resistance on turbo trainer

granda

has anyone any idea what each resistance grade is equivalant to e.g. 1=flat 2=1% or is it just a bit random

Beasty

Each different type will be different, although I would expect some standardisation within particular brands (assuming set up in accordance with their instructions)

All you can safely say is it will be progressive, but the only way you could link it to specific gradients would be to base it on your own experience (unless you have a Virtual Reality one which does mimic particular gradients;))

granda

cheers beasty so it seems like a few hill climbing experiments are in order,oh goody

ROK ON

It is easier on a turbo to think aboutwhat you are trying to achieve and then set resistance and cadence to match that.

To simulate the type of effort required in short steep climbs I tend to use a fast gear with high resistance - so that is 53/14 or less with resistance of 7 or greater on a 1-10 scale. I use this for shirt efforts 30seconds at as high a cadence as I can manage.

For longer climbing efforts I think about slckimbing in Zone 4 in terms of HR. Mid range gearing, cadence max 85 down to 65 with resistance gradually increasing from 2 to 7. I would donthis for anything between 10 and 20 minutes, always ensuring that I don't go anaerobic.
The guys using PMs will have a more accurate readout on this. That said HR or perceived effort is still a reasonable gauge.

For sprinting I start at 53/16 and work down to 53/12 always trying to achieve a cadence in excess of 110 - I find this very very tough.

Raymzor

what about using a fixed resistance turbo as it is cheaper and relying on your gears to vary resistance?