# Trainers harder than the road?



## Mrbez (7 Jan 2012)

Hi Guys, 

I did my first session this morning on my Cycleops Fluid 2, but I was surprised to see that I could only manage to cover 7 miles in my 30 minute time. 

When I go out on the road I will cover 16-18 miles in an hour. 

Is this normal?

Thanks.


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## YahudaMoon (7 Jan 2012)

16-18 miles in a hour on the road climbing a hill ?


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## amaferanga (7 Jan 2012)

Why would you assume that speed/distance on a turbo should be equivalent to that on the road?


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## endoman (7 Jan 2012)

I did a one hour coached turbo session with the club on Thurs night, coach said it was the equivalent of 2 1/2 hours on the road, 
We didn't look at speed, merely cadence and effort levels, doing pyramids and longer hard efforts. Was surprisingly good fun.


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## Fran143 (7 Jan 2012)

endoman said:


> I did a one hour coached turbo session with the club on Thurs night, coach said it was the equivalent of 2 1/2 hours on the road,
> We didn't look at speed, merely cadence and effort levels, *doing pyramids* and longer hard efforts. Was surprisingly good fun.


 
How exactly do you do that.....start with harder effort level and reduce or vice versa?


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## endoman (7 Jan 2012)

the pyramids were 15 secs, 30 secs at max effort in hardest gear 15 secs and 30 secs rest accordingly, then 1 minute, 2 minute and 3 minutes at pretty hard effort levels with 1 2 3 minute rest, then back down, so 2 minutes, 1 minute, 30 secs 15 secs etc. I was merely following the coaches instructions!


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## Garz (7 Jan 2012)

Fran143 said:


> How exactly do you do that.....start with harder effort level and reduce or vice versa?


 
Pyramids can be both time and/or resistance changes.

Something I do to break up the turbo monotony is watch something that has a clock in the corner (I watch UFC fights). When it strikes the minute I say spend the next minute out of saddle and whack the resistance up to simulate a good hill. This stops you getting perineum pains and to mix it up you can go flat out sprinting in a hard gear for two minutes (or whatever you can manage before you start feeling sick or pass out).

I have sufferfest vids to watch when I get some more base conditioning done.


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## HLaB (7 Jan 2012)

The difficulty depends on what you are doing the turbo can be harder if the resistance is set high because it can offer a more prolonged period of resistance, although there is no air resistance, etc (I can sprint 50mph + on a turbo, I couldn't even do that down hill on the road) On the other hand there's not the cooling factor (or less of) on the turbo


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## Seamab (7 Jan 2012)

Mrbez said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> I did my first session this morning on my Cycleops Fluid 2, but I was surprised to see that I could only manage to cover 7 miles in my 30 minute time.
> 
> ...



It's well documented that many people produce a lower power output on a turbo trainer than the road. I include myself in this.


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## Garz (8 Jan 2012)

Seamab said:


> It's well documented that many people produce a lower power output on a turbo trainer than the road. I include myself in this.


 
Oh really? Expand on this please...


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## amaferanga (8 Jan 2012)

Seamab said:


> It's well documented that many people produce a lower power output on a turbo trainer than the road. I include myself in this.


 
This is true, but isn't the OP complaining about being SLOWER on the turbo as opposed to putting out fewer Watts (which he's not measuring anyway)?

Proper cooling with at least one BFO fan will make a huge difference to perceived effort on the turbo (and will narrow the gap between road and turbo Wattage).


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## Mrbez (8 Jan 2012)

The only other contributing factor that I can think of is that you cannot free wheel on the TT. You are constantly pedalling.


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## Garz (8 Jan 2012)

amaferanga said:


> This is true, but isn't the OP complaining about being SLOWER on the turbo as opposed to putting out fewer Watts (which he's not measuring anyway)?


 
Yes, he is using distance as the indicator..


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## Seamab (8 Jan 2012)

Garz said:


> Oh really? Expand on this please...



Have a look at this link

http://alex-cycle.blogspot.com/2009/01/turbocharged-training.html


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## Seamab (8 Jan 2012)

amaferanga said:


> This is true, but isn't the OP complaining about being SLOWER on the turbo as opposed to putting out fewer Watts (which he's not measuring anyway)?
> 
> Proper cooling with at least one BFO fan will make a huge difference to perceived effort on the turbo (and will narrow the gap between road and turbo Wattage).


 The OP may have felt his perceived effort on the turbo was equivalent to what he usually puts in on the road and felt underwhelmed by the result. Hopefully he will realise by now that the comparison he was trying to make using distance covered in a set time between the road and a turbo is not a valid one.

Just trying to reassure OP that many people do objectively find that the trainer is harder than the road. And yes a big fan is essential!


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## fenlandpsychocyclist (8 Jan 2012)

Huh ... i sweat so much i need a big fan in front of me on the road!
I drip with sweat after 10 miles @ 16mph in 5c conditions.


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## cyberknight (9 Jan 2012)

We have to remember on the road you are not giving it the full beans all the time due to tail winds , changes of incline etc etc .

I have been doing 1/2 hour sessions indoors this week as i cant get out for a ride and i certainly work harder than i do on my rides of a similar distance because i can control my workout more rather than relying on the variable factors of terrain and weather .


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## Globalti (9 Jan 2012)

I bought an entry level turbo before Christmas out of desperation. Some things I have learned:

1 - That using a turbo after graduating to road riding is much easier; as a mountain biker I used to hate it and found even 30 minutes difficult. As a roadie I find it easier, I spin more smoothly, it's almost enjoyable and I find I have the mental discipline to do it for an hour.

2 - That un-clamping from the trainer after an hour and going for a quick pootle up the road feels weird and that the hill I must climb from my house is easier with warmed up muscles and that my "standard" turbo HR of 140 is the same HR as when I'm climbing the hill, i.e. a comfortable working HR.


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## TheSandwichMonster (9 Jan 2012)

I found the same, but turbo'ing is (generally speaking) constant and relentless. You don't freewheel, you don't shift position nearly so much and the point of a turbo (other than training) is to make you glad when you CAN get out on the roads. I found that a turbo is a very good way of showing you where your bike setup needs attention - any little niggles (the angle of my saddle in my case) quickly make themselves felt.


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## Garz (9 Jan 2012)

Seamab said:


> Have a look at this link
> 
> http://alex-cycle.blogspot.com/2009/01/turbocharged-training.html


 
I think it was more to do with the question being answerable to a number of reasons however your reply was chiefly aimed at pointing to power which if you check out Alex's blog lists a number of factors. It does make sense from a physics point of view, I personally wouldn't worry about turbo stats and continue to measure on the road efforts comparing them directly to indicate performance.


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