Choosing a resistance/gear combo on Turbo

YellaBelly

Hi. Just wondering what peoples opinions are on turbo resistance and gear selection. I've been opting for running a higher resistance on the turbo, combined with a lower gear on the bike. Theory being speed is lower, back wheel spins slower, causes less wear on the tyre and turbo. Also spreads the wear across the drive train, as normal road riding rarely calls for the little ring around here.

My main concern is if it's making the workout less efficient for some reason, or won't be producing the results from the workout that it would running a higher gear. I can't see why it would if you're running your normal cadence (around 85 av. for me) and maintaining the correct heart-rate. Does gearing/resistance ratio really have any bearing at all on the power being produced, provided you find the right balance between the two that produces the correct cadence and HR. I don't have a power meter myself to be able to test this.

Thanks for any advice!

xavierdisley

I usually advise my clients to run a high wheel speed/inertia on the turbo, as that closer mimics the inertia you see on the road. So for interval work a wheel speed of >45kph, and general riding >35kph is good. So a combo of low resistance on the turbo, coupled with a big gear on the bike.

Pretty much no turbo has the inertial load to match outdoor inertia (it's a huge difference!), but increasing the wheel speed does tend to help. Otherwise the pedalling action becomes very jerky and you start firing the important muscles (eg. vastus lateralis and medialis) too early to get you through the exaggerated dead spot.

Xav

dw300

Kurt Kinetic with the 18lb (yes really) pro flywheel takes 60 seconds to spin down from 25mph.

My turbo takes about 5.