carleton

I don't know how tall you are. But I have a friend of shorter stature that has one and he says that he can't get the bars low enough on his spin bike to replicate his race position.

But, if you are of average or taller height, this shouldn't be an issue. If you live in a major city, you can probably go find one in a shop to sit on and try out. Most (if not all) are now shipped with a freewheel hub. But, fixed is still an option.

They pop up on craigslist all the time. The one I have now I got for maybe $400 in like-new condition with an older power meter that still worked. The guy said he literally rode it twice. It was pristine.

It's a beast. Heavy as hell. I can pour a 2,000W standing start into it and it won't budge, but I can see the stem and handlebars flexing. It's interresting to see how much they can flex when the rest of the bike isn't moving.

The resistance is friction-based using felt pads. So, it's not progressive like fluid. This is good and bad, I guess. Good in that you can setup standing starts or steady resistance for a target cadence. This is ideal for track prep, IMHO. "bad" because it does't feel natural like a fluid trainer replicates wind resistance. BUT, the 50lb flywheel comes in and makes everything awesome. So, you don't get progressive resistance, but you do get momentum...lots of it. Momentum to start and momentum to keep your legs moving like on a real fixed gear bike.

So, if you want to train at ~400W at 100RPM, you can do that. It's difficult to set parameters up like that on a fluid trainer.

There is no perfect trainer. But, this is what I've chosen for what I need from a trainer...I can even put Scattos on it