What Turbo Trainer

shaun668
shaun668 Posts: 52
edited September 2015 in Training, fitness and health
Hi, I would appreciate some advice on Turbo trainers now the dark mornings and evenings are fast approaching. I've had a look and am confused as there are so many on the market.
Which is the best type fluid or magnetic? i'm guessing fluid as i presume you get a smoother ride. My budget is up to £200.00.

Comments

  • BrandonA
    BrandonA Posts: 553
    Is £200 your total budget for the whole setup or just for the actual trainer? I ask as you might want a ground Matt, maybe a sweat catcher to stop sweat dripping onto your frame and maybe a dedicated turbo tyre.

    Personal I'd get the best TAcx you could afford.
  • shazzz
    shazzz Posts: 1,077
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19703709#p19703709]BrandonA[/url] wrote:
    Is £200 your total budget for the whole setup or just for the actual trainer? I ask as you might want a ground Matt, maybe a sweat catcher to stop sweat dripping onto your frame and maybe a dedicated turbo tyre.

    Personal I'd get the best TAcx you could afford.


    Personally I'd spend all of your £200 on the turbo - it will last for years - and make do with an old rug/carpet/nothing, a towel and whatever tyre you have on the bike now, rather than compromising on the turbo. £200 should get you a decent fluid trainer. I can recommend Kurt Kinetic Road Machine but its a bit more than £200. Tredz has the Cycleops Fluid 2 for £200 at the moment. I've not used it but lots of others recommend it.

    DCRainmaker does an annual blog on turbo recommendations which is worth a google.
  • shaun668
    shaun668 Posts: 52
    £200 is for the turbo only, not worried about a mat as i'll set my bike up in the garage, I have spare tyres for the back wheel so that's not an issue.
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    Dark mornings approaching, they are already here my friend, pitch black when I get up at 6am :(

    In general fluid is 'better' than magnetic, with being quieter in operation and also that you don't need to adjust the resistance manually, as you pedal faster the resistance goes up to match, supposed to simulate the ever increase effects of air resistance you would get outside. However there's another type which are 'motor brake' trainers, which I can assume are basically electric motors run in reverse?

    £200 will get you a reasonable trainer, but you might also want to consider that there is a new breed of smart trainers available which paired with suitable smartphone/PC apps or a Garmin can adjust the resistance automatically based on whatever you want them to do. The Tacx Vortex Smart is probably the cheapest of thse type, it's over your budget but up to you to decide if the features are worth the extra http://www.pedal-pedal.co.uk/tacx-ivortex-smart-trainer-t2180.html
  • Agent57
    Agent57 Posts: 2,300
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19704205#p19704205]markhewitt1978[/url] wrote:
    The Tacx Vortex Smart is probably the cheapest of thse type, it's over your budget but up to you to decide if the features are worth the extra http://www.pedal-pedal.co.uk/tacx-ivortex-smart-trainer-t2180.html

    I just bought one of those from amazon.it. Paid in GBP via my credit card but it worked out at £235. Not far over your budget, although admittedly it is indeed over the stated budget... Works well with Zwift.
    MTB commuter / 531c commuter / CR1 Team 2009 / RockHopper Pro Disc / 10 mile PB: 25:52 (Jun 2014)
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    I just bought one of those from amazon.it. Paid in GBP via my credit card but it worked out at £235. Not far over your budget, although admittedly it is indeed over the stated budget... Works well with Zwift.

    That's a good price! I've got a Bushido coming today which should be a step up from my Blue Matic. Although I haven't yet got a PC that can run Zwift I'm hoping to give it a go with the Garmin 520 course recreation thingy.

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