Categories: General
      Date: Mar  9, 2017
     Title: Bike Trainer

Today I want to talk about bike trainers... as in make your bike a stationary bike for riding when you can't or don't want to get outside to ride. I have always looked at bike trainers over purchasing a stationary bike and yes I broke down and bought one.

Today I want to talk about bike trainers... as in make your bike a stationary bike for riding when you can't or don't want to get outside to ride. I have always looked at bike trainers over purchasing a stationary bike and yes I broke down and bought one.

I've never wanted a stationary exercise bike for many reasons. I have tried many that friends and family have purchased over the years and have never found them comfortable or enjoyable to ride and have even tried a few at gyms. They're ok ... but they are big and bulky. I have limited space at home and was really afraid of having a very expensive cloths rack like I see so many treadmills becoming. At first stationary exercise bikes are great. People run on them everyday. Then that seems to go down to every 2 or 3 days, then once a week, then you stop by to visit and see shirts on hangers on the side hand rails and a laundry basket on the running belt.... hmmmm. Very expensive cloths rack!

Being an older recreational mountain bike rider that lives in part of the world that has four seasons (yes, I mean winter!)  limits saddle time for many reasons. Too cold, too dark, too much snow or ice, etc... Over the years of riding we have overcome some of these obstacles with the addition of really good lights, handle bar mounts and head lamps, proper clothing, including googles and great sport thermal underwear, and even winter studded tires (and wow what a difference those make!) and of course always having a Spideflex seat so the cold seat isn't quite so hard on certain body parts. This past year after running my other bike for almost 8 years, I  purchased a fat bike. This will be by new winter rider! It soon became my "go to" rider. It has a larger frame than my other bike and I just love riding it summer or winter. Ok back to the bike trainer. This winter and last have been crazy weather wise. We will go from -20, -25 degrees Celsius to +6 in a matter of days. Lots of snow melts on those warm days and leaves the roads and sidewalks unnavigable for walking and riding. You have to drive even if your destination is only a block away or walk in baby steps so you don't slip and fall, so my winter riding has been nil this year. I have been doing other activities to keep busy ...somewhat... but still miss riding. I started to investigate trainers. Now that I have two bikes it makes sense and is a lot cheaper than a stationary bike and hopefully will get me back in the saddle! So I ended up purchasing a mid priced "Fluid Trainer" with decent reviews online and set it up a few days ago. I have just had two 15 min rides to test... so far so good!

We have made an unboxing / set up video and will hopefully have that on you tube in a few days. I will add another blog post at a later date with my review of the bike trainer once I put some miles on. For now here's a picture. Hope everyone in winter climates is getting some miles in however that may be. Check out Spiderflex seats if you need more comfort to stay in the saddle longer.