What turbo? Help needed please

[Andy Jeffery]

Hi all I've been cycling for 7 or so months now and winter is nearly here. I want to get a turbo so I can keep up my fitness on the horrible days I can't get out. The weight loss has now slowed right down but I'm still too heavy at 15.8 when the ave club weight is around 13stone so I do get dropped every so often but thier good and wait for me!
The plan is this. Get a turbo and do 30 mins each morning to burn the fat the have breakfast but which one and what should I be looking for?

Thanks for your comments in advance.

Cheers

Andy

 

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

Looking for the search function might be a good start

 

[Rob3rt]

Any heap of shoot will serve your modest needs.

 

[vickster]

Why not have a fat free breakfast?

 

[smokeysmoo]

If you must scratch the turbo itch then just buy any second hand one your budget will allow.

If you don't take to it, (most don't IME), then you won't have lost ££££'s when you sell it on.

If you do take to it then you can always upgrade if you want to.

Turbo's are a classic case of dipping your toe in the water rather than diving in head first IME

 

[I am Spartacus]

Tacx Satori.. bomb proof.. solid performer... bid on Ebay .. only prob there usually you have to go collect, quite weighty.
30 mins a day however will prob not vanish the ballast on its own, I'm afraid... in fact I'll guarantee it.

 

[RussellZero]

Get rollers instead, much better workout, better value, and more engaging to boot.

 

[Andy Jeffery]

Why not have a fat free breakfast?

Porridge with nothing on it is what I have every day

 

[vickster]

Get a turbo and do 30 mins each morning to burn the fat the have breakfast but which one and what should I be looking for?

Your first post reads like you have a fatty breakfast, you may want to tidy it up

 

[Andy Jeffery]

Tacx Satori.. bomb proof.. solid performer... bid on Ebay .. only prob there usually you have to go collect, quite weighty.
30 mins a day however will prob not vanish the ballast on its own, I'm afraid... in fact I'll guarantee it.

Thanks. The plan is to do 30 mins a day and then the usual 112 miles ave per week I've been doing.

 

[Rob3rt]

Get rollers instead, much better workout, better value, and more engaging to boot.

Better workout? In what respect?

Better value? Eh?

 

[RussellZero]

Rob - maybe it was a bit of an unqualified statement - I say better workout because from experience, the same length of time on rollers makes more of your body work harder. Hence better value as well if youre measuring it in terms of cost of the machine vs what it does for you over the time youre using it. My opinion only of course.

 

[Rob3rt]

Your experience seems to differ from the general consensus, that's fine, it's your experience.

To put some numbers on this though, on a set of Tacx rollers, I would top out in 53:11 at about 310W, anything beyond this and the cadence needs to be so high it is no longer useful to be on there. No chance of doing a 400+W interval.

On my turbo (Cyclops Fluid 2). I can ride at over 310W in the small ring and regardless of what I do!

i.e. the turbo offers much more resistance, which means more power can be produced on it, hence the training benefit is of course potentially MUCH greater. I have to say potentially because of course if you sit at 50% FTP on the turbo and on the rollers, you will get the same workout really. But the turbo will allow you to ride at much higher percentages of FTP. For someone with a low FTP, the problem will be less of a problem, but it will limit progress eventually.

Of course this is an n=1 example, however, a bit of reading around will soon reveal this is far more typical than the oppose being the case.

 

[welsh dragon]

Hi all I've been cycling for 7 or so months now and winter is nearly here. I want to get a turbo so I can keep up my fitness on the horrible days I can't get out. The weight loss has now slowed right down but I'm still too heavy at 15.8 when the ave club weight is around 13stone so I do get dropped every so often but thier good and wait for me!
The plan is this. Get a turbo and do 30 mins each morning to burn the fat the have breakfast but which one and what should I be looking for?

Thanks for your comments in advance.

Cheers

Andy

Back on topic. I wouldn't buy anything expensive as you may not like it. Ebay do some cheap ones., its where I got mine. There isn't much difference between them to be honest. You can get one for around £40. To £50. I use mine in the winter. They are good for keeping the legs turning. You can go onto yutube and download videos of rides around various places. It makes it not quite as boring, or just listen to music. I do both.

 

[JtB]

I like the look of the CycleOps Fluid 2 which seems to get good reviews and costs about £200. I'm looking to get one to facilitate a gentle re-introduction to cycling following surgery to implant a pacemaker. To be honest, going straight back out on the roads this time of year is a bit daunting as I don't fancy the prospect of falling off. Stupid I know when I've been cycling for 6 years+ with no significant accidents, but such is the human mind. Anyway, 2 questions of my own if I may. Firstly, how do most people track their turbo trainer workouts? Is it just time? or people also track equivalent distance? Secondly, are there risks that a turbo trainer might in some way damage the bike frame?