Ya.. I'm not skerd of riding a stationary. There's one at my local gym, the lemond pro trainer special... I can ride that thing for 2 hrs no problem. Its not the temp, the wetness. Yeah. Thanks for the tip though. I'm really between the fluid or the magnetic... the fluid has to be most quiet right?

Glad someone asked this question, as I am going to be purchasing one this winter. :) Anybody have the CycleOps Mag?

I have a Performance brand trainer that I got on sale at the store several years ago and it has worked great. It was under $150 on sale. Look into the special tires for trainers (like Continental Hometrainer) since normal tires get hot and will wear down quickly.
I think this is the new version:
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=20981&subcategory_ID...

+1 Cyclops Fluid is quiet. No one down stairs or in the other room can hear it. And yes, normal tires deteriorate super fast on trainers.

I have the CycleOps Mag +, it does the job but gets loud. CycleOps customer service is great. If you have a problem they will take care of it very quickly!

Personally, I think it is worth it. I don't use the downloaded courses but the wattage settings won't let you cheat at all.

I'd save the $$$ on the computrainer and get a CycleOps Fluid2 AND a powermeter.

RV get out of my brain!!! :) That's exactly what I thought as I read this.

It's scary in here! ;)

Kurt Kinetic Pro trainer here.
I agree, Fluid is nice and quiet.
Swapping to the Conti trainer tire is always a challenge for me tho'.

I've been spending a fair bit of time on a computrainer here in south africa (I am working at the sport science institute and its winter here now), I would say that a power tap and a cycle ops trainer is more versitile for all around use then the computrainer, but you cannot beat the quality of workout you can get on the computrainer. You can write your own workouts (330Watts for 4min, 100W for 1:30 x8 etc.) and you can also perform your own max tests which has value in determining your training zones (if you have a HR monitor). I have also heard that the ability to ride actual courses on the trainer can be a huge benefit when preparing for and IM (I would assume for pacing particularly). Although to do this you need to be willing to sit on you trainer for 5-7 hours which would be a fairly horrific experience. I can tell you that although the computrainer display looks kinda pretty it is about as exciting as watching paint dry when you are actually riding. As a training tool, used correctly, I don't think the computrainer can be beat if you are really interested in maximizing performance. That being said, I am not going to rush out and buy one,

Just my 2c

Ha, it's something I'd only want to do maybe once or twice a week tops. The position I'm in right now permits me 1.5hrs a day for a workout ~ I'm a dir of software dev for the UofM, I've been able to sit on the trainer and get in some serious workouts, but yes my eyes are glued to the clock. I'm just thinking that my current routine of Saturday bricks (50b, 10k) and my long sunday rides (80+) will be inturupted when it starts to snow, which in MN can happen at any time. I do have a mtn bike however, so perhaps I should suck it up and just ride that this winter in place of the road bike.... so many options.

We need a trainer that takes all the wattage and puts it back into our houses as energy. I am sure there is an inventor amongst us who can figure this out.

+1 on the home trainer tire. I have a rim and cassette with this tire so that I can quickly change it. much faster than changing the tire itself. And when you have to squeeze in an hour before work that time matters.

I'll insert my usual ebay/craigslist suggestion here. I got my Fluid 2 on ebay, gently used, for half the retail price. I love it as much as one can love a trainer. OK, I totally hate it; what I meant was, it works great.