Turbo Trainer Advice

Seen the weights you need to add though?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEzU2Rc0A5U

It is fuckin quiet though. Nice idea.

Yeah, seen the video. Looks like a pretty easy thing to add and remove. As quiet as your drivetrain and with the bonus of not wearing your tires down either.

Thinking of selling my tacx vortex smart and getting this instead.

I ride my trainer bike outside too so anything that slows me down is annoying, but they don't look too bad, fine too if you never use your trainer bike for anything else.

My bike's drivetrain is a bit noisier due to a bent derailler and I'm trying to wear my old tyres down anyway so I can get rid of some :) I've not had any complaints yet and I spent hours today listening to hideous 90s gabber sets so I'll skip this one for now. Still, love the idea.

Anyone know if there is a way to get my Garmin to talk to the TrainerRoad iPhone app for heart rate?

Nah. Would work on an Ant+ device but not on the iPhone.

Pretty sure I've seen ANT+ dongles for iPhones out there.

Cheers. Looking at this, I'll probably be best off just getting a blue tooth HRM.

Looking into an entry level trainer, cheap and cheerful options on amazon maybe a good place to start.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/bestsellers/sports/458331031

However they all use a quick release, but I want to use it on fixed gear with 120mm spacing. So,

1. Will it clamp on securely over the track nuts?
   
2. Will the Axel be to short ?
   
   

Anybody using a similar trainer with a track bike? Can anybody suggest a particular (cheap and cheerful) trainer?

Rollers?

Tacx axle nuts let you use clamping trainers

Thought about rollers. Don’t want to stack it in my hallway 🤨. And from what I’ve learned from YouTube etc I thought they would not offer much resistance, more suited to warmup before racing than for training.

Doing accredited in Lee Vally in next few weeks, maybe I can have a go on rollers there at some point.

Thanks

@dubtap saw these at some point. Looks like good. Quick google on tacx axle nuts, found them at Halfords, and also found this.

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/turbo-trainers/trainers/tacx-blue-matic-t2650-smart-turbo-trainer

Nice deal for a smart trainer :D

People with the Elite Direto - what ‘intensity’ setting are you using?

Was doing a workout this evening which included some FTP intervals. When the first one started the resistance suddenly felt like it completely maxed out - straight to 500w+ at about 70rpm. Is that normal? I adjusted the intensity to 0% where I was able to hold 210w+ at 90rpm.

Hmm. Looks like it was in ERG mode: https://support.trainerroad.com/hc/en-us/articles/201869584-Testing-on-an-ERG-Trainer

Do people on TR or similar ever have to travel for long periods and have a way of keeping up with plans? Have an irregular two-week trip to NY+DC coming up and wondering if there’s a simple enough way to find a compatible device to use while I’m in either city.

When it’s in ERG mode, you should be able to set the chain line to the quietest configuration, ride whatever cadence you are comfortable with, and the trainer will adjust to the deliver he targeted wattage for the interval.

The exception is when you are conducting an FTP test. Then you need to change gears to get to the cadence and power output you want.

They cover this in a few FAQs and on their podcast regularly. Could you buy a dumb turbo in the place you spend the least time in? Or a gym membership where they use wattbikes or something even more serious like Athlete Lab?

It’s just this one-off two week trip (for now). I’m wondering if there’s a likelihood of me being able to walk in somewhere and pay for a couple of sessions. I haven’t been to a gym in about ten years, so no idea if that’s feasible.

Last time in NYC I ended up in a chain gym which amazingly had spin bikes which outputted power. Complete fluke..can dig out the name if you want. I sat through the spin classes quietly doing my own interval training which saved what was going to be a wasted week away.

Awesome - yes please, that would be great.

Crunch gyms. There are 8 or 9 in Manhattan, I went to the Bowery one.

That’s brilliant - there is one practically next to where I’ll be working. Cheers!

Let me know what you think of it when you've tried it.

I never found out. After a couple of failed attempts at pairing my ant+ devices, I decided not to bother.

Currently trying MaximumTrainer. Just over £10 for 12 months. Pretty basic compared to TrainerRoad, but meets my requirements so far :-)

Ok, cheers. I'll have a look at MaximumTrainer as well but I think I'll will just have to be old school and just use some headphones & music when I get around to it. Might even venture outside at some point as well...