Turbo training

[Irishrich]

Hmm, well a turbo trainer can flatten out your nice tyre, and leaves sooty tyre deposits (that used to be your nice tyre) on the floor. After flattening off a couple of tyres I got a Continental trainer tyre, and a surplus wheel. It was a mare to get on, but worth it. It's a lot quieter and hard-wearing.

Thanks for the input. I have a couple of spare tyres off my winter bike that have hardly been used so can fit one to the rear wheel of my good bike for turbo training. My only worry was if it could affect the actual wheel after alot of use as the wheel is much more expensive than a cheap tyre to replace.

 

[just jim]

In the end I couldn't be bothered levering tyres off, so the ideal scenario was just to wheech off the trainer wheel and put on the good one when I wanted to visit the outside world. With the old wheel I wasn't too worried about banjaxing it.. I say this more in the past tense because I now go to spinning class through the dark days of winter.

 

[LimeBurn]

I also got bored of swapping tyres back & forth so bought an old wheel off a bike recycle centre and stuck an old tyre on and now use that on the turbo and its a quick swap if the weather is kind to me and I fancy a bit of road time.

 

[dickyknees]

still enjoying using mine at present i have a hardtail mtb strapped to it at mo might be swapping that for a racer soon so will see how much extra work out that gives me

Are there any obvious benefits to use a racer on the turbo as opposed to a MTB?

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Are there any obvious benefits to use a racer on the turbo as opposed to a MTB?

Little to no benefit

 

[biggs682]

Are there any obvious benefits to use a racer on the turbo as opposed to a MTB?

only used mtb as that is my spare commuting bike , i cant see any real benefit other than easier going on the gearing

 

[dickyknees]

I too have my old MTB on the turbo - same perceived effort, same heart rate zones / cadence and same resistance on the turbo, just different handlebars.

 

[Irishrich]

Just wanted to relay my thoughts on turbo training after my second session on it today. I have kindly been loaned a few of the sufferfest dvds by one of my club mates and I have to say it makes turbo training very focused and tough, but much better I imagine than pedalling away watching the news or coronation street. First session was 40 minutes of 'The Hunted'. I had planned to do the whole hour but think I pushed myself too hard on the climbs and felt a bit dizzy .
Second session was today when I decided to try the 20 minute 'Extra Shot'. I pushed myself hard for the full 20 minutes and can feel the burn in my legs even tonight. Have to say I'm hooked and my road cycling can only benefit from this extra training indoors. Need a fan for sure though!

 

[biggs682]

i think i need to start pushing a bit harder and longer next week

 

[welsh dragon]

I am up to 40 mins at a time on the trainer. I watch things like falling skies and ncis. I am feeling much better especially now I have bought some cycling shorts. I think by the end of the winter my fitness will be great.

 

[Julia9054]

Just got myself a turbo trainer and have been doing 30 min sessions. I would like to use sufferfest - my question is, will I be able to use them without owning heart rate monitor, power meter, cadence meter etc. I don't have any of these things.
Also, how fit do you have to be? I don't want to buy one and then get demoralised because it's way too hard!

 

[welsh dragon]

I'm not bothering. I am just going to push myself as far as I feel I can go. I am going for time spent on trainer at first rather than all the other stuff that gets in the way. I will try working my way up to 1 hours at a time 4 or five days a week instead of 4o mins 3 times a week. will see how things go from there.

 

[Irishrich]

You can use Sufferfest without any additional aids. It tells yolu what effort you should be putting in out of 10 so you need to judge how hard you can push. Eg, it says 7/10 for 4 mins then you have a fair idea it's a pretty tough 4 mins but not lung busting. Your own fitness won't stop you from doing it as the effort you put in is based on what you can manage so anyone can do it. I dont have any HRM or power meters, just me and the bike, and the sufferfest on the tv. Get it, it's amazing.

 

[Julia9054]

Thanks for that - I'll get one. I am aiming to increase my aerobic fitness. I have strong legs but when cycling it's my breathing that let's me down

 

[flatflr]

Just set up my first turbo trainer (Tacx Satori) with the road bike and an old wheel, gave it a quick blast and it feels good. Need to get to the LBS for a specific tyre. I got a DVD with it (the Dordogne video), turns out that I road some of the roads while I was out there visiting my brother and his family in the summer.