So, you decided to lose a few kilos (I tend to use metric) during the offseason. Or maybe you want to keep some of the fitness during the variable winter months. Or better yet, you do not want to get your $5000 work of carbon artwork wet during a local thunderstorm. Well, knowing how some people drive their gas guzzling SUVs, you might be better to use your indoor trainer instead of trying to see how fast you can get away from a huge SUV controlled by a teenager trying to text message, drive, talk to his/her friends, watching a DVD, listening to a GPS shout directions, and changing the song in an iPod. Let's enter soothing, controlled world known as indoor trainers. From our engineering brethren and sisters, this wonderful piece of revolving and stationary metal allows each rider to stay indoors when outdoors is not the best available choice.

Due to their simplicity on the whole, indoor trainers do not cost that much. For approximately $300, you should be able to purchase a trainer that provides progressive resistance that mimics more of an outdoor road feel. How I wish they could pack the outdoor airflow. So, I would also advise purchasing a fan with some power. But back to the subject of trainers before fans. Indoor cycling trainers come in four major varieties.

-Wind ($)
-Magnetic ($$)
-Fluid ($$$)
-Electronic ($$$$$)


Wind trainers ($)


These trainers tend to be the loudest of the bunch as described by the word wind. Nearly all manufacturers of indoor trainers have a model that corresponds to the wind variety. These models tend to be the cheapest of the bunch due to their method of resistance, the wind. The revolving unit for the trainer is hooked up to basically a small fan-like part. As you pedal harder, your wheel spins this unit more. The movement of air helps to provide the resistance. Wind units tend not to mimic road conditions. If you are an entry level user, you might want to look into a wind model, but due to the drawbacks (loudness, lack of resistance), many people tend to spend a few more dollars to get better characteristics in their trainer.

--Continue to part 2.