Extra wheel just for Turbo
Donkeywings
Posts: 79
Apologies, but I don't understand most of this, so if it's a stupid question I don't know why. I tried reading the "I need smaller gears" thread but it didn't help my understanding much.
Having lurked on the TrainerRoad thread for a long while, I'm going to buy Turbo (probably the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine) and subscribe to TrainerRoad. This is so I can train over winter, since, having begun road cycling last summer I stopped riding over winter and ended up back at square one at the start of this year.
I want a dedicated Turbo wheel (so I can quickly go between Turbo and Road tyres without having to change everything every time).
I guess the question is, should I be buying the same cassette for Turbo as I have on the bike now? The secondary question is should I change to a different cassette?
I have a 34/50T SRAM S350 Compact Crankset, and a Tiagra 12-30 10-Speed Cassette. This setup seems mostly OK for me apart from the extremes - *very* steep up-hills are difficult (compared to my MTB) and fast downhills at 30mph+ mean I cannot accelerate because I cannot keep up with the gears. So maybe I need both smaller AND bigger gears? Not sure this is even possible.
Given I need to buy another new cassette anyway, should I just buy the same one, or a new one for the road and use the existing one for the Turbo?
Having lurked on the TrainerRoad thread for a long while, I'm going to buy Turbo (probably the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine) and subscribe to TrainerRoad. This is so I can train over winter, since, having begun road cycling last summer I stopped riding over winter and ended up back at square one at the start of this year.
I want a dedicated Turbo wheel (so I can quickly go between Turbo and Road tyres without having to change everything every time).
I guess the question is, should I be buying the same cassette for Turbo as I have on the bike now? The secondary question is should I change to a different cassette?
I have a 34/50T SRAM S350 Compact Crankset, and a Tiagra 12-30 10-Speed Cassette. This setup seems mostly OK for me apart from the extremes - *very* steep up-hills are difficult (compared to my MTB) and fast downhills at 30mph+ mean I cannot accelerate because I cannot keep up with the gears. So maybe I need both smaller AND bigger gears? Not sure this is even possible.
Given I need to buy another new cassette anyway, should I just buy the same one, or a new one for the road and use the existing one for the Turbo?
Trek Madone 3.1 Carbon 2012 Road
Sunn Kern S1 2011 MTB
"Mellow Johnny's" water bottle from Lance's shop in Austin
Sunn Kern S1 2011 MTB
"Mellow Johnny's" water bottle from Lance's shop in Austin
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What wheels are on your bike now?
My bike currently has standard wheels on and I am planning on buying a new set in the near future (my bike is 3 weeks old) so I am planning on using the stock wheels for the trainer to make my new wheels last longer.
So maybe if you only have cheap wheels on now it could be an easy way to upgrade.0 -
A compact with a 30 should get you up the hills and IMO you are not out pedalling your 12 @ 30+ mph. You just need to keep riding and climbing to get your fitness levels up then assess your gearing if need be.
As to the turbo wheel I would get one with the same cassette then if you have a problem with the one on your road bike you have a spare, others may disagree.
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Personally I prefer to have a close ratio cassette for turbo use, there's no need for extreme climbing gears and having only 1 tooth difference from cog to cog gives more control during workouts0
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^ this is how I do it.JackPozzi wrote:Personally I prefer to have a close ratio cassette for turbo use, there's no need for extreme climbing gears and having only 1 tooth difference from cog to cog gives more control during workouts
Not sure how well the rear derailleur will work with two very different cassettes?
Don't hink you will get a wider range than you have now wothout changing rear mech. TBH I would have thought that 34/30 would get you up almost anything with a bit of effortIf you haven't got a headwind you're not trying hard enough0 -
I got an old wheel for free from my lbs and put a cassette on same as the road wheel (30-12).this worked fine last winter.As for the road,can,t see you running out of gears at 30+ mph with your cassette so don,t worry about it.
The 30 for the hills is great,and as you get fitter you will use it less,but it,s nice when you need it.Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori0 -
Thanks for the replies. I kind of thought the problem would me me rather than the gears so hopefully a winter on the turbo will help out with this.
I like the idea of having spares so maybe the wheel upgrade rather than buying a cheap trainer wheel is a better option. It's a Trek Madone 31.C - the wheels just say Bontrager - only other markings are ertto:622x14 and erd:590 6061 T6 with Bontrager R1 tyres. There is no mention of them either in the stock description http://www.evanscycles.com/products/tre ... 8#features
What should I be looking for in new wheels?
Thanks again for the help. Cheers!Trek Madone 3.1 Carbon 2012 Road
Sunn Kern S1 2011 MTB
"Mellow Johnny's" water bottle from Lance's shop in Austin0 -
Most people, I presume, who have a spare wheel for turbo training have them because they keep a turbo trainer tire on that wheel. This saves wear on your good tires as a turbo will quickly make mince meat of normal road tires if used with any frequency. Hence why people have suggested a cheap (or free) wheel as the alternative. Cassettes can be changed very quickly and easily if that is your only concern.0
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If you didn't ride outside in winter - what makes you think you will bother riding indoors ? Man its dull !
I'd just use the wheels you have and see how you go. Not all turbos kill tyres. And if the bike is off the road for the winter - and you see wear on the tyre - just fit a turbo tyre to that wheel for your sessions and swap again when you come out of your winter hibernation.
As to the cassette - your gears are plenty low enough and if you can't pedal out a 50x 12 then you need to learn how to spin the pedals faster - you could work at that over winter.0 -
I have two sets of wheels. A lightweight "best" pair, and a heavier (cheaper) set of "winter" wheels - the thinking being that I'm not seeing the mud and grime on the roads during the autumn/winter grind my more expensive rims into oblivion. Both sets have the same cassette on (12-29), although the winter wheel has a cheaper one. Whichever wheelset isn't in use because of the season has the turbo trainer tyre put on, and can be used for turbo sessions with a quick change of the back wheel. Although you'd have to be slightly daft or desparate to use a turbo trainer when the weather's still good enough to ride outside (ie about 300 of our 365 days a year).They use their cars as shopping baskets; they use their cars as overcoats.0
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If you bought a LeMond Revolution instead you would not need another wheel or tyres, you will need a cassette.
The LeMond can be used with Trainer Road.0 -
The Kurt Kinetic turbo has an optional pro flywheel which might be a solution also. I've not upgraded to that yet as I share the turbo with the other half and wouldn't want to have to change it everytime.
"I like riding in my car, it's not quite a Jaguar."0 -
Bill Gates wrote:The Kurt Kinetic turbo has an optional pro flywheel which might be a solution also. I've not upgraded to that yet as I share the turbo with the other half and wouldn't want to have to change it everytime.
How would that help? It just adds momentum to the roller so you end up with a longer roll down time (in theory to make it more like riding on the road)0
