Cosmetic damage on turbo trainer

redved

Not a bike issue as such and certainly not overly important but wondering what people here would do.
Bought a Kurt Kinetic rock and roll turbo trainer last Friday. Brought it home and assembled it. In doing so I discovered a number of deep scratches on the roller.
These are deep enough but I feel would have no impact on the functionality of the trainer. I'm thinking of bringing it back and asking for a new one.
I rang the store and they said it would be a two week wait before they could get one in from the UK.

Is it worth the wait or should I just put up with the scratches

TheBlaaMan

Hmmm, its too much money to spend to just overlook the issue, IMO. That said, its a world of pain for both you and the retailer to wait for/get a replacement.

Me, I'd tackle the retailer and ask him to 'suggest' a solution. Perhaps a small (5% - doubt you'd get 10%) rebate would solve it for both of you. After all, if he takes in back and gets a replacement for you, he's going to have to offer that mark-down if he's not returning it to the distributor/manufacturer and therefore has to sell it again as 'shop-soiled' - and there's not too many buyers for a €500 turbo trainer.

Oh, and can I have a go when you're sorted......:D

redved

I agree its too much money to spend on a turbo and not be happy with it.
I might try for the discount, thanks

redved

Just an update to the original post if anyone was interested.

The store I bought the turbo from agreed to replace the flywheel with a new one.

Kurt Kinetic were also very helpful, they initially offered to courier a new trainer to me, however as the store had agreed to change the wheel in the meantime they sent out a couple of training DVDs instead.

Very happy with the response from Kurt Kinetic and the store so now all I have to do is start using it

TheBlaaMan

Good stuff, Let us know how you get on with it........better still, why write a review of the trainer when you've gotten used to it. Having bought rollers over the Christmas, I'm in my own version of indoor training at the mo'. Rollers certainly do take a bit of getting used to!:eek:

doozerie

That's a good outcome and certainly preferable to having to use a damaged flywheel. In the case of my Tacx turbo trainer the instructions emphasise the importance of protecting the flywheel and say that if you drop something onto it it may be damaged to the extent that it makes the flywheel unbalanced which is something you don't want in a relatively heavy spinning object. It's hard to know whether the instructions are exaggerating the risks, but personally I'd be inclined to not use a flywheel showing any signs of damage if I could avoid it.

I'd also be interested to hear your experiences of it, by the way. Online reviews of it are very positive, I'd be curious to know whether you are as impressed by it as others seem to be.

smacl

Good to hear you were well looked after by both the manufacturer and shop, so many stories of shabby service its nice to know about those that look after their customers.

I'd also be interested in reading the review, as I was dithering between a tacx flow VR trainer and the rock & roll myself, eventually opting for the VR. The rock&roll looks like a great piece of kit.

lalorm

I've been using my rock and roll since the start of October. Love it. Feels much better than the Tacx trainer I have. Took a while to get used to the feel of movement when out of the saddle but now it's great. "climbing" and Sprint training feel much more natural than on a regular trainer. A Trainer with stabilizers as one of the guys puts it. Expensive, but worth it in my opinion.

redved

Just a quick review on the Kurt Kinetic Rock and Roll.

I bought it towards the end of October and between one thing and another only got to use it in December. See my original post above

I bought it with the turntable riser. The front wheel goes into this and it is essential to get the full benifit of the rock and roll trainer. It allows the front wheel to swivel left and right as the bike is swaying.

Very easy to assemble just a couple of bolts,took no more than 20 mins. One point to note there are arms that go out from the base of the flywheel to prevent the bike from toppling. The right hand arm was very loose and rattled in the base. A bit of masking tape on the arm and it was a good fit again. These arms can be seen in the photo below.



The turbo takes a small bit of getting used to as it allows the bike to tilt left and right, apparently this is good for engaging the core as you cycle. There are two bolts at the bike that can be adjusted to control the amount of sway. Once you stand up on the bike you really notice it.
Also I managed to burn a strip in the carpet as when I first set it up once I started cycling the rear tyre came into contact with the carpet. This was easily corrected by reducing the tension on the bolt at the back, would have been nice to have known this before I burnt the carpet:D
Still getting used to the trainer but very happy so far

Pros
Realistic feel
Good quality
Good resistance, according to Kurt Kinetic the silicone fluid does not cause the trainer to lose resistance as it heats up.
Lifetime Warranty for original purchaser
Good customer support
Very Quiet

Cons
Expensive
Unmoveable, as it is so big with the arms attached once its in position you're not inclined to move it.
It burnt my carpet:o
There is some speculation that the flexing the frame undergoes is not doing it any good, definitely worth keeping an eye on

If anyone has any questions about it give me a shout

kumate_champ07

redved wrote: »

Just a quick review on the Kurt Kinetic Rock and Roll.

I bought it towards the end of October and between one thing and another only got to use it in December. See my original post above

I bought it with the turntable riser. The front wheel goes into this and it is essential to get the full benifit of the rock and roll trainer. It allows the front wheel to swivel left and right as the bike is swaying.

Very easy to assemble just a couple of bolts,took no more than 20 mins. One point to note there are arms that go out from the base of the flywheel to prevent the bike from toppling. The right hand arm was very loose and rattled in the base. A bit of masking tape on the arm and it was a good fit again. These arms can be seen in the photo below.



The turbo takes a small bit of getting used to as it allows the bike to tilt left and right, apparently this is good for engaging the core as you cycle. There are two bolts at the bike that can be adjusted to control the amount of sway. Once you stand up on the bike you really notice it.
Also I managed to burn a strip in the carpet as when I first set it up once I started cycling the rear tyre came into contact with the carpet. This was easily corrected by reducing the tension on the bolt at the back, would have been nice to have known this before I burnt the carpet:D
Still getting used to the trainer but very happy so far

Pros
Realistic feel
Good quality
Good resistance, according to Kurt Kinetic the silicone fluid does not cause the trainer to lose resistance as it heats up.
Lifetime Warranty for original purchaser
Good customer support
Very Quiet

Cons
Expensive
Unmoveable, as it is so big with the arms attached once its in position you're not inclined to move it.
It burnt my carpet:o
There is some speculation that the flexing the frame undergoes is not doing it any good, definitely worth keeping an eye on

If anyone has any questions about it give me a shout

ye I saw a video on youtube about that. I got the road machine and kind of wished I got the rock n roll as it would save me from having to use a separate turbo specific bike. dont want to risk damaging the alloy dropouts on my new frame so Im using an old steel frame instead. pity because I was gonna put it together with some parts I had and sell that bike to fund new wheels.

they say the rock n roll doesnt put any stress on the dropouts which is unique with turbo trainers, the new lemond trainer is very intersting ,curious to know if Kurt will work on something similar . I finsihed building my turbo wheel tonite and have a new trainer tyre, will be trying the trainer out for the first time tomorrow!


one thing that annoyed me a little but was no big deal was that the road machine was made in China, I thought it was made in the USA.

as a matter of interest which shop did you buy it in? Im looking to buy the pro freewheel add on and the weight of it makes postage expensive from some places

redved

I bought it in the Cycle Surgery in Dundrum, they were pretty good to deal with and imported the Kinetic from the UK.

Had to wait about a week but no courier costs, i'd be pretty sure they'd look after you for the flywheel, Matt was the guy I dealt with

kumate_champ07

redved wrote: »

I bought it in the Cycle Surgery in Dundrum, they were pretty good to deal with and imported the Kinetic from the UK.

Had to wait about a week but no courier costs, i'd be pretty sure they'd look after you for the flywheel, Matt was the guy I dealt with

cool thanks Ill check it out