Turbo Trainer Advice

Midnight64

I am looking for a recommendation for an inexpensive light to medium use turbo trainer. Any help appreciated, thank you.

TheTubes

Haven't used this specific trainer but have used the brand and found them good.
Looks to be good value at that price:
http://www.halfords.ie/cycling/accessories/turbo-trainers/elite-magnetic-cycle-trainer

dragratchet

Tacx Blue Matic does the job.. folds away, adjustable resistance, fairly bomb-proof and easy to assemble/set up. best bit of cycling kit ive bought (after the bike)

http://www.swimcyclerun.com/turbo-trainers--/tacx-blue-matic.html

jrby

I bought one of these this week and so far used it twice for about an hour each time....to be honest, i'll probably only use it once a week moving forward once weather picks up.

Is there any need to put a turbo tyre on it?

dragratchet

jrby wrote: »

I bought one of these this week and so far used it twice for about an hour each time....to be honest, i'll probably only use it once a week moving forward once weather picks up.

Is there any need to put a turbo tyre on it?

i wouldnt hold your breath re: the weather. i use mine 2/3 times a week throughout winter as i dont fancy getting getting out at night, great for getting targeted workouts done if that's your thing. ive come to enjoy it after initially finding it torture

dont bother with a turbo tyre, over time the turbo will degrade your standard tyre but you can dial in the tyre/roller pressure to reduce the damage.

JohnBee

Go second hand, and get a fluid trainer (I got a used Cycleops fluid2 and its the biz)

Midnight64

TheTubes wrote: »

Haven't used this specific trainer but have used the brand and found them good.
Looks to be good value at that price:
http://www.halfords.ie/cycling/accessories/turbo-trainers/elite-magnetic-cycle-trainer

Does anyone else have any comments about this one. The price looks good to me!!

dragratchet

dragratchet wrote: »

Tacx Blue Matic does the job.. folds away, adjustable resistance, fairly bomb-proof and easy to assemble/set up. best bit of cycling kit ive bought (after the bike)

http://www.swimcyclerun.com/turbo-trainers--/tacx-blue-matic.html

Have this one, it does the job nicely.

Xpro

Would you consider the rollers?
I had turbo trainer, although still good to keep the fitness level up, I found rollers to be more realistic and great to keep the balance in shape.

Pros and cons in both, but one thing I don't like about turbo trainer is that if you have a carbon bike, it adds a lot of stress to carbon frame due to flexing a lot when peddling.

BoardsMember

I dont know if there is much science behind the stressing the carbon frame on a turbo...I just googled it there.

The main con for the rollers is falling off. Bit embarrassing if you pick up a crash injury when on your rollers!!

I just bought the http://www.halfords.ie/cycling/accessories/turbo-trainers/elite-magnetic-force-elastogel-trainer-pack and find it good, though have nothing to compare it to. I believe the gel ones are slightly easier on the tyre, and not as noisy as the magnetic ones. Or so that sales guy in Halfords said when trying to sell me the gel one, which was more expensive!

harringtonp

Bar on my saddle sheared and I suspect it could be somewhat down to the Turbo (I've used it a lot) but am not sure.

StevieGriff

harringtonp wrote: »

Bar on my saddle sheared and I suspect it could be somewhat down to the Turbo (I've used it a lot) but am not sure.

You mean the saddle rails? Pictures by any chance?

harringtonp

Yes rails, photo attached

Leroy42

Why would you think that has anything to do with the turbo rather than simply a failure in the rails which would have happened no matter what?

harringtonp

Leroy42 wrote: »

Why would you think that has anything to do with the turbo rather than simply a failure in the rails which would have happened no matter what?

Possibly because the bike is locked so with side to side movement while pedalling there is more stress on the frame/saddle etc. If this was the case I'm happier to see the saddle go rather than something else.

And this locking is probably also the single biggest reason why people cannot output quite as much power on a turbo as they can outside

manwithaplan

harringtonp wrote: »

And this locking is probably also the single biggest reason why people cannot output quite as much power on a turbo as they can outside

I would have said that the lack of cooling is the main reason why power tends to be a bit lower on the turbo for a given heartrate.

Of course you may be talking about max power for very short periods, where it's a bit harder to really stomp on the pedals on a turbo alright.

Midnight64

Xpro wrote: »

Would you consider the rollers?
I had turbo trainer, although still good to keep the fitness level up, I found rollers to be more realistic and great to keep the balance in shape.

Pros and cons in both, but one thing I don't like about turbo trainer is that if you have a carbon bike, it adds a lot of stress to carbon frame due to flexing a lot when peddling.

Carbon is well out of my league, so no worries there!!

I thought about rollers and can appreciate the note about balance but I would be terrified of heading sideways and burying my head through the wall!!

Midnight64

BoardsMember wrote: »

I dont know if there is much science behind the stressing the carbon frame on a turbo...I just googled it there.

The main con for the rollers is falling off. Bit embarrassing if you pick up a crash injury when on your rollers!!

I just bought the http://www.halfords.ie/cycling/accessories/turbo-trainers/elite-magnetic-force-elastogel-trainer-pack and find it good, though have nothing to compare it to. I believe the gel ones are slightly easier on the tyre, and not as noisy as the magnetic ones. Or so that sales guy in Halfords said when trying to sell me the gel one, which was more expensive!

The War-Office would never let me spend that much!!

harringtonp

manwithaplan wrote: »

I would have said that the lack of cooling is the main reason why power tends to be a bit lower on the turbo for a given heartrate.

Of course you may be talking about max power for very short periods, where it's a bit harder to really stomp on the pedals on a turbo alright.

Cooling is the reason most often put forward and no doubt plays a part but even doing turbo sessions outside on a deck topless in windy cold conditions power is still down.

When you're cycling outdoors your body tends to stay steady and the bike moves from side to side so power transmission is straight down through pedals. On most turbos the body moves sideways a bit and some watts dissipated as a result.

Unknown Soldier

Midnight64 wrote: »

The War-Office would never let me spend that much!!

It's much better value that the cheaper version. As far as I can recall the cheaper one posted above from Halfords doesn't come with the block for the front wheel. 20e? If you total up the extras with the bundle it's very good value.

I'm happy to be corrected though!

wheelo01

I don't know if this is considered hijacking of this thread, if it is, could a mod delete it, I apologise.

The thing is, I have been looking at a trainer too, and have almost settled on this roller set >>> wiggle.co.uk/tacx-antares-professional-training-rollers/ Wiggle has free shipping to Ireland, and their deliveries normally take 4/6 days.
Has anyone any opinion about the whole Turbo trainer/Rollers argument, also if this specific one is good/bad, or indifferent.

wheelo01

I don't know if this is considered hijacking of this thread, if it is, could a mod delete it, I apologise.

The thing is, I have been looking at a trainer too, and have almost settled on this roller set >>> wiggle.co.uk/tacx-antares-professional-training-rollers/
Wiggle has free shipping to Ireland, and their deliveries normally take 4/6 days.
Has anyone any opinion about the whole Turbo trainer/Rollers argument, also if this specific one is good/bad, or indifferent.

harringtonp

wheelo01 wrote: »

I don't know if this is considered hijacking of this thread, if it is, could a mod delete it, I apologise.

The thing is, I have been looking at a trainer too, and have almost settled on this roller set >>> wiggle.co.uk/tacx-antares-professional-training-rollers/
Wiggle has free shipping to Ireland, and their deliveries normally take 4/6 days.
Has anyone any opinion about the whole Turbo trainer/Rollers argument, also if this specific one is good/bad, or indifferent.

Don't own a roller but the impression I get from others is rollers are good if you are doing steady longer sessions as you are training balance and having to concentrate to stay upright staves of boredom. However they don't seem ideal for shorter high intensity intervals. Perhaps an owner of both can confirm or reject ?

leecurlywurly

Midnight64 wrote: »

Does anyone else have any comments about this one. The price looks good to me!!

Bought this a couple weeks ago and used three times. Does the job although I have nothing to compare it to..

Couple cons;

-It doesn't come with a block riser but sorted by shoving books under the front wheel.
-The stand would sometimes close when putting the bike on or moving it however this doesn't happen when the bike is on properly & locked down. Would be nice if there was a lock or something.

Other than that, very easy to set up & provides hard workouts!

Midnight64

leecurlywurly wrote: »

Bought this a couple weeks ago and used three times. Does the job although I have nothing to compare it to..

Couple cons;

-It doesn't come with a block riser but sorted by shoving books under the front wheel.
-The stand would sometimes close when putting the bike on or moving it however this doesn't happen when the bike is on properly & locked down. Would be nice if there was a lock or something.

Other than that, very easy to set up & provides hard workouts!

Did you have to change the hub to use it?

xebec

Midnight64 wrote: »

Did you have to change the hub to use it?

Not sure what you mean by changing the hub, but I have this one and had to replace the skewer in the rear wheel (Mavic) for the one supplied with the trainer as the Mavic one doesn't fit well. Thirty second job to swap the skewer with no tools required and have left the trainer skewer in since.

Midnight64

xebec wrote: »

Not sure what you mean by changing the hub, but I have this one and had to replace the skewer in the rear wheel (Mavic) for the one supplied with the trainer as the Mavic one doesn't fit well. Thirty second job to swap the skewer with no tools required and have left the trainer skewer in since.

Yes that is what I meant.

leecurlywurly

Midnight64 wrote: »

Did you have to change the hub to use it?

I did change the skewer/hub with the one provided. It's not a problem changing it.