CycleOps Magnetic Bike Trainer Buying Guide

CycleOps bike trainers have made a name for themselves as being a very high quality bike trainer from a company that knows a little thing or two about training.  This is the same company that manufactures the legendary PowerTap power meter that is used by amateur and professional riders everywhere, including the best of the best.   So at the end of the day, the CycleOps trainers do offer a strong pedigree but what kind of bike trainers are they and will they deliver what you need?

CycleOps offers several models of bike trainers and they have trainers in the wind, magnetic and fluid categories.  Wind trainers have kind of fallen out of favor and most riders find themselves either purchasing either a magnetic or fluid trainer from someone.  There are different brands and designs that utilize these two technologies.  If you aren't familiar with the differences then check out Mag vs Fluid Trainer article.  So first up let's take a look at the Magnetic trainers that CycleOps has to offer.

CycleOps Mag Trainer

The first trainer up in our comparison is the base model from CycleOp and it's a product they call the CycleOps Mag trainer.  This bike trainer is designed to compete on price point with some of the lower priced offerings that you can buy in sporting goods stores and chain stores.

It is a solid design and shares the same basic look and frame design as the other CycleOps bike trainers.  The resistance is provided by the Magnetic resistance wheel and that has it's own set of pros and cons.  Mag trainers tend to be noisy at speed and this trainer is no different, but the biggest advantage is that it's a stone cold simple design and there is no fluid to leak out all over your floor if a seal fails.  Simple, effective design that offers a decent ride quality where you have to control the resistance with the gears on your bike.

The ride quality is good, you can shift gears up or down to tailor the level of resistance that you apply and you can easily get a great workout from a trainer like this but be aware that a rider that is in great shape, may be able to overpower a trainer like this and it may reduce the effectiveness.    It definitely offers a lot of bang for the buck at the price point shown on Amazon but you need to be aware of the noise levels.  This can be a killer if you live in an apartment or a condo so purchase with your eyes wide open.

Two different versions of this trainer are available, there is a version that offers a cable that allows you to adjust the resistance without getting off the bike, which may be important to some riders but in my opinion, is not necessary as the gears allow you adjust the resistance pretty well.

CycleOps Magneto Trainer

First out of the gate is the CycleOps Magneto trainer.  CycleOps bills this trainers as the worlds first magnetic trainer that offers progressive resistance.   What that means is that the resistance will continue to increase as you pedal faster, which is how a fluid trainer works, so I would have to wonder why they want to design a magnetic trainer that acts like a fluid trainer?  The answer is likely cost.  Magnetic trainers must be easier and cheaper to produce than the equivalent fluid trainer because they are typically less expensive than the equivalent fluid trainer.

The CycleOps magneto trainer is quick and easy to setup out of the box.  The craftmanship is high quality and everything works as it should.  The things that I did not like, and don't like about nearly any magnetic trainer, is the noise.  It's very noisy, in my opinion, once you get up to speed.  This is not important to some riders, but it definitely is to others, especially if you live in a condo or an apartment.  You will not have a big fan club if you rev this baby up on a regular basis.

The ride quality is good and the resistance levels felt good on the legs but I would question how well the progressive resistance worked.  I had a hard time noticing much of a difference as the pedal speed increased, maybe it was the noise distracting me but it felt more like a typical mag trainer than anything revolutionary or new.  Good overall ride feel though.

CycleOps SuperMag Trainer

I have to admit that the first thought that passed through our minds when we saw the price tag on the SuperMag was "damn, this trainer better be good."    The price point is not unreasonable but the competition in this price range is damn good so this trainer would have to rock and being a Mag trainer, we had our doubts, but at the end of the day, we learned that old dogs can learn new tricks.

I don't want to give you the wrong impression by saying this trainer is expensive, but let's be honest, riding indoors ranks right up there with a colonoscopy on the fun scale, so we always want to make sure we get a return on both the time and money invested.  Let's see how it does.

The SuperMag frame that we tested is the new design from CycleOpos and quite simply, it is one of the best we've ridden from anyThis frame is the best we've ever tested! brand.  The resistance unit is also redesigned to have more surface area and a larger rotating volume to give a smoother and more realistic feel and we would agree that it does, especially compared to other Mag trainers but I still wouldn't say the ride quality would compare to a high quality fluid trainer.  It's good, just not that good.

The resistance unit offers four positions:

• EASY - Designed as a warm up before harder riding or possibly to work on increasing cadence smoothness.

• ROAD -  Perfect for base building and logging time in the trainer.  We observed  approximately 190W at 20 mph and about 390W at 30 mph so not a killer, but definitely a workout.

• INTERVAL - Much more difficult than the Road setting and will require you to step it up.  500W at that same 30 mph we mentioned earlier.

• MOUNTAIN - As expected, this is the most difficult setting and took 600W at the same 30 mph mark.  Very few riders can maintain that for very long so this setting can work out the best of them.

This is definitely an improvement over the two Mag trainers we discussed earlier.   So far we are impressed and really like this trainer but you should be aware that it still has the inherent noise issues that Mag trainers are known for having.  What I mean by that, is that it is loud.  Very loud and depending on your situation, this could be an issue for you or it may not, your call.

CycleOps Mag Trainer Summary

At the end of the day, all of these trainers are great quality offerings from an excellent company that produces great products.  The old addage that you get what you pay for would certainly apply here and you cannot expect the base model Mag trainer to perform like a much more expensive bike trainer.

Magnetic trainers in general are stone cold simple in their design, which offers an advantage over fluid trainers.  Fluid trainers have a reputation for failing and leaking fluid all over your floor.  Mag trainers don't have that issue but they also don't offer the better quality ride feel that fluid trainers have to offer either.  None of the bike trainers are what I would call quiet but Mag trainers are noisy even for a bike trainer.  If this is an issue for you then take that into account when considering what kind of trainer to buy, I would definitely recommend a fluid trainer.

So check them out, we researched the internet and found some great deals on Amazon that I included in each review.  You will save yourself a lot of money buy shopping smart and if you do your research and listen to our advice, then you will end up with the perfect bike trainer for your needs at a price that you can feel good about.