Max asked:

I need to do some cardio to burn some fat but the thing is, here in Wisconisn its below zero rite now and theres snow and ice on the roads and sidewalks. So running and riding my bike is out of the question. I need something i can do indoors untill i get my bike trainer. So far ive just been running up and down my stairs, but that gets boring fast and is a little dangerous. Any ideas?

Kansieo.com

twistedscorpio87 asked:

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=123&subcategory=1087&brand=&sku=16868&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Subcat%3A%20Trainers%20and%20Rollers

My boyfriend is an avid biker, though he does it for fun, not competitively. Living in Central New York with all the snow puts a damper on his winter riding though, and I was thinking of getting him a set of rollers for Christmas. I know that he likes rollers more than the other kind of trainers, but I don't know much else.

I found these after getting some hints from his friends on what to look for, but I wanted some opinions. Is this quality?

It's so much cheaper than the things I found at general sporting goods stores, and seems to be of better quality too (most of what I found was $300 for plastic) so I think this is good, right? Please share your opinions and feel free to make other reccomendations too!

Money is kindof an issue-I can't afford to go too much higher than what this one costs.
thanks so much for the recommendation, Bob...really, I should try Nashbar.com...you mean the site that I already included a link to? Wow, you are really just unbelievably helpful!

/end sarcasm.

I'm sure he just didn't see that link, I'm just being silly.

I'm going to assume the same is true for the girl posting before him, since I can't even consider her recommendation, it's 3 times more than I can afford to pay.

From the sounds of things I'm going to take my chances with Nashbar, and cross my fingers that I don't have problems with their shipping...the fact that they use USPS seems to be the common link in all their complaints (thanks for that link, good to know what I'm getting into), but I've gotten neutral or positive feedback from all of you, I'm going to go ahead and get this one. Thanks to all of you (yes, even you Bob!)

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Shawn B asked:

I took up cycling this year for the first time and I am in love with the sport. I've worked hard all summer to get in shape and lose weight and I've dropped like 40 lbs. I don't want to gain it back over the winter but I am not about to ride in the snow. I want to buy a bike trainer and I've been given conflicting information regarding whether a trainer or a set of rollers is the best bet. I only have around 200 bucks, maybe 300 at most to spend and I want to get it right the first time.

Thanks in advance!

Robert B asked:

It seems that most of the indoor bicycle trainers that I have seen are designed for road bikes. Do you have any recommendations on a good trainers for use with a mountain bike? My bike is a 20" Specialized Rockhopper bike and I don't want to buy a different bike just to train with.

Our Answer

Robert...great question and you are right, you never see any bike trainer ads with a mountain bike as the bike loaded up on board. The nature of a mountain bike tire would not make it a good match for the smooth wheel of the bike trainer though. The knobby tire would be incredibly loud and would wear your tire to nothing in almost no time, neither of which you want to do.

You have two choices, you can go with a bike trainer that is known as a Rim Drive trainer like a Minoura RDA80 type trainer. The drive wheel actually rides against the rim of the wheel instead of the tire. If this particular trainer isn't to your liking then you could always simply mount a training tire on your rim for the winter. It's not like they are difficult to change and come spring you can change it right back.

If changing out the tire isn't to your liking then a stock rear wheel can be had for a few bucks and you could simply change out the whole wheel and tire assembly when you want to rock the trainer. Your call which way you want to go.