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Indoor Trainer

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  • October 31, 2016 at 1:53 pm #26450
    the_mth

    I’m looking to get an indoor trainer for over the winter.  I spent months picking a bike and fancy a TV in the New Year sales so that’s more months of research so I’m hoping just to buy a trainer without thnking too much!

    Most places I’ve seen pick the Tacx Vortex Smart as the mid range one to go for.  I had a few questions about the software to go with it.

    1.) I dont have a laptop or dekstop and operate entirely off an Android phone so I think that for the moment rules out Zwift which requires a PC/Mac?

    2.) I downloaded Trainerroad just to have a look at the app.  Again, I think this requires a monthly subscription to work?  Does it have real life rides ? Can i program my own or just use what ones they create?

    3.) The tacx app doesnt seem to easily export to Strava, is that still correct? Does Trainerroad?

    4.) Is there any software where I could download rides, for free or paid, and then just use them as and when without the need for an ongoing subscription?  That is, I could subscribe to something for a couple of months over the winter then have a few rides downloaded I could use when I wanted over the summer if I couldn’t get out.

     

    Cheers!

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  • November 1, 2016 at 9:47 am #881101
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    tritecommentbot
    Griff500 wrote:
    unconstituted wrote:
    It’s always there ready for a quick and hassle free session.

    Now there is a great line to take out of contextlaugh

     

    My level of conversation right here enlightened

    November 1, 2016 at 9:39 am #881099
    0
    mickcee

    Iam on my third turbo and

    Iam on my third turbo and  have moved from cheap no brand to a smart trainer whilst doing this. think i payed 59 quid for my first one off ebay

    Each winter with some structutered training I have left the winter a stronger rider and not as fat. Its can be boring just riding and listening to music or working your way through a box set so i need motivation.

    i used to just watch Youtube for turbo routines, like GCN but descovered Sufferfest and Trainerroad before Zwift.

    The Tour of Sufferlandria is a great aim to do on the turbo. Check it out and worth the hot sweaty painful rides in your paincave!!

    November 1, 2016 at 9:27 am #881097
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    HarryTrauts

    I agree with @unconstituted.

    I agree with @unconstituted.  Indoor training can be something to look forward to and fun.  

    First, though, I don’t have a turbo trainer.  I found them dull and not much like cycling.  I use rollers as they make me think a bit more about riding.  Other advantages are the suggested improvement in bike handling skills and core strength.  Rollers probably don’t have the same scope as turbos – the range of resistance is limited – but I still get a good workout on them.  I never use my rollers for more than an hour at a time.  As @unconstituted said, endurance is for the road.

    I’d also agree that borrowing a few indoor trainers makes sense.  You might hate it.  

     

    Good luck!

    October 31, 2016 at 6:32 pm #881095
    0
    Griff500
    unconstituted wrote:
    It’s always there ready for a quick and hassle free session.

    Now there is a great line to take out of contextlaugh

    October 31, 2016 at 6:28 pm #881093
    0
    CXR94Di2

    Bkool is android compatible.
    Bkool is android compatible. Download their Simulator app from the play store. I believe if you phone/ tablet is ant+ enabled you can control the trainer for resistance. I use the pc. version of Bkool but have watched races live in my android phone with the simulator. To me it is just a smaller screen version of my pc

    October 31, 2016 at 6:21 pm #881091
    0
    tritecommentbot

    Sufferfest App for your phone

    Sufferfest App for your phone is your solution. They’re adding structured training plans and even yoga for cyclists in November too.

     

    I’m in the opposite camp to Griff above, I love indoor session in my spin bike. I can get caffeined up, earphones in with my music on loud and get wrecked. Great fun, brutal. 

     

    For endurance work though, outdoors is where it’s at. I actually prefer riding in bad weather, it’s glorious, numbs the mind and clears the senses. But indoor trainer is super handy, especially for weight management. It’s always there ready for a quick and hassle free session.

     

    Im waiting for the Flux to get released then moving over to Zwift. Have the missus to train up now too and think Zwift will be more fun for her, though she does get on well with Sufferfests. 

    October 31, 2016 at 5:49 pm #881089
    0
    Griff500

    I guess I need to be prepared

    I guess I need to be prepared for some abuse here, but before you spend all that money on a trainer, make sure you really, really, want one!  

    Let me explain: I was in the same position as you this time last year, looking around for which trainer to buy, and was close to parting with a lot of cash for a high specced model. I am indebted to a mate who “strongly recommended” that I borrow one first, as he and loads of other folk have them lying unused in their garages. I took up the offer, and very quickly realised why there are so many unused ones lying in garages! Despite all the gizmos, the virtual reality, or ability to watch movies if you prefer, riding a trainer is not like cycling. Firstly, there is the total lack of interaction with the real world, no movement, no real change of scene, no speed related airflow, and 5 minutes in I was overheating and bored to tears. In the real world, I am comfortable cycling on a hot British summer day of say upper 20’s, and don’t sweat excessivley. On the trainer, in my unheated garage, door wide open, frost on the ground outside, I quickly resorted to cyclying topless but was still dripping sweat. So unless you rig up the equivalent of a 20mph airflow, it is bloody unpleasant. I never managed to motivate myself for more than 30 minutes, yet in the real world, I rarely take the bike out for less than a couple of hours. After half a dozen “rides”, my borrowed trainer, like so many others, was lying unused in the back of the garage, with me very glad that I hadn’t parted with several hundred quid. 

    I have no doubt there are many people who enjoy getting hot and sweaty cycling without going anywhere, or maybe just accept this as a necessary evil to keep fit over the winter.  But I am very glad I found it wasn’t for me before spending any money. For me, this winter it will be mudguards on my spare bike, and off to brave the salt spray.

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