buying my first bicycle trainer: need advice

Hi.

I am a novice triathlete, looking to buy a bicycle trainer, would really appreciate any advice
you guys may have. Checked out ebay, seems to be a lot of Minoura's and Cycleop's around, are
they any good?

You might also look into a set of rollers. You'll find a lot of feedback on them in this NG and also
over at rec.bicycle.racing (e.g. comparison to standard mag/fluid trainers).

Personally I'm on a Computrainer (which I love)...however it's not an inexpensive proposition and
unless you're in it for the long haul and will use it frequently I wouldn't recommend spending
the bucks.

"JJJ" <jslee007@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message news:<3fd97f8f$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au>...
> Hi.
>
> I am a novice triathlete, looking to buy a bicycle trainer, would really appreciate any advice
> you guys may have. Checked out ebay, seems to be a lot of Minoura's and Cycleop's around, are
> they any good?

"JJJ" <jslee007@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3fd97f8f$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
> Hi.
>
> I am a novice triathlete, looking to buy a bicycle trainer, would really appreciate any advice you
> guys may have. Checked out ebay, seems to be a
lot
> of Minoura's and Cycleop's around, are they any good?
>
>

I had used CycleOps Mag trainer but for various reasons I never really liked it. I went to rollers
and absolutely love them. It feels more like I am actually riding on the road. You have to
concentrate a lot more on the rollers in order to keep your stroke even and to not fall off,
however, once you get the hang of it, the only thing better is being outside. In my opinion of
course. Mark

On Fri, 12 Dec 2003 19:48:28 +1100, "JJJ" <jslee007@yahoo.co.uk>
wrote:

>Hi.
>
>I am a novice triathlete, looking to buy a bicycle trainer, would really appreciate any advice
>you guys may have. Checked out ebay, seems to be a lot of Minoura's and Cycleop's around, are
>they any good?
>
>

I have a Cycleop's Fluid. Have had it for about a year. Haven't had and problems with it.
Seems to increase resistance similar to outside riding. Haven't tried rollers or any other
trainer so my opinions are somewhat limited by that. Can only say I like the trainer 1000%
more than any other stationary cycle I've been on.

~Matt

I run a bike shop and have tried and sold tons of different trainers. My
thoughts:
1) Most people we see tend to prefer trainers over rollers becuase you don't have to think--you just
ride. It seems to be easier for most people to get in a workout with a stationary trainer. Veg
out to the TV and pedal...no thought involved. Rollers to me are definitely better overalll,
because you learn handling, and they're not as boring, but I sold mine years ago and now just use
a trainer. I like to watch college b-ball when I ride, and getting excited about a big play while
riding rollers--not a good thing!
2) There are several different kinds of stationary trainers out there: wind resistance, magnetci
resistance, and fluid resistance, and now electronic resistance. The most popular used to be wind
resistance. They were the least expensive, and they were very simple. The faster you pedal, the
harder it becomes to pedal. They have a natural feel to them, but they are really noisy. Magnetic
trainers have taken over the mass of the market now. They're quiter, they offer variable
resistance, and their prices have fallen so that you can typically find them for about as low of
a price as a decent wind trainer. The only drawback that people might mention is that they feel
they have a somewhat perceptible "drag" to them because of the magnet. Fluid trainers are sort of
the holy grail of trainers in my opinion. They're quiet, many offer variable resistance, and they
have a very smooth feel to them. However, they are considerably more expensive. Electronic
trainers offer all the bells and whistles in terms of high-end training: power readouts,
programmable courses, hr info, etc. Expect to pay for it, though. If you're truly serious, such a
thing might be a good investment, because it seems that with most people all that info tends to
keep them motivated to ride more (or maybe it's the fact that they've spent so much $$$!)
3) There are also tire driven units and rim driven units. The tire driven ones have the resistance
set against the tire. They're very easy to set up, but they will wear out your tires relatively
quickly. I always suggest putting a cheap rear tire on for the winter if you're going to be
riding a trainer regularly. Rim driven units save your tires and allow you to use mountain bike
tires on the trainer. They're tougher to set up for each bike, but it's not a big deal. They also
cost a bit more. Elite makes a tire driven trainer that uses an "elasto-gel" (ie, hard rubber)
roller for resistance that supposedly decreases wear on the tire by something like 20% and
reduces noise by 40%.
4) Different quality levels of trainers also have differing levels of resistance, meaning that if
you're a very strong rider, some entry-level trainers may not have enough reistance for you to
be able to work as hard as you'd like. We sell a lot of Minoura Mag 500 trainers, but with the
caveat that if someone gets very serious, they may want to upgrade later. Our favorite trainers
at the shop: Minoura Mag 500D--great price point and Minoura has pretty good service. Minoura
Inter-Rim--rim driven, so it offers lot of flexibility. We use one of these when doing existing
bike fits. Kurt Kinetics Fluid--Bombproof, great feel, great quality, great service. Hope this
helps. Wesley Best