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.

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

"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.

"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

On 1 Nov 2004 08:07:42 -0800, (Dick Durbin) wrote:

"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

Hi DD,

Since this is the type of trainer I'm looking at right now a couple
questions if you'd be so kind?

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.

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.

No trouble with fluid leak?

TIA

-B

"Badger_South" wrote in message
...
On 1 Nov 2004 08:07:42 -0800, (Dick Durbin) wrote:

"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

Hi DD,

Since this is the type of trainer I'm looking at right now a couple
questions if you'd be so kind?

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.

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.

No trouble with fluid leak?

TIA

-B

In my experience trainers are tough on tires. Since you live near a
Performance store I can recommend their store brand for trainer use. They
are cheap when on sale and last a long time. I am sure that there are other
great brands, but I have had great luck with the Performance. It takes
about twenty seconds for me to put my bike on the trainer.

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

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

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.

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.