Training at home

Blanchy90

I've done a good bit of research on this an my head's absolutely melted.

I'm not getting out on the bike as much as I'd like at the minute and with a new baby coming in spring I can't see myself getting out too much then either.

I'm looking at getting a turbo trainer and sensors but there's so many options I don't know what I should do. I think my budget would be up to €400 so pretty limited.

I saw the elite Novo smart trainer in Halfords which looks pretty good but it's out of stock. https://www.halfords.ie/cycling/turbo-trainers/all-turbo-trainers/elite-novo-smart-turbo-trainer-461874.html

Would I be better off going for a non smart turbo and spend the money on the sensors so I get more out of my outdoor cycles too? That should leave me money to get pedals and shoes too.

I use Strava to track my cycles so want that at a minimum and zwift looks interesting

Sorry for rambling on haha I'd appreciate any opinions on the above.

Cheers

ED E

First question is will this be anywhere near the baby? Itll sound a bit like a steam locomotive so unless you've something like a garage to use it in the noise may be a problem.

Grassey

Get the smart trainer, get a spare wheel and turbo tyre, get the speed/Cadence Sensor from aliexpress for a tenner, sign up to zwift.

No more thinking required. Job done ;D

Blanchy90

ED E wrote: »

First question is will this be anywhere near the baby? Itll sound a bit like a steam locomotive so unless you've something like a garage to use it in the noise may be a problem.

I'll either use it out in the shed if it's not smart/doesn't need to be plugged in or I'll be using it in the kitchen below the baby's room.

Blanchy90

I hadn't even thought of AliExpress for the sensors ha that sounds good.

martyc5674

Spend what you can on a smart trainer- direct drive if possible but prob outside your budget unless you get something second hand.
Ali express is fine but you will be a daddy before the stuff arrives!!
Marty.

fat bloke

For 400 quid you could get a stages power meter and a basic magnetic turbo.

I managed perfectly fine with a really basic 150 quid tacx turbo for years in combination with a power meter. I had (and still have em) the garmin vector 2's which were mad money at the time, but now power meters are way more accessible.

I've done virtually the same workout on the turbo for about 5 years. The key is to do it often. On the bike, 8 min warm up, then 8 mins on, 4 off. Repeat by 4. Warm down about 8 mins.- If I'm feeling good I do 5 intervals or increase the power. If I'm stuck for time I do 2 mins off instead of 4. - Listen to a pod cast or watch a netflix something. The whole thing is done and dusted within an hour.

If funds are tighter still you can do the above by HR, or using a Garmin speed sensor on your rotating back wheel. Or, you could even do it by feel.
The key for me is to just do it. Some people get caught up in gizmos as an excuse or delay to actually getting on the turbo. If you won't get on a 100 euro turbo then you won't get on a 1000 euro one. Get on the damn thing, do your 4 intervals however you measure your effort, get off, and do that 3 or 4 times a week, ideally with one long spin then at the weekend.

It took me a while but I've learned to love my turbo (and rollers) . I was actually lazy recently about switching my power pedals over to my new (to me) training bike so I've just been on the rollers with a wheel speed sensor - that's a set up you could have for 200 quid. The sensor is probably 30 quid (?) and you'll surely get rollers with a budget of 170, new or used. So I've been doing my 4 intervals and going by wheel speed - I do 8 mins each at 31, 32, 33, and 34 kph. Or some variation of that. More or faster intervals depending on how I'm feeling. I'm doing that now 3 times a week for a month with no power data and it's working great. I'm actually going really well this winter, if I do say so myself!

NamelessPhil

It's no harm getting the baby used to household noise including turbo training. You don't want a kid who can only sleep if the house is as quiet as a graveyard.

Blanchy90

This is going to sound stupid but I hadn't even thought about doing a workout like the above. I had just thought about building up my stamina by doing an hour + or a set distance. Above sounds like a great workout.

I'm only properly on the bike since August so I'm still figuring out the training.

@marty good point about AliExpress taking forever it's only £30 for the speed/cadence sensor on Amazon with 2 day delivery

Blanchy90

NamelessPhil wrote: »

It's no harm getting the baby used to household noise including turbo training. You don't want a kid who can only sleep if the house is as quiet as a graveyard.

This is great advice, I've a toddler already and we we're deliberately loud from the day he was born so he sleeps through anything.

Fingers crossed the next is the same

fat bloke

Blanchy90 wrote: »

This is going to sound stupid but I hadn't even thought about doing a workout like the above. I had just thought about building up my stamina by doing an hour + or a set distance. Above sounds like a great workout.

I'm only properly on the bike since August so I'm still figuring out the training.

@marty good point about AliExpress taking forever it's only £30 for the speed/cadence sensor on Amazon with 2 day delivery

Oh Christ yeah, you HAVE to have a plan on the turbo. Aimless pedalling on an indoor trainer has been proven to actually pause and stall the space-time continuum. 1 minute is equivalent to an hour

When I was starting out a great time-passer is if you introduce a cadence sensor of any kind in combination with whatever metric you're going by (HR / speed / power). So then in your 8 minute interval you vary the cadence every minute while keeping the speed/HR/Power constant.

i.e. and e.g. Minute 1: 100rpm, minute 2: 90, minute 3: 80, minute 4: 70. Then back up to 100, 90, 80, 70 for minutes 5,6,7, & 8.

The beauty of that is that it keeps you mad busy and occupied because you've to change your gears with the adjustment in your cadence, while still maintaining your core metric. You're like the circus guy spinning 24 plates all at the same time and that time flies. Before you know it the minute is up and you've to change again, and next thing all the 8 minutes are up, one interval done, 4 mins to recovery and you're good to go again! Introduce in-the-saddle / out-of-the-saddle or on the hoods/on the drops variations to mix it up a bit more.

Honestly when I was starting out I couldn't actually concentrate on a movie in front of me because I was so pre-occupied with my numbers, which is exactly what you want. Once you establish your turbo hour then you can do all sorts of stuff - follow youtube workouts, go suffer-fest, do sprint intervals. Once you get into it there's no end to what you can do.

Blanchy90

This sounds great thanks for all the info. I really.want to improve my speed so this sounds ideal

Taxuser1

ED E wrote: »

First question is will this be anywhere near the baby? Itll sound a bit like a steam locomotive so unless you've something like a garage to use it in the noise may be a problem.

Turbo sound is just like the womb. Baby be grand