Wind trainer vs. fluid trainer

Noise will be a large factor.  Another will be resistance as related to the road.  I think a fluid trainer can mimic the resistance of a road much better than a wind trainer can.  Finally I know the Kurt Kinetic uses a sealed chamber so mechanically there is little to nothing that can go wrong (possibly an issue with the screw that you use to adjust where the coaster hits the wheel, but I have not had any problems from that.

To me a Fluid trainer is much better, even to the point where double the price would still be worth it.

The biggest difference is really in the progressive increase of resistance that a Fluid trainer do, i.e. when speed goes up, so does resistance; simply, it's close to riding on the road (except of course that you can't coast...).

Wind trainers only have one advantage, they're cheaper, but function wise, no where near Fluids...

Thanks.  It sounds like the extra money for the fluid trainer is worth it.

Yes. It is.

Just be sure and buy a decent one a larger flywheel. I purchased a Budget Blackburn Fluid trainer($150ish) and it takes at least 5-10 minutes for it to heat up and It gets Smoken hot!!! around +160deg, I have an extra heat indicator sticker from my Motorcycle Radiators I put on it. I scorched my leg one day.

Anyway the Larger Flywheel makes shifting smoother and lets the rotational mass carry when you do change gears. I've dedicated my old roadbike to specifically a indoor fluid trainer now.

Cycleopts makes a couple of models that are very smooth. When I purchased my new road bike they test fitted me on one. A magnetic trainer is also an option since there No Fluid Warmup. You may also consider a Trainer Specific tire too. Also be sure and relieve the roller tension from the tire so you don't leave a flatspot.

Also Don't forget to consider cooling when indoor training. I have fans both front and rear to help with cooling. I generally layer up just as normal during the warmup but just shed layers as I build higher effort levels. It would be nice to have a watt meter to see what Load you are actually pushing.

Spinning a 53/22 is about the max I can sustain on for a 15min effort set and still maintain over 80rpm.