New Kinetic Sensor and App Turn Trainers into Power Coaches
The makers of Kinetic fluid trainers feel most people still aren’t getting a real riding experience from their trainer time, for reasons other than the lack of wind in their faces.
“They just sit there and pedal away at one speed until their TV show or movie is over and then they get off,” says Kinetic sales manager Jason Overman. “It’s not really a genuine training experience and not that productive.” To fix this sad situation, Kinetic—which offers products like the Kinetic Rock and Roll trainer that moves side to side to simulate a real ride—decided to make its trainers “smart.” It added an inRide sensor that not only measures and records speed, power, cadence, heart rate, and calories, but also syncs to your phone or tablet via Bluetooth to provide a fitness test, hundreds of workouts, and guided training through a new app called Kinetic.fit.
Once you perform the in-app test to determine your current fitness, you get custom power and heart rate zones you can follow during the workouts of your choosing. A quick demonstration showed it's easy to launch and follow. Most workouts vary in length from 30 to 90 minutes. The company is also offering premium packages, priced from $10 to $25 a month, that give you access to extra benefits like second-screen viewing (Apple TV or Chromecast); Strava-style challenges and rewards; online competition with other users; and, with the top-tier subscription, unlimited video streaming of The Sufferfest video library.
The new Kinetic trainers come equipped “smart” out of the box to be Kinetic.fit compatible. However, you can also retrofit an older trainer by purchasing a free-standing inRide sensor ($130), which comes with a Bluetooth Smart heart rate strap and free download of the app. For more information, check out kurtkinetic.com.
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