Turbo Trainer Reccomendations

Boardman

I am looking for recommendations for a turbo trainer, I have never used one before so need recomendations i need someting as realistic as possible under the £200 mark, ideally i need to be able to use with my mountain bike as well as a road bike. any help appreciated.

rohloff-rich

Boardman wrote:

I am looking for recommendations for a turbo trainer, I have never used one before so need recomendations i need someting as realistic as possible under the £200 mark, ideally i need to be able to use with my mountain bike as well as a road bike. any help appreciated.

MTBs on 'normal' turbo trainers is a no-go unless you're running a slick - you'll need one of the ones that grips the rim, and then if you're running discs on your MTB that'll probably be no good either :roll:

Focus on the road bike, you'll get more benefit from the trainer on that anyway.

For what it's worth, you can get rollers with variable resistance for around £200 (which seem to have the benefit of improving your technique too), or a pretty good quality turbo trainer as most 'OK' ones seem to be in the £100-£150 range.

McBain_v1

Kurt Kinetic Road Machine is a wonderful trainer - bomb proof construction, very quiet and a fantastic fluid action. Don't bother with the computer bit though.

TechnoBuddhist

I've only ever used a Tacx i-magic(upgraded software to Fortius) and I love it. Best thing for getting out on your bike this summer! You could find a 2nd hand one within your budget. You do need a computer tho.

The ability to program your own routes/gradients/wattage and also using 3rd party software you can convert your real rides to virtual so you can reride them. I use www.ownsports.net(sadly closing down) to convert my bigger rides and then I can re-ride them. The site has 100s of routes from all around the world. I'm trying to crack the Col du Tourmalet in my 1hr 30 training ride.

John C.

How about a set of rollers, use any bike without the need for a special back tyre. improve your balance, and Those who say you don't get a proper work out on rollers have obviously never used them.

Ffluff

Interested to see the thoughts on rollers.. I have a mountain bike and hav ehad it on a borrowed Cycleops Mag trainer whilst recovering from a broken collar bone. With crappy weather I'm thinking of buying a trainer but am considering rollers as changing the rear tyre to a slick and back each time is going to be a pain.. any thoughts as to positves and negatives vs the trainer would be gratefully received

Cheers

rohloff-rich

Ffluff wrote:

Interested to see the thoughts on rollers.. I have a mountain bike and hav ehad it on a borrowed Cycleops Mag trainer whilst recovering from a broken collar bone. With crappy weather I'm thinking of buying a trainer but am considering rollers as changing the rear tyre to a slick and back each time is going to be a pain.. any thoughts as to positves and negatives vs the trainer would be gratefully received

Cheers

I'd of thought the knobblies on a set of rollers would also be a problem, although I could be completely wrong. Maybe go for a cheaper trainer leaving you money to get a second hand rear wheel that you can stick a slick tyre on?

Ffluff

yes, makes sense.. cheers!

Tackle

Hi Boardman

I have a Tacx Swing trainer, very sturdy and more than enough resistance for my liking! I just dont get to use it nearly enough, as I work away from home a lot. PM me when you've done your research if your interested.

Tackle.