Turbo Trainer Advice

I think that's just a side effect of Erg mode. If you don't get on top of the wattage required the cadence goes down, and the trainer somehow appears to make it harder because it needs you to do that wattage .... spiral of death.

Experienced it on Computrainer (at the spin studio where I do half my indoor training at) and Kickr Snap ...

Using Erg mode for me does not mean not having to concentrate ... when it's a solid workout i usually am counting down the seconds, music or not, and have to summon all my will power to make it to the half way point of first the effort, then the current block, then the workout itself, then the last half of the workout etc ...

Most of my hard effort cycling is "tricking" myself to make it half way of something and so I then go "well, I came half way, I might as well do the next half". Weird I am.

Might offload my lemond revolution version 2 if anyone’s keen.

I out it out last week.....

@skinny I could be interested, just insulated the shed so could manage the noise pollution..

Yeah it’s loud! Like a hoover (noisy one).

I need to get something new so let me look at that. Think I’ll get a Tacx neo, seem to be the best for real feel @dbr what’s tt forums current census?

No idea! LFGSS 4 lyfe

Okay. Maybe @umop3pisdn knows?

I avoid turbos like the plague.

Probably the Tacx Neo?

Yup, would vote for a Neo. I went from a revolution to neo. If you use the slope mode you can get the same level of inertia as the revolution. Plus it's near silent.

I actually end up using erg mode a lot more than I expected as it just makes workouts a lot simpler.

The power measurement accuracy is also <1% apparently too, so it was useful in indicating that my old crank based power meter had drifted out of spec.

I like noisy turbos, they drown out all my cursing at life.

+

Am I the only one that bothers with gears using ERG mode? I've found in really small gears ERG is more reactive, but road feel is worse / feels like riding through mud. Bigger gears and the overall inertia of the system feels a lot more like riding flat, less effort through the deadspots, but the ERG mode seems to react more slowly.

I've settled for small ring middle of the cassette as the best balance, but I'll go up or down a couple of gears depending on how I'm feeling and what I want out of the session.

In writing this I've realised i haven't touched my turbo in 8 months. Happy days.

For reference, Elite Direto. Other turbos may behave completely different.

Big ring, middle of the cassette for efforts but do move it around if my cadence is dropping, I'm getting out of the saddle for a bit or one gear is making more noise than another. I can throw power down in a pretty wide cadence range so it's not much of an issue. Might tweak head unit setting a bit to adjust watts up/down if I'm feeling frisky/fucked.

Yeah, bigger gears feel smoother, but if your cadence drops, sometimes Herculean effort to get back up to cadence

I just call it a day when my cadence drops.

Well no rush my end. My dumb elite fluid thing is fine and has some element of inertia...in fact I'm not convinced how much of an upgrade the lemond might be..

Need some help. What’s a good mid range direct drive turbo to get?

Certain company weren’t able to fulfil my order (out of stock). Budget about £500.

The tacx flux seems to fit the bill. As does the jet black whisper. I do plan to get a PM shortly once funds allow.

Have you bought the Core yet??

There’s some manufacturer reconditioned ones (with warranty) kicking about on eBay and online.

just got a wahoo kickr core - great bit of kit and really quiet. Got a tip from a pal to run it in the little ring as it causes fewer rotations which = even quieter workouts.

Fraid not. I'm trying to hold off on turbo use until the Winter.

Also planning a new bike, so doubt I'll have the budget for another trainer yet.

Ah great.
Have you used it much yet?
What made you choose the core over the full version?
How are you finding the smart element?

Also to stop the spiral of death with ERG can you not simply have a lower target power by say 20 watts and just ride over this to the actual target?

I might sell my Kickr (V1) as I am finding gym to be incredibly productive for fitness if you want @GoatandTricycle .. comes with thru-axle adapter