Bike Trainers

I've started to look into purchasing a bike trainer to get me through the winter months, and have no idea what to look for. Any recommendations?

I've started to look into purchasing a bike trainer to get me through the winter months, and have no idea what to look for. Any recommendations?

Hi Lauren,

There are two basic style of trainers: rollers and wheel stand. Rollers are three metal cylinders that you put your bike on top of and ride. You have to provide the balance and smooth pedaling to keep yourself upright without falling over. The best way to describe the experience is to imagine riding your bike on a sheet ice on a rocking sail boat. The benefits include improved pedaling mechanics, bike handling skills, balance and relatively cheap to buy($100 - $200). The cons include a steep learning curve, little resistance(the lack of road feel) and very loud.

The wheel stand trainer is a unit that you would attach the rear wheel of your bike to. Unlike the rollers, this provides a stable platform so when you hop on your bike you will never fear that you will fall over. The stand trainers also come in many different variety of styles, most notably: magnetic and fluid. The magnetic trainers provide the most amount of resistance and can be used for hill climbing training and intervals(riding at extreme speeds). Fluid trainers provide the most 'road like' feel and because of the fluid considered more quiet than the other options. There many good models and you can expect to pay anywhere between $300 - $600 for a good trainer. Pros: provides more 'road feel', resistance and stability. Con: relatively more expensive.

The top brands include the following:

Saris Cycling Group
http://www.saris.com/...

Blackburn Design
http://www.blackburnd...

Travel Trac Rollers(Performance Bike in-house brand)
http://www.performanc...

Finally, I would recommend that you stop by the one of the local bike shops to see what's in stock. This is normally the time period that they are on sale for a significant discount.

Bests,
gregg

Ifyou want a serious set of rollers that duplicate road resistance up to 20 mph, and match fairly well above that, and you're ready to put down $700, then do go for the TruTrainer rollers (http://www.trutrainer....

I have these, and I have a CycleOps 2 Fluid trainer. The cycleops gives progressive resistance as the speed climbs, but gives actually greater than road resistance, sort of like you're climbing a long drag. So for example while I'm pushing the effort threshold at 27mph on the rollers, I'm pushing it on the CycleOps at 18 mph. from that point of view the fluid trainer is quite discouraging: but worth it if you can get past the effort mismatch, and the stultifying boredom of the rear wheel only Turbo. No such boredom on rollers, as you actually have to balance on them, on an 18"wide 'road'.

Thank you for all the information. This really helps. What kind of wear do the wheel stand trainers impose on the rear tire? Is this a concern?

Thank you for all the information. This really helps. What kind of wear do the wheel stand trainers impose on the rear tire? Is this a concern?

There is an increase in wear on the rear wheel from trainer use. Enough so that tire manufactures have developed a 'trainer tire' that is designed specifically for trainer use. The rubber compound used is denser, provides more traction and comes in bright orange/red colors to make sure to remind the owner that it's not to be used for outdoor use. I bought a wheel set and the Continental Ultra Sport Hometrainer Tires specifically for trainer use. Just a personal note: the Continentals(most likely other brands too ) are very difficult take on/off due to the denser rubber compound.