Wattbike feedback please.

littledove44

Anyone tried one?

Of the three alternatives of rollers, a turbo, or a dedicated device, I am leaning to something dedicated.

Am I misguided, and if so why?

imposter2.0

littledove44 wrote:

Anyone tried one?

Of the three alternatives of rollers, a turbo, or a dedicated device, I am leaning to something dedicated.

Am I misguided, and if so why?

All three are only as 'dedicated' as the person riding them. They are all just training tools, after all. The wattbike is significantly more expensive than a set of rollers or a regular turbo trainer, which I'm sure you know already.

cougie

What are you trying to achieve and how seriously are you taking it ?

I'd personally not have rollers - its hard to do flat out sprints or bigger resistance work on them.

Do you need all the bells and whistles of a watt bike ? A spin bike would be a cheaper option.

A turbo is the cheapest but you need your bike set up on it. Will you bother ?

littledove44

cougie wrote:

What are you trying to achieve and how seriously are you taking it ?

I'd personally not have rollers - its hard to do flat out sprints or bigger resistance work on them.

Do you need all the bells and whistles of a watt bike ? A spin bike would be a cheaper option.

A turbo is the cheapest but you need your bike set up on it. Will you bother ?

Good questions, thanks.

I am by no means a competitive amateur. Just someone who rides for fitness.
I can ride whenever I want to, but like to do so four or five times a week. I don't like the cold or the dark particularly, so I thought I would keep up my rides per week with some indoor stuff.
I also have a big cycling event in March to prepare for.
Rollers don't appeal to me. I really do not want any risk of falling off.
I also don't like the idea of having to fit my bike to a turbo and then unfit it for an outdoor ride.
Quite happy to pay what is necessary. I have given up a much more expensive hobby, so anything bike related seems cheap to me at the moment. However, I don't want to waste money on something. The most expensive is not necessarily the best.
I guess I am really looking for something that will give me a good workout in less than an hour. Not sure I can last any longer without scenery to look at.

PT_Craig

Putting my bike on my turbo takes all of about 90 seconds....as for what gives you the best workout in an hour, they all provide exactly the same without a program or workout to follow. IMO a decent turbo and some sufferfest videos are the best option for indoor training, pairing that with a Garmin that gives you HR, Cadence and speed takes it to another level again.

imposter2.0

littledove44 wrote:

I guess I am really looking for something that will give me a good workout in less than an hour. Not sure I can last any longer without scenery to look at.

As above - the quality of the workout is down to you, not the training device you happen to be sitting on.

littledove44

Imposter wrote:

littledove44 wrote:

I guess I am really looking for something that will give me a good workout in less than an hour. Not sure I can last any longer without scenery to look at.

As above - the quality of the workout is down to you, not the training device you happen to be sitting on.

True, but as I have the choice I am trying to get advice on which one would suit me more.

On that basis I might as well buy a cruddy old bike and go and ride it with a backpack full of bricks.

imposter2.0

The wattbike is a very capable and scientific training tool, but the data it provides is only useful if you

a) are prepared to analyse and understand it and
b) do something with it afterwards

Otherwise, it is just an expensive toy. If that's what you want, then great. Alternatively, a decent turbo hooked up to a Garmin and Sufferfest will probably do the job for you, buy the sound of it.

littledove44

Imposter wrote:

The wattbike is a very capable and scientific training tool, but the data it provides is only useful if you

a) are prepared to analyse and understand it and
b) do something with it afterwards

Otherwise, it is just an expensive toy. If that's what you want, then great. Alternatively, a decent turbo hooked up to a Garmin and Sufferfest will probably do the job for you, buy the sound of it.

Thanks for that. From what I have been reading it seems spot on. I already have a Garmin! and a turbo would mean I could use sufferfest, or trainer road, or anything else that comes along.

So, how to pick the best turbo.

How do you compare? What are the criteria?
Robustness, how quiet they are, ease of setup, wear on the bike?

Is there a best of breed?

PT_Craig

My Elite Chrono Fluid Elastogel trainer (£150 from wiggle) is perfect for me, quiet enough to use upstairs, much smoother than the magnetic trainer I had before and very easy to set up.

Sufferfest is perfect for indoor cycling, sessions designed by professional coaches with entertaining story lines, race footage and music.

Having all the best equipment means nothing without the dedication to it.

carrock

I have a wattbike and it is excellent . More stable than a turbo, more comfy, and can be hooked up to a PC for the analytically minded. Unless you are going to follow a structured plan training to power and heartrate, it is an expensive luxury.

That said, I paid £1600 for mine as an ex demo from wattbike, fully warranted, on 20 months interest free credit so won't notice the cost

If you get one, get a pro model. The trainer model is too light resistance. I have just exchanged mine as I was warming up on airbrake level 10 at 110w and had to add extra resistance with the magnetic climb simulator.

Excellent kit and great support from wattbike however.

jimmurray

Expensive, but wattbike + trainerroad is hard to beat imo.

stueys

Get a kickr, trainerroad and a power meter. Kickr is a calibrated power meter and integrates with trainer road (where you can also use the sufferfest vids). You can also simulate climbs using some of the apps available. Power meter you can use outside to get more effectiveness out of training. It will take you all of 2 minutes to drop your bike onto the turbo.

I'm curious though, what hobby did you have that was more expensive than cycling????

littledove44

Stueys wrote:

Get a kickr, trainerroad and a power meter. Kickr is a calibrated power meter and integrates with trainer road (where you can also use the sufferfest vids). You can also simulate climbs using some of the apps available. Power meter you can use outside to get more effectiveness out of training. It will take you all of 2 minutes to drop your bike onto the turbo.

I'm curious though, what hobby did you have that was more expensive than cycling????

Thanks for that.

Flying and sailing.

dw300

If cost wasn't an issue I'd buy a Wattbike and throw my turbo in the skip.

If cost was somewhat of an issue i'd buy a Wahoo Kickr.

If I was changing my turbo i'd buy a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine with Pro Flywheel.

MikeWW

I'm not a great fan of the Watt bike- Q factor just feels wrong to me
Would much prefer to use my own bike on a turbo
If money was no object and I planned to spend a lot of time on it I'd get something like this http://www.wiggle.co.uk/tacx-i-genius-vr-trainer/

shockedsoshocked

If you're going for a dedicated indoor machine like a Wattbike I'd consider the CycleOps stuff too:

http://www.cycleops.com/en/products/indoor-cycles.html

cougie

You can hire the wattbike rather than have to buy it. Maybe that could be worth doing ?

carrock

cougie wrote:

You can hire the wattbike rather than have to buy it. Maybe that could be worth doing ?

I thought about that but the cost per month to buy an ex demo one on interest free is roughly the same as the monthly rental........

Might be worth considering if after renting for 3 months you can commute the rental into finance repayments but I can't see it being as simple as that somehow.

nicholsonsimon

I've had a Wattbike for a few years now and it's a great bit of kit if you're not on a tight budget. It will give you a wealth of workout info if you're into that. Bear in mind that they can be quite noisy if you've got neighbours. The new display is also ant+ so can communicate with Garmin etc, which will make it easier to transfer your workout info onto Training Peaks or similar programs.

ravenvrider

As you were considering a wattbike which is a bit pricey there is another alternative, buy a second hand gym quality exercise bike...dont laugh, i picked up a Johnson C7000 (google it) exercise bike on ebay for around £200, it is self powered so you dont have to plug it in, has a wide variety of user defined workouts, works with my hrm tells you power, etc etc, it cost well over £2000 new and still looks and rides like any other gym quality exercise bike.

Ok you cant get your perfect riding position but for a general fitness winter training regime i would say you could do a lot worse for a lot more money.

Eddy S

littledove44 wrote:

Anyone tried one?

Of the three alternatives of rollers, a turbo, or a dedicated device, I am leaning to something dedicated.

Am I misguided, and if so why?

If you haven't tried a Wattbike yet, find a place where you can try one. There are lots of opinions here about what's best but nobody has mentioned the feel through the pedals and ride quality. That could end up being the differentiator for you.

I'm a great advocate of training on high quality rollers with resistance and have a set of e-Motion rollers that are a pleasure and a hoot to train on.

I bought a Wattbike Pro nearly 3 yrs ago to help with rehab from a seriously broken leg and it is now consistently my 1st choice indoor training tool.

The stats and figures are great but it's the feel that makes me want to train on it. It's always there, always set up ready to go. All I have to do is plug it into my laptop if I want to look at real-time info other than that provided by the WPC.

I don't know how good any of the new direct drive trainers are or what level of feel they give. From my experience, I don't think any turbo can match that feel though.

carrock

I have been on various turbos, Schwinn spinning bikes, gym bikes and cheapie Argos exercise bikes.

Now have a wattbike pro and it knocks the others into a cocked hat.

Starting at £1600 with warranty, they are not prohibitively expensive, particularly on 20 months interest free.

Get a pro not a trainer, unless you need to warm up below 100w

bahzob

It''s nice to see how many folks like the Wattbike. I have one of the early models and have loved using it over the years.

The three best things about it are its:
- ease of use, just get on and ride
- range of power measures. As already said several times on this forum, in particular the polar view which actually tells you not only the number of watts you are producing but insights into how you can get better. If you hook it up to a pc you can also get very good customised displays to track workouts.
- toughness. I have had one for 5 years,used it regularly and done next to nothing in terms of servicing. Only problem I had was with a duff head unit, contacted Wattbike and got a replacement foc.

carrock

Wattbike have also got a Facebook page which is constantly monitored, and respond quickly to questions or criticisms on there, really useful

kostya416

littledove44 wrote:

cougie wrote:

...
I also have a big cycling event in March to prepare for.
Rollers don't appeal to me. I really do not want any risk of falling off.
I also don't like the idea of having to fit my bike to a turbo and then unfit it for an outdoor ride.
Quite happy to pay what is necessary. I have given up a much more expensive hobby, so anything bike related seems cheap to me at the moment. However, I don't want to waste money on something. The most expensive is not necessarily the best.
I guess I am really looking for something that will give me a good workout in less than an hour. Not sure I can last any longer without scenery to look at.

Might want to look at Lynx trainer: http://www.veloreality.com/ . It is the only trainer on the market that can properly simulate all cycling forces, very quiet, powerful, does not wear you tire and super easy to fit your bike to. Comes with the highest quality Real Life Videos (24 at the moment I think) of famous cycling routes (all videos have hand tuned road grade and GPS data).

charlie_potatoes

kostya416 wrote:

littledove44 wrote:

cougie wrote:

...
I also have a big cycling event in March to prepare for.
Rollers don't appeal to me. I really do not want any risk of falling off.
I also don't like the idea of having to fit my bike to a turbo and then unfit it for an outdoor ride.
Quite happy to pay what is necessary. I have given up a much more expensive hobby, so anything bike related seems cheap to me at the moment. However, I don't want to waste money on something. The most expensive is not necessarily the best.
I guess I am really looking for something that will give me a good workout in less than an hour. Not sure I can last any longer without scenery to look at.

Might want to look at Lynx trainer: http://www.veloreality.com/ . It is the only trainer on the market that can properly simulate all cycling forces, very quiet, powerful, does not wear you tire and super easy to fit your bike to. Comes with the highest quality Real Life Videos (24 at the moment I think) of famous cycling routes (all videos have hand tuned road grade and GPS data).

:shock: :shock: :shock:
As your name implies.....

It is going to Cost Ya..

Even converting the $5k into real money it is eye watering :shock:

ETA That price is plus tax

kostya416

Charlie Potatoes wrote:

:shock: :shock: :shock:
As your name implies.....
It is going to Cost Ya..
Even converting the $5k into real money it is eye watering :shock:
ETA That price is plus tax

ROFL. This is exactly how I teach people to pronounce my name

As for price, I see people buying power meters for $2000 without second thought. This thing has torque sensor inside, huge 2HP motor, complex circuitry to model all cycling forces in real time (1/250s resolution) etc. etc. All components are industrial grade and likely to last life time. So until we have enough money to place big order to China it is going to be expensive but if you want to buy we can bargain a little bit

Alex_Simmons/RST

kostya416 wrote:

Charlie Potatoes wrote:

:shock: :shock: :shock:
As your name implies.....
It is going to Cost Ya..
Even converting the $5k into real money it is eye watering :shock:
ETA That price is plus tax

ROFL. This is exactly how I teach people to pronounce my name

As for price, I see people buying power meters for $2000 without second thought. This thing has torque sensor inside, huge 2HP motor, complex circuitry to model all cycling forces in real time (1/250s resolution) etc. etc. All components are industrial grade and likely to last life time. So until we have enough money to place big order to China it is going to be expensive but if you want to buy we can bargain a little bit

Are you are rep of the company?

If so it would be helpful to identify yourself as such.

kostya416

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

Are you are rep of the company? If so it would be helpful to identify yourself as such.

Yes one of the owners and designer (trainer, electronics and software).

charlie_potatoes

kostya416 wrote:

but if you want to buy we can bargain a little bit

We would have to bargain a lotta bit

It does look a good bit of kit but no way would I get that one passed Mrs. P.
Good luck with it though.