Which Turbo for winter

crispyapplepie

Hi all

Ive never bought a turbo trainer before and im now after many yrs of cycling going to buy 1 for the winter months.

It needs to be as quiet as possible and not overly expensive, budget of around £120. Can anyone advise me on which to get and why you think its good. Im not fussed what make it is, what colour it is etc etc as long as it quiet as it will be used indoors.

Id also like to understand what the difference between magnetic and oil turbo's are. please can anyone advise which of these is the best and the benefits of it?

Thanks
christian

Monty Dog

A magnetic unit relies on the resistance of magnets applied to a rotating steel discs - moving the magnets relative to the disc changes the resistance. Some magnetic units are not linear in their progression - so even if they offer 8 clicks you'll probably only find yourself using the middle three or four and relying on changing gears to vary resistance. Fluid units are simpler and simply rely on a rotating impellor in a bath or hydraulic oil - the harder you pedal then the harder the resistance. Whilst in theory the resistance in linear, as the oil gets warm, the viscosity decreases and so efforts can appear to be easier at the end of a session. IME both types are reliable, robust and pretty quiet - you'll still need an old rug / rubber mat to isolate the vibrations. Go for the most simple and robust looking unit - the heavier the better. Avoid anything with pulleys and rollers - just add complication and noise IME.

crispyapplepie

Brilliant, i think this pretty much sums it up then. Ill go for a magnetic version i think. CRC are selling a few different models so ill look ino 1 of those.

thnkas for the advice.

scherrit

Monty, my mag loses resistance a bit once it get warm, too. Not quite sure why. I run a powertap to do say, 180W intervals and have to gradually up the revs over a few mins to keep the power constant.
YMMV!

campagsarge

I use a Tacx Sirius trainer and bought it for its claimed quietness as I don't have a garage just the back bedroom. In days gone by I used a fly wheel trainer that sounded like a jet engine taking off!

The Sirius is a lot quieter than that - my other half says it sounds like a washing machine on a quick spin cycle! I don't use it on a mat which would help dampen the noise but that gives you an idea of how loud it sounds.

Minoura do an RDA 850 model that puts resistance on the rim not the tyre - might be quieter but maybe not a good idea if you have carbon rims! Not sure what rim wear would be like.

Cyclops do some pretty beefy turbo's as well.

A number of other things to invest in is a fan as boy, will you sweat. You will need an MP3 player as well to pass away the time - the novelty of a new trainer wears off in about 5 minutes!

The Tacx website also gives you training tips and suggested programs. Crispyapplepie, turbo training is not the most pleasureable way to spend time on two wheels but it can really sort your fitness out in a fairly controlled way (although the heat in the room can adversely affect a HRM reading for instance).

http://www.tacx.com/producten.php?langu ... lSubSub=83

cougie

I have the cateye cyclo simulator - just use the magnetic version - its only for the garage, and i need headphones to listen to anything.

If your main concern is quiet - then certainly my magnetic turbo isnt for you. Just how loud are everyone elses ? My fan turbo was like a jet taking off !

eddiebart

I've been researching turbos to help my rehab from my achilles tendon rupture. The consensus seems to be to avoid fluid filled trainers as the seal WILL eventually fail and you will have a puddle of oil on your floor. The exception is the Kurt Kinetic which is a fluid type but there is no spindle going into the fluid chamber (silicone fluid) as the coupling is magnetic. Not supposed to leak but if you look at Planet X's forum (they are distributors) you will see an unanswered post from someone who had it leaking straight from the box. Problem is they are £175.

I had a Tacx magnetic trainer some 15 years ago and the magnets started to rub. I couldn' fix it so dumped it. In the US there is a trainer which relies on friction - 1US something or other- but not imported into the UK. Again more than your budget.

In the end I have decided to go with the Kurt as the warranty seems good. Hope this helps

SteveR_100Milers

I am looking at cycleops Mag+, Magneto, ansd the fluid2. (in price ascending order). Anyone got any good or bad comments on any of them. Preference is for the Magneto, Roadcycling UK gave it the thumbs up but not sure how the progressive resistance bit works. I am comparing to a borrowed Tacx Sirius which is pretty good.

Hugh A

I have the Elite Crono Fluid which is pretty quiet, hasn't leaked so far and has no adjustment (use gears). Other things to watch out for -

Stability or feel (this one feels more like road but less stable) -your requirements may be different depending on the type of intervals you are thinking of doing

Fly wheel - the weight of this provides a sort of run-on effect once you are up to speed (this one has virtually none and is therefore a bit like pedalling up hill, coasting quickly to a stop)

Noise - Do not get a fan type. I think they are all deafening

Roller - some metal or smaller diameter ones tend to eat tyres - hence the special turbo tyres. Also check height adjustment if applicable

Weight - just in case you want to cart it about

phil s

I've had experience of four turbos. My priority was as-road-like-feel-as-possible and also had to be quiet as I live on the top floor of an apartment block and have parquet floors.
I've had a Tacx Flow, which I knew was good but found it too much of a flaff with the calibrations. It wasn't the quietest either. I also had an Elite Crono with resistance, which I hated as it made me pedal squares. The two I really, really rated were the Kurt Kinetic Road machine and the Cycleops Fluid2. I ended up keeping the Fluid2 as it was marginally quieter. Both felt very road-like and both had sufficient resistance to do the torture sessions I enjoy and also to do recovery sessions.
Incidentally I think someone is selling a barely used Fluid2 on londoncyclesport forum for about 90 quid with a riser block. Worth checking if it's still there.

reverendmark

I'd like to be able to use the trainer with my 120mm spaced track bike (which also has 15mm nuts rather than a QR skewer).

Can the Kurt Kinetic Road or Cycleops Fluid2 handle this set up?