What's the deal with trainers?

Why buy a trainer to begin with? There is simply no better way to stay in shape for cycling. The key advantage to a trainer over, say, an exercise bike is that you are using your bike. This means that the bike should deliver a great fit. Further to the fit advantage, the geometry of your bike dictates the specific stresses on your musculature. The angles that you maintain while training on your bike are key to making you a proficient cyclist.

People considering trainers tend to fall into two camps. The first group is looking to begin an exercise program so that by the time spring rolls around, they are in good enough shape to get outside and start enjoying themselves without the agony of starting from scratch. The second group has already worked hard throughout the summer and doesn't relish losing the progress they have earned through months of hard effort.

What types of trainers are available?

There are several technologies available, each with their own list of pros and cons. Check out the options below.

Magnetic Trainers

Magnetic resistance trainers are the mainstream choice. These units offer a wide range of user-adjustable tension and really allow you the freedom to train however you might like.

Because of their flexibility, they are well suited to beginners and experienced cyclists alike. The intensity and the levels of resistance you face are solely at your discretion.

Whether you are looking for a high-rpm spin or a low-rpm, high muscle tension interval, these trainers deliver in spades.

Price range: $219.99 - $399.99

Fluid (Hydraulic) Trainers

Where magnetic trainers are all about adjustability, fluid trainers excel for their simplicity and realistic road feel. There is typically no adjustability to speak of on this style of trainer – and that is exactly the point.

When you are outside on a road ride, you cannot reduce a hill's incline to suit how you feel. You just grit your teeeth, bear down, and do what you can. Even more importantly, the faster you ride the harder it gets to go faster yet. This concept is calledprogressive resistance and it is at the heart of the fluid trainer experience.

Just as it is outside, the trainer will push you as hard as you push it. 25km/h? No problem. 30km/h? Getting tougher. 35km/r? Good on you if you can do it! The most realistic road simulation (almost...) you can find.

Price range: $364.99+

Ergotrainers

Ergotrainers take the training concept to the next level. The most modern and sophisticated trainers on the market.

Designed with the serious athlete in mind, this category of trainers is all about the philosophy of power. Power training takes relativity and guesswork out of the training regimen. For many years, amateur athletes used heart rate zones as the means to gauge their efforts. While this is indeed a valuable tool, it is subject to a great deal of variability.

For example, if I had four coffees today (uh-oh!) instead of two, my heart rate may be elevated. Food intake, sleep patterns, stress from work...these are all factors that will colour the effects of training on our heart rate.

Training with power, on the other hand, is always an absolute measurement of the work you are producing. As such, it offers the serious athlete the best platform from which to launch a comprehensive and objective training program.

With this level of product, you can even download GPS data from the web (or your own Garmin) and then re-ride real life routes. The new Tacx Trainer Software even includes a 52km time trial from the Tour de France! The slopes are real, the required power is real, the lengthy mountain climbs are real - the only thing missing is the wind in your hair!

These are the best training tools currently available to non-professional athletes.

Price range: $899.99+

Rollers

Kickin' it old school. Rollers help bring cycling back to what it is all about. No fancy thingamijigs. No computers. No resistance units.

Just you on your bike. Riding it just like you are outdoors. The challenge with rollers is that you are not being held upright as you are with a trainer. Your balance and the centrifugal force of your spinning wheels is the only thing keeping you off of the basement floor.

While these units may not be for the feint of heart, rollers help a rider to develop a smooth spin. They are not about building power, but about refining your technique and improving your efficiency. Because of it`s dynamic nature, rollers are also great for developing core strength as you maintain your balance.

Price range: $199.99+

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