Turbo and Good Bike

Andrew_J

Just after a bit of advice, i only have one bike at the minute (Bianchi 928 Ultegra) and cant afford to buy a winter bike at the minute.

I would like to get some extra time on the bike and was thinking of getting a turbo, but someone recently warned me that i shouldnt do this with my Bianchi saying it would stress the carbon frame etc ... is this the case?

Also any sugestions on which turbo is good without getting to carried away.

Monty Dog

Nope - no worries. Both Tacx and Elite are good makes - depends on your budget and what functionality you're looking for - £250 will get you a Tacx Flow which has power output function which is particularly useful - spending more only tend to get your computer simulations unless you spend mega and got for Fortius with motor brake.

Frank the tank

I've had many "happy hours" on my turbo. I think it was about £120 and has variable resistance, used in conjunction with a HRM it's all you need to spend. Obviously you could spend less it's up to you.

zedders

whilst I only had one bike I hooked up my bianchi to a tacx Satori (9 levels of resistance for 135quid) last winter. My two other mates hooked up two Fortius with computers, DVD's in one of their garages etc. spent a small fortune they did. I had a go on theirs, and my turbo was just as smooth, and worked just as well too

one thing I would say if you only have one bike. get a proper turbo tyre and have a spare wheel. I rode for a few weeks with a normal road tyre then used the proper turbo one. made a lot of difference, and reduced the noise levels as well.

Andrew_J

isn't a spare wheel going to be costly option?

Wheel + Cassette + turbo tyre?

sounds like a lot ££££ for the spare wheel

jonmack

I have an RDA850 which I've had for a week or so and although I find it boring riding it, at the same time it's so fun. As Frank said, I just hook up my HRM and ride in a set zone and I find that really helps.

zedders

Andrew_J wrote:

isn't a spare wheel going to be costly option?

Wheel + Cassette + turbo tyre?

sounds like a lot ££££ for the spare wheel

Admittedly it will cost a few pounds, but were not talking huge amounts are we. And once you have a spare for the turbo the chances of needing another are slim.
it doesn't have to be a new wheel. it can be a second hand or cheap/budget one. it doesn't have to be lightwheel for a turbo does it.
the turbo tyre works better and will save your normal road tyre from being flattened/ruined in no time.

rjh299

zedders wrote:

one thing I would say if you only have one bike. get a proper turbo tyre and have a spare wheel. I rode for a few weeks with a normal road tyre then used the proper turbo one. made a lot of difference, and reduced the noise levels as well.

+1 a spare wheel with hometrainer tyre is best option i think. I had a spare cheap wheel lying around i used but as said, just get yourself a cheap second hand one off ebay or lbs. Fit cheap cassette that is same speed as your bike and just swap wheel over.
I've used my carbon fibre Madone on KK road machine with no problems for about a year now.

Anonymous

I've never had a problem using my carbon bikes on the trainer.

Besides, when doing a climbing session DVD on the turbo, the lighter weight is a boon.

Andrew_J

Thanks for your replys,
Ok looks like spare wheel is the way forward, i have a casette so will just need wheel and tyre.

Been looking at http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Cycle ... 360019996/
CycleOps Maneto for £130 sem pritty good any one got one of these/ can recommend it?

sampras38

I have a Tacx with the basic 10 levels of resistance and it does me fine. I've spent many hours on the Turbo and you really don't need to buy anything too flash. I have a full carbon Scott and a Trek 1.2 and use the Trek with the turbo, with a trainer tyre. I use a HR monitor and various training DVD's.

mister biscuit

i just use old tyres on the turbo. cheap as free and seems to work just fine.

progressive resistance on the cycleops is "a good thing" i've got the Minoura VFS 150, which does much the same. the faster you pedal, the harder it gets.

if you don't want to spend loads money on another wheel, just change the tyre. it's a bit of a faff if you want to go ride on the bike a lot, but on the plus side, it gets your tyre change times down to formula 1 levels...

nielsamd

There appear to be 3 turbo tyres commonly available.
Continental, Tacx, and Vittoria.
Apart from colours, they do seem to vary in price by a fair bit.. At least... the Tacx is comparatively pricey.
Any comments as to which is the easiest to get on/off a rim?
That seems to be the `problem' people encounter.
Of course, there is probably a negative co-relation ease of installation:effectiveness as turbo trainer!

sampras38

nielsamd wrote:

There appear to be 3 turbo tyres commonly available.
Continental, Tacx, and Vittoria.
Apart from colours, they do seem to vary in price by a fair bit.. At least... the Tacx is comparatively pricey.
Any comments as to which is the easiest to get on/off a rim?
That seems to be the `problem' people encounter.
Of course, there is probably a negative co-relation ease of installation:effectiveness as turbo trainer!

I have a red Vittoria and it does the job nicely.

Wasn't too expensive either iirc.

Andrew_J

Ok Thanks for the advice, i have took the plunge on a Tacx Satori using Chain Reaction Voucher for extra 10% discount and as it already had 11% of the rrp made it a small bargain.

One last thing is the training DVD's the idea seems a good one to try and help the minutes pass buy, are they any good? and if so can anyone recommend any particular ones as they seem pretty expensive for a DVD so don't want to make any mistakes.

rjh299

I've got spinervals dvd free with trainer and it's pretty good, not sure which one though and can't find it at the moment. Think there's loads in the range though. Try ebay, people might be selling ones cheap because they have either got bored of the dvd or the trainer. Dvds do help keep you working but they get old quickly.

fast as fupp

Andrew_J wrote:

Ok Thanks for the advice, i have took the plunge on a Tacx Satori using Chain Reaction Voucher for extra 10% discount and as it already had 11% of the rrp made it a small bargain.

One last thing is the training DVD's the idea seems a good one to try and help the minutes pass buy, are they any good? and if so can anyone recommend any particular ones as they seem pretty expensive for a DVD so don't want to make any mistakes.

JUST PUT SOME BOSS TUNES ON, LAR!

sampras38

Andrew_J wrote:

Ok Thanks for the advice, i have took the plunge on a Tacx Satori using Chain Reaction Voucher for extra 10% discount and as it already had 11% of the rrp made it a small bargain.

One last thing is the training DVD's the idea seems a good one to try and help the minutes pass buy, are they any good? and if so can anyone recommend any particular ones as they seem pretty expensive for a DVD so don't want to make any mistakes.

The Spinerval ones are pretty good and I've also got Carmichael Cycling for fitness which is a pretty good 1 hour workout, with lots of pace changes. I also have a few Alps discs and various TDF ones too.

Andrew_J

Thanks for the advice have gone for the "Carmichael Cycling for fitness" see how that works out, hoping i wont be using it much till winter, but with the current weather at least I now have a dry option.

sampras38

Andrew_J wrote:

Thanks for the advice have gone for the "Carmichael Cycling for fitness" see how that works out, hoping i wont be using it much till winter, but with the current weather at least I now have a dry option.

Yeah, it's pretty good. I can also recommend the Rick kiddle series. I think there are 3 or 4 discs out now. I've got the first 2.