cycling ergometer comparison

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by cjlaw
Dear Forum ,I have a medical background and will be doing a degree in sports science at a reputable institution 2004. I need to buy an ergometer for the purpose .My son is an avid cyclist with potential.The foreign exchange is biased towards american products. As I live in South Africa I need a reliable product with minimal maintenance. I have looked at the following in descending price order: srm ,veletron , kingcycle, velodyne tacx imagic, cateye cyclesimulator. Are there other products to consider? Price is a factor (max 4000usd) Reliability and durability as well as giving accurate and consistent results is important .The srm is obviously out of my range. Can you help .
Regards ,

Assuming that you actually need an ergometer (i don't know anyone who has a done a degree and needed to buy one!), then SRM make an indoor trainer at €3500, which is about US$4000.

The Velodyne, Tacx, Kingcycle, I-Magic, and Cateye are all trainers that require you to fit your own bike to them. I understand from a colleague that the Velodyne is very accurate, but the others are not.

If you are going to purchase a trainer (e.g., Tacx, Cateye, etc) then you'd probably be best off just getting a cheaper model and then purchasing either SRM cranks (Pro) or a Power Tap, which would be a much cheaper way of doing things.

None of the above require much maintainance, but SRM needs to be calibrated regularly (PT does not).

Hope that helps,
Ric