Like the Blackburn Trakstand, this unit comes with a lifetime warranty. It certainly feels like it's built to last, and the design is well proven, using a fluid resistance unit and combined flywheel and cooling fan. Resistance increases with speed, but it isn't adjustable save for increasing the contact pressure on the tyre.
The upshot is that the Fluid 2 is a very smooth rolling machine well capable of giving a complete workout, but it lacks the high drag needed for out-of-the-saddle work, though the solid frame is certainly up to the odd balls-out sprint. Cycleops claims that it's just like riding outside: shift up to increase resistance, down to decrease. This is certainly true if you live on a salt flat, or in Norfolk, but in most of the real world you'll be wanting to train for the hills too. The rolling characteristics of the new heavier flywheel are excellent, though. The noise level, though measuring louder than its rivals on the meter, didn't seem especially high. It's an excellent machine for steady state training and interval work, but if you want to do some high- resistance exercises too you'll need to look elsewhere. A 60- minute TT training DVD is included with the Fluid 2.