Cyclo Ops Fluid 2 Trainer Early Review

I have been looking to buy a trainer for awhile now, especially as it gets colder and colder outside. After reading reviews, and checking prices I decided on a Cyclo Ops Fluid 2 Trainer.

I chose the Fluid 2 for a few reason, it had a large number of reviews, not just a few really positive reviews, it was within my price range unlike the compu-trainer, and the unit did not seem to have many issues. Every once in a while I would find a negative review, but Trek seemed to replace the units quickly.

After deciding this was the unit for me I checked prices online and at my two local bike stores. The one I bought my bike from said $329, the closer shop said $299. I had found the unit online new through Amazon for $254 shipped. Most places seem to sell them for $299, one other store online had it as low as $229 (IIRC).

I knew I was not going to get out riding much this weekend, but I wanted to ride. I now had a dilemma, buy online and wait or buy local and have instant gratification. I decided that I was willing to pay $299 with tax included. I went down to my local bike shop that was selling for $299+tax. Briefly explained that I wanted to give them business but that $299+tax vs $254 was a bit hard for me to swallow. I told them that I would buy if they essentially gave me a discount that removed the tax.

The guy I was talking to said he would give me 10%, I said perfect consider a unit sold. When he went to ring it up he said there was actually a sale on them for 10% off and if I bought 1 other item he would honor 20% off, I was already planning to buy a stand for the front wheel so I picked that up as well.

I effectively paid the same price local as I would have paid online. This was a lesson to not count out a local store and always ask for a discount.

I took it home Thursday night, setup was easy. The only 'difficult' thing you have to do is replace the rear bolt that goes through the rear wheels hub with the Cyclo Ops one so that you can hook the rear hub up to the trainer. Easy enough to do, took all of 30 seconds. It was late, so I had hopped on adjusted the tension and rode for 5minutes or so.

I had Friday off from work but while my girlfriend was out I was watching our daughter. When she fell asleep I quickly changed and hopped onto the bike. I was able to get almost 2.5hours of riding in before she woke up (I swear the trainer is a god send for getting more riding time in).

My computer and my Fore Runner 305 do not work with the trainer, so I have no idea how far I rode or how fast/avg speed.

I did some one-legged drills, but turned my PC on, loaded up a few TV shows and off I road.

Trainer vs Road:
I sweated much more on my trainer than on the road, I think I was able to maintain a much higher level of speed (not sure), since I was riding flat vs the hills I ride around my home. Towards the start of the ride I felt some pressure in my knees that I never feel while on the road, but this went away 20minutes into the ride.

For the most part I rode at a constant pace, I did some sprints taking the biking into the 'hardest' gearing, I almost did some riding while standing, but tried to stay aero for most of the ride.

Day After:
My legs feel slightly sore (in a good way), they never do after road rides, regardless of my previous effort. Also the bottom of my feet felt slightly 'tight' I had to stretch out my toes and now my feet feel fine, also the soreness has dissapated.

Overall:
With only 1 ride so far, I love it and am very happy with my purchase, the trainer did come with a DVD "Mountainbike Training' that I will try out, no idea what it will be like.