Indoor Trainers?



Drunner611

New Member
Sep 16, 2007
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Well, riding season will soon be over here in Wisconsin and this has been my first summer of riding and I want to maintain some shape over the winter. I'm looking at indoor trainers but I don't know where to start.
Rollers, magnets, wheel driven, rim driven? Also, I really don't want to spend very much so I'm looking at ebay, but I have to know what to look for.
Thanks a lot.
 
Drunner611 said:
Well, riding season will soon be over here in Wisconsin and this has been my first summer of riding and I want to maintain some shape over the winter. I'm looking at indoor trainers but I don't know where to start.
Rollers, magnets, wheel driven, rim driven? Also, I really don't want to spend very much so I'm looking at ebay, but I have to know what to look for.
Thanks a lot.

Try the search of this forum, topic has been covered many times before. I have a cheapo mag trainer, kinda noisy but with my AC/DC cranking it isn't an issue.
 
If you do a few searches, you'll find the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine is probably the most highly recommended trainer. It's not cheap though.

On the other hand, you get what you pay for.
 
Yojimbo_ said:
If you do a few searches, you'll find the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine is probably the most highly recommended trainer. It's not cheap though.

On the other hand, you get what you pay for.
ive found i hate trainers. boring, your going no where, and its probably more wear and tear you should save for the road...

i actually like recumbent exercise bikes, although they are no where near the quality of workout i find the position a lot easier to deal with when your not actually moving or going anywhere. plus they are quieter...also a spinning bike would be a GREAT winter exercise as they help you develop a good spin, as would rollers. Rollers also benefit in they shouldnt be as boring because you do have to balance still.

in the winter i prefer to just grab my cross-country skiis and go venturing. makes biking look easy, when you have to break your own trails anyways! even getting a cheap mountain bike for winter to ride around on wouldnt be a bad idea, or an older used road bike would work too. I wont let my good bikes touch the pavement until there has been a GOOD rain or two to clear the salt off the roads. even onces that happens, around here your bound to get another good snowfall or two before its really spring :)
 
I use rollers when I can't get outside and ride. We only get two or three good snows that stick around, but we get cold rain quite often. We were good last year all the way up to the end of January and then it got messy. I like rollers because they reproduce a real ride much more than a trainer.
 
kdelong said:
I like rollers because they reproduce a real ride much more than a trainer.
+1 on the rollers, great for improving bike handling skills as well, also there isn't the problem of the home trainer wearing the tires at an extremely fast rate due to the heat generated (unless you get special trainer tyres that run cooler, hassle changing over wheel or tire) and any abnormal flex to the frame when it is held by the rear axle is avoided (although this may not harm the frame).
 
Drunner611 said:
Well, riding season will soon be over here in Wisconsin and this has been my first summer of riding and I want to maintain some shape over the winter. I'm looking at indoor trainers but I don't know where to start.
Rollers, magnets, wheel driven, rim driven? Also, I really don't want to spend very much so I'm looking at ebay, but I have to know what to look for.
Thanks a lot.

Fluid resistance units are nicest, Cycle Ops, or Kurt Kinetic. All trainers are boring beyond belief and it's worth considering other options, or at the very least having a considerable MP3 collection to distract you, or perhaps shove the TV in front of you. They're dull. Very, very dull.
 
KellyT said:
Fluid resistance units are nicest, Cycle Ops, or Kurt Kinetic. All trainers are boring beyond belief and it's worth considering other options, or at the very least having a considerable MP3 collection to distract you, or perhaps shove the TV in front of you. They're dull. Very, very dull.
Unless you have a very interesting person training on a set of rollers right next to yours. Find a training buddy that you like and ride the rollers together. You could also use this for a little parent child bonding time too, if your child is good enough to ride a set of rollers or a stationary trainer.
 
Actually, I'm in a college dorm right now and theres about 5 of us that are looking to get trainers. Were planning on riding at least 1x a week and probably watching some old tour tapes while we ride. It shouldn't be very boring at all.
Thats the other problem, I'm in college. So I really don't want to spend very much. I know I want better than an air trainer though.
 
kleng said:
Rig up the computer and watch the free content on www.cycling.tv
Last winter I rode my trainer a lot and it was good and all but my back tire took a beating more then it would just outside riding. This year I bought some rollers and they are a must you can develop so much skill with them. Plus it smooths out your pedal stroke and gives you balance. That means a lot considering coming off a winter on a trainer and being all woobly afterward. The only downfall is you have to concentrate or youll eat it.
 
Another vote for rollers.

We were good last year all the way up to the end of January and then it got messy.

Yes, in January I put on 300+ miles. For Ohio that is fantastic winter riding.

Unfortunately, February sucked!
 
SteelIsReal said:
Last winter I rode my trainer a lot and it was good and all but my back tire took a beating more then it would just outside riding. This year I bought some rollers and they are a must you can develop so much skill with them. Plus it smooths out your pedal stroke and gives you balance. That means a lot considering coming off a winter on a trainer and being all woobly afterward. The only downfall is you have to concentrate or youll eat it.
Yeah, it is quite a surprise to suddenly find yourself heading for your rec room wall at 20 MPH:eek: ! I forget the brand at the moment but someone has a set of rollers out that are smaller in the center and get larger towards the sides so that it is difficult to ride off of them.
 
kdelong said:
Yeah, it is quite a surprise to suddenly find yourself heading for your rec room wall at 20 MPH:eek: ! I forget the brand at the moment but someone has a set of rollers out that are smaller in the center and get larger towards the sides so that it is difficult to ride off of them.
wow thats serious... i am new to this sport as well, & looked at the rollers compared to the trainers & i say to myself... how the hell is that supposed to work....
 
kdelong said:
Yeah, it is quite a surprise to suddenly find yourself heading for your rec room wall at 20 MPH:eek: ! I forget the brand at the moment but someone has a set of rollers out that are smaller in the center and get larger towards the sides so that it is difficult to ride off of them.
well, if i get rollers im gonna tie the bike to one of the support beams in my basement :D

maybe ill just stick with my cycle ops fluid....we got a nice bike to use on it now, a 1990 bridgestone RB3...fits my brother nicely and it would be OK for trainer use for me...paid $30 for it! nice shape too...
 
I really dont think that you will fly into the wall going 20 mph on rollers. However that would be way funny, I have fallen off before and it is just like when you are spinning your back tire off the ground to get into the right gear then you put it on the ground and it stops.
 
SteelIsReal said:
I really dont think that you will fly into the wall going 20 mph on rollers. However that would be way funny, I have fallen off before and it is just like when you are spinning your back tire off the ground to get into the right gear then you put it on the ground and it stops.
Just a little tongue in cheek humor to underscore the seriousness of riding off the rollers. It can be a bad situation if you lose your concentration. I do know a fellow who trashed a new plasma TV when he came off the rear rollers while sprinting, but he was a little too close anyway.
 
kdelong said:
Just a little tongue in cheek humor to underscore the seriousness of riding off the rollers. It can be a bad situation if you lose your concentration. I do know a fellow who trashed a new plasma TV when he came off the rear rollers while sprinting, but he was a little too close anyway.
I work at circuit city selling tvs and have a new panasonic plasma now that scares me about that story im going to ride as far away from that thing as possible:(
 
even getting a cheap mountain bike for winter to ride around on wouldnt be a bad idea, or an older used road bike would work too.
I've never ridden in the winter, but it would seem to me that no matter how thick the wheel is, that it would slip on ice. But it looks like an interesting idea.
 
I use an old MTB with Nokian studded tires in the winter. Still occasionally slips on the ice: which just makes it all the more fun, and teaches you to use a lot more finesse with cadence, braking, gear changes, steering, and moving your weight about. All comes in useful for the next season.

Check your local laws, as where I am in Denmark I am only allowed to use such tires between certain dates.