Should Turbo miles for your years final total?

[fossyant]

I think folk get very upset - it's a bit like a helmet thread.

If you haven't tried a smart trainer, I'd recommend someone to give it a go. It's worlds different from my original 'turbo' and the rollers. Things come into their own when linked to software.

I used to do say 30 minutes on the 'original' turbo, and just log it as 10 miles. If I'd have had it hooked up to a garmin, it would have probably read 15 miles as you used to have to use a big gear to get the resistance. The new smart turbos make a huge difference. Zwift has a replica of Alpe D'Huez on it, and you certainly don't get very far in the 90 minutes it takes you to get to the top from the start of the ride - the main climb is about 60-70 minutes with a warm up.

They are very useful bits of kit for those who are time constrained with work and family commitments (especially if you no longer commute to work).

 

[HLaB]

You are talking about poor accuracy devices, where I and a lot of others use quality direct drive trainers with power meters accurate to 1 or 2% offering resistance upto 20% gradients. These units when connected to the likes of Zwift provide an accurate counter of miles(km), power, speed. When I go outside and ride 40 miles over rolling terrain. I take about 2hr10, its about the same time, therefore speed for a similar terrain within Zwift. These are solo rides so no benefit from drafting. The effort and time is very close to what you'd expect for shorter rides say 20miles , just a little over the hour.

You maybe confusing the racing scene within Zwift where your average speed can be significantly higher for the same power effort, and the extremely popular big events where 5000 riders are racing together, it is a draft fest. I've experienced a similar speed boost when I did the Tour of Cambridge, where speeds were high 20's mph for very long periods especially in the early part of the event, much like Zwift.

I count all my miles as one, but Im happy to switch the count TSS instead of miles. I think I did 20,000 TSS last year. What was your TSS score?

Whatever floats your boat even with the best simulator indoor won't be the same outdoors. Im not confusing things I'm just using extremes to show they are not comparable but if you want to compare so be it, as said what ever floats your boat.

 

[HLaB]

What is TSS?

Trees, Sunshine and Stressfree

 

[Drago]

I'm now going to start counting press ups as bench press reps, having a shower as swimming, and laying in bed as miles on the street luge.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

What is TSS?

Total Sex Score

 

[bridgy]

Whatever floats your boat even with the best simulator indoor won't be the same outdoors. Im not confusing things I'm just using extremes to show they are not comparable but if you want to compare so be it, as said what ever floats your boat.

Not all outdoor miles are comparable either - eg an hour of riding a full TT bike vs road bike vs mountain biking etc. The only thing those have in common is they're done outdoors but they tend to all be lumped together in total mileage by most people. The modern smart trainers @CXRAndy was talking about do a good job of replicating road miles - they're more comparable to road miles than the other types of outdoor miles I mentioned above are to each other.

I agree - whatever floats your boat but I do think they are comparable (on the right equipment)

 

[Venod]

If you run 10k on a treadmill is it equal to running 10k outdoors ?

 

[HLaB]

Not all outdoor miles are comparable either - eg an hour of riding a full TT bike vs road bike vs mountain biking etc. The only thing those have in common is they're done outdoors but they tend to all be lumped together in total mileage by most people. The modern smart trainers @CXRAndy was talking about do a good job of replicating road miles - they're more comparable to road miles than the other types of outdoor miles I mentioned above are to each other.

I agree - whatever floats your boat but I do think they are comparable (on the right equipment)

Your right; I keep different disciplines separate.
I'm not doubting simulators are getting better but they're still not the same; as track miles are not the same as mtb miles etc but folk can do what ever they want to do

 

[derrick]

It does not matter what type of bike you ride.TT MTB ROAD COMMUTER. BMX. You are actually moving.

 

[Milkfloat]

If you run 10k on a treadmill is it equal to running 10k outdoors ?

I would say you should set about 1 degree slope to make it match.

 

[CXRAndy]

How can it be mileage if you haven't moved an inch?

You're being pedantic.

Strava and all of the other activity recording sites generally use mileage as their measuring stick. Previously mentioned, but for the hard of hearing, you could use TSS, average power, whatever to record the activities. Cycling is cycling whether indoor or outdoor, neither is more precious, that it cant be used as a record of time spent cycling.
I record most of my activities, but I must be really bad, I dont tend to record my mtb rides or leisurely rides into town, or compartmentalise all activities.

This thread is akin the road cycling snobbery, where road riders wont wave and acknowledge MTB riders or leisure riders they see on road.

So if it pisses you off with incandescent rage when you see a Strava user who just bunches their rides in one file, good

 

[Heckler]

I jump on my bike in the garage I choose a course on Bkool and ride flat out, doing daft things like chase down other riders and giving it beans up the inclines, then I jump off into the shower and on the couch. I get fitter over the winter and I don't have to ride miles at the beginning and end of the ride to get to the exact sort of ride I want to do.

Is this the same as riding outside, I honestly couldn't care less. It's riding, it's working the same muscles, it's improving my technique. Include it on your miles, don't include it, it's only important to you. If you feel so weighed down by the opinions of others then do what they do, but ultimately it's what it means to you.

 

[bridgy]

Indoor static rides that I record as miles (on strava), and understand why others might want to do so:
- Rides done on a smart trainer connected to Zwift or similar
Because:
1) the physical efforts are very similar to outdoor road rides - including replicating resistance for hills etc
2) my smart trainer + Zwift converts these efforts into a "virtual" mileage figure quite accurately
3) Zwift is connected to my Strava account so just automatically logs the rides as virtual miles in my total anyway (although easily separated out if I want)
4) based on this, whether or not my physical efforts propel my bike forward through space or not is pretty irrelevant as it's my comparative physical effort I'm most interested in measuring.

Indoor static rides I wouldn't record as miles personally:
- spinning on a dumb trainer/basic exercise bike/spin bike
Because:
I don't think those efforts can be easily or accurately converted to equivalent miles in the way a smart trainer+zwift does.

Instead, if I did log these type of static rides on strava, it would be just time spent exercising if anything, not mileage. I used to do spinning classes, and still do occasionally, but they never go on Strava. I did a 12 hour charity "spinathon" on a spinning bike a couple of years ago and this I did record on Strava via my garmin (because it was a special event, and people who knew me on strava had sponsored me) - as a 12 hour indoor ride with zero miles.

I'm just clarifying this because think some (not all) of this discussion is people arguing with each other about slightly different things because there's more than one type of "turbo miles" as per the OP question

 

[nickAKA]

Had a terrible thought this morning - should I be logging running steps (outdoor, I'm not a millionaire ) as part of my 10,000 daily steps?
This thought genuinely occurred to me and I'm laying the blame squarely upon this thread...

 

[Freelanderuk]

I am going to use my trainer in the garden no arguments then,I am outside riding