Fluid 2 trainer / power tap

frenchcycling said:

how does the progressive resistance in a cycle-ops fluid2 tainer work?

how does a power tap work?

(1) The Fluid2 trainer is basically a turbine turning inside liquid. As you pedal faster, the turbine must turn faster, so the resistance increases. The shape of the turbine and the viscosity of the liquid are designed so that the increase in resistance you feel as you pedal harder is close to the air resistance you would feel for the same effort outside on the road. Of course, "close to" isn't "the same as", most of us feel that effort on the F2 is harder than on the road. (2) The Power Tap hub contains a number of strain gauges which give readings converted by the cpu (the computer on the handlebars) to watts (power). So the harder you pedal, the greater the strain measured by the hub, the higher the watts you see on the cpu. You can use the PowerTap while riding the Fluid2 if you do workouts based on power.