Fluid Turbo Trainer Query

hypster

I've got an old Elite magnetic trainer but was thinking of upgrading to something like the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine. I understand that this type of fluid trainer relies on wheel speed for increasing resistance so the faster you go the more resistance.

What I can't get my head around is how this relates to simulating a hill climb for instance. For the same cadence you are in a bigger gear, travelling faster but theoretically going uphill, it does not compute. Can anyone help me to understand?

charlie_potatoes

madasahattersley wrote:

You can't do hill efforts on a fluid trainer, just "flat" efforts. The KKRM is great and worth every penny.

On a previous post you wrote this..

madasahattersley wrote:

I've got no idea what trainer road is nor do I want to find out but my Elite HydroMag is as good as I can imagine a turbo being.

Given that the hydromag is £100 cheaper how can the KKRM be worth every penny.
I don't mean to be pedantic Luke, just interested as I am thinking of upgrading my old Tacx.
What am I missing?

charlie_potatoes

Thanks Luke

iron-clover

The fluid trainers get progressively harder as the wheel spins faster- but as it's caused by fluid resistance the drag increases super-linearly with speed, so you can reach incredibly high power outputs with a high gear.

I have an Elite Crono Fluid and find it pretty perfect for my use- if I want to spin then I use a lower gear and allow cadence to increase resistance, and in my highest gear (50x12t) I find I really have to stomp on the pedals to keep the wheel spinning- which replicates the hills fairly well for me (i.e. pretend you are in a lower gear struggling up a hill, but actually you are in a big gear turning the wheel faster- the cadence will similar though),

I didn't see the point in getting the fluid + mag version, as I prefer to alter resistance using my gears anyway rather than on the trainer, and I won't generate enough power (for long enough anyway) to need the extra resistance provided by the magnet.