Turbo trainer

I spent the first 6 months of this year serving in the middle east with the Navy. With my spare time i took my trainer and road bike.

The trainer i got is one of the Elite range. Magnetic resistance, wireless controls that tell you distance, speed, power, cadence, heart rate, time, average speeds, max speeds,odometer and so on. Comes with like 16 preset workouts for interval, speed, strength and endurance work outs.

The only problem i found with it is if i stood up it took to much weight off the back wheel and it lost traction.

It cost me around $600-$700 from my LBS.

While nothing beats a good ride, when its pissing down rain or a howling wind outside just set this bad boy up infront of the TV and watch old mountain bike or tour de france dvds.

I use the Kurt Kinetic Rock & Roll. It's prob the best fluid trainer you can get. Unlike most it allows the bike to rock side to side.
It fits all bikes from 24 inch BMX's to my 700cc roadie.

Fluid trainers are very boring. The only way I get through is with Sufferfest videos and TrainerRoad software.

Aside from fluid trainers you can look into virtual reality trainers. They are mega bucks. I've not tried one to comment though.

You will need an industrial strength fan from bunnings and a stand to hold your computer. I use a music stand but a lectern from an office store will also work well.

Kurt Kinetic trainers are probably one of the better brands out there. I use the KK Road Machine which is the same as the rock and roll except you can't rock the bike side to side. It is a lot quieter than my last mag trainer. The other good thing about it is that because it is a fluid trainer you don't have to adjust the resistance, it just gets harder as you go faster.

I bought mine off Cycling Inform which is a Australia cycling site for about $400.

Other good brands include Tacx, Wahoo fitness, Le Mond, Jetblack etc.

If you have got the money another good option would be a Tacx Virtual Reality trainer. Expensive at about $2000 but it connects to the tv and you can set a course and it will simulate going up and the hills on that course by adjusting the resistance. And if a friend has one of these trainers, you can race him in multiplayer mode.

Kurt Kinetic Road Machine or Brian's RocknRoll if he's still got it for sale.

If you have a cadence sensor on the rear wheel you can convert speed to power as the resistance is calibrated. I think Brian is selling his with the necessary bits.

I agree with the comments about needing the vids. They turn indoor training from an instrument of torture into a really effective tool.

Buy a good industrial fan.

Looks like Brian sold his Rock 'n' Roll... which is just as well as I note the OP is on the opposite side of the country

Anyhow - I too have a Kurt Kinetic Rock 'n' Roll trainer and it's awesome. They just updated the model but looks like they just wanted to make the base take up less floorspace and weight. Yes, these things are heavy - 27kg.

The resistance unit in the Kurt Kinetic trainers seems very nice. It's certainly a lot quieter than some mag trainers I tried. I also tried a mag unit with resistance control but you don't need this with a good fluid trainer - just get into a bigger gear if you want more resistance.

Kurt claim the fluid they use doesn't change consistency with heat and that there is a linear function between how fast the wheel is going to how much power the rider must be putting in to maintain that. If you have a wheel magnet & speedo fitted and care about working out power that is. Can't say I ever bothered.

I don't actually use mine that much now as our gym got a proper cycle you can clip into and doesn't have a 10 foot wide seat

SUMMARY:
There’s no question in my mind that the Wahoo KICKR trainer has completely changed the trainer landscape. Partly because of the hardware, but more importantly because of the ability for 3rd party companies to develop software for it. As you’ve seen above, companies and organizations are already doing so – and at price points significantly lower than the high-priced multi-hundred dollar software suites that the market is currently locked into. And if we fast forward to next fall, I think we’ll be looking at an even cooler set of applications for the KICKR.

Yeah, Kickr fo shizzle, especially since the Strava app has been released just recently (you can ride strava segments on the trainer).

LeMond has the closest feel to riding on the road, but is certainly dating a bit.

Rollers? Nothing like having to balance and pay attention, rather than being bolted in.

Jeez, I've just come back from a sneaky loop in the hills & in one day I've got enough cyber trawling for the whole weekend.
Cheers guys.

I doubt that I'll be investing in a multi thousand dollar virtual system quite yet but those up to $500 sound pretty good. I've also not really thought about videos but I did have Le Tour on last time I used my rubbish trainer. Unfortunately the drone of the thing drowned out the sound completely.

I got a D2R Shadow off Torpedo 7 when it was on sale at $350. (currently on sale at 380)
It allows the bike to sway side to side so it is better for the frame than some other trainers. Plus it doesn't wear out your rear bearings/tyres. It has magnetic resistance and since there is no tyre to trainer contact, it is really quite and can be used on any size bike wheel.

Downside is it weighs 25kgs. And bike/trainer need to have the same size cassette. Plus there aren't many reviews online and I'm not too sure who stocks them or where you can try one out.

^^^ agree re Sufferfest.
I've gone through periods where I preferred doing my daily turbo Sufferfest session than actually riding.
After 1 hour your always well buggerred often much more than you would be after a many hour ride with mates.
There's no pre and post ride faff other than a shower.
When the video defeats me I'm just as cut up as being dropped on a group ride.

When it gets hot in the next few months I'd imagine I'm going to be doing up to half my rides on a turbo.