Turbo training.

zedders

Hi everyone. Can anyone offer any good advice on general turbo set up please? I know it’s still summer, but the weathers been crap and I've been forced onto the turbo a couple of times recently. And before you know it, it will be Sept/Oct and I'll be ridding it more anyway as I'll be forced to stay at home more as the misses is due in a couple of months! (Another issue I know – But it will be our first! :shock: )
So here's the deal:
1) I have my Bianchi (with Sora) hooked up to a Tacx Satori turbo, and I'm looking to get it set up a bit better than it is, ready for the winter. I've got a proper turbo tyre and the noise from the tyre is ok, a slight humming noise, but to be expected. However recently I've been getting a quite worrying gridding noise coming from the Bottom Bracket area? It’s very difficult to describe but its grinding with clicks as I pedal. Is my BB worn out? My BB has probably done 2000 miles at a guess, but most of that has been on the open road. And it seems ok- ish on the road. On closer inspection of this irritating grinding I can hear it ever so slightly even without any resistance, and in time with every turn of the pedal & in time with every link of the chain running onto the chain ring. Do I get a new chain? A new BB? (The cassette is new).

2) I've noticed is when I look down the outer chain ring is slightly oscillating by a couple of mm, from centre to right, not the whole ring but half of it as if its warped? Its definitely not true. I've not damaged it as far as I am aware. Anything to worry about? :?

3) As am pedalling along the bike feels as if its leaning to far forward (front end to low) and is putting a lot of pressure on my shoulders to hold myself upright. I have a front wheel raise and I've even lowered my saddle a couple of mm to try and compensate but it just doesn’t feel right. But when last out on the road the set up was fine, and has been for a while. I’m ridding my Ribble on the road now so the plan is to set the Bianchi up for turbo sessions. Any tips ref. Ridding on the tops or hoods, or the best ridding position for a turbo - Any suggestions on ridding positions?

4) I have the turbo set up in the garage and have a fan, the iPod etc, but any other good tips? I seem to last about 30 to 40 mins then start to lose interest. I know am never going to be sat on it for hours but would like to last a little longer? I’m aiming for a hour max? How long do you ride your turbo for? I know that with continuous pedalling I’m going to get tired more quickly. On the open road I can go anywhere between 1 to 3 hrs no probs.

5) I'm looking for a computer that is good for a turbo? So it must be ok to put the sensor on the rear and with a long enough wire to put on the computer on the stem? Should I be looking to get some sort of computer fitted with a cadence metre to help? I normally pedal at around 80rpm. Any suggestions?

6) The Satori has 9 levels of resistance. I normally plod along between level 3 and 4 and up it to 5, 6, and rarely 7 when blasting. 8 and 9 are just too much effort. :evil: When looking for different levels of resistance do you use the turbo or your gears on your bike? Does it really matter? Does it matter which gear you’re in when plodding along. For some reason the gears grind when on the outer chain ring, so I’m only using the inner chain ring on the turbo.

7) Finally. Promise. I won’t pretend to know a lot about training programmes, because I know jack. I just like to go out and ride. But does anyone have any good training programmes specifically for the turbo. If it helps I’m looking to lose weight, and would like to get down to around 13 stone. (14st 5lbs at the mo :oops: ) as appose increasing stamina or power!

I know I crammed a lot into one question about turbo training, but as they say if you don’t ask you don’t get. And if I can get my turbo sessions sorted before the winter, then hopefully I won't be starting 2010 at 15+ stone :shock: after to much christmas pud like I did last year. :oops:
Cheers in advance.
Zedders.

andy162

Hi Zedders,

Here are a few pointers...

Your BB does sound as though it's had it, 2k isn't a lot of milage but my SRAM lasted even less.

The thing I try to do with Turbo sessions is simply get them over with. It's all down to intensity. I can't imagine sitting in the garage pedalling for much over an hour. I usually do 40min interval sessions. If you do want to increase CV levels & lose weight you need to spin, over 100rpm at least. Find a gear that your happy with...not too much resistance but not too easy either. Do minute sprints then a minute to recover.

Another session I do is to spin on the big ring then starting at the top of the block do 30seconds in each gear at 80% effort( hard but not hard that you can't sustain it) moving down the block....obviously its getting harder the lower gear you push. Thats the idea i guess. I then recover by doing 15 second efforts going back up the block, all the time trying to keep the cadence high...

If you google "turbo sessions" there is an American website with tons of sessions to try.

As regards position on the bike. I tend to fidgett about a bit or ride on the hoods.

I do the whole iPod thing but I've also set up a DVD & did the whole Star Wars saga, Lord of the Rings this winter!

Cheers

Andy.

salsarider79

1 You said the cassette was new, did you look at the chain? The chain will wear with the block so if you have a new cassette, the chain won't fit properly. Chain is a possible.
Have you given the chainset a good clean? It's possible to get grit and dirt in there, which could cause a grinding noise (Which I've just had.)
2 You say the outer chainring "is slightly oscillating by a couple of mm". Are any of the crank bolts missing? Are the cranks bent or twisted?
3 Try a book under the raiser. Worked for me. As for hand positions, I ride as I normally would. Sometimes I put my tri-bars on and time trial, but often can't be bothered.
4 I ride for an hour to hour and 1/2. As I use a singlespeed I usually do about 5 mins warm-up then 5 mins hard, then relax for 5 mins then really hard for 5 mins, then relax and so and so on until I'm shot, then 5 to 10 mins warm down

zedders

Sorry - just being cheeky now, putting my post at the top again! :oops: Any more takers?

To summarise some of the above:

If I got a new cassette should I get a new chain?
BB done 2000 miles or so, how many miles do they normally last? any ball park figure?
Looking for a HRH, cycle computer, with cadence all in one? < than £150. Any recommendations?
Any tips on general turbo set up.

Cheers.

Alex_Simmons/RST

1. & 4. See here:
http://alex-cycle.blogspot.com/2009/01/ ... ining.html

2. some rings are made to oscilate the teeth very slightly side to side but the whole ring itself shouldn't do so. It's probably just the bike flexing rather than the chain ring - is it the ring or the BB that's moving side to side?

3. use more riser, and/ or get a proper bike fit

5. Powertap

6. Both plus pedal harder/faster

7. See here:
http://rst-training.blogspot.com/2009/0 ... plans.html

gkerr4

turbo training?

try this website: - http://www.thesufferfest.com/

AGNI

If your doing turbo training, arent you better off just using an old wreck of a bike instead of putting on your pride and joy?