The summer days are passing us by quickly and as the nights begin to grow shorter and the temperatures begin to cool, many cyclists will eventually turn to other alternatives to maintain the superior fitness levels they obtained during the summer months. For many that means bike trainers. An indoor bike trainer is a great alternative for many cyclists to riding outdoors in the winter time.
If you are not familiar with these devices, then a bike trainer is simply a small stand that lifts the rear wheel of your bicycle up off the ground and puts friction against it with a roller wheel. You then mount your bike and ride it just like you normally would outdoors but the bike never moves because the rear wheel is lifted off the ground. The friction that the rear roller places against your wheel requires exertion to overcome and is what requires effort from the rider to keep moving.
This is an oversimplified explanation of what a bike trainer is and you should know that their are several of them on the market in different brands and using different methods of creating this friction. Some of the more common types are Magnetic trainers and Fluid trainers. These both look remarkably similar externally but they create the friction very differently from each other and both have their own set of pros and cons.
There are several differences between the two main types of trainers and you really should do a little research on them before you make a purchase so that you will be happy with your selection. The things you want to look out for are ride feel, machine quality and noise level. A cheap bike trainer will compromise on all of these while the more expensive trainers will score well in these categories. If you are an apartment dweller then noise level can be extremely important if you have neighbors who don’t tolerate noise. All of these things are for you to decide so do your research and find the best bike trainer for you.
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