Wind and Fluid Trainer Reviews - Kurt Kinetic Indoor Bike Trainers and More

An affordable but quality wind trainer or one of the best fluid trainers can be one of the most useful tools a cyclist has in their arsenal. When it comes to a wind trainer there are a few types available the most basic wind trainer would be either a mag trainer or a rim driver where the more advanced wind trainers to be reviewed and purchased are fluid trainers. Prices can range from anywhere between just under $100 for a mag trainer to just over $300 for a fluid trainer.

When it comes to a Rim Trainer (or really any trainer) the amount of noise created by the friction of the wheel and the trainer is often overlooked but one of the most essential things when it comes to a wind trainer.

The reason being, no matter how smooth or how comfortable the wind trainer is, if its noise annoyes you, you won't want to stay on it for long.

Luckily, the Minoura Rimdrive Trainer has clamped down on the noise of their trainer, making it one of the more desirable rim drive wind trainer on the market. With multiple levels of resistance and a smooth ride, it can be recommended for someone with a slighlty smaller budget when it comes to purchasing a rim driven wind trainer.

For those of you who would prefer a mag trainer over a rim trainer than there are two ways you could look at it.

Firstly, a cheaper option. Due to the large demand and cheap construction of mag trainers they can often be produced at a slighlty cheaper price. However, again the price you pay can often identify how good a trainer will be.

For example, the Bell Motivator Mag Indoor Bicycle Trainer is probably one of the more cheaper options coming in at around $79. While this does provide a nice smooth ride, the noise of this machine is slighlty more noticable than others. Still, very good value for money.

If you are looking for a something a bit more similar to actually riding a bike, thenthe CycleOps Mag Indoor Bicyclye Trainer could be the wind trainer you are looking for.

Currently CycleOps are moving towards the top of the market with their high quality wind trainers and when it comes to a mag trainer, cyclists are often opting to purchase their product. However, like other mag trainers, the noise emmitted by this trainer is slighlty more noticable than a fluid trainer but less than the Bell Motivator Mag Indoor Bicycle Trainer. However, this trainer comes in at almost double the bell's price at $160. Cyclists using this trainer can't complain about the good experiences they are having with this product though.

When it comes tp purchasing a wind trainer, there's one you can't look past. And that's the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine Fluid Trainer.

Being a fluid trainer, it is one of, if not the smoothest wind trainer that can be purchased. The reason being, the fluid trainer has a silicone resistance fluid inside their patented sealed chamber. This allows the trainer to spin at high speeds required when training without the fluid heating up. This is one of the major problems that other fluid trainers face, the faster you "ride", the more the fluid inside the chamber heats up, this lessens the resistance and makes your workout redundant.

Not only does the Kurt Kinetic trainer remove this problem, but it provides you with a very quiet ride with a built in flywheel for a realistic coast down (another common problem associated with other trainers on the market.

So not only is it quiet, smooth, leak-proof, and offers an ultra-accurate simulation of outdoor riding. The trainer is Powertap calibrated, meaning the fluid trainer automatically adjusts resistance as you change speed making sure you are having the best and most efficient ride possible.

Cost: Just under $320 (saving $50 when purchasing through Amazon)

When compared to other fluid trainers this is a very acceptable and competitive price. On top of this Kurt Kinetic offers a full lifetime garuntee on their products (not that you'll need it for this trainer) unlike CycleOps and other brands.

Tested and rated the best by the Cycling press and loved by riders, it's no wonder the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine indoor trainer is the official bicycle trainer for the USA Cycling Team.