Does anyone have a computrainer or like devise ? Are they worth it ? I am from Chicago and with the sun setting earlier, soon I will have to bring my rides indoors on the weeknights. I would like to keep some fitness over the winter and became curious about the computrainer recently. I would love to hear what you guys have to say about them.
Thanks in advance !!

Billy

Does anyone have a computrainer or like devise ? Are they worth it ?

I've got the tacx imagic, and I've used a computrainer about 20 times. The computrainer is head and shoulders above the tacx in accuracy. After the novelty wears off, I've found that riding into a video game is extremely boring (and that's even with the tacx steering frame, which hooks up to the imagic and let's you actually steer during the video game part).

In addition to the video game type software, there's also software that lets you "build" a workout of varying intensities (thing of the programs on the lifecycles at the gym). This is cool because you decide what you are going to do before you get on the bike and it's harder to cheese out during the workout (but not THAT much harder, unfortunately). In this regard, I'd recommend the computrainer over the tacx any day because of the accuracy issues. The CT is just way more accurate (meaning that you can see realistic progress from workout to workout).

If you are looking to take your training to the next level and have the kinda scratch it takes to get a computrainer, I'd humbly suggest getting a nice standalone trainer (1up / Kurt Kinetic Road Machine) and a PowerTap Pro or SL. The PT will allow you to bring consistency to your indoor workouts, and will also be useful outdoors when time allows.