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turbo v road - different efforts?

Hello people,
in my mind when I do turbo work I believe it is worth more than what I would do out on the road. I am taking into consideration that on the turbo there are: no down hills, no stopping, no junctions, no wheel sucking ,no café stop amongst other 'no's'.
x1 hour on turbo = x1+1/2 hour on road.
What do you all think?
happy holiday everyone  1

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13 comments

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jollygoodvelo | 10 years ago
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I'm still getting the hang of the turbo, but it's just aerobic exercise for your legs and lungs. It doesn't do anything for your core at all...

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Colin Peyresourde | 10 years ago
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Training on my turbo is probably harder because you can keep a constant and even effort. My problem is that I tend to keep working at the end of my lactate threshold which is hard work however you do it (road or turbo). Out on the road you can't get the consistency.

I also sweat a ton too, which makes prolonged efforts really difficult.

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Flying Scot | 10 years ago
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My turbo is an ancient minoura without a remote, it's probably done 500 miles in 25 years!

Without a power meter, I can't pace my self on the turbo, I'm blowing out my arse in 10 minutes, hence I end up on the hills in all manner of stupid weather.

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keith roberts | 10 years ago
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I like turbo in the winter. down to the shed, tunes on, warm up, GO! really feel the benefit when the weather is too bad to ride..sometimes feels harder on the turbo,but it's more specific.. hits you where you need, rather that what you ride on the road..turbo can be really beneficial overall..it's good.

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keith roberts | 10 years ago
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I like turbo in the winter. down to the shed, tunes on, warm up, GO! really feel the benefit when the weather is too bad to ride..sometimes feels harder on the turbo,but it's more specific.. hits you where you need, rather that what you ride on the road..turbo can be really beneficial overall..it's good.

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morethansonglyrics | 10 years ago
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Remember that the wind isn't cooling you down as you zip through so you're gonna get hotter, faster on the turbo which does no good for your comfort/energy levels.

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MNgraveur | 10 years ago
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I find turbo harder as well, certainly for the same "speed". I've got a Kurt Kinetic. Maybe because you can go way harder indoors than would sometimes be safe outdoors, like "i have to close my eyes because this hurts so much" hard. That would be a problem outdoors. Actually, even with great indoor vids, I can only mentally handle the turbo for so long, so just killing myself and getting off seem the best strategy.

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NigelSign | 10 years ago
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My cyclops fluid trainer does not have a variable resistance, it is just like road riding, the faster you go the harder it gets. That said I reckon 18mph on my turbo is much harder than on the road.

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Gary rb | 10 years ago
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thank you all for your replies.
but what kind of reply is =  24 . . . . ???
everyone be safe and enjoy their cycling . . happy hols  36

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Al'76 | 10 years ago
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Turbo gives you the opportunity for a more structured workout so, from a training perspective, is probably more beneficial....doesn't stop it being pretty dull though!

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paulrbarnard | 10 years ago
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Depends on your commitment. On the turbo it's easy to wind down the resistance but those hills on the road stay just as steep all the time.

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SimonT1971 | 10 years ago
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But turbo has no soul!

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Krd51 | 10 years ago
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