love love love my CT. keeps me honest. i have beat the crap out of mine, rusted from sweat, did everything imaginable on it.....everything.

Off topic, but I just got a Wahoo Kickr (same idea as CT, but newer) and it works great with Trainerroad.

I've used them for many years, and feel it's the best investment in my cycling that I've ever made! The cost makes you use it, and it's a great tool. My best seasons were spent doing my quality work inside no matter the weather.
As a side, I have a used Pro model for sale....

I think you'll never look back on buying one and wonder why you did. Solid, dependable, and with today's videos, websites, and the like, really a quick efficient way to get quality rides and waste little time.

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Gary Geiger
http://www.geigerphoto.com Professional photographer

TEAM KiWAMi NORTH AMERICA http://www.kiwamitri.com, Rudy Project http://www.rudyprojectusa.com, GU https://guenergy.com/shop/ ; Salming World Ambassador; https://www.shopsalming.com

For me, best training value ever, despite the fact that they're not cheap. I've been wailing on mine for 11 years now. I do the majority of my riding and all of my hard riding on mine. It's a difference maker, a big one.

Ben

Thanks for the feedback guys, I think you sold me on it.

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Titanium faces rock!

Wifey and I do 90% of all of our riding on our's. LOVE THEM..

No coasting. Constant feedback. no traffic. No weather concerns. No waiting for a group..

JUST RIDING..

I love riding my bike outside when we are travelling to new places. But for TRAINING nothing is better (wahoo kickr might be better, but same premise)

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Austin Hardy -

I have had mine for 10 years without an issue. The software video may not be state of the art but plenty of options exist. The ability to create your next race course and pre-ride it is wonderful. Huge time saver for those of us with real jobs and other duties especially if you can dedicate a bike to the unit.

Same here. That said, I've used Computrainers many, many times, and they are great, and the company offers great support.
Main things I like more about the kickr are:
- no rear wheel needed (thus no tire wearing out, no tire slippage on hard efforts, etc)
- no long warm up and calibration before each ride
- less wires, etc

But, again, the CT is a really great trainer too, and does have a much longer track record.

I have had my CT for about 3 years now. This is the first year where I do the majority of my real training on it. Without a doubt, it is an incredibly useful tool, especially when used in conjunction with something like Trainer Road. I have gotten to the point where aside from miles and fun, the better quality training is on the CT.

Much better to invest in a power meter and buy a less expensive trainer like a Kurt Kinetic. Modern software tools let you get better features than the computrainer offers. Plus you get a power meter for outdoors too. Also it is more accurate as power numbers are confounded by tire/tire pressure etc.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Love the CT!!! I ride outside alot but over the winter and for intervals I do alot of CT riding! My hubby does 99% of his riding on the CT. We have a dual bike system setup and even built the platforms for the bikes, etc. Well worth the money about 10+ years ago. Takes discipline to use..if you don't like trainer rides then you probably won't like CT rides....I think alot of people buy them and then hate them. It is still rather boring but we have the CT set up on a computer above the TV. Hope this helps!

I got a Kickr, and I have to say that the Kickr+Trainerroad is much better than powertap+fluid trainer. The main thing is the granularity of power control - with the fluid trainer, you're getting in the 'range' of the power target, +/- 10 watts or even more. I got good enough that I could have the avg power end up dead on target even on 15 min intervals with the Fluid trainer but the power readings still bounced all over.

With the Kickr, it's good down to like 2 watts. REALLY precise. You definitely cannot get that precision with the fluid trainer alone.

I really like the idea of no wheel of the Kickr, but can you get the same feature through some of the apps as you do with the CT? I've used the CT once before and rode a mock course. I'd love to be able to "pre-ride" courses that there is no way for me to do so before a race like you can with the CT. It seems though with some of the apps that you can create training plans and then execute them through an app with an iphone or ipad. Is this correct?

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Titanium faces rock!

I haven't done it myself, but there is a way to 'virtual ride' a course by using the bestbikesplit.com website - you send a .gpx (Garmin) file to it and then download the 'race optimized' power profile into Trainerroad.

It's probably not as straightforward as the CT virtual course videos (which I have never used) though, but it should work. (I imported a Vineman course into Trainerroad successfully but haven't ridden it yet.)

I had a CT for 3 years... Sold it after I bought KICKR. Just for reference... I have 450 rides on TR in ERG MODE with CT... and now the KICKR.

KICKR is better in every way.

1. No flats... Crazy as it sounds, I got one every few months on the CT. Used a dedicated trainer tire, kept it in little ring in ERG mode to keep speed down.... blah, blah, blah. Still got flats... drove me crazy!

2. Much much smoother.

3. Cheaper

NO WAY I would buy a CT with the KICKR out.

If I had a choice again, I'd go to the Computrainer. I have two now. They are expensive, but there are a lot on the used market for under $900. I got my last for around $600. The hardware is robust, regardless of how old. Have no experience with the KICKR, but everyone who has seem to love it.

With the Computrainer you have to do rolldown tests for up to the first 10-12 minutes, but treat that as your warmup. With a KICKR you wouldn't.

Ergvideos alone make it worth it, but are a bit of an investment. Trainerroad does work with both the Computrainer and KICKR, and at $10/month + ERG mode, you got some great training tools there. Trainerroad has something above 400 separate workouts, plus included training plans.

I do all of my riding indoors, and get out when time permits. The idea of a power meter and a fluid trainer is a good one. You don't get ERG mode, but you are forced to just push the watts, for whatever your interval is.

If you don't know what ERG mode is, it basically comes down to make the watts or it won't spin.

Without a doubt the most effective and indispensable piece of training equipment I use.

Full disclosure: CompuTrainer is a sponsor, so I'll stick to the facts:

• Cycling was my weakest discipline in 2013. I rode 9-15 hours/week outside.
• Got a CompuTrainer in November, trained exclusively on it until late March averaging ~7 hours/week (5-9).
• Added ~30W to my FTP and rode a 2:04 at my first 70.3 of the season.

Some people like virtual reality and real course videos, but I only ever use erg mode. IMO, that feature alone is worth the price of admission. You don't appreciate how much mental energy it takes to hold a target power until you don't have to anymore.

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CodyBeals.com | Instagram | TikTok
ASICS | Ventum | Martin's | HED | VARLO | Shimano | 4iiii | Keystone Communications

Sounds like I cant really go wrong with either. Kickr sounds a little more appealing with not having to do the rolldown tests.

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Titanium faces rock!

X2. I have a small studio in the basement with 6 running; everyone who's tried one loves it. And CompuTrainer has electronic inertia, which gives you a true road feel. No other trainer has that....

Computrainer is an excellent training device with many features and very thorough support. The calibration (rolldown test) is a non-issue. I just consider it a 10-minute warm-up, something people do everyday.

You can do erg sessions with a PM and a trainer. You just gotta use your brain, which is useful because you gotta use your brain when you do an erg session in a race. =)

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

I would have agreed with your statements, but then I purchased a KICKR and it pushes me far further than my brain alone would allow.

This debate reminds me of Rocky IV. The Russian guy used all the latest training technology (the KICKR/CompuTrainer) while Rocky chopped a bunch of wood and climbed snowy mountains (PM/fluid trainer). Everyone knows how that tuned out...