Help needed: Looking ahead to my winter indoor training.

[AJS914]

I believe that Zwift will talk to the trainer over bluetooth so I shouldn't need an ant+ stick.

[3Pio]

I believe that Zwift will talk to the trainer over bluetooth so I shouldn't need an ant+ stick.

Ull need ANT+ Stick if u want Zwift to talk To Cadence/speed/HR Sensor from Garmin, and BlueTooth just to use the power from trainer.. So that way probably u'll get more detailed cadence/speed info in Zwift...

[sanrensho]

Thanks.. I'll order that then.. Just please help me in which Risser Ring? The one that is fixed, or the one that offer Rotation of handlebar? (Both Kinetic, and both offer Height Adjustment). If u have better idea about Risser Block (different brand, model), feel free to suggest me..

I would buy this one: https://www.kurtkinetic.com/accessories-products/riser-ring

[3Pio]

Thanks.. I'll order that then.. Just please help me in which Risser Ring? The one that is fixed, or the one that offer Rotation of handlebar? (Both Kinetic, and both offer Height Adjustment). If u have better idea about Risser Block (different brand, model), feel free to suggest me..

I would buy this one: https://www.kurtkinetic.com/accessories-products/riser-ring

Cool Thanks sanrensho.. U saved my winter training

I just added this one to the shopping basket. And sorry to have last question before i proceed for an order..

Do u find it benefitial sweat protectors? If u do is there difference between different brands/models?

Or u go just with towel on the bike?

[1415chris]

I wouldn't be bothered with any dedicated sweat protectors and floor mats. Small towel over top tube, one on the bars and one on the floor, that's my way.

[dkoor]

I have Kurt Kinetic Road Machine for couple of seasons now... used it for a few different bikes... did some 20000km on it.
Good thing about it is that is reliable and solid.
Bad thing is that I had major problems with the inRide. I would not recommend it. It worked for some time then completely quit on me, my best guess is because of the either iOS change or app version change. Either way, made no sense and left me quite frustrated.
Perhaps they fixed stuff by now, but no way I'm blindly buying another inRide without knowing 100% it will work.

I found a simple way to track the numbers using Garmin GSC 10 sensor for speed and cadence + Garmin Forreruner with HRM... works good, however I'm unsure what margin of error would be.
I'm basing my workouts on HRM zones.

Just yesterday I tried out friends' brand new CycleOps Fluid 2, and is also a nice trainer especially for the price. It's a bit 'tougher' to get same speed as with my Kurt Kinetic Road Machine. My rough estimate is that for instance it takes same effort to do 26-27kph on Fluid 2 and 30kph on KK RM. Spin off time on RM is noticeably longer.

Haven't measured decibels of noise, but roughly they were both in "the same league". Quite tolerable, but I suppose there would be neighbour complaint issues if one uses it in the building flat on top of neighbour's flat. A thing to consider too.

[3Pio]

I have Kurt Kinetic Road Machine for couple of seasons now... used it for a few different bikes... did some 20000km on it.
Good thing about it is that is reliable and solid.
Bad thing is that I had major problems with the inRide. I would not recommend it. It worked for some time then completely quit on me, my best guess is because of the either iOS change or app version change. Either way, made no sense and left me quite frustrated.
Perhaps they fixed stuff by now, but no way I'm blindly buying another inRide without knowing 100% it will work.

I found a simple way to track the numbers using Garmin GSC 10 sensor for speed and cadence + Garmin Forreruner with HRM... works good, however I'm unsure what margin of error would be.
I'm basing my workouts on HRM zones.

Just yesterday I tried out friends' brand new CycleOps Fluid 2, and is also a nice trainer especially for the price. It's a bit 'tougher' to get same speed as with my Kurt Kinetic Road Machine. My rough estimate is that for instance it takes same effort to do 26-27kph on Fluid 2 and 30kph on KK RM. Spin off time on RM is noticeably longer.

Haven't measured decibels of noise, but roughly they were both in "the same league". Quite tolerable, but I suppose there would be neighbour complaint issues if one uses it in the building flat on top of neighbour's flat. A thing to consider too.

Im ordering on bike24.de and CycleOps Fluid 2 is just 8 eur cheaper then Road Machine InRide version, so between those two probably Road Machine is still better purchase..Since u tried them both.. Which one u'll purchase if they are same price?

About InRide i understund ur frustration, but for the price im getting (just 25 eur more then non InRide version), i guess will be nice try, specially that i'll use with Android and PC.. Sometimes bigger problem is Apple and their OS.. How i know? I have USB2Spdif Converter which i really like (my other hobby, HiFi), and when my Mac OS got new version, this converter stopped working. No problems on PC or Linux. So im avoiding anything Apple in big circle now, and on Apple computers just installing Linux if i have to work there..

About noise..But is there anything more silent that will help in this kind of conditions? Probably just a little less noise, and not sure if it's worth at all.. If u have idea of something else much more silent please let me know.. Even direct drive trainers i can see have vibrations and still have noise that will protrude to the neighbour flat...

[sanrensho]

Agree with Chris, don't bother with a sweat protector. I used mine once before binning it.

I drape a towel across my handlebars/stem to catch sweat, plus a standing rotating fan aimed at my chest. I find that I don't sweat much over the top tube.

[3Pio]

Thank u guys.. I ordered Kinetic Road Machine Smart (InRide version) + Kinetic Turntable Risser (just 4 eur more then regular one, and it can be fixed if i dont like rotation) + Kinetic Mat (huge discount).

U helped me a lot to understund what i need, and what is important for indor training....What is interesting..

In this moment for the price of Elite Rampa (and cheaper then Kickr SNAP 100 eur), u can get both Road Machine Trainer (With InRide) + Kinetic Z Rollers.. I think this combination can offer more variety and motivation for indoor riding (and more reality with rollers), then just Smart Trainer.

In same time both products look to me totaly trouble free, unlimited warranty vs lot of problems and limited 1 year warranty.. Also must admit i almost added Rollers as well in my order, but i'll leave that for next season maybe Of course this is valid only if Slooping simulation + ERG is not essential for ur training..

[dkoor]

Well, I'm sorry I haven't seen your question in time... nevertheless, I think you made a right choice.
Although very, very nice, out of the box CycleOps Fluid 2 is little bit less sturdy that Kurt Kinetic RM... but nothing that would be worth of serious mentioning.

They are quite evenly matched in my opinion, but bear in mind that although I had like zillion runs on KK I had only one run with COF2.
The thing that KKRM is certainly better at is spin down time... you'll notice how sweet it is even if you never used in door trainer before in your life.
You stop pedalling and trainer keeps going for some time... and you can 'catch' it and go on - it's nice. Not like on road nice, but still nice.
COF2 does this somewhat worse... spin down time is noticeably shorter which is not that nice. But still, that is tolerable IMO...

What I'm REALLY interested to know is the new android compatible inRide still troublesome or they finally managed to put it all together right so it works?
Will appreciate you mini review on this after you are will to post your findings.

[3Pio]

Well, I'm sorry I haven't seen your question in time... nevertheless, I think you made a right choice.
Although very, very nice, out of the box CycleOps Fluid 2 is little bit less sturdy that Kurt Kinetic RM... but nothing that would be worth of serious mentioning.

They are quite evenly matched in my opinion, but bear in mind that although I had like zillion runs on KK I had only one run with COF2.
The thing that KKRM is certainly better at is spin down time... you'll notice how sweet it is even if you never used in door trainer before in your life.
You stop pedalling and trainer keeps going for some time... and you can 'catch' it and go on - it's nice. Not like on road nice, but still nice.
COF2 does this somewhat worse... spin down time is noticeably shorter which is not that nice. But still, that is tolerable IMO...

What I'm REALLY interested to know is the new android compatible inRide still troublesome or they finally managed to put it all together right so it works?
Will appreciate you mini review on this after you are will to post your findings.

In one moment i thought about CyleOps Fluid 2 as well (since is considered that make a bit less noise), but i found that noise difference is very small so i just ignore it. Why i did not go for CycleOps at the end is that know local guy who use it, and had leaking so he switched to Road Machine. If u google u can find out that is not the only one with that kind of probles.. Also for small price difference, in Kinetic im getting INRide which can be helpfull since not owning a Power Meter.

And yes, no problem and i'll be glad to do a mini review.. As soon as i get my package (probably 10-15 days), i'll do it..

[dkoor]

Thanks then , looking forward to read review.
About power meter, yeah even if it's not 100% on mark all the time, it will certainly help you about some things with your workout, sorting out interval training etc.

Apart from making a good training runs power is actually quite useful for competition and Strava competitive cyclists (I'm not there tho)... some folks will actually push less speed but more W on lesser bike or with much stronger chest wind than the guy/gal with KOM on a particular segment.

[fastezzie]

Just ordered an Inride for my Kinetic fluid trainer which I plan to try with Android and iOS. I'm really hoping it works, it was my cheapest option for power #'s and seems pretty accurate. Reviews on the Inride app have not been very good, lots of crashes and bugs reported. Hopefully it's been improved, if not I'll probably go with a Stages or 4iiii crank and an ANT computer.

[3Pio]

Thanks then , looking forward to read review.
About power meter, yeah even if it's not 100% on mark all the time, it will certainly help you about some things with your workout, sorting out interval training etc.

Apart from making a good training runs power is actually quite useful for competition and Strava competitive cyclists (I'm not there tho)... some folks will actually push less speed but more W on lesser bike or with much stronger chest wind than the guy/gal with KOM on a particular segment.

I got the Trainer two days ago, but yesterday i was travelling so not chance to try it until today.

I rode a while, just to test if everything fine. I'll tell first impressions,and will write more detailed review (im waiting for Continental Trainer Tire to arrive).


First, i opted with Kinetic Turn Riser, and i was not sure if that was ok investement or not. After trying i can say it's very nice. Feel very natural beeing able to move handlebar a little bit. Also better for me the book i was using before, because it's more stable. Of course u can go with DoitYourSelf solution, but for the price i got it (about 25-30 eur), i think its not worth it. Also have different heights for different tires.


Ok, i also opted for Kinetic Matt (it was like 35 eur, so decied to buy it), and not sure that this was nice buy . I thought that is thicker then it is, but that's it. Cant feel any plastic smell, its nice looking, but still probably not necessary.

The trainer is very robust, there was trace of use (trace of tire on the roller), so i thought that i got a second hand until i start reading the manual. Kinetic test every trainer before delivery, and it's normal that it have that tire traces.. So i got nice feeling that Kinetic really care about quality of their products.

I like the clamping mechanism (everything feel very very solid and robust), and the feeling u have is very nice.. I like the fact when u stop pedalling the roller continues spinning, so the feeling is almost like riding outside.. I test ride it with old Continental Force Tire, which is a bit damaged, so i feel the vibration because of this. Anyway, i tried to measure the noise, and phone next to the trainer (few cm's), on 300W interval (according to Kinetic App and InRide, and i did not made any calibration or something, so dont get this 300W number like real one, until i check a bit more about this) was max 64 db

Kinetic Inride is transmiting Speed+Cadence+Power to the Kinetic App, and next step will be to check how to send this to TrainerRoad. Seem that i'll have slight a problem transmitting this to my PC (Lenovo ThinkPad X220 notebook), since i read that TrainerRoad need BlueTooth 4.0, and my Notebook have 2.0, and probably will solve this using new BlueTooth stick. Not sure if this can be possible to transming somehow using my Android Phone as BlueTooth Bridge to the Desktop. Also will try if it's possible in same time to transmit values from InRide Trough BlueTooth, and also Heart Rate from my Garmin HearRate ANT+ Strap. Another soluton is to use my MacMini, im almost sure that there will work without problems (Bluetooth values, not sure about Ant+).


For now that's it

I'll do more detailed review as soon my TrainerTire arrive, and as soon i connect to TrainerRoad. Thank u for help, from the first ride look like i done the right choice.

[waltthizzney]

you are wasting your time using virtual power, just buy a power meter and a dumb trainer