Kurt Kinetic Road Machine

I have traditionally preferred rollers over trainers, and did not often use the Performance Travel Trak Trainer (Fluid)that I’ve had since the mid 90’s. However, 30-45 minutes on the rollers is about all that I can tolerate due to the concentration needed, and I want to be able to comfortably be able to do longer inside workouts, so I figured it was tie to get a new up to date trainer.

My first impression was that the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine has a good clamping system that is a big improvement over the old, lower end system on the Travel Trak. Sadly, other than that, the cheaper, older Travel Trak does not fall short in any notable way to the Kinetic.

The Kinetic performed fine and the quality was what I’d anticipated. It’s just that once you take away the marketing hype, a trainer is a trainer. The Kinetic is smooth and stable, but so was the old, cheap thing I was using. The kinetic wins in terms of the bike mounting hardware and process, and the old cheap thing wins in terms of price and noise level. Yes I can’t believe it either, but the Performance trainer is quieter by more than a little bit. Additionally, the Performance fluid module does not heat up nearly as much as the kinetic’s does and I’m certain that they improved the bike clamping system by now.

I’m not a fan of Performance products, and I actually try to avoid the place, but as I said before, a trainer is a trainer.

The kinetic is good and I liked it, but I’d say that the level of difference from one fluid trainer to the next is probably not enough to agonize over. Go with the one that looks the best to you and costs the least. Unless you get a lemon, you’ll probably find it to be adequate.

Strengths:
- Coast down
- Smoothness
- Stability

Weaknesses:
None…Well, maybe the Neon Lime Green color!

Similar Products Used:
Performance Travel Trak Fluid Trainer, Kreitler Challenger Rollers, Sportscrafters/Cyclops PVC Rollers

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