Anyone have one? Your thoughts?
I have limited time during daylight to ride, and during the summer it is usually too hot to ride outside and I miss riding as much as I used to.
Anyone know the differences between the 200, 300, and 400?
Saris site
Thanks.
I have had the Pro 300 PT since 2006, and I love it, you want one with a power-tap, the lower versions like the 200 and the 100 don’t have a powertap unit. It is also much more stable then bike on a trainer when you stand up and sprint. I have over 5000 miles on mine and had to replace chain last year, and resistance pads, but other wish great bike. You can adjust it to the same measurements are your road or TT bike. I put aero bar pads on mine. Plus I put my Speedplay pedals on the bike. It has a 50 pound flywheel that gives you a realistic ride.
Jeremy,
I have the 300PT and I really like it. I bought it instead of a trainer because I wanted my wife to be able to use it as well. I have it set up right next to my treadmill, so I can do bricks any time I feel the urge. It definitely costs a lot more than a trainer, but for me, the convenience of having it set up and ready to go 365 days a year without having to lug the bike up to the bonus room is a big benefit when you have limited time. I can be on the 300PT going at it in less than 5 minutes any time I want to knock out a short session. The big screen TV across the room is a huge benefit too. I love watching Tivo’d broadcasts of the TdF, past triathlon broadcasts, Spinervals DVDs, cool movies like Prefontaine, Chariots…, etc. while on the cycle to get my mind distracted.
With the 300PT, you get the Powertap hub and a wireless head unit to upload your workout into your PC and you can track your improvement. I think this is a better guage of improvement than using files from a PT on your road bike because you can compare identical workouts you have done weeks or months ago and the software plots your watts/kg, HR, avg watts, etc over time so you can see it graphically. Of course, you can eliminate all of the inevitable variables on the road by putting your road bike on the stand too but this just seems more convenient.
Finally, the 300PT is so adjustable, you can experiment with different positions and see what impact the changes have on your HR and wattage output. I bought a couple of elbow pads and mounted them to the bars so I can get in the aero position while training. Recently, I played around with my seat height to see if I could get more power for climbing on my tri bike because I was so much better climbing on my roadie. I found out I could lower my seat just a small amount and improve my power output and comfort climbing. I also found out the slightly wider placement of the elbow pads on my trainer opened my chest so I could breathe better. It would have taken a lot longer to try out those changes if I had been using a PT on my bike and a lot less convenient.
FWIW,
Greg
We’ve sold the 300s well with great success. The new PT bikes freewheel and coast.
The new PT400 comes with a Joule you can use on your bike. In additon you can program a work out (by downloading a power file) and then ride the specific workout. Cycle Ops has a great warranty.
Hope that helps.
I told my husband ( who never knows what to get me), to get the new 400 for Christmas next year with the Joule and the Coast option. You try and coast on the old 300 it will rip your hips out.
We’ve sold the 300s well with great success. The new PT bikes freewheel and coast.
The new PT400 comes with a Joule you can use on your bike. In additon you can program a work out (by downloading a power file) and then ride the specific workout. Cycle Ops has a great warranty.
Hope that helps.
Damn. Wish you hadn’t told me all of that…
So, what’s a one year old 300PT worth these days? 
I forgot to mention to the OP that the 300PT is like riding a fixie. No resting allowed! However, I have found that isn’t much of an issue. It’s a training session, you aren’t supposed to be coasting. If I need a little recovery time, I just dial back the resistance to a low level and chill out. I think I have read somewhere that 50 minutes on the trainer is like 60 minutes of riding outside since there is no resting. YMMV.
Greg
The coast option makes it feel more life like.
The new bikes have a new handlebar set up as well. YOu can purchase a drop bar for it as well.
I hope I can wait till Christmas next year 
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The new 300 has freewheel and comes with a joule.
300 Pro Indoor Cycle
MSRP: $2,299.00
View Product Joule™ Plus PowerTap equals the total training tool. PowerTap Technology provides +/-1.5% accurate power feedback. Manage data with Joule™ 3.0. Precise resistance control lets you control the difficulty level. Freewheeling hub lets you stop pedaling and coast.
The Joule isn’t out yet which is what is holding up delivery of the 400PTs. You can order the 300 with the older computer head but I would jsut wait until Feb 1 when they expect the Joule to be in stock.
The 400PT should be really nice and we’ve taken quite a few calls about it in my store over the past couple weeks.
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I drove by your shop a few weeks ago and didn’t even know it. I would’ve stopped.
Once the Joule is out, what are the differences between the 300 and the 400?
The Joule isn’t out yet which is what is holding up delivery of the 400PTs. You can order the 300 with the older computer head but I would jsut wait until Feb 1 when they expect the Joule to be in stock.
The 400PT should be really nice and we’ve taken quite a few calls about it in my store over the past couple weeks.
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Darrell,
You seem to be familiar with the 300PT, so I wil ask you a question. Not a hijack since I think the OP would be interested to know about this particular nuance of the 300PT anyway. My question regards adjustment of resistance with the knob on the end of the right hand bar. On mine, it is not very precise when first making an adjustment. For example, after I get finished with my warm up and I am ready to start my main set, I crank up the resistance until I see my target wattage appear on the head unit. If I overshoot by say, 10-15 watts, I have to rotate the knob about a full half turn back the other direction before I see any drop in resistance. After that, it is very precise and I can nail the resistance I am after. Same thing happens if I have just decreased the resistance and I want to go back up to a higher resistance for another interval or whatever. I have to turn the knob a full half turn before anything happens like I have to take the slack out of the cable or something. Once I have turned the knob a half turn or so, it is quite accurate. I checked the cable tension per the owner’s manual by removing the bottle cradle and making sure all of the slack is out of the cable, etc. But it still requires me to do this half turn of the knob to get the resistance to start changing. Is this common?
Thanks,
Greg
A couple of differences between the 300 and 400 in addition to the $500 price delta. The similarities are as already noted: same frame, flywheel, handlebar setup, freewheel ability for 2010, download power info to a computer, HR sensor/strap, easy to move it out of the way, etc.
The 300 has the Joule 3.0 head unit that will read the PowerTap built into the flywheel. It also has the manual resistance adjustment through the twist knob.
The 400 comes with the Joule 5.0 head. I know that the website says 3.0 but I’m pretty sure it is the 5.0 that I saw on it at Interbike. The 400 uses the computer to adjust the resistance level so you can setup intervals, workouts, ride a previous workout through the computer, etc. The 400 also requires access to an electrical outlet so that you can plug it in (for the internal electronics).
We have 2 units shipping to the store as soon as they are ready, one for people to try out saddles on and demo with the second one for a customer who already purchased it. Stop by sometime after Feb 1 if you want to see how it works. We need to put up a new sign too for better visibility.
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We’re pretty familiar with them. We’ve managed to put one in a VW Golf for a customer to get home and also sent in a flywheel to be replaced for a customer.
Your situation sounds typical with the resistance from all the ones we’ve sold/assembled for customers. I haven’t taken a unit apart completely to see how everything works but my guess is that the cable makes a 90 degree turn somewhere and you need to overcome the extra resistance that creates. When you try to loosen it up my assumption is that the springs aren’t as strong as they should be for the piece that applies the resistance.
If you’re worried about it you could open up the pieces to see if you could make it a little more responsive but again, your unit seems normal.
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Looked at these as well and actually ended up buying the Lemond Revmaster. The main reason for the Revmaster is that it is silent. I don’t mean quiet like the Cycleops, I mean silent, dead silent. I have two young kids at home and I can ride early in the morning and they won’t hear a sound. I ride while they watch TV and also, we can play games and talk or read while I am riding. Most companies claim their trainers are quiet, but nothing compares to the Revmaster. It is super smooth as well, but is “fixed”, so no coasting allowed. It is as adjustable as the Cycleops as I can tell. I have changed the seat from the stock one and the pedals as well. It doesn’t have a Powertap though, so if that is a must, don’t go with the Lemond. If it isn’t a necessity and you want to be able to ride and “hang” or converse with the family while riding, give the Lemond a look.
SJ
You might have missed something or replied to the wrong person, I’m a retailer who sells the CycleOps indoor trainers. I haven’t ridden a Lemond but we have sold the CycleOps to people who have previously had the Lemond’s. According to them reliability was an issue with that brand but I have no first hand experience with them.
Has anyone seen the Wattbike? I know that British Cycling are using them.
I had to Google it. I’m assuming that you’re talking about this thing: http://wattbike.com/uk/shop/wattbike/ The price is in the ballpark of the CycleOps 400PT but I’ve never seen one in person. Looks like a promising idea though I don’t see any US distributors.
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