D'z Nutz
04-05-2010, 12:40 AM
I went and bought a bike trainer at the Bow Cycle sale a few weekends back. I was just gonna go pick up their cheapest one but when I got there it was gone, so the salesman talked me into getting the Cycleops Fluid 2 trainer. It was a bit more than I wanted to spend, but I figured I'd give it a shot.
I finally got around to setting up the trainer this weekend. (Skip the next two paragraphs if you want the meat without the potatoes.)
It was a bit of a pain in the ass though. Not so much that it was hard to set up, but because everything I read suggested I get a road wheel to keep the noise and vibration down as well as to prevent uneven wear between the front and rear tire. I tried looking for a used rear wheel with a road tire, but they're surprisingly hard to find! Maybe cause people haven't pulled their bikes out of winter storage? I dunno. I went back to Bow Cycle to see what I could get and the guy recommended getting a tire specifically for trainers. Fuck, that was gonna cost me $70 plus a new tube and if I wanted a spare rim for easy switching between my regular tire, that'd be another $80+ on top of it. Fawk! I was about to pony up the cash, but then I remembered hampstor was giving away a road bike for free so I went and got it from him.
I was all ready to set up the free bike for the trainer until I realized the replacement axle that came with the trainer for its quick release mount was smaller than the one on the freecycle. FFFFFFFFFUUUUU!! Back to drawing board.
I did some Googling and found others had a cheap, but effective solution for trainers without needing to get a new tire...
http://www.typicalfish.com/images/beyond/cycleops_0005.jpg
DUCT TAPE! :rofl:
Close up after adding a couple layers:
http://www.typicalfish.com/images/beyond/cycleops_0006.jpg
On the trainer:
http://www.typicalfish.com/images/beyond/cycleops_0007.jpg
Anyways, probably not the ideal solution, but from what I read people have successfully used duct tape to cut down on the vibration and noise without needing to get a dedicated tire. Works for me. I gave it a test ride and checked every few kilometers to see if there was anything that could've gone wrong (overheating, wear, etc...) and everything seemed to be holding up. And if necessary, I'll put down a hefty $5 to replace more tape as needed! Haha! I put on my first 10km of the year tonight and even hit a top speed of 40km/h:
http://www.typicalfish.com/images/beyond/cycleops_0004.jpg
I fell short of my goal of hitting 1000km last summer mostly due to unfavorable weather, so this year I'm gonna try make it up by hitting 1500km by September (this year's only my second year of biking) and with the trainer, I think I can pull it off.
Overall, I'd have to say I'm really pleased with the trainer. I think it's a keeper! :thumbsup:
Anyways, here's some pics of my bike on the trainer:
http://www.typicalfish.com/images/beyond/cycleops_0002.jpg
http://www.typicalfish.com/images/beyond/cycleops_0003.jpg
Cole's Notes: D'z Nutz is a cheap Chinaman.
I finally got around to setting up the trainer this weekend. (Skip the next two paragraphs if you want the meat without the potatoes.)
It was a bit of a pain in the ass though. Not so much that it was hard to set up, but because everything I read suggested I get a road wheel to keep the noise and vibration down as well as to prevent uneven wear between the front and rear tire. I tried looking for a used rear wheel with a road tire, but they're surprisingly hard to find! Maybe cause people haven't pulled their bikes out of winter storage? I dunno. I went back to Bow Cycle to see what I could get and the guy recommended getting a tire specifically for trainers. Fuck, that was gonna cost me $70 plus a new tube and if I wanted a spare rim for easy switching between my regular tire, that'd be another $80+ on top of it. Fawk! I was about to pony up the cash, but then I remembered hampstor was giving away a road bike for free so I went and got it from him.
I was all ready to set up the free bike for the trainer until I realized the replacement axle that came with the trainer for its quick release mount was smaller than the one on the freecycle. FFFFFFFFFUUUUU!! Back to drawing board.
I did some Googling and found others had a cheap, but effective solution for trainers without needing to get a new tire...
http://www.typicalfish.com/images/beyond/cycleops_0005.jpg
DUCT TAPE! :rofl:
Close up after adding a couple layers:
http://www.typicalfish.com/images/beyond/cycleops_0006.jpg
On the trainer:
http://www.typicalfish.com/images/beyond/cycleops_0007.jpg
Anyways, probably not the ideal solution, but from what I read people have successfully used duct tape to cut down on the vibration and noise without needing to get a dedicated tire. Works for me. I gave it a test ride and checked every few kilometers to see if there was anything that could've gone wrong (overheating, wear, etc...) and everything seemed to be holding up. And if necessary, I'll put down a hefty $5 to replace more tape as needed! Haha! I put on my first 10km of the year tonight and even hit a top speed of 40km/h:
http://www.typicalfish.com/images/beyond/cycleops_0004.jpg
I fell short of my goal of hitting 1000km last summer mostly due to unfavorable weather, so this year I'm gonna try make it up by hitting 1500km by September (this year's only my second year of biking) and with the trainer, I think I can pull it off.
Overall, I'd have to say I'm really pleased with the trainer. I think it's a keeper! :thumbsup:
Anyways, here's some pics of my bike on the trainer:
http://www.typicalfish.com/images/beyond/cycleops_0002.jpg
http://www.typicalfish.com/images/beyond/cycleops_0003.jpg
Cole's Notes: D'z Nutz is a cheap Chinaman.