Blackburn Trakstand Fluid Trainer Pro Review by Gary Lee

Like Blackburn’s Mag Trainer, the Trakstand Fluid Trainer is well constructed and also comes fully assembled right out of the box so you can immediately jump on the trainer. It is an affordable foray into the more popular fluid trainer ranks that won’t break the bank. And like some of the more expensive trainers Blackburn’s Fluid Trainer folds flat to about a slim 6 inches for easy storage under the bed or in the closet.

Setting up the bike on the trainer is fairly straightforward. You have to set the width of the adjusting knobs to fit the width of the rear of the bike and use the lock rings to lock them in place. And with the locking rings set you can easily return the bike to the trainer without much worry about how tight it needs to be simply by loosening only one side when you set up the bike.

As with any trainer you will want to properly inflate the tires to ensure proper contact with the flywheel. Per Blackburn’s instructions you should turn the adjusting knob 1-2 times once you make initial contact with the tire. About 1 turn seemed to be the optimal adjustment needed.

With the bike on the trainer we noticed that the flywheel was louder than the other fluid trainers we’ve tested. And like the Mag Trainer the flywheel also spun faster, which didn’t lend to a realistic road feel. However, it was still good enough for a quality workout. Honestly, how real does any trainer feel when you are in front of a TV screen following a workout video? If you’re like me, you’d rather be outside on the real road anyway. But for the day when that just isn’t possible the trainer is the next best thing.

However, the one major flaw of this unit was the tensioner that tightens the flywheel to the tire. Throughout a workout the tensioner would loosen up due to the excessive vibration of the flywheel unit. Within 30 minutes I had to re-tighten the tensioner about 2-3 times. And as you could imagine, it didn’t help my rhythm when having to stop several times during the workout. I finally had to use a zip tie to creatively keep the tensioner in place. So there is room for improvement on this otherwise nice mid-priced trainer.

By and large, the Blackburn Trackstand Fluid Trainer is a capable mid-level trainer. It is also a more affordable venture into the much-desired fluid trainer ranks. Like the other trainers in the Blackburn lineup it’s ready to go out of the box, so no need to waste time putting together an engineering wonder. They do it for you! And although it needs some revising in the tensioner department it is a very competent trainer.

Value-wise, I give it a 3 ½-4 stars. And Overall I’d rate it as a 2 ½-3 until they can revise the tensioner. If they do than I’d certainly like to re-evaluate this otherwise adequate trainer.