Turbo Trainer

theshrew

Im trying to do some more riding. I have been going at night after work but as the weather gets worse i dont fancy it as much. I still want to be able to ride when the weather is totally horrible so thought id get a Turbo Trainer.

So

Is it worth getting one ?

I dont want to spend a lot as im saving for a new bike. Not sure what i should / shouldnt be looking for

Can anyone point me in the right direction please.

nwmlarge

get a cheap one, see if you use it.
if you do invest in a decent one.
you'll need a smooth tyre for that sort of riding though

paulbox

I have a CycleOps fluid one, can't remember exact model. If you want some good advice check out the roadie section of this forum, they tend to use them more.

As already said, stick a slick tyre on your bike otherwise the noise and vibration will P you off.

They are as boring as hell, if you can set one up in view of a TV that will help.

They are a tough workout, don't know why but they seem harder than a regular exercise bike. Definitely harder than a regular ride as you don't have any downhill sections...

Also, you will sweat like a pig due to a lack of airflow so protect your frame with some old towels (or you can spend about £25 on a special sweat catcher :roll: ). I have a fan set up in my garage which makes it a bit more pleasant.

JonoStevens

I bought a Tacx one this time last year. Started off in front of the tele and the bought some training vids from thesufferfest.com. They're pretty brutal but good workouts.

Got to confess I got bored pretty quickly and ended up flogging the turbo on ebay.

Would agree about the sweating too. Front room was swimming in the stuff by the time I'd finished each session.

Guess it depends on how adverse you are to the weather. With hindsight, I'd take some cold and rain over the trainer so have dug the winter commuter out again instead this year.

theshrew

Thanks for the advice fellas

That throws up if its worth it or not then

CharlieH

I'm in the same boat! I don't mind bad weather but have a new baby on the way so free time will be harder to come by and as I've got a large empty garage I thought getting a trainer would at least allow me to keep some fitness up over winter for times when I can't disappear for a few hours

JonoStevens

If you've got room to have it set up all the time then it might work for you. I think one of my problems was living in a small house. I had to get the trainer out of the cupboard, set it up and then go and get my bike from the shed.

Doesn't sound much, but after work I found myself thinking I couldn't be bothered. If I could have just gone and jumped straight on then I might have stuck with it.

I kind of force myself into an evening ride. I pick a niceish day to ride to work, and then when I'm there, I've got no choice but cycle home at the end of the day!

CharlieH

JonoStevens wrote:

If you've got room to have it set up all the time then it might work for you. I think one of my problems was living in a small house. I had to get the trainer out of the cupboard, set it up and then go and get my bike from the shed.

Doesn't sound much, but after work I found myself thinking I couldn't be bothered. If I could have just gone and jumped straight on then I might have stuck with it.

I kind of force myself into an evening ride. I pick a niceish day to ride to work, and then when I'm there, I've got no choice but cycle home at the end of the day!

Got a nice big garage so that wouldn't be a problem. I would love to cycle to work but I work from home so I have to choose to get on the bike and that's quite hard when it's lashing it down outside

evo3ben

I brought one earlier in the year but not for when the bad weather sets in but for more specific training to help gain fitness.
Luckily i have it set up in the garage with a cheap early 90's Raleigh mountain bike that i picked up for near nothing. Add a turbo timer specific tyre, a fan and away you go.
My turbo sessions take no longer than 45 minutes which is bearable bordom wise. But if you do training i.e intervals, endurance in set zones etc then the time seems to fly by. A good work out on the trainer can be very very benificial for your fitness and is far easier to do certain training work outs on rather than actually going out on the bike.
If you intend to just sit on it and ride normally for 2 hours then you will get put off using it very quickly and i would recommend you saving the money and putting it towards your next bike

lvquestpaddler

I've set up my road bike in the spare room on a Cycleops Mag trainer, with a "proper" tyre on it for the winter. Keeping options open I've my old mtb with a set of road wheels, schwalbe marathons, and a really old set of wheels with fast rolling off road tyres. And I've my good mtb....
Plan is use good mtb at weekends during the day, old one will have lights(exposure enduro) so can choose between night rides either on road or off(nothing too technical, fast forest tracks) during the week. If it's icy as hell outside then intervals on the turbo. If it snows it's the turbo during the week and cross country skiing at weekends.
(That's if I can be arsed after walking a mad collie six miles a day.... )
Turbos are ok as others have said, but not for steady state stuff....