Turbo worries

C-S-B

I got a new bike for Christmas, but unfortunately, due to the awful weather, i havnt been able to use it as often as I'd like.
Therefore I was considering buying a turbo trainer so that I cud still spend some time on the bike training every day regardless of the weather.

However, on my bike there was a caution message saying that no part of it should ever be mounted on a turbo trainer. The bike is a 2007 felt z65.

Should I heed this warning or is it just felt covering theyre asses? Can you think of any reason why there would be a problem if I were to use it on a turbo trainer?

Thanks in advance for any help

Bronzie

Hi CSB,

I think you might get more response if you post in the Road Gear & Know-How section. Lots of knowledgeable techie people in there!

redddraggon

I can't see why it shouldn't be used on a Turbo. If the turbo uses a special skewer all the forces will go through the rear dropouts, just as if the wheel was on the road.

ColinJ

redddraggon wrote:

If the turbo uses a special skewer all the forces will go through the rear dropouts, just as if the wheel was on the road.

That certainly wasn't the case with my old turbo trainer. The bike was held by the fork dropouts and a post under the bottom bracket area, so those parts couldn't move at all, but I observed that intense efforts made the top of the bike twist from side to side in time with the pedal stroke. On the road that wouldn't happen to the same extent because the whole bike would tend to rock from side to side.

Other things to note:

Make sure that you give the bike and turbo a good clean after every session. Sweat is highly corrosive - I rotted the bike and the turbo trainer over a period of two years by not wiping the sweat off properly :shock: !

If I didn't have the rear tyre pressed hard against the turbo roller it slipped; if I did, the turbo rapidly ate the tyre!

When the bike and turbo rusted away, I replaced them with a gym bike. It is one of those things with a huge flywheel which makes the pedalling action quite smooth. It's nice having the thing permanently set up and ready to go.

The gym bike has a freewheel, but I rather wish that I'd bought one with a fixedwheel. I'm nervous about riding fixed on the road, so it would have been good to try it out in the safety of my home.

Mog Uk

Get some rollers, problem solved.........