Fluid turbo trainers (AKA indoor cycle or bike trainers) work similarly to wind turbo trainers in that a fan or blade is spun within the resistance unit of the trainer as you pedal your bike. As the name suggests fluid turbo trainers use fluid as a resistance substance rather than air like wind trainers, and this has 2 main advantages.
Fluid trainers are renowned for being the quietest type of turbo trainer, and this is because they are fully contained units with the fan/blade and the fluid that it rotates within are housed in an air-tight container, thus dampening a lot of the noise. Also, wind trainers cause high friction and turbulence with the air in which they fan/blade spins in, which generates a lot of noise (just like wind turbines). A fan/blade rotating through fluid causes much less noise.
Fluid trainers tend to provide the most road-realistic feel of all cycle trainers because there is a smooth progressive resistance (i.e. the resistance smoothly increases as your speed increases), and the viscosity of the fluid can be carefully engineered to produce power curves similar to those generated on the open road.
Browse the range of fluid turbo trainers below.
