Get In Shape With An Indoor Bike Trainer

Blackburn Tech Fluid Trainer

At a retail price of $269.99 the Blackburn Tech Fluid Trainer represents the best value for the money if you're looking for a fluid trainer without any bells and whistles. It's stable, easy to set up, quiet, and best of all, Blackburn bike trainers are covered by LIFETIME warranty.

PROS: The Blackburn Tech Fluid Trainer is solidly built and heavy. It sits low to the ground so some users say that they don't feel the need for a riser block. Because it sits low to the ground, it also tends to stay steady and not rock as some higher profile trainers might. The power curve makes it great for getting out of the saddle and doing sprints. Great price for a fluid trainer.

CONS: It is better suited for intermediate to advanced riders as the power curve may be too steep for beginning riders. A little noisier than most fluid trainers.

Blackburn Tech Fluid Trainer Features:

- Advanced fluid resistance with highly refined
power curve
- Boxed and formed steel frame with adjustable
height–no track block required
- FastCrank mounting system
- Class-leading frame stiffness and unsurpassed
stability
- New, tapered cones fit more cavity-style dropouts
- Lifetime Warranty
- Patented
- Fits Wheel Size: 700c, 650c, and 26"

All in all, the Blackburn Tech Fluid Trainer is suitable for cyclists who have moved beyond the beginner stage or for those who want a road realistic feel in a bike trainer. While I personally wished that it had a larger flywheel and was a little less noisy, when on sale, you can find the Blackburn Tech Fluid Trainer around $230 which in this writes opinion, makes it one heck of a fluid trainer.

Blackburn Tech Fluid Trainer

Rating:	(11 reviews)
	$
	No

I heard that fluid is smoother that mag. How big of difference is there and is it manageable? I would like to spend up to 6 hours (or maybe less ha ha) at a hr between 120 and 145. Was thinking a trainer would be nice with some clamp on aero bars so i could play video games and rack up time, not to say it wouldn't be possible on rollers but that would be some balance! The idea of being able to sprint and climb in my living room is very tempting. Anybody have experience with both methods? thanks

If you are strictly looking to put in miles, a roller trainer will be out of the question. Why? Simply because miles and miles on the trainer will result in some boredom. Um errrr.... a lot of boredom. I have to be honest here, right? If you are on a roller trainer and are bored, you'll end up on the ground. Not like you can play Red Dead Redemption while riding a roller trainer (ok... I'm waiting for a video of someone riding a roller trainer and playing Red Dead Redemption. I promise to post it to my site). I ride the bike trainer nearly every single day (I live in the Chicagoland area and it is cold) and when I'm not riding my trainer, I'm riding an exercise bike at the gym. I've also had the opportunity to ride and test many bike trainers. So, here are my thoughts.

Magnetic trainers are nice. My site and URL is about magnetic trainers. I enjoy riding magnetic trainers. Ok... enough about magnetic trainers. What you will find with most magnetic trainers is that the resistance is linear based. It is not progressive resistance. What this means is that if you decide to get up and sprint on the bike, you will most likely feel slippage as you are riding. Now, if you are mainly doing 120 to 145 as a heart rate and don't have the need to get up and trounce on the bike, most magnetic trainers will suit you well. Otherwise you will need a progressive resistance bike trainer, so I would highly recommend the CycleOps Magneto or CycleOps Supermagneto Pro (both seen below).

CycleOps Magneto Indoor Bicycle Trainer

Rating:	(17 reviews)
	$251.99
	Yes ($25 minimum)

CycleOps SuperMagneto Pro Trainer

Rating:	(3 reviews)
	Too low to display
	No

So, this brings us to fluid trainers. A fluid bike trainer is the ultimate in cycling indoors. Take away anything issues that people may have with fluid trainers (they used to leak and overheat) and you will find progressive training at its best. Heck, the USA Cycling Team rides the Kinetic Road Machine. If you want the ultimate in a ride without having any excuses regarding the quality of your trainer, you will most likely go with a fluid trainer. Why don't most people? Simply because of the cost. You'll find that fluid trainers offer you the best resistance. So, if you simply want to spin to get to your designated heart rate or choose to have both your legs and lungs burn and not leave anything back, your choice should be a fluid trainer. I like riding with my mp3 player but I'm sure you could ride while watching the Superbowl (darn Bears) or while playing ummm errr Red Dead Redemption.

Kurt Kinetic Road Machine Indoor Trainer

Rating:	(166 reviews)
	Too low to display
	No

Does A Bicycle Trainer Give A Good Cardio Workout?

I am interested in getting a good cardio workout at home and am considering buying a bicycle trainer. Can you make any recommendations in so far as bicycle trainers go?

There are a few different types of bike trainers but all in all, you can get a tremendous cardio workout from a bike trainer. If you are looking at bike trainers for the first time, I recommend you skip roller trainers. A roller trainer requires both tires to be on the roller and for beginners it does not offer a stable ride. Its just much easier to ride a stable bike trainer. You may have heard that some gyms offer spinning classes. These classes involve exercise bikes and "spinning" will give you one heck of a workout. Well, some bike shops took notice and offered the same thing, except using bike trainers with the same spinning concept. If you need some motivation while riding, just check out the Spinervals DVD's. These DVD's are made for indoor bicycle workouts.

Many years ago you did not have too many choices when it came to bike trainers. You were pretty much looking at a wind trainer and nothing else. Luckily, the cycling industry has changed and along with that change brings quality bikes, bike accessories, and bike trainers. Now, as well as wind trainers, you have the choice of magnetic trainers, and fluid trainers.

So now we need to look at what type of trainer would be best for you. I can't make that determination for your but I can offer some help.

Wind trainers get their resistance from the wind... well, actually a fan. Some offer ways to increase/decrease resistance but in general you will find a noisy ride with the least amount of road like feel from any of the available bike trainers. If you are a beginner or or not tremendously strong, a wind trainer should provide enough resistance to give you a good cardio workout.

CycleOps Wind Indoor Bicycle Trainer

Rating:	(51 reviews)
	$143.95
	Yes ($25 minimum)

Magnetic trainers get their resistance from magnets. These magnets are placed on flywheels and when they get closer, more resistance is produced and when they move apart, the resistance becomes less. Magnetic trainers are not as noisy as wind trainers but if you are not used to riding a trainer, they can make quite a bit of noise. That is where having an mp3 player comes in handy. Magnetic trainers are considered a step up from wind trainers. However, due to recent technology, you can often find magnetic trainers that are less expensive as compared to wind trainers.

Why do I like magnetic trainers so much? Because they offer middle of the road resistance and I feel that if you don't want to spend hundreds of dollars, it could be just want you are looking for. Most magnetic trainers provide linear resistance, so you will still not get a fantastic road like feel but there are a couple of mag trainers made by CycleOps (CycleOps Magneto and CycleOps Supermagneto) which do offer progressive resistance. Of course you don't have to spend that much money if you want a quality magnetic trainer. Just take a look at the Bell Motivator Mag Indoor Bike Trainer and in particular, take a look at both the number and quality of reviews that this bicycle trainer received.

Bell Motivator Mag Indoor Bicycle Trainer

Rating:	(365 reviews)
	$89.98
	Yes ($25 minimum)

Now you can see what I'm getting at in regards to price.

Next, lets take a look at fluid trainers.
Fluid trainers use fluid that is sealed inside of a chamber as part of its way to provide resistance. Usually what happens is that there is an impeller and it rotates within the fluid. Pressure is built up and resistance increases/decreases with speed. Fluid trainers have the most natural road like feel of any bike trainer (well.. at least that I've been on) and provide the best resistance as well. It used to be that fluid trainers got a bad rap because they had a problem with leaking. Kurt Kinetic has been working hard to make sure that fluid leakage is a problem in the past. So why doesn't everyone just go out and buy a fluid trainer? Simple. Price. Having said that however, fluid trainers will give you the best resistance, road like feel, and if you are in above average shape and still looking to improve, a fluid trainer will be your best bet.

Kurt Kinetic Road Machine Indoor Trainer

Rating:	(166 reviews)
	Too low to display
	No

What's a good bicycle trainer for around $300 to $400. I don't want rollers and I want the ride to be really realistic. I have a 45 cm road bike, its a Lemond.

If you want your ride to be road realistic, lets first off throw out the chance of buying a wind trainer. A magnetic trainer, depending on the features and the size of the flywheel (larger the better) can give you a road realistic ride. However, at the price that you are willing to pay, a fluid trainer is your best bet.

I would first take a look at the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine. It is the official bicycle trainer of the USA Cycling Team, so that in itself should tell you about its quality. The Road Machine is relatively quiet, very smooth, and as a fluid trainer it is known as having special technology which makes it virtually leak proof.

Kurt Kinetic Road Machine Indoor Trainer

Rating:	(166 reviews)
	Too low to display
	No

Although it is listed at $500, the Kinetic PRO Trainer Dual Fly-Wheel Trainer can be purchased for $379 when it is on sale (as of January 15, 2011). With this version of the Kinetic Road Machine, instead of the 6 lb. flywheel, you will get an additional 12 lb. flywheel (total 18 lbs.) to give you the ultimate in a road like feel trainer. It allows for a 60 second coast down from 25 mph, whereas my old wind trainer might have a 4 second coast down.

Kinetic PRO Trainer Dual Fly-Wheel Trainer

Rating:	(8 reviews)
	$419.00
	No

If you are looking for more of an all in one kit with trainer, climbing blocks, bike thong and training mat, check out the Cycleops Fluid 2 Winter Training Kit. CycleOps boasts an infinite resistance curve with increased wattage as you increase speed. Also included with this Pro Pack is a training DVD.

Cycleops Fluid 2 Winter Training Kit

Rating:	(8 reviews)
	$395.00
	No

What Is A Good Bike Trainer?

I'm about to purchase a bike trainer but am really clueless about what to buy. What is a good bike trainer across a few different price points?

Why don't we pick five different price levels and see what we can do for you. We're not talking about prices on bike trainers that you may be able to pick up used or through Ebay or Craigslist but rather retail/sales price. What we will be using is Amazon because you'll not only find a very wide range of bike trainers but they are rated on a scale and with customer comments. Sure, you can usually throw away a great comment or two on every bike trainer and the bottom couple of comments from people who just like to bash everything. Truth be told though, since neither Amazon or the customer are paid for these comments, they reliably tell what the user thinks of the product. I use Amazon for reviewing not only bike trainers but everything from coffee makers, to books, nutritional supplements, etc...
$0 to $100
$101 to 200
$201 to $300
$301 to $400
$401 to $500

So what do we look for when comparing bike trainers on Amazon? First of all, we know that there are different types of bike trainers, namely a wind trainer, magnetic trainer, fluid trainer, rim drive trainer, and a roller trainer.

Wind Trainer - Uses a fan to provide resistance. Generally loud and provides the least amount of resistance of any bike trainers.

Magnetic Trainer - Uses a series of magnets to provide resistance. On the better trainers, this resistance can be changed either on the trainer itself (by bringing the magnets closer together for more resistance or further apart of less resistance) or on a remote handlebar shifter. Generally makes less noise and offers better resistance than a wind trainer.

Fluid Trainer - Recognized as the best type of trainer on the market today. A fluid trainer uses a sealed chamber containing fluid (generally with an impeller rotating that provides resistance). A fluid trainer has the best resistance, offers the most road like feel of any bike trainer and is used by intermediate cyclists and those competing at the pro level.

Rim Drive Trainer - A great trainer for mountain bikes. In fact, it can be used with road bikes as well. However, if you have a mountain bike and don't want to change the rear tire to a slick in order to ride a trainer, a rim drive trainer is the perfect choice. The best rim drive trainers offer a number of resistance settings and that resistance is provided at the rim, rather than the rear tire.

Roller Trainer - A roller trainer uses both tires. Imagine riding on soup cans that are held in place by a board. Ok, bad analogy. Actually there are those out in the cycling community that prefer roller trainers because it helps them to maintain balance while riding. You will not be bored when using a roller trainer because if you lose concentration for only a short while, you will find yourself falling off the trainer.

Criteria
1. Price (is the bike trainer on sale?)
2. Number of reviews
3. Average review rating

Best Bike Trainer $0 to $100

This one is an easy pick. Bell Motivator Mag Indoor Bicycle Trainer. It has a retail price of $99.99, is currently on sale for $79.99 (as of January 9, 2011). It has 256 reviews at an average review rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars. Hard to beat the quality of the Bell Motivator Mag at this price.

Bell Motivator Mag Indoor Bicycle Trainer

Rating:	(365 reviews)
	$89.98
	Yes ($25 minimum)

Best Bike Trainers $101 to $200

KURT KINETIC CYCLONE WIND TRAINER

Rating:	(4 reviews)
	$200.00
	No

CycleOps Mag Indoor Bicycle Trainer

Rating:	(56 reviews)
	Too low to display
	Yes ($25 minimum)

Minoura Mag-850DR Trainer With Remote " w/ Riser Block, Blue 128595

Rating:	(11 reviews)
	$
	No

Minoura Action Roller Advance Wide Bicycle Trainer

Rating:	(8 reviews)
	$
	No

Best Bike Trainers $201 to $300

CycleOps Magneto Indoor Bicycle Trainer

Rating:	(17 reviews)
	$251.99
	Yes ($25 minimum)

Minoura RDA80D Rimdrive Trainer

Rating:	(8 reviews)
	$299.97
	No

CycleOps Fluid 2 Indoor Bicycle Trainer

Rating:	(143 reviews)
	Too low to display
	Yes ($25 minimum)

Rating:	No reviews. Be the first!
	$
	No

Best Bike Trainers $301 to $400

Kurt Kinetic Road Machine Indoor Trainer

Rating:	(166 reviews)
	Too low to display
	No

Rating:	No reviews. Be the first!
	$
	No

Rating:	No reviews. Be the first!
	$
	No

Best Bike Trainers $401 And Above

Note: some of these trainers come with additional items but I've included them here because they were the most sought after bike trainers at this price point.

New 2010 Green Kurt Kinetic Road Machine with Riser Ring, Power Computer & Floor Mat Package

Rating:	No reviews. Be the first!
	Too low to display
	No

Elite Real Power CT Indoor Bike Trainer. Travel Block +15 Video Races

Rating:	(2 reviews)
	Too low to display
	Yes ($25 minimum)

Tacx Fortius Virtual Reality Multiplayer Trainer w/TTS 3.0

Rating:	(8 reviews)
	$
	No

Tacx i-Magic Fortius Virtual Reality Gel Trainer

Rating:	(7 reviews)
	$1,299.95
	No

CycleOps PowerBeam Indoor Bicycle Trainer

Rating:	(1 review)
	Too low to display
	No