I need to get a better fan, but I leave a giant puddle of sweat through my towel when I ride indoors today. I'm afraid that if I use just a basic yoga mat / towel like I do today I'm going to end up with ruined carpet.

I got these for my basement gym: http://www.rubberflooringinc.com/...2-eco-soft-tile.html
$0.95 per square foot and insanely simple to install/lay down. Easiest project I've ever done.

I'm finishing a room in my basement now and I'm going to go the fake wood laminate route on top of concrete. I've done a fair amount of research on this and I'm looking for something that will look good and easy to clean. Where I'm going to have my trainer and weights I'll probably use stall matts to protect the floor. The stall matts seem like the popular choice among the hardcore weight lifters who set up home gyms but as was previously mentioned, it takes a while for the smell to go away.

I'll be putting the flooring down in a couple of weeks after I get the drywall up and painted.

Do you have carpet below these mats?

I put mine over the carpet. I figures if I didn't like the feel I could remove the carpet later. Carpet is still there but if I wan't lazy I would probably take it out. Also I was going over thin carpet with minimal padding underneath. Probably won't work well with plush carpet.

No, mine is on top of a cement floor. I don't think it would work very well on top of carpet, unfortunately.

My treadmill just arrived and will be on carpet. Should I lay a mat below?

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

FWIW, we used a heavy duty vinyl flooring that looks like wood and was backed with thick rubber (I think it was a Congoleum product or something similar). I put an additional mat under the treadmill. I wanted the floor to look good, but also hold up to weights, water, etc. It wasn't cheap, but we like it.

Did you put this on top of carpet, or on a bare concrete floor? was the carpet plush / padded or pretty thin?