In this post I’m going to attempt to give you a flavour of what it’s like to use and whether I consider it a worthwhile purchase (although, disclaimer alert, it was given to me for my birthday). Given that it has a rather unwieldy name, from now I’ll shorten it to ‘Crono Fluid’ (which sounds disturbingly biological). Be aware that this trainer model has a variety of similarly-named (but differently-specced) siblings. Make sure you’re clear on which one you want to buy (obviously). A Dangerous Affair In the 15 months that we’ve been together, I feel that that the Crono Fluid and I have become very intimate. We have spent many a sweaty evening together, whilst the kids are in bed upstairs and my wife is at work. I won’t lie, she (the turbo, not my wife) has caused me not a little pain*.

Elite Volare Mag Cycle Turbo Trainer Review / Setup / Noise Demo Matt Williams. ELITE trenazeri 2010 - Crono Power Fluid, Mag Elastogel. The Elite Volare Mag Lite is a minor faff to set up, requiring the use of an additional socket to complement the supplied Allen key.

(* I don’t really call the turbo a ‘she’. This was just for literary effect. Honest) Is this relevant to the review? Probably not. I just wanted to get it off my chest. What Is A Turbo Trainer? Quickly, for those who are unsure, a turbo trainer is a smallish contraption that you fit to the rear wheel of your bike which lifts said wheel off the floor and puts it onto a roller.

This allows you to ride the bike without going anywhere. As you pedal to turn the wheels, the roller spins. The roller offers varying amounts of resistance to being turned, enabling you to get a sweat on. You sometimes hear them called indoor trainers. But I have seen them being used outside. Hell, I’ve done it myself.

So there’s a paradox for you. (By the way, if you’re new to turbo trainers, and want to know more, check out my post from last month:.) Vive La Resistance The interesting thing about turbo trainers is the technology they use to create the roller resistance and how the different levels of resistance are controlled. Yes, I said ‘interesting thing’ and I stand by that.

The Crono Fluid creates resistance by having the rotor submerged in oil (that’s the ‘fluid’ bit, in case it wasn’t clear). As a result (and don’t ask me how exactly), the resistance on the roller increases gradually and automatically as you attempt to turn it more quickly.

What this means in practice is that you can increase the resistance, and the intensity of effort that you’re putting in, by shifting up the gears. Want things to get easier?

Simply click down to a lower gear. I’ve found the fluid resistance makes for a realistic riding experience. It feels rights, which is more than you can say for a lot of exercise bikes found in the gym. Since the purpose of the trainer is to make you a better rider on the road (I’m assuming you’re not aiming to become a world class turbo wrangler), the closer to ‘real life’, the better. Changing the resistance level using your gears also feels natural. You’re not having to reach for another controller. If you want things to be harder, click into a higher gear and the resistance rises.

Even staying within the same gear, pushing a little bit harder makes the Crono Fluid push back at you. It makes for a very simple way to work hard on the bike. Animal Magnetism Just to complete the picture, the alternative way for a trainer to give you something to pedal against is magnetic resistance. Apparently, magnetic trainers tend to be more noisy. Resistance levels are not controlled by the speed at which the rear wheel spins.

Instead, you have to set the level yourself, using a control attached to you handlebars. Chertezhi modelej tankov iz dereva. Magnetic turbos can also be ‘cheated’ (if you’re that way inclined). I don’t want to labour the point, but the fluid system means higher gear = harder effort (simples); the magnetic (and similar) systems introduce another variable (the resistance level).

Say you set the resistance on the roller at a nominal ‘hard’ level, you can make your pedalling experience relatively easy by shifting down into your lowest gear. That all said, magnetic turbos can provide greater resistance than fluid ones. If you’re a very powerful rider (which I am not), you may find that the Crono Fluid doesn’t provide quite enough resistance at the top end. If you are in fact Chris Hoy, you may want to go for the Crono Hydro-Mag, which cunningly combines fluid resistance for the road feel and smooth resistance curve and magnetic resistance to provide extra grunt for your (b)all(s) out efforts. Fantasto-gel Elastogel The amount of resistance, and how it is controlled, is clearly important.

Of equal import is making sure that your rear wheel is adequately secured to the roller. All the resistance in the world won’t help you if your wheel is slipping and effort is being wasted. The Crono Fluid uses the weight of the rider to apply pressure on the rear wheel, pressing it firmly against the roller. The roller itself is covered with ‘elastogel’. For want of a better description, elastogel has a little bit of ‘give’, which avoids the tyre slipping on the roller as you put down a big effort. The design certainly seems to be effective. I’ve never had an issue with the rear wheel slipping at higher efforts.