I need a Trainer Now

Bicycle related chatter & discussion
User avatar
FAswad
Posts: 305
Joined: 07 Mar 2007, 14:52
Location: Mortdale NSW 2223

Postby FAswad » 15 Jun 2007, 16:01

Hi all

Straight to the point. I now have no doubt whatsoever that I no longer have a life of my own, so I will need a trainer to sneak in some training.

I would like a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine, but I am frustrated that, while all over the world this trainer is selling for around $330 (AUD390 - AUD400), every place in Australia that I have checked has this trainer for AUD600. WHY?

Should I just bite the bullet and shell out 600 on one? or can it be had for less? are there good enough alternatives? what are your thoughts?

all the research that I have done indicates there is no competion with the KK RM (closest road like feel, no leaking ever, accurate power curve etc)

What do you think?

Thanks all

User avatar
weiyun
Posts: 4173
Joined: 17 Nov 2006, 22:32
Location: Birchgrove
Contact:

Postby weiyun » 15 Jun 2007, 16:16

Yep, parenthood has certain effects on your leisure activities. :cry: Or you'll just have to wait until they are old enough to ride with you.

Local market prices for bike parts are quite ridiculous. Consider mail order from overseas (no duties for items under $1000) or buy second hand on eBay.

User avatar
FAswad
Posts: 305
Joined: 07 Mar 2007, 14:52
Location: Mortdale NSW 2223

Postby FAswad » 15 Jun 2007, 16:50

For this particular trainer, the US dealer will charge me USD275 shipping, which makes it more expensive than buying locally. Mail order for the KK is not an option.

Yep, parenthood has certain effects on your leisure activities. :cry: Or you'll just have to wait until they are old enough to ride with you.

Local market prices for bike parts are quite ridiculous. Consider mail order from overseas (no duties for items under $1000) or buy second hand on eBay.

User avatar
weiyun
Posts: 4173
Joined: 17 Nov 2006, 22:32
Location: Birchgrove
Contact:

Postby weiyun » 15 Jun 2007, 17:00

Try surface mail. Or take a holiday to the US and bring it back. ;)

User avatar
T-Bone
Posts: 1933
Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 22:50
Location: Up the Hill

Postby T-Bone » 16 Jun 2007, 00:00

I've got the Kurt Kinetic, and i must say it is a good trainer, very smooth resistance, not the joltiness that you can get with magnetic trainers. I just want to know if there's a way to get the bigger fly wheel that comes with the new pro machine and attach it to my trainer. I still have the problem with boredom on the trainer though, so i need to invest in some good dvds.

Not really sure if there's anywhere cheaper to get it, i got my parents to buy me mine for my 21st back in 2005, and i think it was cheaper, though it was still probably $500 or more.

Otherwise, the elite trainers look alright, and of course check ebay, you might find something alright turns up.

Maybe contact Planet-X http://www.planet-x-bikes.com/road/inde ... AGE_id=185
£175 is around $350 excluding VAT, and postage is usually cheaper than from USA, so send them an email. The main issue will be the weight, but it's worth a try contacting them.

User avatar
Simon Llewellyn
Posts: 1532
Joined: 13 Nov 2006, 22:31
Location: Tempe Velodrome

Postby Simon Llewellyn » 16 Jun 2007, 00:24

Have you considered rollers? I train with both during the week, mind you my mag turbo training is without resistance so i don't have any problems finding the 'real feel,' however i think rollers give you a lot more bike handling skills and you actually have to contend with gravity like really riding a bike. But once you can ride no hands with rollers it will help you get out of a number of sticky situations which require really good balance. One which comes to mind was the wheel race last year up at the central coast, there were elbows and shoulders every where and it was a battle just to finish upright. I remember there was at least one crash in that race and at the speeds you travel on the road, balance is crucial to life almost, or at least not spending six weeks off work with a broken collar bone.

I've ridden my road bike on the rollers a number of times since i got it and i don't think you would even want to be pushing max gear, the resistance on that gear is quite considerable. So you wouldn't have to worry about the resistance not being high enough to train. The one other factor you might want to consider is storage. Those kinetic trainers are cumbersome things to store. I borrowed James's (t-bone's) for a few weeks and they take up half the hall way. My Italian travel model i bought is about half the size and much easier to store. So you might want to take that into account...

Rollers are about $400-$600 somewhere and AL gets them in for a good price. But make sure you get good ones. I've got minoura action mag rollers and they're the best, except for maybe the old cinelli's. here's the link, but don't bother with the resistance thing...

http://www.cyclelink.com.au/prod364.htm

timyone
Posts: 4380
Joined: 22 Nov 2006, 20:29

Postby timyone » 16 Jun 2007, 17:10

i reckon all of dullich hill should be riding rollers, that way we will have one of the smoother bunches to ride with (i wish it was manditory for the track)

User avatar
weiyun
Posts: 4173
Joined: 17 Nov 2006, 22:32
Location: Birchgrove
Contact:

Postby weiyun » 16 Jun 2007, 17:19

i reckon all of dullich hill should be riding rollers, that way we will have one of the smoother bunches to ride with (i wish it was manditory for the track)
What does the smoothness of riders' pedaling action have to do with the smoothness of a bunch?

timyone
Posts: 4380
Joined: 22 Nov 2006, 20:29

Postby timyone » 16 Jun 2007, 18:29

What does the smoothness of riders' pedaling action have to do with the smoothness of a bunch?
its not the pedal stroke, it keeps people from wabling side to side, and teaches streighter lines.

User avatar
mikesbytes
Posts: 6991
Joined: 13 Nov 2006, 13:48
Location: Tempe
Contact:

Postby mikesbytes » 16 Jun 2007, 20:01

Image

User avatar
T-Bone
Posts: 1933
Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 22:50
Location: Up the Hill

Postby T-Bone » 16 Jun 2007, 20:07

Even when people aren't wobbling from side to side, it doesn't stop the bunch from surging all the time, which is what i believe is the main thing for a smooth bunch. Keeping a consistant speed is the key.

Anyway, back to trainers. Here's the Elite trainer that looks to be quite good, cell have the best price http://www.cellbikes.com.au/p_908_ELITE ... e_Trainers Though the best trainers seem to be the kurt kinetic and the 1up(american company, not sure if you can get one to australia easily). Or if you had lots of money there would always be those virtual reality ones which simulate riding on a real course, though i wouldn't buy one of those without testing it out first.

At the moment it looks like i'll be on my trainer tomorrow morning, need to get some form before the next opens. Though i also need to find some time to study for my exams.....

User avatar
Simon Llewellyn
Posts: 1532
Joined: 13 Nov 2006, 22:31
Location: Tempe Velodrome

Postby Simon Llewellyn » 16 Jun 2007, 20:18

With rollers It improves your balance and level of control. With a fixed wheel every movement in the pedals converts to the rear wheel. But the main thing is with a velodrome when you tend to get too close to the rider in front there's no brakes so you ride up the velodrome over their wheel. But with guys who aren't very experienced and tend to watch the wheel in front instead of two riders in front, they seem to constantly be moving up and down the velodrome as they think they're going to touch wheels & don't ride very smoothly as you can't judge distances very well from staring at the ground. With rollers you improve your balance and become less self conscious about your own balance and can focus on distances better and really ride in a straight line much more. Of course back pedaling to brake plays a bit of a role but balance and distance judgment are the crucial factors.

With road bikes it isn't as crucial with brakes and you don't tend to ride as close to the guy in front but we have had pile ups in the past from people clipping wheels. When Grant first started riding he was quite shakey & i remember he clipped a wheel at brighton and four or five of us went down . He started coming to the track regularly after that though and it was amazing how much his confidence and ability improved over six months...

But Brad always puts the new guys on rollers rather than trainers for that reason...

User avatar
T-Bone
Posts: 1933
Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 22:50
Location: Up the Hill

Postby T-Bone » 16 Jun 2007, 21:31

I guess the main thing is, in the ideal world you would have both a trainer and rollers, as they enable you to work on different things.

User avatar
T-Bone
Posts: 1933
Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 22:50
Location: Up the Hill

Postby T-Bone » 17 Jun 2007, 19:06

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Cycle-Trainer-Cy ... dZViewItem

These seem to be a reasonable price, though you'll have to find out how good they are.

User avatar
mcrkennedy
Posts: 136
Joined: 24 Nov 2006, 18:03
Location: Balmain

Postby mcrkennedy » 17 Jun 2007, 19:29

Ah parenthood. There is two ways to look at it the galss half full or half empty. I took the half full approach of I have more important and better priorities, put the family first and then did what I really wanted to do in my more limited own time.

The past is timely as I had just come on to ask questions about indoor trainer. What is the view on Tacxs and Elite?

Fouad if you search the online shops in Australia you can find cheaper prices than in Sydney.

User avatar
weiyun
Posts: 4173
Joined: 17 Nov 2006, 22:32
Location: Birchgrove
Contact:

Postby weiyun » 17 Jun 2007, 20:41

Here's a left field question. What's the benefit of a trainer compared with a decent spin bike? I'd think that a spin bike would be more durable for the purpose of indoor riding and no wear and tear of your road bike. I note that a spin bike can be had through eBay for under $400.

I've been using a gym exercise bike and have found it useful on foul weather days. Although it's not a spin bike and with limited positional adjustments, I've found it to be quite useful for targeting aspects of cycling exercises.

User avatar
T-Bone
Posts: 1933
Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 22:50
Location: Up the Hill

Postby T-Bone » 17 Jun 2007, 20:49

I'd say a spin bike would be fine if you could get the setup exactly the same as your road bike. Though i'm not too sure of the resistance capabilities of a spin bike, i think they're more designed for spinning work rather than power work. So that would mean it depends on what you're looking to work on.

User avatar
weiyun
Posts: 4173
Joined: 17 Nov 2006, 22:32
Location: Birchgrove
Contact:

Postby weiyun » 17 Jun 2007, 21:08

I note that spin bikes typically have more positional adjustments comparable in design to those fit bikes in LBSs and you can even fit clipless pedals on them. So you should be able to get a good fit. I also understand those spin bikes come with 18kg freewheels and has magnetic resistance adjustments, so there should be more than enough resistance for power training. Anyway, they looked to be a good solution. I think I'll put in a request for one of them when it's time to replace our present gym bike.

User avatar
FAswad
Posts: 305
Joined: 07 Mar 2007, 14:52
Location: Mortdale NSW 2223

Postby FAswad » 17 Jun 2007, 21:45

Indeed. Hence the trainer, easy access to training whenever i have a spare hour.

I have never heard of the Elite.

As for the TACX, my understanding is that they make outstanding trainers. However, I think that they only make magnetic trainers. The TACX trainers, I am told, are fine machines (quiet, heaps of resistance for power training), the disadvantages of mag trainers notwithstanding (linear power curve resulting in unrealistic road feel).

I am starting to think that should I be unable to get hold of a Kurt Kinetic (the only leak proof fluid trainer, I am told) at a reasonable price, I will go for a TACX Sirus or Swing (around the $250-300 mark) (Magnetic).

I have also read that many are extremely happy with the Cycleops Fluid2 trainer, however, there have been some incidents of leakage. the upside is they are covered by a lifetime warranty. The can be had for around $275-350.

As for the Kurt Kinetic, I am disappinted that a trainer that is selling for what is equivalent to AUD390 all over the world is selling in Aus (the Aussie dealer and all shops I have checked)) for $600. I do not have a problem paying that much for a good quality trainer in principle. But the thought that I am paying 1.5X the price of an item's worth makes me feel like i'm being ripped off.

Its all way too confusing.

Ah parenthood. There is two ways to look at it the galss half full or half empty. I took the half full approach of I have more important and better priorities, put the family first and then did what I really wanted to do in my more limited own time.

The past is timely as I had just come on to ask questions about indoor trainer. What is the view on Tacxs and Elite?

Fouad if you search the online shops in Australia you can find cheaper prices than in Sydney.

User avatar
weiyun
Posts: 4173
Joined: 17 Nov 2006, 22:32
Location: Birchgrove
Contact:

Postby weiyun » 17 Jun 2007, 21:53

But the thought that I am paying 1.5X the price of an item's worth makes me feel like i'm being ripped off.
Hardly uncommon with cycling products. Thought you are well accustomed to it already.

User avatar
T-Bone
Posts: 1933
Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 22:50
Location: Up the Hill

Postby T-Bone » 17 Jun 2007, 22:17

Elite also make bottle cages, which you may be more familiar with. Here's the website http://www.elite-it.com/eng/f_home.htm

Not really sure i can say anything else. You just have to decide what's suitable for you. For me, i don't think i'll ever need another trainer, since the Kurt kinetic is covered for manufacturing defects as well as general wear and tear, though i'd be interested in the breeze model (think that's what it is) for warming up before races.

I'm not saying the kurt is the best, i'd be happy with one of those virtual trainers, so it's like you're riding on real roads (even coasting downhill), though only if someone gave me one (cost is too high). It's like everything you have to work out what's the best value for money with what you want, and Australia isn't the best place to buy bike parts, but sometimes you don't have much of a choice.

User avatar
geoff m
Posts: 1072
Joined: 13 Nov 2006, 20:41

Postby geoff m » 17 Jun 2007, 22:45

Faswad, Firstly congrats on becomeing a daddy.

You will get out on the bike!!!

Just remember when you buy the trainers, they go thru the rubber on your tyres like a potato peeler on potato skin.

You will need a spare back wheel and use your old tyres or buy a special wind trainer tyre which does not lose the rubber.

I now have one of those trainers with two wheels clamping on both sides of the wheel rim. No problem, just a bit noisy. But don't have to change my wheel or shred my tyres.


Return to “Conversation”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 23 guests