Passing my time on my Turbo-Trainer

FrankGrimes

Yeh I find that it's only the most intense intervals that you need to concentrate on so can't be keeping track of something you're watching - but for high intensity intervals, there's plenty of low intensity time in the OFF intervals so they're still good for watching stuff.

I find www.lynda.com is brilliant for this - I learned photography over the course of a few months last year, mainly from Lynda.com courses (absolutely top notch professionalism in their courses) from the turbo. Also did Lightroom - want to learn some basic graphic design so have started into an Adobe Illustrator course on it now - not the best for the turbo as you'd ideally be following on with replicating the actions live in Illustrator, but the key concepts do stick. Not for everyone, but works for me most of the time, other times I can't contemplate it so just stick on tunes.

My current list of playlists on Spotify is pretty uninspired - anyone got some Spotify playlists they could point to that they find great for motivation on the bike? Will also download them on the phone app for offline playback on the road.

I got a fan on a pole from Argos a few years back and it has a remote control - has more than earned its cost from its usefulness during turbo sessions.

Other tip I'd suggest is something like this little wireless keyboard with trackpad for under 20euro - great for controlling the PC/laptop during turbo sessions. I have it and the fan remote control stuck onto the side of a cupboard with velcro sticky tape beside where the turbo is setup, handy for just grabbing them any time during a workout.

Beasty

FrankGrimes wrote: »

I got a fan on a pole from Argos a few years back and it has a remote control - has more than earned its cost from its usefulness during turbo sessions.

Got this to switch the fan on and off remotely - the remote for that and the TV just go in the back pocket

Amprodude

furiousox wrote: »

This is a pretty good turbo session.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv0H9iCz8Ms

The two women in the front left of screen would make it a pretty good turbo session to follow alright.

Beasty

Beasty wrote: »

Just spent a very enjoyable 45 mins on the Wattbike watching RTE2.

And tonight it was 30 mins of the Amsterdam 6 Day

yabadabado

quick question regarding turbo trainer.I have gotten one of a friend and Im wondering can anyone recommend a cycle computer.

dragratchet

the metrics you'll be able to monitor whilst on the trainer are speed & cadence, and heart-rate/power. for the first two you'll need something like a garmin 500 with a speed and cadence monitor via ant+. if you're interested in putting any structure to your work out these are essential and the most cost effective way to go.

jinkypolly

yabadabado wrote: »

quick question regarding turbo trainer.I have gotten one of a friend and Im wondering can anyone recommend a cycle computer.

If you have a laptop you don't necessarily need a cycle computer. You will need a speed/cadence sensor on the bike and a Ant+ dongle for the laptop. I used TrainerRoad for about 6 months before I got my Garmin Edge 500.

yabadabado

jinkypolly wrote: »

If you have a laptop you don't necessarily need a cycle computer. You will need a speed/cadence sensor on the bike and a Ant+ dongle for the laptop. I used TrainerRoad for about 6 months before I got my Garmin Edge 500.

I don't have a laptop could that set up be used on a PC/tablet/android device ?

yop

yabadabado wrote: »

I don't have a laptop could that set up be used on a PC/tablet/android device ?

Only on laptop/pc so far

http://www.trainerroad.com/faq

FrankGrimes

Beasty wrote: »

Got this to switch the fan on and off remotely - the remote for that and the TV just go in the back pocket

Meant to say, this is the fan I have, getting good value out of it for the 78euro as it's been going strong for about 4 years now. Advantage is its remote lets you control speed, direction, mode (constant, or intermittent gusts) and you can set it to figure of 8 movement which I find best. For an extra tenner though, if buying now, I'd go for this one as the reviews are good and it looks neater so would take up less space.

kumate_champ07

my main turbo training usually lasts aprox 50mins and is made up of 5/10min blocks. for this I stick on a track world cup/champs or olympics to watch. my garmin 500 has my custom training programs and gives me pacing prompts. watching high paced track cycling is good motivation for high intensity turbo sessions. my training is based around 5/10/20-40 second efforts with recovery in between
I get off the bike for 2 mins every 10 mins.

in the evenings Ill watch a 60min episode of some good tv, all Im doing here is steady pace light spinning. maybe Im lucky but Ive never been bored on my turbo trainer and Ive done 3hrs/day for a while

<snip>

smacl

Decent turbo session on Monday, hopped on the turbo again last night only to watch my virtual self get slower and eventually stop followed by the tacx software reporting that the electo-magnetic brake was on the blink. Could be general wear and tear, although the I also suspect the daughter's new puppy may have confused it with a lamp post and peed on it. Looking around for tacx spare parts I was once again shocked at the variance of price out there. Active sports were looking for £199 (€249) for the same part that Athlete.com have for €109. Managed to get just the electronics for less again, so hoping that will do the trick.

hoosh1

Hi, I have a tacx turbo trainer and usually spend around 50 mins on either watching a film or a sufferfest video on the laptop. I use my Iphone 4 and mapmyride to track my outdoor rides and do not have a cycling computer. I am wondering is it possible to monitor speed, cadence and heart rate, ideally using my phone so that the distance covered syncs to my mapmyride account and I can also monitor my effort on the turbo.

Any ideas?

pointer28

hoosh1 wrote: »

Hi, I have a tacx turbo trainer and usually spend around 50 mins on either watching a film or a sufferfest video on the laptop. I use my Iphone 4 and mapmyride to track my outdoor rides and do not have a cycling computer. I am wondering is it possible to monitor speed, cadence and heart rate, ideally using my phone so that the distance covered syncs to my mapmyride account and I can also monitor my effort on the turbo.

Any ideas?

Trainer Road have just released their IPhone App

www.trainerroad.com

Perfect for what you want and you can download the workouts later and send them to GC, Training Peaks, Strava and probably Maymyride but not sure on that one.

Cee-Jay-Cee

I bought a Bluetooth cadence/speed sensor on eBay and use it with wahoo on my iPhone. I have a HRM I could also use with a Bryton 35 but couldn't be arsed. As long as I know cadence and relative distance then I'm quite content.

smacl

New electrics for tacx brake unit arrived yesterday so the turbo is up and running again, and managed a reasonably intense 45mins last night. If the goddamn puppy piddles on the turbo again, I'm going to make myself a new set of 100% authentic hush puppies made with real puppy.