Up until a few months ago, I had a set of rollers that could be used for indoor cycle training. I got them, instead of a magnetic or fluid trainer, because at the time, research I had done indicated that rollers were better for improving overall cycling skills. However, I found them to be lacking in resistence unless I had the headwind fan attachment. Unfortunately that created so much noise that it was difficult to watch TV without headphones on. And since I have a hard enough time keeping in-ear headphones in anyway, it was just a royal pain in the ass. Nevermind the fact that I didn't feel safe on them unless I had a helmet on, which would then bump against the ductwork in the basement. Then, when I tried to convert them to a more traditional trainer via the forkstand - it was somewhat unstable. So all in all, I ended up selling them, figuring that I'd rather eat a gun than train indoors.
Recently I started looking into the possibility of a fluid trainer, though. I had interest in continued training over the winter renewed - and with a clean slate available to me (since I had no rollers anymore), I was able to do some additional research. I ended up deciding that the CycleOps Fluid2 trainer would be the best option - all reviews were very, very good - from beginners to experienced cyclists alike. The only problem was that they are close to $400 new, or $300 online. In the midst of all this, I asked someone I know who bikes a lot what kind of trainer he had. His response? He had a fluid2, but got rollers and uses them exclusively now. To add gravy to the top, he had dropped his fluid2 during a move, busted it up, and CycleOps had replaced it free of charge. And he was looking to unload it. I asked him how much he was looking for. He replied "$200".
I jumped on it - a brand new fluid2 for $200 is about as close to a steal as one can get. Worst case scenario, I can recoup at least $150 of that if I need to. So I met him today, picked it up, and after some initial set up, I hopped on and gave it a whirl for an hour.
I think this thing has serious potential! I was able to watch TV at a reasonable volume, felt solid riding on it, and settled into a speed with a good cadence that I could maintain, but which still produced a good HR. Typically on an outdoor ride, I tend to average in the 135-145 range, but about 15 minutes into my ride today, I hit 155 and stayed right about there. I suspect a large part of that is because the real world offers opportunities to coast and incidentally give yourself mini breaks - whereas the indoor trainer does not. And to continue with numbers, based on this page from CycleOps which shows power curves for their trainers, my average speed of 17 mph appears to correlate with a power output of just about 200W. I have no idea whether thats any good or not, and I'm sure there is some +/- with that. I find it hard to believe that a power calculation that does not take into account headwind nor the combined weight of the rider and equipment can be incredibly accurate. However, as long as it is precise, then I can use it over time to track improvement.
I have a few tweaks that still need to be made such as getting a trainer tire (unless I decide to use my existing tires and get new in the spring/summer) and setting up our fan to help cool me off - but so far I'm real happy with it.
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