Rock&Roll or Elite Muin - Cannot Decide!

grahamcp

So I was pretty set on buying a Kurt Kinetic Rock and Roll, 20% off at Evans so a touch under £400 with a riser ring.

My only reservation with that is that there is the possibility of tyre slippage on the roller, something I experienced with an old Tacx trainer a few years back.

I've now noticed that Wiggle have the Elite Muin for £328 (out of stock until mid-Jan, so whether that price will change I'm not sure) which is direct drive so would hopefully eliminate any chance of slippage and also tyre wear. I'm assuming there is no need for a riser block either so the difference in cost is worth considering.

Has anyone had experience of either (or both) of these trainers that might help sway my decision? I suppose at some point I may wish to get some kind of virtual power data, although that is not top priority from day 1. I'm not quite sure how it all works but I'm getting the impression that the gizmo that I'd need for the Kurt would be another 150-odd quid.

Seeing as it's already Jan tomorrow I don't want to hold off on a purchase for too long, but obviously want to make sure my cash goes on the right machine.

Thanks and Happy New Year.

pippi_langsamer-2

The RnR is great. Tyre slippage will always be an issue with a roller- just try get the right balance of pressure on the tyre/ roller and it should be right.

If you are wanting to do flat out sprints, I'd imagine a direct drive unit will always be better though.

I've decided I can't bring myself to pay the £150 for the KK InRide module, so will probably just get an Ant+ dongle for the laptop and an Ant+/ Bluetooth Smart cadence/ speed sensor to enable use on TrainerRoad etc.

The seated rocking n rolling motion is great, although don't expect to get similar realistic feel out of the saddle as its a bit....odd.

mangetout_rodney

I bought the Elite Turbo Muin a few weeks ago when they dropped the price to just over £300
It is rock solid and I'm very happy with the purchase.

northpole

Appreciate this is not on the OP's list but thought worth mentioning that the CycleOps JetFluid Pro is a very decent turbo trainer. Very progressive resistance, as difficult as you want to make it depending on gear selected. As previous poster mentioned, as long as you strike the right balance with pressure on the wheel clamp, there should be no tyre slippage.

Peter

grahamcp

Thanks guys. I'll update when I eventually make a decision :-)

grahamcp

Update:- I went for the Muin in the end. I've had a couple of sessions on it of around 20 and 45 mins - pretty unstructured to be honest - I'm really happy with it and can see an hour session quite do-able without getting fed up. Fortunately I have not experienced any dodgy noises that others have had.

I spent most of the time on the inner chain ring and easy half of the cassette which provded a good workout - shifting onto the big ring to see how it felt and there is tons of resistance available if that is what you like!

Next thing is to see if I can get it hooked up to some training apps with some kind of virtual power data - I think there is another thread in the training forum on that subject so will head over there later.

mallorcajeff

sloppyschleckonds

If you are spending that sort of money why not the Lemond Revolution

grahamcp

Pros and cons of the main options but the Lemond would have been probably £100 or more extra, and is a LOT noisier by most accounts.

sancho_panza

Grahamcp wrote:

Pros and cons of the main options but the Lemond would have been probably £100 or more extra, and is a LOT noisier by most accounts.

if noise isn't too much of an issue then the Lemond Rev is an outstanding piece of kit - I used a Tacx Flow for six winters and got a Rev this year and it is joy to ride. The simplicity of it is very attractive and the road feel is amazing. Set up is a breeze and everything about it feels rock solid, secure and incredibly smooth. There's a magnet on the flywheel housing for a speed sensor, which I use, and it gives reliable and consistent feedback; or you can buy their wattbox ANT+ power device.

http://www.velominati.com/technology/re ... evolution/

I too was trying to decide with this and the Elite - but noise being down the list of priorities I went for this, after a test run on a friend's, though not having tried the Elite I admit. At lower speeds, no probs with noise; when pushing at 35kph+ equivalent it is loud, though the it's wind noise from the fan, not some squealing metallic drum or electrical whine.