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Looking at purchasing one - is a trainer tyre mandatory or will I be OK with the Larsen TT that's already on it?
You really, really don't want to use that tyre on a wheel on turbo mate. It will be noisy as hell and rip the tyre to shreds pretty fast too, I would think.
Needs to be a slick road tyre minimum (depending upon your wheel size/ rim width) or even better a specific turbo tyre... again, depending upon rim spec etc.
Turbo tyres are very narrow so not sure how they would get on, on a wide rim MTB wheel?
If you get a direct drive you don't need to worry about tyres.
Rollers will be uncomfortable for long periods with a Larsen (and noisy).
A wheel on trainer will be extremely expensive and noisy if you run a Larsen on that as it will shred the tyre.
Hadn't even considered DD trainers tbh....I'm guessing these are going to be in a higher price tier though....
Is the cassette already on them or do you need to purchase your own 10/11/12x to fit with your bikes setup (gears / chain etc?). And does the geared version "feel" like the same sort of effort as actual riding? Totes noob..... Will probably see what's on ebay/gumtree/market place.
I just bought a wahoo kickr core last month to use with my xc 29er, with 1x11 speed.
You need to remove the cassette from the wheel or have a spare one as it is not included. From feel it is very much like riding a bike normally. Only thing i found using zwift is that with my gearing on some of the descents you do tend to spin out a bit as the gearing is not the same as a road bike but didnt really bother me.
If you want something where you can just quickly do a bit of home training one day and then next day go outside on your bike the DD trainer would be a bit of a pain, but for a dedicated winter setup i think its the way to go.
Costs a bit more but its likely something you will have for at least the next 5 years.
Only other issue with a trainer is when you stand up, the bike doesn't move side-to-side (sway) as the turbo is solid on the ground...so you have to change the way you ride out the saddle - not massively different but enough to notice it for the first few times. A rocker plate helps remove this issue though, but is another expense to possibly factor in.
If you're buying a wheel-on trainer your best bet is probably to buy a compatible super cheap spare rear wheel and stick a trainer tyre - or just a cheap road slick - on it and swap wheels before turbo sessions. You might have to tweak indexing slightly, but I found it was a predictable adjustment and I got used to changing it for each wheel.
Wheel off is easier, but you can still have minor issues with indexing.
You’re almost better off buying a very cheap second hand road bike to stick on a trainer tbh.
Otherwise if you run your normal mtb with wheel on you need to change the tyre or have a spare wheel with a turbo tyre on it. That means you either need to switch cassettes or have one cassette for each wheel. Then what do you do with chains?
I’ve got my road bike on a direct drive turbo and it’s not been off much since it went on there. But I’ve got a 105 level 11 speed cassette permanently on the turbo and then a nice Ultegra 11 speed cassette on the wheel for my road bike. I have 2 chains (one silver one gold) which have reusable KMC quick links on so I can reasonably quickly swap the bike and chain from turbo to outdoor duties.
In terms of wheel on va direct drive I’ve used both this year and the direct drive is much nicer. The wheel on makes a huge racket and feels very artificial. The direct drive one feels smoother and is significantly quieter.
I’d look at the cheapest direct drive you can find plus whatever secondhand Carrera / BTwin road bike you can find. Just check the cassette will go onto the trainer - you might need a spacer if it’s 8/9 speed.
The cheapest DD trainer when I looked was an Elite Zumo- but I’m sure there’s another thread going on this that had a link to another trainer for about £500.
In terms of wheel on trainers a few people in the triathlon club I’m a member of have had issues with the Tacx Flux so I’d avoid that. The Kickr Snap is meant to be more reliable.
FYI - I bought a Kickr Core and it’s ace, but it was about £600 I think from memory.
In terms of wheel on trainers a few people in the triathlon club I’m a member of have had issues with the Tacx Flux so I’d avoid that
Tacx flux is a dd trainer rather than wheel on. However I'd agree it's a piece of crap and to be avoided at all cost (I had 3, all replaced under warranty until I eventually demanded my money back)