Customer Reviews

Kinetic by Kurt Rock and Roll Indoor Bicycle Trainer (Green)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been riding the Rock & Roll for several months now to supplement my road riding. I was a little hesitant about the rocking feature initially. As it turns out, the default stiffness setting doesn't move nearly as much as I was expecting. Of course, you can loosen the resistance for more motion, or really tighten it down for even less.

My main concern was longevity of my bike frame and I feel like having a little bit of give in the trainer will help prevent damage. I'm not small at 200lbs so a little give is a good thing.

The resistance unit itself is smooth and operates with a relatively little noise. Our house is very open and I ride directly below our bedroom. My wife has never been awakened by the trainer.

I chose to purchase the model with the additional flywheel. I use it when I'm doing consistent pace riding. If I want to do intervals I almost have to remove it to prevent tire slippage. Not a problem, since most people would prefer less flywheel effect for intervals anyway.

Summary:
This is a quality tool that will definitely help you pack on the training miles. The rock & roll feature is not crucial, but is a worthwhile feature if you have the extra money to spend.

This is a great indoor trainer, worth the little extra for the rock and roll feel. Plus if you have a carbon frame, it's a little less stressful on frame --IMO.

Very smooth feel when peddling.

After a couple of months using this trainer I still am impressed with it's stability, smoothness, quietness and how natural the fluid resistance feels. The addition of lateral and vertical motion makes longer rides much more interesting and comfortable. With the addition of the 12lb flywheel you almost feel like you're on the road.

The build quality on this trainer is excellent with two exceptions. The resistance unit pivots on a loose fitting bolt and is adjusted with a knob backed by a rather light-weight coil spring. The pivot action is very wobbly and sloppy but I can't say that this affects function. However, the spring is too insubstantial to keep the rather heavy unit against the adjustment knob so that moving the unit away from the tire must be done manually. Functionally these things are far from a deal breakers and not even worth half a star. But they are a head scratching bit of poor engineering in an otherwise stellar machine. Whether these issues have an impact on durability remains to be seen.

Length:: 0:49 Mins

Ill start off by saying I am a beginner biker. I have ridden maybe 40 miles in the last two weeks and decided to get this trainer for rainy days because I can't stand the treadmill. I have tried out a standard stationary trainer at a local shop and it was very stiff but still good. I got this yesterday, set it up.. which was very easy.. and was able to ride it with no issues. I don't have any major noticeable bouncing or too much wobbling if you are riding correctly. It feels so smooth and fairly lifelike. My legs were burning pretty bad quickly riding it but I'm not sure if it was from working out or the difference from biking on the road vs a trainer. I have the stationary riser block but i think I'm going to return it and get the one that moves, i believe it will feel more natural with the light movement you get from this trainer.

the bad: We tried to put this on our carpet.. tired rubbed a black spot into it. bummer. Then i put it on the linoleum and after riding about 15 mins this morning i found another black spot, but smaller. grrr. Im kind of annoyed. I emailed kurt kinetic for suggestions. I can't imagine the mat will help because it is foam and it would only take away a couple millimeters of clearance.. plus i don't care to spend 60 on it. I might put down some contact paper with duct tape to cover the spot directly under the tire. It may have happened when i was riding standing up but still..they advertise this.

update: i got a very quick response from kurt kinetic- they suggested to tighten the rear bolt and loosen the inside one. It raised it a touch and should alleviate the problem. This company seems really great.

update 2: its still sagging a little..there are marks on the floor and ive decided I dont want it in my dining room..carpeting wont work with it and i even tried to put a big rubber mat under the backside on the carpet to raise it but it didnt help. Ive decided to return it to rei where i bought it. I LOVE this thing and it took me a while to decide but i dont feel like i should be paying so much for an item i cant use where i want. I perfer riding outside anyway

I ended up buying the road machine by this company and its great. For my personal needs of wanting my bike higher..the road machine works better for me.

Video- just to give you a real perspective. Its pretty quiet actually. I do have to turn the tv up but its way doable.

Bought this as a gift for my wife who wanted to continue to ride inside this past winter. She is very thrilled with it and found it very easy to use. I gave it a try and found that it does in fact give a fairly realistic ride and a great work out. Highly advice you purchase the front wheel holder as it improves the overall experience.

To use the ability to stand on the bike and have it move under you requires additional resistance than that provided by the resistance unit. If you want to use the feature of the Rock and Roll get the pro version.

The set up runs quietly and it is easy to load and unload you bike.

We have been looking at trainers for a couple years, but we never found one that we really liked. We needed something that would be versatile and durable. When we learned my husband would need to have back surgery, we decided it was time to take the plunge and purchase a trainer as he would need it for use in his recovery. We kept researching until we came across the Kinetic brand of trainers. We went back and forth between this trainer and the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine Indoor Trainer. Ultimately, we decided to go with this trainer due to the more realistic movement of the trainer while riding.

Upon arrival, we were pleasantly surprised at the heft/sturdiness of the trainer. It is large and looks like it will last for years to come. After getting it all assembled (which does take a little time), my husband tried it out using the Kurt Kinetic Swivel Riser Ring for Rock 'n' Roll Trainers. He ended up changing out his mountain bike tire for a street tire to make the ride a little quieter. Overall, he was pleased with the feel of the trainer. He likes that he's able to easily adjust the tension to customize his workout.

My daughter has even enjoyed using the trainer. She keeps asking Daddy to put her bike on it.

This is a great trainer, however it is quite expensive. I did purchase it because of the fact how it rocks which kind of makes it somewhat realistic when your acutally riding your bike. More importantly, the rocking prevents the bike frame from bending unlike other trainers that makes the bike all stiff & gives no movement from side to side which could bend the bike frame. This is important because of my carbon fiber tri bike.

I gave it a 4 because when I got the product one of the stickers was smeared and there was a difference between the manual & the DVD instructions. I contacted Kinetic who told me that the DVD was obsolete, as far as the portion of the instruction, & that the manual was the updated version. My opinion, if I'm paying for a product at this price it should've been better than what I received.

I've had it for a couple weeks now and I believe I really like it. At first I had my doubts. I had it set to be pretty flexible and it was flopping back and forth. I had more trouble keeping it upright than getting exercise from pedaling. Then I cranked down the bolts and stiffened the sway part until it moved just enough to flex but not flop. I thought I was going to swap it for the static version just because it was giving me motion sickness.

But after a few more times I managed to get used to limiting the swaying. Now it gives me a nice ride and the fact that it flexes makes it comfortable on my butt. I'm still playing with the tension on the tire because it feels like it slips when you press hard on the pedals.

It gives you a solid workout and happy I bought it. I managed to hit Amazon when it was selling for 400, now I see its going for 500.

The rock and roll is more of a gimmick trainer compared to the cheaper road machine model. This is terrible for high leg speed or interval training. The unit bounces up and down so much that it makes it impossible to train comfortably. If you are into rocking from side to side for giggles spend the extra money, but be warned the the cheaper more stable road machine model is hands down a better trainer.