What Is A Magnetic Cycle Trainer

The short term for magnetic cycle trainer is a magnetic trainer but call it what you want, if you are looking for a bike trainer that will keep money in your pocket and get you in shape, a magnetic cycle trainer may be the way to go. So why don't we quickly define a few of the different cycle trainers on the market.

Wind Cycle Trainer - Uses a fan for resistance. Usually the least expensive and most noisy.

Magnetic Cycle Trainer - Uses a series of magnets for resistance. Great price and adds more resistance.

Fluid Cycle Trainer - The most road realistic trainer of all cycle trainers. More expensive and yet more resistance.

Roller Cycle Trainer - Uses both tires to provide resistance. Mainly meant to keep balance when riding.

Rim Drive Cycle Trainer - Perfect for mountain bikes. Will not tear up your rear knobby tire.

So why get a magnetic cycle trainer over any of the other trainers above? Simple. Because there are many magnetic cycle trainers to choose from and the price is right. Oh yeah, and I left out the most important part... many magnetic cycle trainers are quality bike trainers. No, you won't get the progressive resistance that you would find with a fluid trainer but you will find an upgrade from a wind trainer which should not only keep you in shape during the winter but get you in better shape when the spring comes.

Based on price alone, perhaps my favorite magnetic cycle trainer is the Bell Motivator Mag. After that it would be the Forza F2 Mag.

CycleOps Magnetic Cycle Trainer Video

Take away price and the magnetic cycle trainer that I will ride above all the rest (without getting into the professional models) is the CycleOps Mag Trainer. You can see a picture below.

Setup out of the box on most magnetic cycle trainers is half an hour at most. I'm easily able to put my bike on my trainer within about 2 minutes on average. My only recommendation when purchasing a bike trainer is to put a mat under it and to use a riser block. The mat will cushion vibrations and drown out some of the noise while the riser block will raise your bicycle enough to not have your bike leaning forward, thus causing undo strain on your hands or wrists.

During bad weather I'll hop on my bike trainer for about half an hour at a time and as we push towards winter, I'll increase that up to about an hour a day. Because I'm into this industry, I have the choice of riding many bicycle trainers but perhaps my favorite of all, and taking after the name of this website is the magnetic cycle trainer.

Top Rated Bike Trainers For Every Budget

Today we are looking at 4 top rated bike trainers that can meet nearly everyone's budget. From mag trainers all the way to one of the most popular fluid trainers on the market today. Bike trainers are well known as a fantastic way to keep in shape or get in shape in the winter but they also are great to use when the weather just can't seem to cooperate. You don't need much room to setup a bike trainer and best of all, once you know how to set one up, you can usually have your bike on a trainer and pedalling in a matter of a couple of minutes.

Today, there are plenty of different types of trainers on the market. Everything from the basic wind trainer to rim drive trainers which are great for mountain bike users. However, thanks to this video, lets just look at four of the very top rated bike trainers on the market today, where when on sale you can find prices between about $80 and $320.

Bell Motivator Mag Indoor Bicycle Trainer

Rating:	(364 reviews)
	$89.99
	Yes ($25 minimum)

CycleOps Mag Indoor Bicycle Trainer

Rating:	(55 reviews)
	Too low to display
	Yes ($25 minimum)

Forza F-2 Trainer

Rating:	(78 reviews)
	$80.00
	No

Kurt Kinetic Road Machine Indoor Trainer

Rating:	(166 reviews)
	Too low to display
	No

What's the average life on one of these things? I'm looking to get a magnetic trainer because I've heard that wind trainers are loud. Am I right? Also, I have a Trek mountain bike so I'm assuming I'll have to get training tires or road tires for the back, right?

You are right. Wind trainers can be loud. Quite loud. However, I have the opportunity to ride many bike trainers and from time to time I still choose to ride my wind trainer, the very first trainer that I got about 22 years ago. Yes, you read that right. I have been riding the same bike trainer (from time to time) for 22 years. My bike trainer cost about $70 at the time if I remember correctly. Yes, my wind trainer is loud.

I highly recommend magnetic trainers at the present time. Reason being is that they now come from a variety of manufacturers and you can find them under $100 and up to about $300. Bell Motivator Mag makes an excellent bike trainer as seen by both the number and quality of reviews. Then you have CycleOps with their progressive resistance Magneto model.

Yes, unless you are looking at rim drive trainers, you should replace your rear tire on your mountain bike. You will not only reduce tire wear but also vibration coming from the bike trainer itself. Having a slick rear tire theoretically will then prolong the life of your magnetic bike trainer.

Bell Motivator Mag Indoor Bicycle Trainer

Rating:	(364 reviews)
	$89.99
	Yes ($25 minimum)

CycleOps Magneto Indoor Bicycle Trainer

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

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:	(50 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:	(364 reviews)
	$89.99
	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

I know, I Know, there is no such thing as a combination of both best and cheap bike trainer. Anyways I am looking to get a cheap trainer for my Road Bicycle this winter for a good price that will do well for myself.

However, I do not know much about the different brands or the different types of trainers.

I've heard that there are 2 types of trainers: One where you ride on rollers. I was advised against this type of trainer because for beginners, I was told that I would probably fall off and break both arms and legs. Being relatively uncoordinated, I would say that the people who told me this are most likely right. The other trainer is a stable trainer and this is what I think would be best for me.

So I want a safe and cheap bicycle trainer and I would like to keep it not too much more than $100. If it is new that would be great but used is fine too. Any ideas? Thanks so much!

Why don't we keep you right around the $100 level with the following magnetic trainers that you can see below. You are right, a roller trainer is probably not for you. You do need 100% concentration while riding a roller trainer and one slip from that concentration and you will find yourself on the floor.

A magnetic trainer is stable and it provides resistance through a series of magnets configured around flywheels. Manufacturers setup up these magnets in various ways and the size of the flywheel changes depending on the model that you are looking at. So, the amount of resistance differs and the road realistic feel will be different with each magnetic trainer. You are not in the price range to be looking at fluid trainers and the only magnetic trainer that you will find with progressive resistance is the CycleOps Magneto Indoor Bicycle Trainer which retails for about $270. So, do yourself a favor and check out the magnetic bike trainers below. All are found on Amazon. I've chosen these trainers for you to look at due to the amount of reviews and quality of each of these products. I really don't think you need to look at Ebay or Craigslist unless you can find a used fluid trainer for the price you've talked about. But please beware when buying a used fluid trainer because some of the older models used to have an issue with fluid leaking.

If you decide to stay on the lower dollar amount range of these trainers, do yourself a favor and pick up a riser block to level you out on the trainer and maybe get some good cycling shorts too. Have fun riding. If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Bell Motivator Mag Indoor Bicycle Trainer

Rating:	(364 reviews)
	$89.99
	Yes ($25 minimum)

Schwinn Magnetic Bike Trainer

Rating:	(49 reviews)
	$
	No

Forza F-2 Trainer

Rating:	(78 reviews)
	$80.00
	No

Forza F-2 Trainer

Rating:	(78 reviews)
	$80.00
	No