Written:Spencer Canon
An indoor trainer is a lot like a love doll. Even if it’s the best one on the market, it’s still not the real thing. That said, the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine simulates road feel and resistance with remarkable fidelity. And unlike a love doll, a session on the Road Machine should leaving you feeling sufficiently fulfilled.
Now I’m no fan of riding indoors. But even I got a little excited when I brought the Road Machine home. The first thing I noticed, apart from the viper green, was the Kinetic’s weight and size, which is a necessary symptom of its wide and stable base. Attaching the bike, which can be frustrating with most trainers, is well thought out. No pre-adjustment required; just slide the self-locking knob inward and screw it down. Simple. Tightening the resistance unit to the wheel, however, is difficult and uncomfortable due to the small and poorly shaped knob. I’m guessing the people at Kinetic have tiny and exceptionally strong hands.
Time to put the rubber to the, uh, roller. The time trial workout video is rolling and I set off on my living room adventure. The Road Machine spins up silky smooth under my feet. And then I notice it… the remarkable absence of noise. Thanks to the quiet resistance unit and large rubber feet, very little vibration is transferred to my wood floor. And because I share a wall with my neighbor’s bedroom, this is a huge relief. Usually my late night workouts are tinged with guilt, since my old trainer turned my living room into a giant reverberating box. I wouldn’t be surprised if my neighbor has considered reporting me to the FBI for constructing some kind of vibrating doomsday devise.
After warming up I begin my first 5-minute tempo interval. The Road Machine comes with a 6-pound flywheel, which keeps the resistance smooth throughout the pedal stroke. The Road Machine rolls up quickly, but still carries enough inertia to let me roll smoothly and even coast every now and then without loosing much speed. Kinetic actually calibrates the resistance using a PowerTap to match the actual outdoor pedaling forces at a given gear and speed. That way I can turn the same gear on the trainer as I would if I were riding at the same effort outside.
Well one more indoor workout may be over, but thanks to Kurt Kinetic, I’ll get to “enjoy” a lifetime of workouts. The Road Machine has impeccable reliability thanks to its 80 cooling fins and is guaranteed to never leak. In fact, Kinetic is so confident in their product they offer an unconditional lifetime warranty and a lifetime “crash replacement” policy. Of course, if you somehow manage to crash on a trainer, I recommend rethinking the whole bike-riding thing altogether.
We rate the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine 5 out of 5 chainrings.
Kurt Kinetic Road Machine
Price: $369.99
Weight: n/a
Pros: Extremely stable, quiet, fast spin up with smooth, consistent rolling.
Cons: Heavy and bulky frame, poorly-designed tensioning knob.