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Recommend a trainer, please
I've been a road cyclist for the past ten years here in New England. With
the approaching cold weather and shorter days, I think that I would like to continue training indoors. I need to know what to look for in a decent trainer. Are 'rollers' preferred? Magnetic vs. fluid? Do I need a trainer resistance shifter on the handlebar or can I just shift gears on the bike? $200 is about my limit. Thanks for any advice you can give. |
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I've been a road cyclist for the past ten years here in New England. With
the approaching cold weather and shorter days, I think that I would like to continue training indoors. I need to know what to look for in a decent trainer. Are 'rollers' preferred? Magnetic vs. fluid? Do I need a trainer resistance shifter on the handlebar or can I just shift gears on the bike? $200 is about my limit. Thanks for any advice you can give. You may get practical replies here, but you'll get a lot more fun replies if you post on rec.bicycles.racing. Just make sure your fireproof (flameproof) suit is nearby... It's difficult to get a tough workout on rollers, because there's so little tension. The idea to rollers is to perfect your balance and pedaling, because it's so easy to ride off (crash) them. There are some rollers that have resistance devices, but yikes, the only thing that keeps you upright on rollers is the speed of your wheels, so if you coast for even a split second, or even slack off a bit, down you go. Without the resistance device, speed drops more gradually. You can get brackets that hold you up while you're on rollers, but that seems like cheating! Standard trainers are probably the best way to go. Magnetic work fine if you're not superman; they generally don't dissipate more than 250 watts for extended periods of time. If you're going to go all-out, the fluid trainers can handle more wattage (meaning your power), and some people like the fact that their resistance increases more rapidly than your speed, just like real life on the road. As long as you've got gears on your bike, there's no need for a resistance shifter on the handlebar, since changing your gears will work similarly. Reliable trainer brands include CycleOps (also marketed by Trek) and Blackburn. Brand names are a good choice not just because they're better, but because you'll probably be able to get parts for them a few years down the road. Hope this helps- --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReactionBicycles.com |
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"Mike Jacoubowsky" wrote in message m... As long as you've got gears on your bike, there's no need for a resistance shifter on the handlebar, since changing your gears will work similarly. Reliable trainer brands include CycleOps (also marketed by Trek) and Blackburn. Brand names are a good choice not just because they're better, but because you'll probably be able to get parts for them a few years down the road. Have you had any experience with the indoor stationary trainers like the Cycleops Pro 300? How about other similar stationary trainers? I have a regular trainer but get cramped after an hour or so when I try to stand I almost tip over and am looking for a better solution. |
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"Astro-Geek" wrote in message news:J7ahd.338108$3l3.252594@attbi_s03...
I've been a road cyclist for the past ten years here in New England. With the approaching cold weather and shorter days, I think that I would like to continue training indoors. I need to know what to look for in a decent trainer. Are 'rollers' preferred? Magnetic vs. fluid? Do I need a trainer resistance shifter on the handlebar or can I just shift gears on the bike? $200 is about my limit. Thanks for any advice you can give. Performance sells a fluid trainer for about $150. I have one and like it a lot. It is quiet, so I can watch TV while burning some calories. Don't buy the shifter. You don't need it. You will get some folks who tell you that riding a trainer rather than rollers will corrupt your form on the bike. Frankly, I think that just the opposite is true. Rollers tend to encourage a pedaling style that just doesn't translate to real world riding. For me, the fluid trainer has worked out well. Dick Durbin |
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Badger_South wrote:
How is it on the tires of the bike? I saw tire rubber on the roller of the fluid trainer they had set up in the shop, for example, so I wonder. Now shortening the life of the tire a little bit, no problem. A couple of my friends complained of trainers wearing their tires quickly. When I checked, I found that they had their trainers set up with way too much pressure on the roller. I am not aware of any excessive wear on mine. Should I consider dedicating a bike to it and getting a road bike? IOW, how easy to put the bike on the trainer? If it took more than a 3-5 minutes it might create too much psychological inertia to hook it up and take it down every day. It takes less than a minute to hook up. I prefer to train on the same bike that I ride on the road. No trouble with fluid leak? Nope |
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wrote:
It takes less than a minute to hook up. I prefer to train on the same bike that I ride on the road. It takes me a couple minutes because I change the skewer to the one provided. This is something of a pain, even though they are both quick-release. Do I really need to use the skewer they provide? Can't I just use the one on my bike? That would certainly make it more convenient. -km -- Only cowards fight kids -- unidentified Moscow protester http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts proud to be owned by a yorkie |
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the black rose wrote:
wrote: It takes less than a minute to hook up. I prefer to train on the same bike that I ride on the road. It takes me a couple minutes because I change the skewer to the one provided. This is something of a pain, even though they are both quick-release. Do I really need to use the skewer they provide? Can't I just use the one on my bike? That would certainly make it more convenient. -km Do you see any (obvious) functional difference between the two skewers? If not, I don't imagine there's anything wrong with using the one from your bike. You could contact the mfgr . . . just to be sure. |
#10
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Recommend a trainer, please
From: "Mike Jacoubowsky" I've been a road cyclist for the past ten years here in New England. With the approaching cold weather and shorter days, I think that I would like to continue training indoors. I need to know what to look for in a decent trainer. Are 'rollers' preferred? Magnetic vs. fluid? Do I need a trainer resistance shifter on the handlebar or can I just shift gears on the bike? $200 is about my limit. Thanks for any advice you can give. You may get practical replies here, but you'll get a lot more fun replies if you post on rec.bicycles.racing. Just make sure your fireproof (flameproof) suit is nearby... It's difficult to get a tough workout on rollers, because there's so little tension. The idea to rollers is to perfect your balance and pedaling, because it's so easy to ride off (crash) them. There are some rollers that have resistance devices, but yikes, the only thing that keeps you upright on rollers is nope, the kreitler headwind works just fine. Rollers are much more fun than a dumbed down rear wheel trainer. |
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