fish@ihlpg.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (11/14/85)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** *** AC T YOUR AGE *** *** E A T ME *** With November's arrival, I pondered the thought of laying around for yet another winter, watching my legs atrophy and my gut expand, and decided that a wind trainer might be a reasonable alternative. I chose the Racer-Mate "Piggyback" model. I believe it has a number of design features that make it superior to conventional wind trainers. Frame support is entirely on the dropouts, rather than on the bottom bracket shell. You don't have to remove the front wheel, and since the front forks don't get clamped into a mousetrap arrangement, there is no risk of fork damage due to torsional stress. It attaches quickly to the bike with two thumbwheels and takes up little storage space when not in use. Wind load is somewhat less than what I'd experience under actual conditions, but there's only about one gear's difference, with a 24-13T 6-speed freewheel and a 52-42T crankset. The experience is a lot more like actual riding than what I've gotten from conventional exercise bikes. After 20 minutes of spinning at about 95 rpm, I was drenched -- a good workout. The only disadvantages to this trainer are the unshrouded fans, which could be a safety hazard; they're within easy reach. Also, you have to replace your quick-release skewer with the one they provide, so as to fit correctly into the clamps. Aside from these drawbacks, I highly recommend this trainer. __ / \ \__/ Bob Fishell ihnp4!ihlpg!fish