I work for Kinetic and I’m heading into an R&D meeting tomorrow to pitch some ideas for new products. Don’t get me wrong, I have plenty of ideas of my own, but I’m curious if anyone has any radical ideas. This is an opportunity to pitch directly into the lion’s den of product development. If you come up with a good idea, you may get the chance to ride it in a year. Hell, we’ll give you the first prototype in a couple weeks.
Make me a sandwich.
Not radical but here’s a list of features I would like:
Heavier flywheel
Accurately measure power and be able to upload to computer.
Have an ergo mode
Cost less than a grand.
greg
This one is real simple. Include in the box a simple clip on plastic tray that hooks onto the handlebars; somewhere to put the TV remote control, telephone, and such stuff.
If you can engineer a big tube that goes from the flywheel and blows cool air on the riders back that’d be great too…but I generally don’t ride hard enough to generate much of a breeze.
Ditto what yawg sez, plus:
- Power Computer also comes with (or has an option for) cadence. It seems like this would be easy to do, as it has a rear wheel pickup already. I have to run 2 computers (the pre-existing Cateye and the newer Kurt Power Computer) to get “watts” and also cadence. Add in my HRM, and it looks pretty ghetto on my bars.
I know y’all claim that the Power Computer is PowerTap calibrated, but I just don’t buy it. (I still dig it, and the Kinetic trainer - just some observations) I know myself and other Kinetic users who have the computer, that compared to real-world road riding, that once you get over say 20mph, that the Kinetic takes a LOT more effort to pedal at that point. Example: I can JRA steady on flat roads at 22-24+ mph easily, and have done Oly splits averaging 22 mph w/ some hills. However, I can’t go more than mebbe 5-6 mins at 22 mph on the Kinetic without my legs turning to flaming gooo. (and as mentioned above, I have 2 computers on it, so the “speed” is probably pretty accurate). So, it’s actually like riding up a constant low or moderate grade hill rather than flat (or nearly so) in terms of effort.
- overall I am very happy w/ my Kinetic, and recommend it highly to anyone interested
ride on-
I would be nice to have a trainer that can smoothly elevate the front wheel to simulate an incline. This might be done simply with an electric motor (or even using one’s own cycling power) or through a computer-driven motor.
A way to automate proper tension b/w flywheel and tire. Continuously automatically adjusting to accomodate for changes in tire pressure.
a carbon fibre iPOD holder
.
I agree with this one, and possibly could be done with hydrolic pumps that are activated by a switch and the hills go up by one’s power.
i would just like to be able to gauge my speed as well, and have a smooth ride. simple, i guess.
This idea has always seemed ridiculously cheesey to me. But there seems to be some market value in it because CycleOps totes their stackable riser block in high regard.
Is your body position that radically different… even on a 6-8% grade that you need to LEARN a new technique? That would mean your front wheel is 2.34-3.12" higher than your rear wheel… and 6-8% is a steep hill. Most people ride close to that on their trainer anyways (most people prefer having their front wheel about 1.5-2" higher than their rear)
Are you concerned with your body position and technique? Or are you really after simulating how the pedals feel on a climb? (which is very different than it feels on a trainer)
This is a really good idea. Simple, but if you can do it, that would be great.
Elite has an atteempt at this with a spring-loaded tension. It works in theory, but just doesn’t pan out in the real world. The roller bounces up and down with every minor imperfection in the tire. I’m thinking about a minniature bike tire treadmill that would handle a real-world normal force of a rider.
The goal of this is to eliminate all tire slip, correct?
That, and to make sure that I’m getting the most (and consistent) tension I can, as tire pressure changes.
Lazy of me I know, but on plenty a pre-dawn morning I forget to check the tire pressure.
I would like to explore how my power, RPE, etc. are affected by position/technique changes with inclination. I have my own little sequence of position changes as I approach, climb, and crest a hill and there’s sure to be room for improvement. It would be nice to simulate hill conditions on the trainer without having to get off and adjust a block.
Check PM.
JB
Here’s my 2 cents…
Power Computer:
- Have a display mode for speed, distance, & elapsed time (no watts shown).
- Better design for the lid covering the battery compartment.
- Better design for holding the battery in place (one spring incorrectly placed on the board = almost impossible to get battery to fit correctly).
- Better quality control for the handlebar mounting bracket.
- Not so cheap-looking sensor pickup. Looks too placticy. Needs to be more subtle. Zip ties ineffective for mounting - used electrical tape instead.
- How about a wireless model? That’s a lot of cable to route from your rear wheel to the handlebars. Once I start riding outside, do I remove the computer & sensor wires or just deal with the extra hardware?
- Wireless PC link: Set up workout on personal computer, transmit desired speed/wattage targets to Power Computer as desired times.
- Or just go all the way and integrate the Power Computer into your indexed shifters - like the Shimano Flight Deck computer (keeps track of front/rear chain ring setting, uses wheel speed sensor). This way you’ll get everything but heart rate and no wires.
Road Machine Trainer:
- So far so good.
- Nice & stable, nice quick release mechanism.
- Is it supposed to be quiet? Mine’s not. How quiet should it be?
Power Training In General:
- I’m new to power training.
- Given that power output is a non-linear function of wheel speed (website formula), what is the benefit of training using power in the Kurt Kinetic setup? You’re only going to get 300 W one way - by going 21.4 MPH. You’ll never get 300 W by going 9 MPH (as in up a big hill) on this trainer. Or is it more important that you’re pushing 300 W regardless of cadence/wheel speed?
I really like the idea of a wireless computer that will display the power data coming from the trainer.
While excessive - it’d be nice to have a way to set the legs to different heights so that I can make the trainer stable on a slightly uneven floor without the use of magazines.
Perhaps also a “trainer pack” that comes with trainer, sweat catch, front wheel block, holder for book/magazine/remote.
Along with of course the ability to coast.
My husband has a saying about gadgets and gizmos:
“If it can file my tax return, program my PVR and give me a blowj*b, I’ll buy it.”
:P.
If you are going to try and do an adjustable incline, forget adjusting the front, do it from the back. Put the front on a slightly higher block and open and close (or something to that affect) the trainer legs to add/lower riding position. It would be easy to lower but the mechanical power to bring it back up might be tough, definetely have to go hydraulic, or a screw drive electronic motor or something.
For the spring controlled tire tension, why not have the spring simply set the tension when you first put the bike on and then have a way to lock the tension either manually or an inertial switch (can’t think of how to rig that). Or you could do a clutch system in the wheel tension engagement. Maybe get rid of the handwheel and go with a lever or something which would require just a lever throw, not cranking a wheel around and around, would be useful going from 650 to 700 tires and vice versa.
Instead of adjustable resistance, how about a simple switch or something that automatically bumps you up a notch or two when you stand. Granted you can just do this by dropping a couple of gears, but it’s an idea.
I was going to mention something, but AndyPants (or her husband) already beat me to it… :-p