Turbo Trainer and IM

miller82

are they an essential piece of kit to have ?

pgibbo

IMO - YES.

What do you currently do for cycles on Mon-Fri?

If you can get out during daylight hours then you can probably do without it. If you prefer night cycles with good lights then maybe not. However, night cycling in wet conditions is very risky

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Yes, if you the mental tenacity to hammer out a 4 or 5hr turbo then in my book an IM is a piece of pi$$ imo. There is of course a higher quality and specific work can be done by using the trainer. For me it is very handy to fit sessions in around family time etc.
Essential piece of kit.

Oryx

Essential if you have a busy life. Sometimes its the only way to get a session in, and you can get quality sessions done regardless of weather/road conditions etc.

miller82

i'd cycle in and out of work at least twice a week which is 13km each way, and then will be trying to get a big cycle done on the weekend.

last weekend i went to do my cycle and had to turn back after 14km because of ice. p1ssed me off no end

pgibbo

miller82 wrote: »

last weekend i went to do my cycle and had to turn back after 14km because of ice. p1ssed me off no end

That statement alone should answer your question

PGF

Some questions if you don't mind...
1. Do turbo trainers give power output details or is that information taken from power meters on the bike?
2. If turbo trainers do give this output then at what price of turbo offers this functionality?
3. What turbos do you folks have? How much was it and would you recommend yours?

(Apologies Miller82 for the high jack).

pgibbo

PGF wrote: »

Some questions if you don't mind...
1. Do turbo trainers give power output details or is that information taken from power meters on the bike?
2. If turbo trainers do give this output then at what price of turbo offers this functionality?
3. What turbos do you folks have? How much was it and would you recommend yours?

(Apologies Miller82 for the high jack).

1. Some trainers do but entry level ones don't
2. €200+ at a guess
3. I use the Tacx Flow and it gives a power output. I paid 225 for it I think but not sure. Yes I would recommend it

Check out http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/08/first-look-at-wahoo-fitness-kickr.html

bryangiggsy

miller82 wrote: »

are they an essential piece of kit to have ?

Definitely Alex.....

Its an all weather tool. With the Irish climate you cant expect to get outdoors every weekend on the bike

The tacx flow is perfect. Has HR/Power/Cadence ..all the tools u need. am sorry i sold mine and wasted money on a fortius.

ray o

There is a new model of the flow out now. The old model used to be in and around the 400 mark but you could get it for €250 from bike24.net.

Since the new model came out it's €372 from bike24 and the cheapest i've seen it from a LBS is €450 in cyclesupersore. Wheelwork are charging €550 for it!!

zico10

miller82 wrote: »

are they an essential piece of kit to have ?

It depends what you mean by essential. If going by dictionary's definition, then no they are far from essential. I'm sure many people get through an IM and don't have one.

If it's a European race you've entered, the most serious part of your training is not going to done in the depths of winter and it's highly unlikely you're going to have the same problems with freezing conditions. I don't know what the Irish winter is going to be like this year, but I think even in the worst case scenario, you won't have to go much longer than one week when you won't be able to get out on your bike. It's not ideal, but then it goes back to what you mean by essential.

In the four months prior to the one and only iron distance race I did, I never used one. It wasn't a huge part of my base building either. Up until 4 months ago I never remember spending much longer than 1½ hours on one. That's not to say my IM training wouldn't have benefited had I used a turbo. I'm sure it was beneficial for my cycling this season. Turbos can be very effective, and very, very practical, but there's no way they could be described as essential.

Bambaata

I think its more to do with time constraints. If you can get out in the middle of the day for your long bikes then yes the weather should allow that but there are going to be many days up to possibly February/March where starting a cycle before 10am could be impossible due to ice etc.