Need to buy a trainer. I cannot afford a computrainer. I do beleive you get what you pay for sooo…I will pay the $200. to $300 range for durabilty and quality if necessary(if in the long run its cheaper)than a $85 mag trainer. Is the 1up the best? Minura Fluid? I have no experiance here. Thanks Kenney
I’ll be the first to chime in here…and I’ll highly recommend the Spinervals (aka Kurt Kinetic) Trainer.
It comes in 2 versions—I purchased the regular flywheel-version approx 2 years ago, and it’s plenty tough enough for me (5’10" & 165lbs currently, but originally 185lbs). If you are much larger or heavier, or a powerful (not average) rider you might consider the Road Machine which is the larger flywheel. It’s in your price range, and plenty tough with a 5-yr flywheel warranty and lifetime frame warranty. I’d be lost without it, during the season and especially during the winter (in New England). I’ve also got half a dozen Spinervals videos to vary the workouts.
Do a search online for prices…I quickly found $250 +s/h.
Also good reviews on MTB and RoadBikeReview, so don’t take my word for it.
Good luck.
Keith
I like the CycleOps Fluid2 trainer. Pretty tough, spent a 3-hour session on it, no leaking. Because it’s a fluid trainer, you can adjust resistance by changing gears. It’s pretty quiet too, so you won’t necessarily be banished to the garage to use it.
If you spend the money I think there are a lot of good choices. For my $$ the 1up USA is the finest. I’d hate to see you spend your money twice because you made the wrong choice the first time (like I did - one a cheap mag trainer).
Is it quiet? It’s so quiet that my drive train is louder. I work out in the room above my 3 year old daughter at 5am and never wake her up. She normally wakes up when she hears the coffee maker start up! If I can sneak past the dog the whole house stays asleep.
Smooth? Oh yeah. Nice progressive resistance. Never any problems with it at all.
I hate to be a shill for the company, and they sure aren’t paying me, but again - don’t make a mistake and buy something that isn’t perfect.
matt
I’ve got the Kurt Kinetic “Road King” model Pezdoctor mentioned, with the 6lb flywheel. If you’re into doing a lot of intervals with big jumps out of the saddle, I’d recommend going with the normal, smaller flywheel. The 6lb flywheel has so much inertia that eliminating wheelslip is nearly impossible. If you like to do steady state sessions however, I’m told that the 6lb flywheel is smoother. I’ve never ridden the smaller flywheel, so I can’t make a comparison for you. I do like mine though.