How hard should the cyclops fluid be?



jwroubaix

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Jun 6, 2007
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I posted a few days ago about the cycleops fluid2 not being hard enough. Yesterday I gave it one more try with the dvd that came with it. I felt like i got a better workout with the dvd. It still wasn't very much resistance but maybe it's not supposed to be very hard. For others that have the cycleops, if you're riding in one of your hardest gears should it be hard to pedal?
 
Well I don't own one, but they're know for having a resistance that adapts based on wheel speed. Therefore normally by shifting on harder gears the resistance should go up.

They're also known for allowing decent peak power levels to be reached. Have I read somewhere that you can reach 700w or something at reasonably high speed?

What you may do is experimenting few gear/cadence combinations to see what you can extract from it.
 
jwroubaix said:
I posted a few days ago about the cycleops fluid2 not being hard enough. Yesterday I gave it one more try with the dvd that came with it. I felt like i got a better workout with the dvd. It still wasn't very much resistance but maybe it's not supposed to be very hard. For others that have the cycleops, if you're riding in one of your hardest gears should it be hard to pedal?

Assuming your hardest gear is at least a 50x12t and you pedal at 90rpm, that's 29.3mph on the rear wheel. According to their published power curve here (click "design features"), that should require ~530 - 550w.

I'd say that's definitely hard, and most people aren't going to be able to produce that power for more than a minute or two. If you can do a whole DVD like that then your trainer is prolly busted.
 
I'm going to repeat what I said before. I think the fluid drained out of your trainer without you noticing at some point or there's some other mechanical failure inside. There should be a lot of resistance in high gears and from what you have indicated there isn't.
 
lanierb said:
I'm going to repeat what I said before. I think the fluid drained out of your trainer without you noticing at some point or there's some other mechanical failure inside. There should be a lot of resistance in high gears and from what you have indicated there isn't.

Barring gross incompetence in assembly or bike attachment, I think that's the case. Doubly-so if this is a used unit, since fluid leakage used to be a common complaint for that model trainer.
 
The fluid definately hasn't leaked out. I'm going to put it into the highest gear tonight and see how long i can do. As i mentioned before I'm not a very strong rider.

frenchyge said:
Barring gross incompetence in assembly or bike attachment, I think that's the case. Doubly-so if this is a used unit, since fluid leakage used to be a common complaint for that model trainer.
 
If you wouldn't classify yourself as a professional rider then something's definitely wrong, since that trainer should provide pretty stout resistance in high gear combinations. You should contact Saris for warranty support, but it's worth eliminating a few possible errors first.

1) Is the unit new, or used? If used, how old?
2) Is the resistance unit firmly clamped to your wheel so the tire isn't slipping? The tire should be bulging slighting under the pressure when you step on that little yellow lever.
3) Can you hear the fluid sloshing around in the unit when you spin the wheel by hand?
 
I bought the unit new a few years ago, I haven't used it all that much. The tire is not slipping. I think I can hear the fluid but can't tell for sure.
 
I think there's a lot of variation among their units as my Cycleops has a TON of resistance.

I'm still in my little ring during 470-watt intervals. :eek:
 
jwroubaix said:
I bought the unit new a few years ago, I haven't used it all that much. The tire is not slipping. I think I can hear the fluid but can't tell for sure.

OK, if you're in your highest gear, that is the big chain ring in front and the littlest cog in the rear, and if the tire isn't slipping....and it's still easy, your trainer is toast.
 
frenchyge said:
. . . According to their published power curve here (click "design features"), that should require ~530 - 550w . . .

Wow, that doesn't seem like that much really (for a properly working trainer). :confused:
My 1up trainer ( 1up Bicycle Trainers ) can exceed 950 watts at ~31 mph with me on it and can likely go well over 1,200 with the right legs.

I agree that your trainer has seen better days. Sell it on 3bay and buy a new one. ;)
 
bwbike said:
Wow, that doesn't seem like that much really (for a properly working trainer). :confused:
My 1up trainer ( 1up Bicycle Trainers ) can exceed 950 watts at ~31 mph with me on it and can likely go well over 1,200 with the right legs.

Note that that wattage was at the speed I calculated above at 90rpm and a specified gear. That's not a max by any means.

The 1up model does boast a very steep resistance curve with all the balls in place. Most of the fluid models shoot for something which more resembles the actual resistance that a rider would encounter on the road at a given speed. I'm not sure there's a point in having any more, assuming one's trainer bike has similar gearing to their road bike.
 
Speaking of realistic loads, believe the old-school "windtrainer" style still has a lot going for it. I don't ride trainers too often anymore, but prefer the my Blackburn Windtrainer to the newer "Travel Trac" mag-load unit for it's realistic aerodynamic load curve. In addition, the fan and flywheel will never wear out or need calibration. Workload is always repeatable since it's based only on the speed displayed on the bike computer. Also, load capacity is virtually unlimited, since the work goes directly to the air flowing through the fan, not into a small load unit which heats up as the session progresses.

Not sure if any windtrainers are still on the market, but for those who train in a garage or basement and don't need to worry about the noise, IMO they are a great option.
 
dhk2 said:
Speaking of realistic loads, believe the old-school "windtrainer" style still has a lot going for it. I don't ride trainers too often anymore, but prefer the my Blackburn Windtrainer to the newer "Travel Trac" mag-load unit for it's realistic aerodynamic load curve. In addition, the fan and flywheel will never wear out or need calibration. Workload is always repeatable since it's based only on the speed displayed on the bike computer. Also, load capacity is virtually unlimited, since the work goes directly to the air flowing through the fan, not into a small load unit which heats up as the session progresses.

Not sure if any windtrainers are still on the market, but for those who train in a garage or basement and don't need to worry about the noise, IMO they are a great option.

Hah! I have an old Blackburn wind trainer, too, buried somewhere in my garage. I've had it for 20 years. The only real downside to wind trainers is noise. They are anything but quiet.

Both fluid and wind trainers (assuming they're not fubared) will follow the velocity cubed curve for power. The curves will just differ in slope. I'm really surprised that there's such a variance in fluid trainer performance.....or so it seems. I wonder if this is the case among all brands? Of course, it will vary a little depending on what fluid is used in the trainer. Hopefully the trainer manufacturers are smart enough to use fluids that remain pretty much constant in viscosity as temperature goes up.

I definitely think the OP's trainer is dead, for whatever reason. In fact, I think any trainer on which you can easily pedal a 50-12 or summat is not functioning as it should and should be returned to the manufacture or replaced at someone else's expense. After all, if it's easy to pedal, it's not really a trainer, is it?
 
jwroubaix said:
I posted a few days ago about the cycleops fluid2 not being hard enough. Yesterday I gave it one more try with the dvd that came with it. I felt like i got a better workout with the dvd. It still wasn't very much resistance but maybe it's not supposed to be very hard. For others that have the cycleops, if you're riding in one of your hardest gears should it be hard to pedal?

I am new to riding on a trainer and before this January hadn't been on my road bike with the exception of a few rides last september in more than 2 years (i.e. veryout of shape). However, I bought the Fluid 2 trainer 3 weks ago and have put 8 hours on it (not enough but getting there).

The resistane curve is very similar to riding on the road. The wheel speed and effort are almost identical to what I logged in the few out door rides last year. Sprints seemed harder during intervals too.

Best of luck
 

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