Indoor trainers for the smaller(650cm) wheels?

[GirlWonder]

REI is having a great sale on a basic trainer...only it seems online that it works with 700 wheels only, not 650. Of course, the more expensive models work with both wheels.

Anyone prefer Blackburn over Cyclops...and fluid vs. mags? I was hoping to get a mag one for $119...but now it looks as if I might have to buy a more expensive model to ensure it works with my little bike.

Any thoughts would be great! Thanks in advance.

[Kathi]

Just curious, why doesn't the mag one work with 650c wheels?

I have a Performance Fluid trainer and it works fine with my 650's.

[yogabear]

I have a Cycle-Ops and it works fine with my 650c wheels...Hmmm...

[Eden]

Sounds odd - we have two cycle-ops, one fluid and one mag, they are both adjustable enough to do just fine on 700's and 650's. If it won't work with smaller wheels it must not be very adjustable?

edit: checked out the Blackburn site and it does say 700 and 26" wheel sizes -but I think they may have just made a typo and left out 650's on that one. The adjustment is generally done by screwing down the roller, so if it fits 700's and 26"ers then it shouldn't have a problem with 650's. You can always call REI before you order it.

[GirlWonder]

The REI site doesn't mention the wheel restriction but the Blackburn site only lists 700 wheels. I guess I'll go and talk to the folks there to see what they have to say.

[GirlWonder]

Well, interestingly enough...I got the trainer as the REI guys promised it would work on the road bike. Since my road bike is in getting it's tune up...impatient me set up my mountain bike with the slick tires on her (my pre-road road bike). And, set up my clipless original pedals. And, it seems to work like a charm. Makes sense to me to use the 3 year old cheaper mountain bike rather than my shiny new, way more expensive road bike on the trainer.


Has anyone gone with this set up on your trainers? (your less used, less expensive bike as opposed to the bike you ride on the road) Ahd, will it cost me much conditioning when I spend the winter training on a mountain bike set up rather than a road bike?

[Bikingmomof3]

Congrats on your new trainer. I have a Cyclo-Ops Fluid and love it. So far it has had a lot of use, due to the undfavourable weather. No, I cannot answer you question as I only own one bike. I just wanted to congratulate you on your trainer.

[velogirl]

edit: checked out the Blackburn site and it does say 700 and 26" wheel sizes

650s and 26" are essentially the same size.

[Eden]

650s and 26" are essentially the same size.

The other two trainers do specify 700,650 and 26" in their descriptions. Yeah - I think its just a semantics thing, but I was assuming that they were reassuring folks that the trainer would work with mt. bikes and that leaving 650 off of the cheapest trainer was just an oversight.

[Triskeliongirl]

I think you were confused cuz the differences between 650c, 26" and 700c are realtively small, and unlikely to effect a trainer. You only have to be concerned if you want to mount a significantly smaller tire, 24" or 20". Some trainers work with 20", or require an attachment, but not all do. While 650 and 26" are vitually the same size, they still require slightly differently spec'd tires and tubes, so it depends on the application whether you need to worry about the small differences or not. For tires and tubes, even not all 24" or 20" tires are the same, some 24" tires are 520 and some 540, some 20" are 451 and some are 406, and these differences matter when buying tires but not trainers.