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1 Chicago 7 $120 EsWiDHxWMAAOW3d (1).jpeg (https://dl.airtable.com/.attachments/0af6971e703d4f941ede7a2f8856309d/da723143/EsWiDHxWMAAOW3d1.jpeg), IMG_6742.jpg (https://dl.airtable.com/.attachments/7b0252ba42ad1fe90e19a36a7feeacef/6115bdb6/IMG_6742.jpg) Magnetic No Costway  Magnetic Indoor Bicycle Bike Trainer Exercise Stand 8 levels of ResistanceMagnetic Indoor Bicycle Bike Trainer Exercise Stand 8 levels of Resistance https://www.amazon.com/Healthline-Magnetic-Reduction-Stationary-Resistance/dp/B07G87V5W8#ace-4993291862 2020I just wanted something to putz around on at home to help with the stir craziness of covid lockdown.  "+ Low cost + Folds + Easy set up + Helps me slowly acclimate my dog to riding in a bike trailer + I only have one bike and chose this type of trainer so I could easily remove my bike and go for rides outside without much hassle" "+ The dial for choosing resistance isn't the greatest. It's clunky at best and there's such a huge difference between levels it's probably not even useful to have attached to my handlebars. + I wish the instructions were better, there was one step that I could barely read. + I wish I knew how much resistance I should actually be putting on the back wheel with the roller. Once Covid is over, I anticipate a bike friend can take a look and give me pointers."I bought a $15 dollar bike "computer" to keep track of total miles biked. I hooked it up and attached it to the back wheel.  The instructions for the computer were not very insightful but i figured it out.  I have to keep the wireless display behind me or else it goes out of range. 

2 Living room 8 $600 Yes Wahoo Wahoo Kickr Snap https://www.wahoofitness.com/devices/bike-trainers/kickr-snap-bike-trainer 2019 "Foul weather riding, doing complex workouts with having to worry about traffic or potholes, and socially distant training since last March "Quick to set up/tear down Pairs with bikecomputer/home computer almost instantly Folds up pretty small" "The spacing for your bike skewer could be a small bit tighter. Smartphone app UI isn't as straightforward as it could be" ANT+ dongle and a long male to female usb cable 3 Chicago 5 150 PXL_20210123_001121324.jpg (https://dl.airtable.com/.attachments/bcc1f27ce6011b0afc755e0a125af164/3551d843/PXL_20210123_001121324.jpg), PXL_20210123_000939975.jpg (https://dl.airtable.com/.attachments/0d249d0ec9d9c519f789e09b14a80ddf/705d9c9f/PXL_20210123_000939975.jpg) Fluid No Kinetic Performance Bike I mostly ride for exercise, and 40 degrees and below is too cold for me.  I'll ride down to about 20 for grocery runs and the like. Keeps me fit in the winter, keeps me fit in the winter, and it keeps me fit in the winter. Super boring without music, need other stuff like a heart rate monitor to build structured workouts, and did I say it's boring? I bought a separate back wheel and mounted the special trainer tire on it, as this model will chew through a regular tire quickly.  With the separate wheel, I can just swap it out when the weather is close to comfortable, as opposed to changing the tire off my regular wheel. 4 Chicago, inside my office 8 $1200 but I did receive a discount through a friend Magnetic Yes https://www.rei.com/product/184336/wahoo-fitness-kickr-smart-trainer?CAWELAID=120217890010774477&CAGPSPN=pla&CAAGID=103051229657&CATCI=pla-931095475100&cm_mmc=PLA_Google%7C21700000001700551_1843360001%7C92700056159444209%7CNB%7C71700000062146843&gclid=Cj0KCQiAjKqABhDLARIsABbJrGlgAc5vTIy89BJFxyThmxM6Cnb7DnW3Vvh0Mq0izuL9NDkT7eia5WkaAnI-EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds 2018 i bought this last winter as a way to stay in shape when it consistently gets too cold for me to ride.  I’m admittedly not a 365 day rider and often retire the road bike when winter arrives.  I’ll still use my commuter for errands.  I spend so much time getting my legs back when the weather turns in spring and I wanted to maximize the summer by arriving in shape. It’s convenience to allow for me to ride at home (have the option to hop off if something urgent comes up with the kiddo), it’s engaging indoor fitness (when connected to apps like Zwift), it compact and stores away well.Doesn’t equal riding outside, lack of airflow results in heavy sweating, can be loud.  Even the better trainers can still be loud. All I need is my trainer, bike, and zwift.

5 At home. Chicago 8 It's $800 to a $1200 in most places 20210101_171928.jpg (https://dl.airtable.com/.attachments/e332e62bc77cda9570c7eb13c2b66670/a074bb40/20210101_171928.jpg), 20201031_155318.jpg (https://dl.airtable.com/.attachments/151788e186ba85c61f6add0379ec2c73/def72034/20201031_155318.jpg) Yes CycleOps Hammer (now the Saris H3) https://www.biketiresdirect.com/product/saris-h3-direct-drive-smart-trainer?adl=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAjKqABhDLARIsABbJrGnkw27PrG04PoJ4GIqeD27TVQchCeWEPJgndfV0t7p32jXNjlbdH1caAqWsEALw_wcB 2020 To reduce strength and endurance loss over the winter and to possibly make some gains for the coming season "Erg Mode. My trainer adjusts resistance in accordance with my training software, ensuring that no matter how slow or fast my cadence is, I am hitting the prescribed wattage. That it is a direct smart trainer, so it can transmit data to and from the training software to provide data for gauging gains and losses. Because it's a direct drive, I don't need a specific training wheel and tire package like my prior trainer. The trainer also allows me to use my bike versus a spin cycle or Peleton bike. I am able to make micro adjustments to my bike fit that help during the season" "To have a sufficiently accurate flywheel, it's heavy. While not the noisiest, it's still not silent. Like most trainers (there are a few on the market that seek to emulate lateral movement) the trainer prevents the slight lateral movement of the bike and adds to fatigue. " It's a direct drive trainer and comes with a front wheel block. You will need your own cassette.  6 Home (Chicago) 8 $3,500 KICKR1.jpg (https://dl.airtable.com/.attachments/46b40f13dae96830965d6e5738213fd3/bac4bef3/KICKR1.jpg), KICKR2.jpg (https://dl.airtable.com/.attachments/269904a7efb04f3e1a2c97c8b53be44f/a04421e7/KICKR2.jpg) Magnetic Yes Wahoo  KICKR Bike early 2020 I wanted to be able to train in the winter / colder months, or when the water was so bad I couldn't get outside (e.g., heavy rain) - lastly, the indoor trainer is great if I don't have the time for a long outdoor ride, regardless of the weather.  "* The convenience of being able to get a decent ride / workout indoors. * The low maintenance of the trainer - no annual tune-ups! * The flexibility to tailor my workouts to Zwift, TrainingPeaks, etc.  ""* Too many connections (BlueTooth / ANT+) and interfaces (Kickr app, Zwift app, TrainingPeaks workouts.) * Annoyance between figuring out what connection works (BlueTooth / ANT+) and what ELEMNT setting to use for my workouts (Control from Another App, or Planned Workout). * Synching my workouts with Garmin, Wahoo, Zwift and TraingPeaks - they all seem to require some sort of manual help, especially getting my Wahoo ELEMNT workouts into Zwift. Garmin in good, so is TraingPeaks, but Zwift is always a pain. " The Wahoo ELEMNT bike computer works well with the KICKR Bike - same with the heart rate monitor. I connect the trainer and the heartrate monitor to Zwift via a Mac laptop (via ANT+) which generally works well.  7 Chicago  10 - best 1200 Yes Wahoo Kickr  2014 The direct drive means I don’t go through tires. It connects to Zwift so I can ‘ride’ with other people while still in my basement.  Sometimes the connection drops and it needs to be unplugged and replugged. Since it has its own cassette the chain wears a little differently than outdoors and is noisier than I’d like. 8 France, Aix-en-provence 8 500 Magnetic Yes Kickr Snap https://eu.wahoofitness.com/devices/bike-trainers/kickr-snap-bike-trainer 2020 Covid lockdown "I can exercise when not being able to go out It is easy to use best way to get good quality work on the bike" "My garage is cold  My garage doesn't have internet (no swift!) Still better to go outside" "towel fan " 9 Chicago  9 $1200 0F812E0F-6A02-4128-B082-9EEED4465E3A.jpeg (https://dl.airtable.com/.attachments/5c3651acb35f9974c36b70bc4f4ee499/4ed4b0f9/0F812E0F-6A02-4128-B082-9EEED4465E3A.jpeg), B4CF49A4-FF29-4998-A49C-947F9F08645D.jpeg (https://dl.airtable.com/.attachments/04e22564b49758816fe43f4348eddd58/816343fe/B4CF49A4-FF29-4998-A49C-947F9F08645D.jpeg) Magnetic Yes Wahoo  Smart Kickr  https://www.wahoofitness.com/devices/bike-trainers/kickr/buy 2020 "My fiancé and I had been consistently going to the gym when Covid hit (winters didn’t allow us to bike outdoors comfortably). We still wanted some sort of exercise and we already had relatively new bikes, so we got a wheel on trainer first (Saris M2). After having several flat tire issues, even with a trainer tire on, we chose to upgrade to a direct trainer. We’ve been incredibly happy with it since.   " "1) Convenience at home  2) Ease of setup  3) comparison to on-road feel  ""1) it kind of sucks to see the trainer sitting there on a day you couldn’t muster up motivation to ride  2) I have zero clue how to fix anything mechanical with the trainer.  3) my fiancé and I have to constantly swap out our bikes each day" we only use a climbing/riser block to stabilize the front wheel. Wahoo has many accessories, including a headwind fan that can pair with Bluetooth and a “Climb” that attaches to your front fork and will rise and fall to simulate gradients. We find those accessories to be luxury though. Our climbing block and a small Lasko fan do the trick! 10 Boston 9 500 I'm not sure Yes Elite Tuo https://www.elite-it.com/en/products/home-trainers/interactive-trainers/tuo 2021 Being able to do more intense rides in the morning/evening with less time commitment as well as for biking when the weather outside is miserable. Having applications control the resistance, ease of use, looks pretty A little loud, can get a little boring for longer rides, initial set up instructions were not super clear A fan 11 Chicago, IL 6 350 Fluid, Rollers Yes Saris Fluid2 SMART https://www.rei.com/product/163614/saris-fluid2-trainer-smart-equipped 2020 Increase and maintain cardio/cycling fitness at home during the winter Easy to set up, easy to maintain, small footprint Not able to adjust resistance beyond shifting gears and adding more friction to the back tire, wears rear tire down (will have to replace tire in the Spring), few smart trainer functions (can pick either cadence or speed, but not both) Use a front wheel riser to keep the bike level when using, without a riser the bike is angled down once mounted due to the back wheel being raised a few inches off the ground

Indoor Bike Trainers

2021Reviews & Recommendations

People choose to use indoor bike trainers for a variety of reasons. Do you use one? We'd love for you to share your experience with the rest of the bike community.

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People choose to use indoor bike trainers for a variety of reasons. Do you use one? We'd love for you to share your experience with the rest of the bike community. What were your main drivers for choosing to use one? What do you like about your trainer? What do you dislike about it? If you're able to share photos that would be spectacular! Once we receive a fair amount of responses, we will update this page with an analysis similar to our camera review guide and seasonal biking gear articles.

Check out our other reviews for winter biking gear, spring/fall biking gear as well as camera reviews

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Raw Product Reviews

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