Cycleops Jetfluid pro any good?

m0scs

I'm thinking of buying a turbo.

Never had one before and normally brave the elements. A trainer will def help with mid week shorter sessions when time is tight.

Having looked at what's available the jet fluid pro seems to fit the bill. Quiet And uncomplicated.

I'm mainly cycling for fitness and weightloss so nothing serious.

I'd appreciate some assistance making a choice.

haggisinlondon

Hi,

I got mine delivered today so trying it out this evening so can get back to you. Spent a bit of time reading reviews and chose this one because of the power curve and noise.

I'll let you know.

Haggis

m0scs

Likewise got mine delivered today and just set it up. Also bought the riser block and glad I did cos the back end sits quite high off the ground. I noticed that there is not much clearance between the tyre and the black framework of the roller and it doesn't need to be pushed too hard against the tyre for it to rub on the frame.

I'll be giving mine a tryout later in the garage and will report back later.

m0scs

Just done an hour on the turbo trainer. Had my mp3 player pumping out vibes to reduce the boredom. Used it in the garage.

I found it very smooth and progressive. Tried staning up and it seemed ok. Nice and stable, didnt feel ike it was going going to topple over.

I kept pretty much at a steady pace with a couple of higher intensity intivals.

Seems solid anough, tyre didnt get very hot which was goos and no slipping on the roller that I would detect.

As I never used one of these things before I have no point of reference but I thought it was quite loud. Not sure the other half will allow it in the lounge but having sweated buckets outside in the cooler garage seems a better option.

How did you find yours Haggis?

haggisinlondon

Agree with what you said M0scs, very sturdy trainer, I did one of the Spinervals sessions and the road like feel was very evident from the Cycleops. I am very chuffed with it. I also got the Front wheel section as well as the mat.

One thing I think will be the main decider on whether the trainer works is the DVD/Music part. Enjoyed having the DVD to workout with and will be searching for more.

gkerr4

I have the older cycleops fluid2 trainer - and from my experience it is one of the quiet ones!!

agree it is quite "road-like" in its feel but sometimes the lack of resistance setting annoys me for intervals - that said, swithcing to top gear sure increases the resistance for 'hill climbs' and intervals.

I have used the carmichael trainright DVDs which I rate - i have burned them to my macbook laptop and can play them through itunes so I just carry the laptop into the garage with me, put it on a shelf and away I go (I did have a projector in y last garage which was cool!)

it's still boring though isn't it..

haggisinlondon

DVD's are what is on my shopping list, do you know the best place to get them?

One thing I am going to have to invest in are towels, never sweated so much in my life.

gkerr4

not looked for a while - JE james had them for a while at £14.99 I think - wiggle have the trainright ones for around the £20 mark last time I looked.

did you get a free one with the trainer itself? - the Trainright "time trial" training DVD?

haggisinlondon

Yes not used the free one yet, planning on tomorrow morning before work. Might check Ebay as well for some. Hopefully keep motivated through the winter.

m0scs

Agree on the need for towels didn't realise u would get so hot in the garage.

I ended up wearing my towel round my neck.

I was wearing fingerless cycling gloves and found they got wet with sweat and after I realised I had a blister on my thumb. I can only assume that a combination of sweat and gripping onto the handlebars had caused this. Never had this problem before.

This morning my legs were aching far more than had I been out for an hours ride. Infact I ached much more than when going out for much longer rides. I'm not sure if you found the same Haggis? I'm not sure if it's due to sweating more or just that on the turbo there is no excuse to slow down so the exercise for a given timeperiod is more intense.

I have a polar cs400 computer and having maintained a steadish cadence for the hour at a pace I was comfortable with my average speed was no different than out on the road even though this included ascents and descents. I thought my average would be faster on the turbo at a steady pace. Can't quite figure that out unless the resistance in a particular gear at a given cadence is higher than out in the real world.

haggisinlondon

100% agree with you, I have done a number of training rides in the past few months but a solid 45 minutes of intervals on the trainer has left my legs feeling very achy. But in a good way.

Very happy with the trainer, and have found some great movies - sufferfest etc, to keep me occupied.

DaveyL

A fan is an essential component of the turbo set-up!

I got one of these from Debenhams, £15 at the moment:
http://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... 1122231_-1

It's a 50 W fan - is just about good enough to keep me relatively cool when doing intervals, though I could do with upgrading to 100 W.

bazzargh

I've got a Jet Fluid Pro, and I'm very happy with it - its way quieter than my old tacx magnetic trainer, is easy to get the bike in & out. I don't mind the lack of adjustable resistance - using the gears does enough for me. However, you should know that you can't eg train at low cadence/high power (for hills), or make sudden, out of the seat sprints; mucht the same as other trainers. Never found this to be a limiting factor.

A friend was asking about the trainer recently though and had found some bargain prices for the tacx range. http://www.bike24.com/ have the Tacx Flow at €255, while they offer the JetFluid Pro at €300. For comparison wiggle's current 20% off prices for both of these are €224 for the JetFluid and €329 for the Flow. The Flow has a power meter BTW, so you'd expect it to be the more expensive model. I've never shopped at bike24 so I don't know how reliable they are, but their prices are bizarrely cheap like this for all the tacx gear, though obviously they're not best prices for other brands.

ScottieP

I've recently bought a Jetfluid Pro too and am finding it amazingly noisy. I have my laptop speakers on full volume and can't hear them at all over the whine of the turbo - have I got it set up wrong? I am using my winter tyres on it - Conti Ultragatorskins - could that be it?

Any tips/suggestions appreciated.

Thanks
ScottieP

gkerr4

ScottieP wrote:

I've recently bought a Jetfluid Pro too and am finding it amazingly noisy. I have my laptop speakers on full volume and can't hear them at all over the whine of the turbo - have I got it set up wrong? I am using my winter tyres on it - Conti Ultragatorskins - could that be it?

Any tips/suggestions appreciated.

Thanks
ScottieP

I think it is worth taking a look at the overall setup - if it is in the garage on a concrete floor then it is worth sitting the trainer on a piece of carpet or better still one of those high-density foam floormats you get for gyms - also look at how tight the tyre is against the roller when you attach it - it doesn't have to be very tight at all and all this does it create noise and heat in your tyre which isn't good for the tyre either!

ScottieP

gkerr4 wrote:

I think it is worth taking a look at the overall setup - if it is in the garage on a concrete floor then it is worth sitting the trainer on a piece of carpet or better still one of those high-density foam floormats you get for gyms - also look at how tight the tyre is against the roller when you attach it - it doesn't have to be very tight at all and all this does it create noise and heat in your tyre which isn't good for the tyre either!

Hello and thanks for the comments. I am using the trainer on my kitchen floor, which is lino on concrete. The bike and turbo are also on a foam mat (though not an actual bike one) and I have the big Cycleops front wheel riser. I am trying to attach the trainer slightly less tightly to the wheel too in the hope it quietens things down a bit. I bought the Jetfluid Pro because it was supposed to be quiet - just as well I didn't buy a noisy one, it might have permanently damaged my hearing!

The noise is amazing - should it quieten down after 10 or 20 minutes once the fluid gets up to temperature?

Thanks again.

ScottieP

gkerr4

ScottieP wrote:

gkerr4 wrote:

I think it is worth taking a look at the overall setup - if it is in the garage on a concrete floor then it is worth sitting the trainer on a piece of carpet or better still one of those high-density foam floormats you get for gyms - also look at how tight the tyre is against the roller when you attach it - it doesn't have to be very tight at all and all this does it create noise and heat in your tyre which isn't good for the tyre either!

Hello and thanks for the comments. I am using the trainer on my kitchen floor, which is lino on concrete. The bike and turbo are also on a foam mat (though not an actual bike one) and I have the big Cycleops front wheel riser. I am trying to attach the trainer slightly less tightly to the wheel too in the hope it quietens things down a bit. I bought the Jetfluid Pro because it was supposed to be quiet - just as well I didn't buy a noisy one, it might have permanently damaged my hearing!

The noise is amazing - should it quieten down after 10 or 20 minutes once the fluid gets up to temperature?

Thanks again.

ScottieP

Hmm - I'm not sure that the noise should reduce after it heats up .

I have the older "fluid2" trainer - not the 'jet' one - but it is pretty quiet - perhaps you were just expecting it to be quieter but I think the model you have is probably as quiet as you think.

I do think though that perhaps the environment is making it worse - the kitchen - lino on concrete with worktops and lots of hard surfaces - perhaps this is amplifying the sound a little?

ScottieP

gkerr4 wrote:

Hmm - I'm not sure that the noise should reduce after it heats up .

I have the older "fluid2" trainer - not the 'jet' one - but it is pretty quiet - perhaps you were just expecting it to be quieter but I think the model you have is probably as quiet as you think.

I do think though that perhaps the environment is making it worse - the kitchen - lino on concrete with worktops and lots of hard surfaces - perhaps this is amplifying the sound a little?

Yes, the environment - hard surfaces etc, may be making it worse. I may have to stump up for a turbo tyre and a "proper" floor mat to try and reduce the noise. I have a spare wheel and cassette I could use - it just seemed more hassle to change wheels as well in setting it up (as I only have one bike).

Thanks again for your comments and suggestions - I appreciate them.

ScottieP

dz_fan

I just bought my first trainer. Went with the Fluid 2 because i thought it was the top of the line from Cycleops, and I had experienced how quiet it was when I saw someone warming up on one at a race. Noise was the most important factor for me-- training indoors and not pissing off my roommate. I picked one up, brought it home, and was pretty satisfied. In the next few days I found out that Saris had come out with the Jet Fluid Pro this year, and I read more into it. From what I'd read, the new trainer had a more stable stand, stayed cooler, had better momentum (wheel would spin longer after you stop pedaling), locking legs, easier loading/unloading, and was QUIETER. Even Saris's website claimed that it should be quieter than the Fluid 2 by 2 dB.

(32 kph=20mph)

source=http://cycleopsproseries.com/jetfluid-pro-precision-balance/

So 1 week after I bought the Fluid 2, I went to my LBS and returned it, and upgraded to the Jet Fluid Pro. Brought it home, and I could tell immediately, even when spinning the cranks with my hands, how much louder it was! My fears were confirmed when I hopped up on the bike and started spinning. It was significantly louder than the Fluid 2. The Jet Fluid Pro has a whining noise that I wouldn't expect from a Fluid trainer. I tried loosening the grip on the wheel to the point where the tire started to slip, and the noise was still there.

I am running the trainer on carpet; not sure about the floor--could be wood or concrete. With the Fluid 2, I felt like my chain / drive train noise was the loudest part when I was cruising in Zone 2. Definitely not so for the Jet Fluid Pro. Pretty unhappy.

Despite the other improvements, which I'll be sad to see go, I'm going back to the LBS tomorrow and getting my Fluid 2 back.

ScottieP

Hi dz_fan

Actually I'd concur with your view on the JetFluid Pro - sadly I think I've had mine too long to send it back now - mine has the whining noise too and I'm similarly disappointed. Like you I bought it because it was supposed to be quieter - but it's actually very loud.

ScottieP

gkerr4

ooh - this throws some doubt on the info I have provided then as I have the fluid2 and have been happy with it's "quietness" - I also thought that the jet model was quieter as I had read the same graph as above - sorry!

ScottieP

A quick update - I've now bought a new Continental Turbo tyre for my Jetfluid Pro and it has reduced the noise quite a bit - it's bearable now but still noisier than I'd hoped for.