making a mountain bike into a stationary exercise bike?

You have all good answers but I will add one more thing. Get a fan. A big box fan placed in front of you will help because you will be dripping sweat. And keep a towel handy; it's a good thing you don't have to wear a helmet!

You may want to change the rear tire to a slick or city tire. The knobby one will be very noisy when used on a trainer. The [whirring] sound will drown out the TV or stereo unless you have it cranked. Also, it's annoying to others should you live in an apartment. The vibration goes right through the floor. If you have a hard floor, you may want to get a small piece of carpet for under the trainer to help dampen the noise and vibration. One last thing. Think about getting a small block for under the front wheel. It'll level off the bike so you won't feel like you're riding downhill all the time. Good luck

Any decent bike shop can get you sorted with a 'turbo trainer'!

In addition the above advice, get a cheap bike computer too!

If you use mph on a trainer, just use it for reference when training, 'cos it doesn't have any resemblence to real mph, better still get one with a heart rate monitor. (dont worry about cadence or watts- keep it simple!)

Have fun.- (on that note, get some good music lined up, indoor training can be very boring! ! !)

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its called a trainer and they come in different price ranges. talk to a bike shop first, as i use a road bike on mine. i would check to see if the mountain bike knobby tire would need replaced for trainer use.

www.nashbar.com Just clamp your bike into the unit and you're off... About $100 up...