I use a crossbike (http://www.konaworld.com/jake_the_snake.cfm) on a bike trainer (https://www.amazon.com/Kinetic-Road-Machine-Fluid-Trainer/dp/B01KHE5B4S) and have the chain on the largest front ring and the smallest one on the back, but the resistance felt too low. What I can do to increase the load?
3
-
Have you turned the big black knob? If that makes no difference, you might have a faulty one. That Amazon link has comments/reviews, and some of them refer to minimal resistance and a warranty replacement. Failing that, can you ride outside?– Criggie ♦Commented Jan 8, 2017 at 6:40
-
Thats a decent trainer and bike. I'm guessing you haven't adjusted the trainer (as directed in the manual) -- the roller needs to press into the tire to have resistance.– BatmanCommented Jan 8, 2017 at 7:21
-
Note that if the bike is properly attached to the trainer, there should be little or no tendency for the tire to skid on the trainer's drum.– Daniel R HicksCommented Jan 8, 2017 at 19:28
Add a comment
|
3 Answers
This is the powercurve for the Cyclops 2 fluid trainer
You can see that at 30mph on the trainer you'll need to be producing around 400 watts. Using this website
http://www.machars.net/bikecalc.htm
46x11 will give you 30mph at 90 rpm (which is a reasonable rpm for home training). 400 watts is like a Pro climbing l'Alpe d'Huez. Note also that the power curve is exponential, every extra mph gets progressively harder. At 35mph you are in the 600-700 watt range.
Fluid trainers take a while to warm up - 5 to 15 minutes but generally offer more resistance while they do.
So I agree with the other posters, your unit is faulty in some way. If not, you should contact a Pro team for a contract.
-
1The power curve of the Kinetic Road Machine Fluid trainer shows that 30 mph takes around 650 watts, which is even more than the Fluid2.– KibbeeCommented Jan 9, 2017 at 15:40
-
Plus I think you can sprint on the Rock 'n' Roll version. I would have added the image as a comment to your answer but it is not allowed, instead I upvoted you.– DavidGCommented Jan 10, 2017 at 20:46
-
the concept of the fluid2 having a known resistance curve is frankly laughable. I've had 3 resistance units for mine, and in each case the resistance has been different, and the time to warm up vastly different (from 5 to 45mins). Answer is still correct though :)– Andy PCommented Mar 9, 2020 at 8:49
I have a CycleOps fluid 2, and I'm assuming yours works similarly since they are both fluid trainers. Fluid trainers don't have adjustable resistance. If you want the resistance to be harder, shift the bike into a harder gear. The resistance will increase as your wheel spins faster. It looks like your bike has a 46 front chaining and an 11 tooth sprocket in the back as your hardest gear. This should be plenty of resistance, again, assuming it has similar resistance to my trainer. I usually have mine on the middle chain ring on the front which in my case is 42 teeth. I don't usually make it anywhere close to the smaller cogs.
-
Could be that OP has much more power than you? Or his one is possibly faulty, based on the Amazon reviews. This system of paddle wheels inside a non-linear fluid is also used in some 4WD cars like the Landrover Freelander, where its called an IRD. Two known faults are when the fluid "sets" and becomes like paste all the time, and when it breaks down and goes very runny all the time. I suspect the latter may have happened here.– Criggie ♦Commented Jan 8, 2017 at 19:14
-
1OP definitely could have more power than me. However, my estimated power on Zwift gets up to around 300 watts and that puts me in around 42x15 at 90 RPM. If the resistance on the trainer is anything like mine, then I doubt he is spinning out a 46x11 gear. I'm guessing you're right about the unit being defective or the unit is set up incorrectly. It's also possible that the unit has a different resistance curve. Assuming it's made for road bikes, it might be expecting that the bike has a 50 or 53 tooth chainring on the front.– KibbeeCommented Jan 8, 2017 at 21:03
-
To be immediately helpful, couldn't you just let me know if "having the chain on the largest front ring and the smallest one on the back" gets me the highest perceived resistance from the bike? Your sentences 3 through 5 do NOT explain this really.– qazwsxCommented Jan 8, 2017 at 21:11
-
2Yes, the largest ring on the front and smallest on the back will create the maximum resistance.– KibbeeCommented Jan 8, 2017 at 21:35
-
If you have a speedometer, you can check if your speed matches up to the resistance curve shown here. The power to go at the speed on the speedometer should be very close to the power required to go the same speed on the road. Which means it should take some serious effort to get it over 40 km/h. One last thing, are you using the regular tires that came with your bike, or did you get a trainer tire?– KibbeeCommented Jan 8, 2017 at 21:42
Next time your at the supermarket go to the home goods section and get a pack of those felt pads for furniture legs. Cut 2 pieces the size of your brake pads, open your rear brakes and place one under each pad (sticky side toward the pad). If you have a normal set of brake levers you'll be able to adj. the braking or you can put something between you brake cable and frame and adjust it hat way also. Just having the felt in there is enough to cause to drop into a lower gear. You'll be able to adj. it so you can get up off the seat and crank hard. Simple. Your welcome.Peleton shmelaton.
-
-
Those felt pads won't provide enough resistance to feel realistic - cheap trainers can't really replicate the feel of pedaling harder on the road, but the proposed solution is probably going to feel even worse. That's assuming the glued on pads don't get abraded off by the rim. Also, you have now put some residual glue on the guy's brake pads, which would need to get cleaned off before the OP can properly go cycle on the road. Commented Mar 9, 2020 at 13:16