Turbo Trainers - Are they worth getting

[Holy Warrior]

Base miles/ speed is what I want. Climbing i'm good at. My riding partner is the exact opposite of me, being quick on the flats and not uphill.

I really don't think anything major is needed for what I want to achieve. I've got a 60 mile charity ride coming up at the end of may in the Yorkshire Dales. Before Crimbo I could average 12/13 mph over 40/45 miles with climbing.

Should I just knock the weight training on the head and go for longer on a static bike? So maybe a 10 minute easy spinning warm up/ cool down and then 40 minutes easy/ hard intervals of 5/10 minutes?

I haven't suddenly turned into an overweight monster in the couple of months that i've not been doing much exercise.

edit: The leg pressing came from an article which i'm trying to find (pretty sure it was on training4cyclists.com by Jesper Bondo Medhus . It suggested that to increase leg strength not mass low rep high weight sets should be done then followed up by the turbo. Making the strength gains cycling specific, as the muscles then know to use the strength in a way which is beneficial for cycling. As far as I can remember anyway.

 

[rsvdaz]

right my Decathlon Tacx Satori turned up this morning....decided not to use my road bikes on it but have utilised wifes old carrera subway...chucked a bucket o water over it,lubed chain, pumped up tyres and away.

as its 26inch wheels i used the raiser piece..it was tight getting in the axle holder but go there in the end..now my question is...the controller/gears..what do i use for resistance?..im in the top cog at the front..but do i move the rear cogs or use the tacx lever?

also the dvd...do i select fitness bike..ergo trainers, cyclo trainers or 10/7 positions? also, some of the clips are straight up climbs..no warm ups..is that right? and what is the scale/blue numbers on rhs??

 

[Rob500]

rsvdaz
The satori has 10 clicks on its blue lever so pick "10 Positions" on the DVD
The Satori lever is the resistance changer but you can still use your own gears as well. EG when simulating uphill (8,9,10) use a low gear. When simulating downhill (1,2) use a high gear.
The dvd is not separate clips as such (I thought this myself too). It's about 85 mins long and the 'clips' are just different points along the route. I normally turn the pedals for 5 - 10 mins before starting the dvd up.

re:Resistance. Don't forget also that you can adjust resistance by changing the amount of pressure the roller has on the tyre via the twiddly knob under the blue handle.

 

[Rob500]

The blue number on the rhs is the level at which you set the resistance lever.

 

[rsvdaz]

cheers for that

 

[2wd]

I normally turn the pedals for 5 - 10 mins before starting the dvd up.

Crikey,I'm normally gasping for breath,legs burning and shouting for my Mrs to help me off the trainer after that length of time

 

[endoman]

might have a look in the box and see if I have a dvd, although some tunes or a sufferefest film work well. There are loads of workouts to download on the tacx site, found doing these gives some structure and alleviates any boredom.

 

[screenman]

The worst thing about knob controlled roller pressure is that if your back wheel is even slightly egg shaped then you will get a choppy ride. Unlike sprung loaded roller contact which will smooth out anything not quite round.

Back in the days when all turbo's had knob control we did away with them and put a spring one on.

 

[Crankarm]

I'm looking for a turbo trainer. Are these any good?

http://www.rutlandcycling.com/34381/Elite-Trainer---SuperCrono-Power-Fluid-ElastoGel-Trainer.html

http://www.rutlandcycling.com/34371/Elite-Trainer---SuperCrono-Forte-Wireless-Digital-Trainer.html

 

[Garz]

I went last evening which was surprsingly quiet (It won't be come January for a week!). I did 20 minutes without proper intervals but going hard, then easing off. Then I did some leg pressing then hopped back onto a bike for another 20 minutes. A good hour in total. The idea there is to be aching quite badly on the last 20 minutes to simulate the last few miles after climbing.

How effective do you reckon this is? Anyone do anything similar? I know I can organise the intervals and maybe add some more leg work into the middle, just not sure how. Some help please!

Nothing wrong with doing this to vary or shake up your training routine.

Base miles/ speed is what I want. Climbing i'm good at...
Should I just knock the weight training on the head and go for longer on a static bike? So maybe a 10 minute easy spinning warm up/ cool down and then 40 minutes easy/ hard intervals of 5/10 minutes?

I haven't suddenly turned into an overweight monster in the couple of months that i've not been doing much exercise.

edit: It suggested that to increase leg strength not mass low rep high weight sets should be done then followed up by the turbo. Making the strength gains cycling specific, as the muscles then know to use the strength in a way which is beneficial for cycling. As far as I can remember anyway.

Cardio on the static machine is fine, but as it's so boring your better off punishing yourself on shorter intervals and keeping it to no more than an hour spent on the static bike. You can then hop on the real bike and go outdoors whenever you get an opportunity to get in your base miles.

 

[Mrbez]

I just ordered the Cycleops Fluid 2.

Dispatched today, so hopefully be here in the next few days. I can't wait!

 

[Holy Warrior]

Nothing wrong with doing this to vary or shake up your training routine.
Cardio on the static machine is fine, but as it's so boring your better off punishing yourself on shorter intervals and keeping it to no more than an hour spent on the static bike. You can then hop on the real bike and go outdoors whenever you get an opportunity to get in your base miles.

Thanks Garz! What I posted there is my gym day which is every two days. I've lowered the intervals down to one minute on one minute off for 15 minutes. I really don't want to be doing more than 30 minutes, so that's all i'll work up to. By then the weather should be decent enough to actually ride and see if it has done any good!

Every day i've been doing core work which again is quite intense.

First Workout is 5 minutes of 30 seconds each of Mountain Climbers - Planking - Crunches.
Second is 10 reps each of sidestepping pressups - dumbell flys - Lateral raises - bent rows - dumbbell front raises (to ceiling) then good mornings.

I'm already seeing some stiffening in my upper body, weeks into it. I try to give myself 2 days off a week, usually weds and saturdays.

It is intense but it's only 10 minutes a day and I haven't been feeling overly fatigued, probably due to my heavy carbs/ protein diet.

 

[amaferanga]

I'm looking for a turbo trainer. Are these any good?

http://www.rutlandcycling.com/34381/Elite-Trainer---SuperCrono-Power-Fluid-ElastoGel-Trainer.html

http://www.rutlandcycling.com/34371/Elite-Trainer---SuperCrono-Forte-Wireless-Digital-Trainer.html

No. Well the fluid one is rubbish anyway. The magnetic one might be okay, but it's pretty expensive compared to the Tacx Flow.