Turbo trainers

Jules Winnfield

So, picture the scene. I am watching the highlights of the Tour de France and there is a feature on riding in bad weather by messers Boardman and Boulting. Boulting is doing his thing on a turbo trainer and Boardman is soaking him with a hose. Anyway, my non cycling significant other suddenly states "You need one of them bike thingys for the bad weather". For days..... no weeks..... i was thinking of a way to approach the subject of actually telling her that i need to spend even more money on an ever increasingly expensive pastime, this time on a turbo that would do me some good if i had one readily available in the garage, and she gives me the green light without a word being said on my part..... Result

So ive set a budget for a turbo trainer of around £200. So what should i look for and what should i avoid and what are your recommendations if you have any?

Cheers

alphacharlie

I asked a similar question a few years back, Tacx Flow was the outcome and nearer £300, you may pick a used one up within your £200 budget but £250 new on Ebay having had a quick look now.

poynedexter

ive just bought a 4hr old tacx satori for £90, off gum tree. £100 saving on new. bingo.

phreak

alphacharlie wrote:

I asked a similar question a few years back, Tacx Flow was the outcome and nearer £300, you may pick a used one up within your £200 budget but £250 new on Ebay having had a quick look now.

I've had a Flow for several years now and they're just the ticket.

BrandonA

Remember there will probably be other items you will need/want to buy:
- spare wheel/cassette
- special tyre
- fan
- mat
- sweat catcher

phreak

BrandonA wrote:

Remember there will probably be other items you will need/want to buy:
- spare wheel/cassette
- special tyre
- fan
- mat
- sweat catcher

Not always. I've bought a fan and a mat because I train in the spare room, but previously I've trained in the garage and made do without either fan or a mat. I've also never needed a special tyre or wheel in the 5 years I've been using my Flow. My winter/training bike gets tyres after my summer bike has used them for a year and they seem fine.

I just use a towel/s and a headband to catch the sweat. Seems to have served me well thus far.

Tom Dean

Agree about not needing a special tyre and wheel. A fan is essential unless you have a very cool garage or use the turbo outdoors. If the fan is doing its job there shouldn't be much dripping sweat.

racingcondor

I just bought one 40% off from Evans. Check the details in the Ex Demo / Display section and there are some bargains to be had.

For instance - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/tacx/booster-ultra-high-power-folding-magnetic-trainer-soiled--ec062540

BrandonA

phreak wrote:

BrandonA wrote:

Remember there will probably be other items you will need/want to buy:
- spare wheel/cassette
- special tyre
- fan
- mat
- sweat catcher

Not always. I've bought a fan and a mat because I train in the spare room, but previously I've trained in the garage and made do without either fan or a mat. I've also never needed a special tyre or wheel in the 5 years I've been using my Flow. My winter/training bike gets tyres after my summer bike has used them for a year and they seem fine.

I just use a towel/s and a headband to catch the sweat. Seems to have served me well thus far.

You'll notice the word "probably" in my previous post.

Not sure how you get by without a fan - you must not get very hot - even in the winter with all my windows open I get very hot - next year I'm going to multiple fans. A mat is also essential if you don't want salty sweaty water getting all over the floor be it in the garage or house.

I agree about the wheel. When I had a cheap trainer I found it easier to have now as I didn't want to damage good quality tyres as some do wear quite a lot on a trainer. Now I have a trainer which doesn't even need a rear wheel - this is by far a better setup.

dw300

Bought a Kurt Kinetic Rock n Roll here recently. Use ACN10 at checkout for 10% off, so £292, if you have the space for it.

http://www.sigmasport.co.uk/item/Kurt-Kinetic/Rock-and-Roll-II-Turbo-Trainer/2Q64?wmp=

charlie_potatoes

dw300 wrote:

Bought a Kurt Kinetic Rock n Roll here recently.

How are you finding it now that you have had a few sessions on it?

grahamcp

Charlie Potatoes wrote:

dw300 wrote:

Bought a Kurt Kinetic Rock n Roll here recently.

How are you finding it now that you have had a few sessions on it?

I'd be interested in hearing your verdict too dw300.

Did you get that Sigma code to work? When I tried it said it didn't apply to that product.

richa

KK Road Machine for me.

Had Tacx Flow & KK R&R which are both good, but KK RM is my favourite.

bobmcstuff

I have a Tackx Blue Motion which is a pretty basic trainer, does the job and about £150 IIRC. Definitely recommend a fan,makes a big difference.

It's good to find some videos or something to watch while you're doing it otherwise it becomes very dull. I had been watching old TdF highlights but thinking about getting some Sufferfest videos (by signing up to Strava Premium).

davidof

bobmcstuff wrote:

I have a Tackx Blue Motion which is a pretty basic trainer, does the job and about £150 IIRC. Definitely recommend a fan,makes a big difference.

It's good to find some videos or something to watch while you're doing it otherwise it becomes very dull. I had been watching old TdF highlights but thinking about getting some Sufferfest videos (by signing up to Strava Premium).

I've got the BM, I use the videos from http://cyclingrlv.com/ and some of the older Tacx videos (Training with Schlecks, Cadel Evans in Swiss etc) which I bought from ebay for a few euros.

dw300

Grahamcp wrote:

Charlie Potatoes wrote:

dw300 wrote:

Bought a Kurt Kinetic Rock n Roll here recently.

How are you finding it now that you have had a few sessions on it?

I'd be interested in hearing your verdict too dw300.

Did you get that Sigma code to work? When I tried it said it didn't apply to that product.

A few setup issues on a bumpy concrete floor aside, the trainer is great. I feel like I am leaning slightly left, but not enough to affect a workout. I haven't really tried anything other than offsetting the bike slightly to the right, but it doesn't feel much different. I suspect the whole floor in that part of the garage may be a bit off level.

I think the way the whole thing is suspended on the elastomers does allow for a little more comfort, and the ease with which you can get out of the saddle also adds to your ability to go for longer periods on the trainer.

The unit itself is very smooth and quiet, freewheel makes a big difference to comfort when changing speeds and high power intervals, compared to a non-freewheel trainer. I feel like the aluminium (or steel) roller isnt quite as good as Elite's Elastogel, but then if you're clamping down you don't get much slippage, and it'll probably last 50 years compared to the Elastogel's 25, lol.

I thought that code lasted till the end of the month, perhaps its expired, sorry about that.

pipipi

I have aTacx Satori which was bought for me as a present. With nothing except gym spin bikes to compare it against, I am very happy with it. It has a cable to attach to handlebar where you can vary the resistance.

I use it in my shed which is out of wifi range so I can't use the Strava videos, but I would highly recommend the Sufferfest videos. They are just what I needed to motivate me to spin hard for an hour.

I have also joined TrainerRoad which does a good job of analysing your speed/cadence/heart rate and then works out a 'virtual power' number. Whilst I would not want to say that this is the most accurate number ever, it does give you something to compare against and a target to aim at. Certainly better than a gym bike bike where you just have to go by feel (is this as hard as I can go, is this as fast as last week etc).

in summary, I started with a turbo when the weather was bad and it was okay. I got some Sufferfest videos to play on the laptop and it made time go much faster. Then I got TrainerRoad and I'm actually looking forward to the dark evenings when I can work hard in the shed.

jgsi

pipipi wrote:

I have aTacx Satori which was bought for me as a present. With nothing except gym spin bikes to compare it against, I am very happy with it. It has a cable to attach to handlebar where you can vary the resistance.

I use it in my shed which is out of wifi range so I can't use the Strava videos, but I would highly recommend the Sufferfest videos. They are just what I needed to motivate me to spin hard for an hour.

I have also joined TrainerRoad which does a good job of analysing your speed/cadence/heart rate and then works out a 'virtual power' number. Whilst I would not want to say that this is the most accurate number ever, it does give you something to compare against and a target to aim at. Certainly better than a gym bike bike where you just have to go by feel (is this as hard as I can go, is this as fast as last week etc).

in summary, I started with a turbo when the weather was bad and it was okay. I got some Sufferfest videos to play on the laptop and it made time go much faster. Then I got TrainerRoad and I'm actually looking forward to the dark evenings when I can work hard in the shed.

You may do this anyways now with Trainer Road... but dont change the resistance on Trainer Road workouts.. choose and stick with a number level and use the gears to ride easy or hard.