Turbo Trainer Advice

didn't know about this. will give it a go. probably a similar setting on zwift somewhere I can fiddle with

Broken my collarbone and the doctors have said that exercise can speed up recovery. So I thought a turbo trainer will fit the bill. Has anyone got a cheap one for sale or one they can lend me for a month or two?

I have a kurt road machine and a turbo tyre (I think), want? £80 but gotta be collected due to size.

You could borrow mine until September if you want. You’d have to collect / get an uber to collect it from E8 by Broadway Market.

I have the most basic trainer you can borrow (cycleops mag trainer). Collection n16

I just got my WattBike Atom. Seems to work well, although it sounds a little industrial - not too loud. Anyone know what I do next? I guess I have to get all my heart rate zones set up so that when I do the training plan it's actually doing what it's supposed to do? Any idea how I do that?

I guess the first step should be doing an FTP test to have a reference for further training

I did a 20 minute one today. Guessed at a target and got 181W. My threshold HR seems to be set at 143bpm. What I don't know is if it constantly adjusts these figures based on tests, or whether you have to work them out and put them in.

For instance, if I look at my profile page it has an FTP of 190W, not 181W from my recent and only test.

Guessed at a target and got 181W

Purely guesswork of my own, but I suspect you've a higher FTP than that.

Come back stronger! The team needs you.
@dbr if Jules doesn’t burrow it what do you have?
I’m curious to trial one with the HC in mind also for future plans.

@jules is picking it up tomorrow, but you should defo get one. Huge gains to be made with structured training on a turbo.

Ah good stuff.
Yeah for awhile I was doing open classes at Cadence in Crystal Palace.
I’d need a thru axle one which makes it expensive tho so was keen to try one before if I could.

I just did a submax test and have no idea what any of this means. How do I take this and figure out a good training session? Mrs Sparky just plugged in “sportive training plan” and is following that, but I’d like to understand what my numbers are and how to improve them. So confusing. Why don’t they make the app automated and simple? Like, do a test, tell it what you’d like to improve, and it just does it for you?

1 Attachment

I assume this is a Wattbike specific test? Does it give you a FTP figure based on this test?

To train to power you first need an idea of your zones and FTP gives you a figure that makes it easy to work these out. From there you need to decide what you want your training plan to do. What physiological system you want to work on.

;-)

https://cdn.wattbike.com/uploads/uk/file_manager/trainer-road241b4.pdf

I picked up one of the Stac Zero trainers (works by magnets so theoretically totally silent) from ebay recently and just given it a try.

It is very quiet, the main noise is your drivetrain (pretty sure that mine needs cleaning). Set-up is a little fiddly but I imagine will get quicker with time. It's slightly annoying that you have to reset the magnets every time but I think that's because I have fattish (32mm Marathon supremes which rule out a normal turbo) tyres, something skinnier would probably slide out past the magnets.

It feels slightly strange but that's probably partly because I haven't tried it with the wheel weights yet which are meant to give more of a flywheel effect.

Only tried it for ten minutes or so but seems to do the job of being quiet and working with non-turbo friendly tyres.

Very interesting. Pretty rare on eBay no? Interested to see how you get on.

What does it show you under the 'Plans' tab? I'm using TrainerRoad and each plan starts with an FTP test. It looks like WattBike uses 'MMP' as an alternative to FTP. Each session within a plan you start will be based on your FTP - meaning that all the work you do is designed around pushing you without breaking you. You might want to set a simple objective, like get your w/kg to over 4 w/kg, which will put you into 'very good', according to this chart, and then go from there. TrainerRoad seems to categorise its 'speciality plans' based on discipline, i.e. preparing for triathlon, crit, climbing etc etc: https://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/plans/specialty

I had an alert set for a few months and that was the first one that came up I think. Not sure how well known they are which probably explains why I got it for £150.

You’re right that the workouts are tailored to your FTP - you just need to know what they are reasonably accurately. I think 190 isn’t far off because I’m ending each session shattered but not broken. And the heart rate zones seem to tally. Reasonably happy with how it’s working. Mrs Sparky is still digging it, which is the main thing and the reason we got it.

through axel adapter for trainers that clamp on the rear wheel, the trainer happily clamped on the quick release on my old bike not so for the fancy through axel.?
are they all about 50 quid or any cheaper vers ?

Can this be fixed?

1 Attachment

Yes, very easily, the tension screw has been turned too much. Line the two threaded items up and screw in a clockwise direction.

Undo that nut?