I am new to this forum. In advance, thanks for any help that you can provide. I am looking into buying a trainer. After doing all kinds of research, I have narrowed it down to the following three: Kinetic Road Machine, Cycleops fluid trainer, and Cycleops Magneto (in order of preference). I hate to buy something and have to return it because it is not a good product. I am going to use it on both my moutain and road bike. I have been told that the Kinetic Road Machine is one of the best out there. The only thing is that it is a bit heavy. Please let me know what you think before I drain my bank account on one of these machines. I am also looking for one with good resistance, quiteness, longeavity, great customer service, and that it makes me feel good about the purchase that I made. Thank you all for you help.
If you accept one other suggestion. I trained for the last two winters on a 1upusa trainer. Website is http://www.1upusa.com
Very quit, strong resistance and money back guaranty for 6 weeks (?). It works with a nifty friction mechanism. This machine has about 7000 miles on it and I had no problems so far. If you don’t like it, you can send it back. Plus it has a lifelong warranty.
I bought a Kurt and am very satisfied. On Ebay from a retailer (ie, new) for about $250. There’s some pretty good documentation on trainers here if you search the forum (i actually started a thread on it, and Gary Tingley has posted a lot on this subject as well).
I’ve heard great things about others as well, especially the 1Up. A friend of mine has the CycleOps fluid and is happy with it. I have heard that they leaked in the past, but it’s second hand info, and they probably fixed it.
Regarding the weight, that actually helps you b/c it’s more stable and it has a big flywheel. only disadvantage would be when you take the trainer to a race to warm up, but it’s really just another extra trip to the car.
i’ve only used the cyclops and thought it was good but not nearly as good as my computrainer. but that’s what you get with $700 more buckarooos. i think 1up has a very good return policy so it may be worth investigating. best bet is to go to your lbs and try some for yourself. good luck!