Choose a Bike Trainer

1,Start by making a list of details about your riding style and training requirements. What type of riding do you do most often: trail, road or recreational? Do you race? Do you need a high-resistance trainer, or will training with low resistance suffice? Does your training demand adjustable resistance levels?
2,Decide on a style of indoor bike trainer. There are four types of trainers: fan, magnetic, fluid and electronic models. Fan models are cheap but loud. Magnetic models are quiet but offer limited resistance options. Fluid models are quiet and offer a variety of road-specific resistance options. Electronic models are quiet and extremely accurate, but expensive.
3,Once you have decided on a trainer type, begin shopping around at your local bike shop, online at various outlet stores, and from mail-order catalogs such as Bike Nashbar and REI. When evaluating each trainer that fits your budget answer these questions: Does the magnetic bike trainer fold up? Does the trainer adjust to the appropriate wheel size for the bike I am going to use? What features are offered on the trainer (i.e., bells and whistles)?
4,Narrow your selection down to three choices of similar quality, build, price, etc. Now it’s time for aesthetics and general consumer opinion to come into play. Which trainer do you like the looks of more? Which trainer gets higher reviews from “Consumer Reports” or MTB Reviews? Which one will ship the fastest and has the lowest shipping cost? After you have answered these questions honestly and completely, there will be a clear winner. Purchase that trainer and get spinning!