I am looking into getting an indoor bike trainer for the upcoming winter and figure the summer is the best time to get one on sale.
Can anyone give me solid recommendation on a make/model that they have personal experience with?
Can it really be true that no one on this board has an opinion on their trainer or a recommendation?
I have a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine. Top notch trainer. I also have an old Performance Travel Trac trainer (Performance Bike) that has served me very well for 4 years.
Kurt Kinetic and 1Up are two of the best trainers on the market.
I have, and love, the 1up trainer. The link is 1upusa.com, and I think the trainer won MTB Review and RB Review’s best trainer several years in a row. Easy to use and quiet.
I have the Kirt Kinetic. Did a lot of research before purchasing and went with this one because other fluid traniners have a tendency to leak etc. I have been completely satisfied.
I have owned both a 1up usa and a kurt kinetic (which I am on now). I prefer the kurt because it just feels smoother to me.
The 1 up was ok, but I had some issues with the friction pad in which the reisistance would just go crazy hard after riding hard
for 30 minutes or so. I sent back (top notch customer service I might add) got new resistance unit, but still just didn’t like as much as
the kurt. Plus, you can get the cheap little computer to estimate watts so at least you can try to do some consistent
threshold workouts, etc.
I’ve used quite a few trainers in the past, last winter when it was time to buy a new one I went with the Blackburn Trackstand Ultra. Its been a great trainer, quiet, very durable & for me the icing on the cake was its super compact. (Folds to almost flat)
Good luck
Travis
www.dumbfocus.com
Kurt Kinetic or rollers depending on what you want/need to work on. Or you can go all out and add a resistance unit to a set of rollers, that would be the real deal.
I vote for Cyclops Fluid 2. You work harder than you would on the road, therefore needs more focus and less boredom. Get a set of rollers as well and you have a complete package.
I’ve got a Cyclops magnetic trainer; it was $250 at REI. Not the cheapest trainer out there. Not the most expensive. Middle of the road. Gets the job done.
Whatever you do, be sure to get a trainer where the resistance automatically adjusts depending how hard you are riding. I saw a trainer, really really cheap, that had three resistance settings. And to change the resistance, you get off the bike and turn a nob near the rear wheel hub. It was the most ill concieved trainer I’ve ever seen.
I have a cycleops magnetic with the remote, I really like it, my GF has a minoura magnetic with a remote, its pretty nice.
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Another vote for the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine. It’s the best fluid trainer on the market.
Spend some more money and get a virtual reality trainer. I ride every day during the winter on my Tacx Fortius Virtual Reality Trainer. Measures everything, HR, Watts, speed, cadence, you name it. Even race against others in race leagues. Its almost like riding outside.
Input your weight and the climbs become real, the downhills are sped up by a brake unit and are real, drafting is real, etc. Its worth every penny I spent. Even has a steering unit so you can go anywhere you wish in the virtual world. You can even turn around and ride the other way and watch the racers go by in the other direction.
The larger the computer screen, the more awesome it becomes.
my suggestion would be to scope out the gyms to find out if anyone is updating their spin bikes and selling the old ones, or find a place that refurbishes and sells them. then fix if up and fit it out just like your bike. these are heavy and stable and can take a beating, no problems doing standing sprints. plus you don’t wear out chains or gears, you don’t have to switch out wheels to keep from wearing out the tire, you can sweat all over it (and you will). also, i think it’s easier for fine tuning tension/resistance.
just some thoughts
if you can get one then an elite realaxiom, you will have many hours of enjoyment indoors with it and the video courses.
Kurt Kinetic Road machine - best of the three trainers I have (or had) - Minoura Mag Turbo, and Tacx Grand Excel (formerly owned)
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