bike trainer for the NES

[sleepycal]

I was at a seminar yesterday where the Computrainer was discussed.

This is a trainer (a stand that you put a bike on that allows you to use it like a stationary bicycle) that comes with software to allow you to ride specific courses (using the trainer to simulate elevation, and other riders) as well as measuring your speed, power output, efficiency, etc.

One thing that caught my attention was that earlier versions (in the late 80's, early 90's) used an NES to provide the display. Apparently that's what the speaker had purchased when picking up a used one.

At first, I thought this was the bike game that always seemed to top rarity lists. However, looking at the guide, that's actually an SNES product (exertainment mountain bike rally).

I don't see any mention of the computrainer cart on the rarity lists for NES (however, I don't collect for NES, so wouldn't know if its listed under another name). Just a curiosity I felt might be worth mentioning.

Here's an article discussing the origins of the computrainer including the NES reference. Pictures are not labelled, so hard to tell if one is actually the NES (versus PC) display.


http://www.trinewbies.com/Article.asp?ArticleID=122

[sleepycal]

Just took another look, and it is on the rarity list as a 0.

[rbudrick]

The Racermate Computrainer II was indeed for NES and is, like the SNES one, one that is spoken often of. It can go for several hundred dollars. Why it is a 0, I don't know. Can someone explain this? It's not like you can just buy it from the company any more.

-Rob

[Vectorman0]

R0 means it either doesn't have confirmed existence, or not enough information exists to gauge the rarity.

I'm moving this to the Rarity Guide and Database Forum.

[sleepycal]

The Racermate Computrainer II was indeed for NES and is, like the SNES one, one that is spoken often of. It can go for several hundred dollars. Why it is a 0, I don't know. Can someone explain this? It's not like you can just buy it from the company any more.

-Rob

I think the price is partly for the trainer unit and the other hardware.

A new PC based Computrainer costs around $1500. However, the company sells upgrades to older versions so that it can be used with a PC. Which would explain why non-gamers would consider paying a few hundred dollars for one and then upgrade it.

Ah, found a picture at last.

http://smackdown.myrmid.com/smackdow...ner/index.html

The author obviously assumed it was a fancy game and not a serious training tool (with the serious price tag that came with it).

[mnbren05]

The only unit I have saw was listed on ebay. Looked odd and bulky. Probably would be an interesting piece to add to a collection.