Conquer Indoor Bike Trainer Portable Exercise Bicycle Magnetic Stand

Most people worry about the noise, as did I, when purchasing a trainer. Well, I ride a Muirwoods by Marin bike. It has street tread on it and makes minimal noise on this stand. My wife and kids were inside the house and said that it sounded like a bee was in the garage where I was training. I think that is pretty quiet. I am able to comfortably listen to my headphones without having to turn up the volume much.The stand itself folds for storage (will use this during the spring/summer/fall) and is completely assembled upon delivery. I only had to switch the axle on my bike to fit best with the stand. The stand came with an axle for this purpose.Initially, the resistance was not very good. So, I looked at my tire pressure and noticed that the tire was low. I filled it to the recommended 80 psi and then had to back off the resistance on the trainer. Knowing that biking is an endurance activity, I do not need a lot of resistance for training. I like to set my gear in mid- to difficult range and change gears every song or two while working out to vary the ride. This gives me anywhere from 3-10 minutes per gear for a workout. By the time I am done, I have had a great ride.The included front wheel stand is great. It helps keep the bike balanced when getting on/off the bike. I do not need it for the ride as much as I don't bend over and hold the handlebars much when training. This removes the pressure from my lower back.Overall, I am very impressed with the stand. It is all metal. No plastic in the stand or the any of the mounting hardware. Very sturdy.

I was looking for an affordable piece of aerobic exercise gear, and since I had a bike, a friend recommended getting a bike trainer. Looked at the ones available on Amazon and read the reviews and bought the Conquer (in part because it's an attractive piece of hardware). It was shipped in a sturdy box with styrofoam inserts and arrived intact. No assembly was required--take it out of the box, unfold it, and it's ready to go. It comes with a replacement axle (and dismantling my rear-wheel assembly was nothing I'd have wanted to do), but the axle on my bike was an exact duplicate of the replacement, so it fit perfectly into the clamps of the trainer. Easy to install the bike (and I assume easy enough to take it back out again, though doing that frequently would probably get pretty old). It's solidly built--I weigh 220 and detect nary a wobble. It's quiet enough to hear the TV over it (though I tend to pause whatever I'm watching when I'm pedaling at higher speeds, as much to concentrate as anything else)--most of the noise is friction from my hybrid tires rather than the apparatus itself. (My friend has a racing bike and says it's pretty quiet.) There's a single adjustment, which pushes the magnetic friction housing wheel against the back tire to whatever tension you like (no gauge--it's a trial and error thing, but easy enough to turn it 5 times, or 7, or whatever you like). There are models out there that let you adjust the magnetic tension with a handlebar mounted control, but I find the bike's gears work just as well. I did buy a speedometer for my bike--it's nice to have some feedback on speed and elapsed time. And the stand for the front wheel is a nice touch--keeps you from feeling like you're driving downhill--and costs $10.00 if you have to buy it separately. I recommend it.

This is the first indoor bike trainer I have used. With that said, the only "problem" that I find, is that I wish the resistance can go higher. However, to get more resistance, I would probably be paying at least twice as much as this one. For someone looking to get in shape, the resistance is fine. Overall, this trainer is worth the money and will be great.Some reviewers complained about the noise...There is a hum, but it isn't THAT loud. You can watch a movie/TV at a normal volume while riding. There is a hum, but for me, its not at all loud enough to call it a "con". It's not going to be silent, but my wife can sleep in the next room with the door shut and will never know that I rode.I didn't give 5 stars, because I could see improvements, its not perfect, but my 4 star review is a VERY satisfied 4 star review.Pro's:Easy set upHolds well (300lbs)Isn't really that loudCon's:Could offer more resistance, but for the price and the shape I'm in, its fine.