CycleOps Magnetic Bike Trainer
My wife and I are finding less and less time to suit up and get outside to train on our bikes, with work, travel, house renovations and parenting duties stacking up for both of us.
I needed an easier way to get on the bike and put on some miles, get the heart pumping and the blood flowing to keep my health and metabolism up.
I went down to the local bike shop here in New London called Wayfarer Bicycle 3 blocks down the road from my house, and started asking questions about the trainers, the technology, and the pitfalls.
- Can I use these with my road AND my mountain bike? (some can only be used with one or the other)
- Is it fairly stable under heavy hammering? Will I tip over or bend the arms?
- Does it fold up small enough to store in a closet or hang on the rafters?
- Do I need to service these parts? Disassemble and clean/oil them?
- What is the difference between a Magnetic and Wind trainer?
- Do I need the handlebar attachment to change the resistance?
- Is there anything else I’ll need to combine with this before I can use it?
Bob from Wayfarer was very helpful and gave me everything I needed to make the right decision.
After going through the catalog with him and looking at their in-store inventory, I went with a CycleOps Magneto mag trainer. No handlebar control to worry about, extra oversize tubing for strength and stability, sealed rear bearing, and folds pretty small and compact. If necessary, I could even travel with it.
I ordered it on Wednesday afternoon, and they had it in the store on Thursday morning. Now THAT’s what I call fast service!
The staff at Wayfarer are amazingly helpful in every way. If you’re ever in the Southeastern CT area, I highly recommend stopping in. Its right on the same road you’ll be taking to get to Ocean Beach Park… which you should be going to anyway, to enjoy the coastal views.
My wife and I both tried the trainer last night, and she absolutely loves it. It was simple to get her bike (a 2003 Fuji Team racing bike) and my mountain bike (a Trek Y22 front/rear suspended bike) into the trainer. Just pop out your standard QR skewer and slide in the CycleOps skewer, tighten up and you’re done.
The reason for the separate skewer, is because the clamping mounts on the CycleOps accept a rounded ‘nub’ skewer, and most road/mountain frames have oddly shaped, elliptical, square or oval skewers. It only took 2 minutes to switch it out and clamp the bike in. Problem solved. I can probably buy another skewer and keep it handy so I don’t have to swap it between my wife’s bike and mine.
She took to it right away, and did 15-20 minutes of moderate riding, and loved every minute of it. Her only complaint was that she thought she was “angled down”, or riding downhill. The top tube was level, so I couldn’t understand why she’d feel that way.
When she was done, I swapped the skewer and did about 20 minutes of hard riding in the trainer with my Ekho heartrate monitor. I was wearing the monitor because I wanted to make sure I was within range, and wasn’t going to blow up. I’ve been having some chest pains and breathing difficulties lately, so I didn’t want to push it too far.
At around 85rpm cadence in a pretty fat gear, my heart was at 179bpm and stable. I was just beginning to break a sweat, when I decided to stop before I did any real damage..
Overall, I’m completely impressed with the trainer, and with the stellar service Wayfarer Bicycle provided for me. They even assembled the trainer for me, so I didn’t have to.
After riding, and trying to pedal sitting up, I realized what she was talking about when she said she was “angled down”. The bike does seem like its pointed downward, even though the rear tire is only slightly elevated from the ground. I couldn’t pedal while sitting straight up (arms off of the bars), without feeling like I was sliding off the front of the saddle.
CycleOps does make something called a climbing block, which is supposed to elevate the bike’s front wheel slightly to provide the feeling of riding on differing terrain such as hills or steep climbs. I’ll see what Wayfarer thinks and ask if they have a solution.
Another worthy and worthwhile purchase.