If you’re looking for a way to bring your workout inside without buying an expensive exercise bike, you can do it quickly, easily, and fairly inexpensively. Enjoy the added benefit of riding a bike that you’re used to riding, or training with the bike that you’ll be using in your next race--all from the comfort of home.
Function
A bike trainer is a small piece of equipment that holds the rear wheel of your bike in place and allows it to spin, so that you can ride your road or mountain bike in a stationary position. Bike trainers usually are only one piece and often require no assembly.
Types
There are four main types of bike trainers: wind, fluid, magnetic and electronic. Each type provides a different means of creating resistance on your rear wheel and/or offers varying levels of interactivity during a ride. The wind trainer uses a fan to create resistance; the fluid trainer uses fluids to create hydraulic resistance; the magnetic or mag trainer uses a series of magnets to create resistance. The electronic trainer could be one of the previously mentioned types--usually a mag trainer-- but it has a computer that you can use to adjust resistance while you ride, and it also offers pre-set courses that automatically change the resistance to simulate a real ride. Some even allow you to create your own courses and track your progress over time.
Benefits
One major benefit of having a bike trainer is that it’s small enough to fold up and put away if you keep it in your home, and it’s also small enough to travel with. It allows you to convert your own bike into a stationary bike, which is great for riding indoors. And if you’re training, the bike trainer allows you to train using your own bike instead of a stationary bike that you’re not used to. You can even adjust the resistance to simulate different outdoor riding conditions.
Considerations
Most bike trainers work the same way. Clamps that attach to the rear axle hold the bike in place. Some products are available to stabilize the front of the bike, including riser blocks and stands. You can also purchase rubber mats to place your bike on to protect your floors and to reduce noise and vibration.
Price
According to one online shopping site, bike trainers range in price from around $60 to more than $600, 2010 rates. Wind trainers are generally the least expensive, followed by fluid trainers and then mag trainers. Popular brands include Bell, Cycleops, Minoura and Kinetic Road Machine.
Electronic trainers are significantly more expensive than the other three. According to one online shopping site, they typically start at over $500 and can peak at well over $1,000. Popular electronic brands include Cycleops, Tacx and CompuTrainer.
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