Trainer Preferences: Mag or Fluid?

Fluid!  It's quieter

I've used both, first a mag and then the Cycleops Fluid Trainer. I liked them both.

I borrowed the mag from a friend when I had a stress fracture. After about a month, he wanted it back so I upgraded to a fluid. I really could not tell much difference.

Randy

fluid much more like a road feeling, gets harder when you speed up mag is the opposite. I got the cyclops fluid 2 and pretty happy with it.

cyclops fluid 2. It has a smoother overall feel, not mechanical at all. You will get strong quickly, so dont think that you have to save $50-100 just because you aren't strong enough yet.

Yeah, fluid, if you want to pay the xtra $$$ is definately worth it. It's quiet and you don't have to worry about and resistance level adjustment, just change gears.

I just got a giant mag trainer for xmas. It works great, not very loud even compared to fluid. It is nice becaue it has a resistance knob that attaches to the handle bars, so you can change resistance on the fly, as well as change gears.

cyclops fluid 2. quiet, comes with a dvd, easy to put away. never used a mag trainer. about $240

I wouldn't trade my Cycleops Fluid 2 for a mag.

I picked up a Cycleops Fluid² off ebay for about $160 total last month (no DVD, but price still great).  No complaints at all with it so far--no experience with mag.

Edited by JohnnyKay 2005-01-10 4:26 PM

Neither Mag nor Fluid. If you have the $, a Computrainer is the best bet.

Here's the scoop.
If you have the money, the best trainer with all the bells and whistles and scores a 10 on the coolness scale is the tacx virtual trainer. Hook it up to your computer, and race against anyone around the world! This unit kicks a$$! Almost makes riding indoors tolerable.
If money is a issue (like it is for me....sponsered by no one....sigh), blackburn makes a pretty solid fluid trainer.
good luck

Thanks for all the input.  I'll be trying a few out. 

Thanks for all the input.  I'll be trying a few out. 

I have the Cycleops Fluid 2, and I love it. A friend lent me his Blackburn magnetic trainer to try before I bought one, because I couldn't decide between fluid and mag. It was quiet and smooth, but I had to ride in my big ring on level 4 (of 5) to get even a mild workout, so I figured I'd outpace it pretty quickly and went with the fluid. The Fluid 2 is WONDERFUL -- I've been riding in my third-from-easiest gear and still getting a workout! So no, you can't adjust the resistance on the trainer itself, but you CAN adjust it by shifting gears on your bicycle -- the smaller the gear, the more resistance you get. It's really great.

Oh God! I didn't try magnetic but tried rollers before Cycle Ops Fluid2! Boy oh boy ! No strenght there but lots of skills.
On my Cycle ops I can only ride in the easy 1-2 gear!

I just got a Minoura rim drive trainer
http://www.minoura.jp/E-RDA850-R.jpgfor pic,
http://www.minoura.jp/trainer-e2.htmlfor description

I don't know if they work with road bikes as well as they work with my mtb, or if they provide the resistance you're looking for, but I am amazed at how silent this thing is. All I can hear is the normal bike noises, absolutely no noise from the trainer (it squeeked for the first maybe 10 minutes and after that all is well). For my needs it's awesome and feels more or less like riding on the road. I haven't ridden it at max resistance, since I'm working on cadence and just re-building my bike endurance after several months off the bike, but seems to be working out great. And it comes with a nifty remote control for the resistance. And a skewer so you don't destroy your own. No, I'm not affiliated with Minoura at all.

OK, maybe this should be posted on the gear review forum, but I just wanted to share. I didnt' know these things existed till my bike shop told me about them, and I'm excited about it.