First Turbo Trainer, looking for buying advice

biked123

So pretty easy really, first racing bike, done about 2000km on it, looking to get some training done during the nights when it's too late to get out/raining and between my work.

I've got a home office and will be using the trainer in there, music/movie playing, standing fan.. now I just need the turbo trainer itself.

My criteria (rightly/wrongly) is:
- As quiet as is reasonably possible
- Good level of resistance
- Speed/wattage readout (so I can have some semi-structured training sessions)
- Natural feel
- Easy to use

Right now I've got my sights set on this one, but wondered if anyone has one, can recommend or not and/or are there any others I should be looking at which fulfill the same kind of criteria and does the price seem reasonable?

Elite SuperCrono Wireless:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=57915

As I understand I get a different QR skewer for the back and can pretty much keep it in the trainer and just lift it out when I want to go out on the road? (no switching skewers all the time?)

Apologies for my ignorance, Many Thanks!

rdt

I would forget about the wattage readout critera, and get a high quality, highly thought of fluid trainer: either a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine or a Cycleops Fluid 2.

These have a more realistic pedalling feel than the magnetic trainers, and have stable power curves so that, at a constant speed, you can use a speedo as a proxy for power output. The Kurt Kinetic has an optional speedo which also shows a "wattage" value, if you're happy to pay the extra £50 - although there's really not a lot of point.

The Kinetic also has an optional enormously heavy flywheel which gives a coast-down time from 25 mph of about 1 minute, for an ever more realistic feel, should you deem it worth it.

The Kinetic is built like the proverbial brick sh1thouse (albeit stronger) and guaranteed for life, but the Cycleops is less expensive and should also do a very good job.

MatthewBulmer

I've got the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine. Best bit of kit I've ever bought.

GiantMike

Buy a second hand one that has been used for about 3 hours and then left in the corner of the garage. The owner is selling it because it is a constant reminder that he should be doing more training, but can't face the boredom and sweating of a turbo. That guy at Evans was so persuasive when he sold him the turbo, front wheel block, protective cover for the crossbar and special turbo tyre. Why did nobody tell him that the turbo can be the most boring form of exercise known to (wo)man?

Alternatively, if you have a good workout or some kind of external stimulation (such as Sufferfest) the turbo can be fun (in a sadistic way) and very beneficial.

But I'd still go for a (barely) used one.

briannic

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/eli ... s-ec007761

Have a look at Parabolic Rollers for indoor training. They are more core orientated than the turbo. The real expensive types allow you to stand up and cycle instead of this version in the link where you need to stay seated.

I used it last year in the winter and once you get your balance you can knock your time spent in the saddle down by half.

twotyred

+1 for the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine. Simple, reliable, well built and much closer to road feel than magnetic trainers. No messing about with resistance adjustment.- if you want it to hurt more change up a gear and pedal faster.

bilirubin

I have the Cycleops Jet Fluid Pro and mirror a lot of what has been said above, feels like cycling on the road, easy to set up, quiet and if you want more pain just change up a gear.

Simples!

Poulsy

+1 for Kurt Kinetic. Sooooo smooth.

Anonymous

Kurt Kinetic or Cycleops Jet Fluid Pro (I have the cycleops)

Spending less on a turbo is false economy.

People's experiences of turbos with power readouts have shown them to be inaccurate and worse, inconsistent...

chill123

after much research i went for the CycleOps Fluid 2 and am more than pleased with it.

Here's my review if your interested: http://www.bicyclecenturytraining.com/b ... th-review/

overthehill

I've never had to bother with quietness as my turbo is in the garage (and I have a high powered set of speakers complete with subwoofer which drowns out the noise!) - so can't advise on that. I mainly use it for killer interval training (and forms the basis for winter training), so there's no way I could actually watch tv whilst on it. In fact if I wasn't doing anything on it that demanded total concentration I would probably get bored and climb off!

I'm sure loads of other people turbo indoors, but even with a fan, don't underestimate how hot you get and how much sweat you generate. I have a fan, I leave the garage door slightly open, wear a headband and have a towel at arms reach. Still sweat bucket loads.

My first turbo several years ago was a Tacx Flow as I wanted a power readout. As said this is pretty useless because it's not accurate (not easy to calibrate the same for every session you do and may drift with temperature of flywheel etc.) I did however buy a Powertap wheel and started using this in the turbo instead. 100% consistent but what I liked most was the ability to upload your workout to a computer and then be able to compare them over time. Logging sessions also acts as a motivator, as opposed to aimless pedalling on the spot!. I don't actually think there's much point just using power on a turbo unless you have reference points for what sort of power you are putting out when you are riding outside anyway. But if you do want to gauge your efforts, a heart rate monitor is probably the best tool after a (hugely more expensive) power meter - once you've worked out what your training zones are. You could also set up a rear wheel speedo if you want and maybe work to speed/resistance settings (since again speed alone on a turbo is a bit meaningless). I did replace my Flow with a Satori - simple, portable and a good range of resistance settings and I also use a set of rollers for easier workouts

There's always talk of turbo's feeling natural, but imho no turbo is going to feel that natural anyway since you are fixed in one place. You can however set the majority of turbos up so that pedalling action is at least smooth by a combination of tyre pressure, bike gearing and turbo resistance. Tends to get more jerky if you hike the gearing and resistance up to make big power though (like trying to mimmick a long slow climb say). And if you do hammer the turbo you will start to find that it actually shreds your tyres and that you ideally need to use a turbo-specific tyre. Then you either have to swop your road tyre off or have a second wheel with a turbo tyre already mounted (and I'm reading the Chain Reaction description that, if you got the plasticy Mavic skewer or the one you have is not a shape that is compatible with that turbo, then they are just supplying you with one that is).

I'm sure the Elite Crono is a decent bit of kit, but as it's at the top(-ish) end of the range, I guess you have to ask yourself if you are prepared to take a punt....or risk using a mere handful of times and then have it sit in the corner! As said, an alternative might be to pick up a cheap one just for the sake of seeing whether you get on with it or not.

My 2p.

biked123

Thank you for all your advice, this is a great help!