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Turbo trainer

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 coinneach 12 Nov 2015

After an enjoyable summer of cycling ( 2,000 + miles ) the nights are drawing in and the weekends are wet and windy.

I've suffered long and hard to regain fitness levels that I haven't had for ten years so what's the best way to stay there?

Turbo trainer, rollers?

Who does what?
 earlsdonwhu 12 Nov 2015
In reply to coinneach:
I have just got a Tacx Blue Matic folding trainer.... Cost about 140 with trainer tyre. Seems to do all I want... Not bothered with computerized read out/analysis etc.
Post edited at 17:39
 abr1966 12 Nov 2015
In reply to coinneach:

I bought a Tacx about 4 years ago and have used it literally twice!! Prefer the gym or dark wet rides with lights!
 jayme 12 Nov 2015
In reply to coinneach:

I have a turbo trainer that you can have for a very reasonable price if you are in the North West.
In reply to coinneach:
I have both rollers and a turbo and barely use the turbo now. I'd recommend rollers; they're better for working on your cadence and riding form and they're way more interesting to ride. Some may tell you that rollers don't provide enough resistance to get a hard workout, but that is absolutely not true.
Post edited at 19:07
 AlisonSmiles 12 Nov 2015
In reply to coinneach:

I ride my bike. Commute on the cross bike, weekends on the mountain bike.
OP coinneach 12 Nov 2015
In reply to AlisonSmiles:

6am starts and a 50 mile round trip kind of rules out the commute ( call me soft if you like )

Mtb might be an option if I can work it round taking the boy to football ( training Thursday , matches Saturday ) and rugby ( training Wednesday, matches Sunday )

 Caspar 12 Nov 2015
In reply to coinneach:

Is anyone down in London looking to sell some rollers?
 jasonpm 12 Nov 2015
In reply to coinneach:

I just started turbo training for the first time, it's pretty hard work, harder than riding outside because of the constant pressure I think, strangely I'm quite enjoying it but i feel I need a plan to work to rather than just sitting there for hours on end peddling so i've got a speed cadence sensor and a hrm to see the data on my phone.
 chris fox 12 Nov 2015
In reply to coinneach:
I've a tacx Blue motion, also got an app called "indoor cycling coach LT" which is ok for strength or fitness workouts. Also have a couple of spinning soundtracks for working out to with the aforementioned app.

Hard to get out for evening rides with a little one, so an hour or so getting beasted in the dining room has to suffice

edit for app name.
Post edited at 20:25
andymac 12 Nov 2015
In reply to coinneach:

Turbo Trainer here.

Tacx Booster to be precise.one of the more basic Tacx turbos

An hour on that every few nights and I'm empty.

Used to be on it more ,but the winter nights are dragging me back to a set routine.

I escape into a fantasy world of YouTube mixes ,and daydreaming
 the sheep 12 Nov 2015
In reply to chris fox:
The real joy of been on the bike has always been enjoying the ride the countryside. Whilst not putting in as many miles I have always loved the winter rides. The air is always crisp and after a good climb you can see for miles and miles 😀
Post edited at 22:36
 chris fox 13 Nov 2015
In reply to the sheep:

I completely agree, and my bike gets a good blasting whenever I can. But when it's not possible then a session on the TT has to do.
 Quiddity 13 Nov 2015
In reply to coinneach:
I have a turbo set up and have got stuck in to rebuilding the engine over the winter but there's no way you would regard it as fun in any normal sense of the word. It's much, much harder work (perceived for the same power output) and much less interesting than just going out and riding your bike, even in bad weather. Given that it's going to be painful, I have been trying to maximise the benefit I get from a minimum amount of time on it, and have been doing Sufferfest videos ( http://www.thesufferfest.com/training-videos/cycling-training-videos/ ), which are generally an approx hour-long structured interval workout with cycling footage, music, storyline etc so they are a bit more engaging and motivating than just staring at a number on a screen. While intervals are a bit grim they are at least more interesting and over sooner than doing long hours of steady state on the turbo (just kill me now...). The great thing about using Sufferfest vids for intervals is you don't need to think about what you are doing next while the oxygen is slowly draining from your brain, you just do what you are told/what the riders in the video are doing. You will NEED a big fan, the bigger the better - I just got one of these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quality-Prem-I-Air-Velocity-Circulator-Chrome/dp/B0... and a big computer/TV screen is also a pretty high priority if not essential. A load of people in my club have got into Zwift which does look great. I am planning on trying out some rollers for a bit of variety.

Also you can just brave the bad weather. Rule #5, rule #9 and all that. I also got a dedicated winter bike, with disc brakes/fat tyres, mudguards, etc., and some decent kit (Castelli Gabba, also the Sportful Fiandre kit is designed for long rides in grim weather) so I have no excuse not to get out. Also I joined a local club - the club social/training rides are good motivation to keep on getting out, and you always have a guaranteed group of people to go riding with - my club is pretty active and there are people doing before and after work rides pretty much every day of the week, plus a selection of club runs at the weekend. Rides in the wet/cold are a bit easier if you have others to do it with. Went on a brilliant long hilly ride with some friends in the pissing rain last weekend - got thoroughly soaked in about 20 minutes and then soaked to the skin for the whole ride - the old adage about there being no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate equipment - the Gabba is, in fact, made of magic - riding with other people is definitely the key for rides like this, otherwise I would have been miserable and probably got the train home.

That said, longer rides in the winter are definitely harder work so a mix of those with some sessions on the turbo has meant that I am probably putting in just as many miles as I did over the summer.
Post edited at 09:54
Removed User 13 Nov 2015
In reply to coinneach:

There's nothing quite like a turbo trainer for making time stand still. Make sure you have a telly or a laptop and some headphones. I've cycled my way through a couple of films, a few episodes of The Wire and fair bit of rugby, motoGP and TdF. It helps with the tedium though it may be not the best if you are doing structured exercise as opposed to just spinning/slogging.
 andrewere 13 Nov 2015
In reply to coinneach:

I use a Minoura RDA 2429 Rim Drive Trainer which means I don't need spare wheels or tires and it only takes about 30 seconds to fit the MTB to the machine. It's also fairly quiet.

I do 20 minutes HIIT training on it twice a week and it's so intense it's impossible to be bored.

Here's a link for HIIT training: http://articles.mercola.com/peak-fitness.aspx
Scroll down to Demo on excercise bike video if you want to avoid the technical stuff.


 ianstevens 14 Nov 2015
In reply to andrewere:

Forgive me if I've got the wrong end of the stick ere, but I thought the use of a specialist tyre was to reduce noise and prevent your nice road tyre getting completely shagged by the turbo, rather than an ease of fitting?
 Sam W 14 Nov 2015
In reply to ianstevens:

I used to work in the bike industry, and based on cost price vs RRP the benefit of a turbo specific tyre (from a bike shop point of view) is that the profit margins are way better than on normal tyres. Suspect they're just cheap rubber with some marketing applied.

Agree that the turbo does knacker tyres, once I retire a tyre from actual road use it goes on a training wheel.

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