Any comments regarding pros and cons of the Computrainer? I've been told that this is the ultimate indoor training device. Its expensive so I'm wondering if it is really worth the money. Presently, I dress up an peddle outdoors or ride rollers.

Any comments regarding pros and cons of the Computrainer? I've been told that this is the ultimate indoor training device. Its expensive so I'm wondering if it is really worth the money. Presently, I dress up an peddle outdoors or ride rollers.

I bought one shortly after breaking my hip a few years ago as I wanted to get a good, realistic workout until I was able to hit the roads again. It was money well spent. The pros/cons:

Pros - consistent within itself (power readings are consistent for each unit though not accurate compared to other devices - my Powertap consistently reads about 10% higher), ability to create courses (if you get the Topo software you can even map out your rides/races and practice the courses), good hill workouts for those living in flat regions, good road feel (except downhills where you still have to pedal), excellent drafting model, good introduction to power workouts

Cons - price (it's really not that bad though), accuracy (as mentioned, it's consistent but not as accurate), indoors only

I used mine quite a bit the first year. I then got a Powertap and my use tapered off quite a bit. I need to get on it more often, however, since I don't have any hills around me and I recognize it is a weakness. When the unit increases the resistance you have a definite hill feeling.

If you have limited funds, I would say skip the Computrainer and get a Powertap or Ergomo so that you can train with power both indoors and out. Avoid the Polar for two reasons: poor accuracy and inability to get good readings indoors (on a trainer there is little excitation to vibrate the chain like you get outdoors).

I bought my CompuTrainer circa 1998 when it was essentially the only game in town. Since then they have done virtually nothing to upgrade it and a number of competitors have put products on the market.

Honestly, unless you're a complete training nazi who's looking to geek out on wattage numbers, a set of rollers will give you roughly the same workout. And if you have the ability to ride outside in the winter, I'd go that route.

The best thing about the CompuTrainer (and probably other similar trainers) is your ability to set it at a particular power output. This means that no matter how you vary your cadence and gear, you're always outputing the wattage you dialed into it. Makes for an incredibly relentlesss, completely quantifiable workout. The second major benefit is the ability to objectively test yourself in order to gauge the effectiveness of your schedule.

If you're like me, you won't use the video game software. There were a lot of opportunities to make this really cool and useful, but RacerMate hasn't explored any of them. It's basically a tarted up version of Pong.

Another route you could go if you're interested in power is buying something like a PowerTap, which would not only be cheaper but would work on the road and your rollers. Or, if you're set on going the trainer route, you could maybe look at something like the Performance RealAxiom (and others), which seems to have similar capabilities to the CompuTrainer for significantly less cost.

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