It's time to get a turbo

JohnBee

Ok,so decided I need a turbo trainer.there are so many available tho that it is impossible to choose.

Broadly I'm trying to decide between a direct drive,or a regular turbo and buy a training wheel ie full wheel,tire,cassette as I have one bike and will use intermittently with road cycling.

Any suggestions.
Ideally should have ability to use with suffer fest and control resistance,have power data also.

I'm puzzled but looking at the likes of the new Elite Muin

nilhg

Probably best to start here,

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/10/2013-trainer-recommendations.html

ZiabR

I picked up the one Halfords. Didnt want to spend to much on one because you cant get beat getting out on the bike. I find it perfect and it does the job.

vermin99

Sorry to hijack thread but would a spinning bike do the same job?

ZiabR

In essence yes, it would do the same thing.

JohnBee

logik wrote: »

I picked up the one Halfords. Didnt want to spend to much on one because you cant get beat getting out on the bike. I find it perfect and it does the job.

Unfortunately where I now live stays at -20 to -30 celsius for 4 months of the year and so need a good indoor option!

Darkglasses

vermin99 wrote: »

Sorry to hijack thread but would a spinning bike do the same job?

Yeah, but the cheaper ones feel a lot less like riding a real bike.

petethedrummer

JohnBee wrote: »

Unfortunately where I now live stays at -20 to -30 celsius for 4 months of the year and so need a good indoor option!

All I'm really hearing are reasons to buy another bike. http://surlybikes.com/bikes/moonlander

JohnBee

petethedrummer wrote: »

All I'm really hearing are reasons to buy another bike. http://surlybikes.com/bikes/moonlander

Its more fear of my nose falling off rather than the practicalities of cycling in snow and ice!

Seriosuly though, anyone here use a turbo with power and resistance control and have one to recommend? Or does anyone use one of the newer direct drive trainers?

Sikpupi

Got fed up last year changing the rear tyre to the Blue Turbo tyre and changing back on weekend for a Sunday road spin - so I went to local LBS to enquire about purchasing a complete 'spare wheel' on which I can keep the Turbo tyre on full time and so only change wheels when I want to use Turbo.!

But owner not all that keen to sell me one... went on about 'not that simple'. Cassette could be different - that mean wearing out the chain.....and possible damage to front rings... blah blah. So came out of LBS empty handed.

How shall I approach him to insist on wanting a wheel....I need to be more confident !!!!

Inquitus

The Wahoo yoke sky use is my favourite of the current bunch, no need for a rear wheel, accurate power and good connectivity / software compatibility, they cost a grand last I checked though.

letape

Sikpupi wrote: »

Got fed up last year changing the rear tyre to the Blue Turbo tyre and changing back on weekend for a Sunday road spin - so I went to local LBS to enquire about purchasing a complete 'spare wheel' on which I can keep the Turbo tyre on full time and so only change wheels when I want to use Turbo.!

But owner not all that keen to sell me one... went on about 'not that simple'. Cassette could be different - that mean wearing out the chain.....and possible damage to front rings... blah blah. So came out of LBS empty handed.

How shall I approach him to insist on wanting a wheel....I need to be more confident !!!!

Just buy a used rear wheel on the adverts forum or adverts.ie - if he doesn't want your money, spend it somewhere else!

magicbastarder

my main worry would be where would all the sweat go.

JohnBee

Sikpupi wrote: »

Got fed up last year changing the rear tyre to the Blue Turbo tyre and changing back on weekend for a Sunday road spin - so I went to local LBS to enquire about purchasing a complete 'spare wheel' on which I can keep the Turbo tyre on full time and so only change wheels when I want to use Turbo.!

But owner not all that keen to sell me one... went on about 'not that simple'. Cassette could be different - that mean wearing out the chain.....and possible damage to front rings... blah blah. So came out of LBS empty handed.

How shall I approach him to insist on wanting a wheel....I need to be more confident !!!!

This is a possibility I'm considering. Shouldn't be an issue once you have the same cassette on the wheel.

68 lost souls

magicbastarder wrote: »

my main worry would be where would all the sweat go.

There's a towel you can get that goes over the frame to catch it. It straps between the and the bars.

Also can use a fan.

Also I have two wheels one for the turbo and one for the road. No problem switching as they are the same size cassettes.

Harrybelafonte

magicbastarder wrote: »

my main worry would be where would all the sweat go.

Wear sweat bands... place towel, cardboard etc underneath you. Not that difficult to prepare for.

Instead of paying €70 for a piece of cloth that won't catch it all anyway

dragratchet

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Wear sweat bands... place towel, cardboard etc underneath you. Not that difficult to prepare for.

Instead of paying €70 for a piece of cloth that won't catch it all anyway

i throw down a yoga mat and put my bike on that, dulls the sound, vibration of the trainer and catches the buckets of sweat. then drape a towel over the bars stem etc allowing my garmin to peep out in the middle.

fat bloke

I'm on a turbo 4 times a week. Thanks to Netflix I actually enjoy it. I have a 10 year old absolutely piece of sh1t tacx magnetic one that I use in conjunction with a powertap wheel, and it's a great set up. I had thought looked into the more expensive turbo's that give you a power reading but .... I dunno, I wasn't wholly convinced. The advantage of course with the powertap wheel is that when the ice melts you can use it outside on the road as well.
Until I started using the powertap and following a programme I couldn't bear to stay on a turbo for 15 minutes, and now my standard workout is an hour and 15 to an hour and thirty.

Oh yeah -recent additions of a fan and a scented candle or two have proven a wise combination

dragratchet

fat bloke wrote: »

Until I started using the powertap and following a programme I couldn't bear to stay on a turbo for 15 minutes, and now my standard workout is an hour and 15 to an hour and thirty.

spose ive had a similar experience since i put on a speed/cadence sensor. much more motivated to train indoors now, especially as it gives you another layer of info with which to train alongside sufferfest videos.. that said, i havent touched it since march.. unless its absolutely biblical outside ill always favour getting out.

joey100

I use one of the direct drive turbos, a lemond revolution. A lot nicer and feels more realistic than any other turbo I've used. (had a tacx booster before and it always felt like I was cycling through sand on it, took it apart and back togther a few times to see if I could sort it but no joy).

The lemond combined with trainerroad.com is great. huge selection of plans on it and it works on virtual power so no power meter needed. You need an ant + speed sensor and an ant+ receiver for the computer. I pay for it monthly and it works out around 7 euro a month ($10 a month). Trainerroad makes the turbo much more enjoyable and gives each session a focus on it. It can be used with a lot of turbos too and not just the direct drive ones, just check their website to see if the turbo is supported.

fat bloke

I think really, as long as you have a series of usable metrics to balance then you can make the turbo work for you, wherever you get those metrics from. If you've say an 8 minute interval at a particular wattage say and each minute is at a different cadence, then you're constantly busy matching the gears and the turbo resistance to get the cadence to line up while maintaining your power. Before you know it the next minute is up and you're changing again and the 8 minutes are gone in no time. It's like those lads on the gameshows spinning plates - there isn't a whole lot of down time

Solobally8

What about rollers? Does anyone here use them? What do ye think?

okane1

Sikpupi wrote: »

Got fed up last year changing the rear tyre to the Blue Turbo tyre and changing back on weekend for a Sunday road spin - so I went to local LBS to enquire about purchasing a complete 'spare wheel' on which I can keep the Turbo tyre on full time and so only change wheels when I want to use Turbo.!

But owner not all that keen to sell me one... went on about 'not that simple'. Cassette could be different - that mean wearing out the chain.....and possible damage to front rings... blah blah. So came out of LBS empty handed.

How shall I approach him to insist on wanting a wheel....I need to be more confident !!!!

Funny on how different LBS are. I went into mine last year looking for a cheap 2nd wheel for the turbo. Came away with a slightly buckled mavic aksium for free. They won't take a cent for it. Bearing on it were perfect.

fat bloke

okane1 wrote: »

Funny on how different LBS are. I went into mine last year looking for a cheap 2nd wheel for the turbo. Came away with a slightly buckled mavic aksium for free. They won't take a cent for it. Bearing on it were perfect.

I never bothered changing the tire. I think it's either a gp4000 or a gatorskin that's been on the powertap for about 9 months now, all through winter and I take it out on the road as well without a bother.

outfox

I can't figure out what the LBS guy's problem was. If you wanna buy a spare wheel and cassette, he should surely sell you one.
I got a spare wheel built up with cassette for use on the turbo. I use a 29er MTB, but this doesn't fit on the turbo, so had to get a 26" wheel. Works a treat. Didn't bother putting a brake disc on the spare. Obviously the cassettes need to be both 9 or 10 speed or whatever. I use the MTB on the turbo rather than one of the road bikes as I find the thumb shifters great - there's an awful lot of gear changes required on the turbo for the various intervals.
IMO, a towel draped over the top tube and handlebars is better than one of those sweat catchers, as the towel can be fired into the wash.

TheTubes

I put the summer bike up on the turbo during the winter and then switch during the summer.
I have an Elite Volaire Fluid, which are suposed to be quiter than the magnetic ones, not quiet though.

Surprised nobody has mentioned trainerroad yet?

JohnBee

So it seems there are option of either getting a power meter for the bike and a cheaper turbo, or power meter based turbo. What is the price range for power meters for the bike?

Harrybelafonte

Solobally8 wrote: »

What about rollers? Does anyone here use them? What do ye think?

Yes, never use turbo, but my targets aren't really road targets and a roller session usually won't go over 45 mins to 1 hour, usually intervals and cadence training.

JohnBee

Ok, I am leaning towards the Kurt Kinetic Road MAchine 2.0. Anyone got one? Either that or the Elite Turbo Muin, but the Muin doesnt seem to be available here in Canada

richieg

I have a tacx satori which I am thinking of changing for a direct drive model (elite or something) to save rear tyres and hopefully get a better conection with the bike.

Are they genuine benefits to the direct drive over normal ?

fat bloke

JohnBee wrote: »

So it seems there are option of either getting a power meter for the bike and a cheaper turbo, or power meter based turbo. What is the price range for power meters for the bike?

That's a whole other can of worms... and thread.

JohnBee

fat bloke wrote: »

That's a whole other can of worms... and thread.

Ok so I am abandoning the bike power meter option, far too expensive for me!

I see trainer road can use a speed sensor and estimate power. Anyone got any recommendations for a good speed/cadence sensor?

richieg

Garmin speed sensor works perfectly.
If you plan on using trainerroad make sure you check their site for compatibility with specific trainers before buying one.

JohnBee

richieg wrote: »

Garmin speed sensor works perfectly.
If you plan on using trainerroad make sure you check their site for compatibility with specific trainers before buying one.

Thanks

Do you know, do any of these speed/cadence sensors do the same power estimation on the road without a power meter or can it only be done with software such as trainer road and with a turbo.

Inquitus

JohnBee wrote: »

Thanks

Do you know, do any of these speed/cadence sensors do the same power estimation on the road without a power meter or can it only be done with software such as trainer road and with a turbo.

Its Turbo only estimation, not necessarily accurate, but it is consistent, which is the main thing. Only way you will get power outside is with a PM. The wind, road surface quality etc etc are all non factors indoors, but major drivers of variances to power outdoors.

JohnBee

Inquitus wrote: »

Its Turbo only estimation, not necessarily accurate, but it is consistent, which is the main thing. Only way you will get power outside is with a PM. The wind, road surface quality etc etc are all non factors indoors, but major drivers of variances to power outdoors.

Got ya! Thanks! Ok so once I got the cash I think Im going for a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine!