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Following the winter strategy thread I’ve come to the conclusion I’ve got no option but to try a turbo and zwift.
Kids plus winter and busy at work means it’s evenings or bust for exercise.
Been keeping going with a couple of swimming sessions a week but bike time has been in short supply as it’s either too dark, too wet or I’ve just eaten, just eating, just cooking etc...
Thought I’d try a turbo and zwift. At least give it a go over the winter.
I started running this yr and really enjoyed it but sh8n splints have put tha5 on hold.
I’ve been looking at the elite zumo. Looks good value for £400 for a direct drive. I have a cassette spare and my iPad- do I need anyth8ng else? I’ve got a fan somewhere as well.
The zumo looks good value, the suito looks good as well but I’d rather save the cash and 8 have a cassette already.
Zwift is great on those horrific days, but I think someone posted on here saying he'd had to send two, maybe three, Zumos back with reliability issues and now wanted to exchange it for a different model.
Edit: in this thread, two of them:
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/what-cheap-smart-trainer/
Wahoo currently has factory reconditioned Kickr Cores for £480, which is where my money would be going:
https://uk.wahoofitness.com/devices/bike-trainers/kickr-core-indoor-smart-trainer-reconditioned-euuk
I know it's slightly more expensive, but the Kickr stuff just works ime. The Core is a sort of stripped-back version of the full-on Kickr but does all the same stuff at less expense.
I have a cassette spare and my iPad- do I need anyth8ng else?
Depends what you're going to be running Zwift on. If you're planning on using ANT+ sensors, one of the 3m Amazon Basics USB cables is a good call, sit the sensor close to the turbo to minimise drop-outs. A monitor / old TV and something to sit it on is nice. If you want the deluxe version of the latter, the Lifeline Trainer Table does the same job as the insanely overpriced Wahoo Kickr desk and is an upgrade on an ironing board, music stand etc.
Was gonna run it on my iPad to start then if I get on with th8hgs an apple tv and an old tv. Got a garmin fr 935 as a heart rate monitor. Do I need anyth8ng else?
That was me with the returned Zumo's. if you're going down the Elite route get a Direto 2, even the lady who served me in Halfords said it looks like the Zumo's are built to a budget judging by the number they're getting back, incidentally they haven't had a Direto returned.
Was gonna run it on my iPad to start then if I get on with th8hgs an apple tv and an old tv. Got a garmin fr 935 as a heart rate monitor. Do I need anyth8ng else?
Maybe a cadence sensor depending on what trainer you go for. Quite a few smart trainers will do cadence data as well, but you may decide you're not bothered about cadence anyway. I'd have a source of loud music as well.
If you want a good source of reviews for trainers, the dcrainmaker site is pretty good, though a little bit obsessively detailed.
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/10/the-smart-trainer-recommendations-guide-winter-2019-2020.html
If you're on a budget I would be tempted just to get a second hand dumb trainer (there's loads of good deals on nice fluid models such as Kinetic Road Machines, Cyclops Fluid etc.) get a heart rate monitor, a speed sensor, a cadence sensor, some good fans, and then just use GCN videos or trainerroad etc. on the laptop.
I don't doubt that Zwift is great, but I've kept myself thoroughly entertained just doing hard workouts on the dumb trainer with just a GCN vid and my headphones for motivation. Takes a couple of weeks to work out what your power zones etc. are but that's a worthwhile exercise in its own right.
Use the money you save to buy a set of rollers too, great for warming up or cooling down before/after turbo workouts, and teaches you to pedal more smoothly. You could probably also pay for a couple of hours coaching with a professional and still end up in pocket.
Of course, if you can afford the smart trainer/zwift subscription and all the associated gubbins then just ignore me 🙂
As above, dub trainer + trainerroad or sufferfest would give you an inkling whether you actually want to commit to it before spending £££.
I like them, but I'd rather just go ride for an hour. Pre ride faff is similar (you still need clean shorts), if anything the faff of getting everything to connect and setup is greater than actually getting a bike out! Post ride faff, you still need a shower. Setup a singlespeed and the bike needs nothing.
TINAS, zero faffage with getting everything set up. I have a Wattbike, connects to my heart rate monitor and iPad as soon as I start the zwift app and start pedalling. Takes seconds.
The most faffage is from when I’ve forgotten my drink and have to FaceTime the kids for them to bring it out to me.
I’ve used cheap dumb trainers with Sufferfest, works well. I appreciate that I’m lucky enough to have the setup I have and it works really well. Having the accurate power for me is important, I’m pretty weak minded so if I can’t see the info in front of me and know that I can sustain the effort, I could be tempted to stop more easily......hope that makes sense?? (I also have a power meter on the road bike, used for knowing what my effort rates I can maintain are).
My preference would be a real ride, but Zwift (and heart and power based training) allows me to control my workouts, safely and comfortably. I can’t get the same level of info from a 1 hour road ride.
Id be getting a reconditioning Core myself.
Are here such things as smart rollers?
Yes Smart Rollers are a thing. An expensive thing. Elite Nero for example.
To be honest, this time last year I bought a reconditioned KICKR. Now I'd buy one of those Cores in a heartbeat. That's basically full KICKR functionality for half the price. Great road feel.
As for smart rollers - well riding rollers requires more concentration, and I find that adding resistance adds no real benefit. I ride mine fixed wheel on a track bike with a pedal power meter. I just go easy by softer pedalling. You can Zwift on these too, but I tend to watch the Classics instead.
I was tempted by Smart rollers, or at least rollers with more resistance, but for Zwift etc. I wondered if I could just use one of those combo power and heart rate monitors, if Zwift interacted with those I could just use my standard rollers but stick it in a bigger gear!
They're all sold Tired.
Just exchanged emails with Wahoo about recon Kickr; when they have some back in stock price will be £849.99.
A Bluetooth PowerCal and an iPhone is the cheapest route into Zwift I believe Zwift now sell the PowerCal on their shop site. I have the ANT one and it’s the most reliable power meter I’ve owned. (Not the most accurate but easily the most reliable!)
I don’t see the real attraction of smart rollers. And I ride a lot of rollers
I personally wouldn't touch the recon Kickr/ Cores with a barge pole.
They are likey to be composed of the ones customers sent back during the period Wahoo had big production problems.
From the forums I've been on you are very likely to get a lemon as it's a lottery as to whether Wahoo truly repaired them properly.
Recon ones were sent out to customers under warranty and some are on their 4th/5th unit....
Poop - the ones being discussed ^^^ are 2018 models and have 2 year warranty.
Other than reverting to the previous price, I don't see a problem and neither do many others.
Maybe you wouldn't touch one but plenty of others would.
Do you have personal experience or are your comments merely anecdotal?
'You are very likely to get a lemon' is a sweeping generalisation with no supporting evidence offered.
As is always the case, some people will always find cause to complain - whether or not it's justified.
Taking a less than month old (brand new) Core back to a shop tomorrow on the condition that it is swapped out with a stock one. I told them I didn't want to get into the returns loop of getting a recon unit from Wahoo.
So...
My take is that there are still production difficulties but not in the quantities seen in 2018. Those 2018 units now almost certainly form the majority of the current recon units.
They are great when they work but I've read enough about the recon units shipped out as warranty replacements not to want a recon to replace my new one.
No angst with Wahoo here, no axe to grind. I'm not going for a refund after all. I just thought it might be helpful to at least share the information I've gleaned since researching the Kickr/Core issues. I didn't even know about them till mine failed and I started looking into it online.
Anyone getting a good working recon unit is indeed getting one of the best turbo trainers out there.👍
OP, you're in the Southampton area aren't you?
I could loan you a Kinetic (dumb, wheel-on) trainer and probably speed & cadence sensors if I can find them. Probably be a couple of days at least 'til I lay hands on the sensors
Scaredy. Cheers for that but too late. Picked up a Black Friday zumo. Worth giving it a go. Dc rainmaker said good. Will give it a try. Just need to get some miles on the clock as I can’t do much running at the mo.
Where’s best to start? Not sure I need to zwift yet, just get some train8ng sessions in to up my fitness levels.
I started with GCN videos, e.g. 'Get Fit Fast Sweetspot Workout'.
They're really good and talk you through it all using the RPE scale e.g. a perceived exertion of 8.
It took me a couple sessions to figure out the correct level of effort, e.g. not so hard that I couldn't complete session, but hard enough that I was jelly-legged at end! I have a dumb trainer so just work off speed sensor and heart rate monitor.
I started with GCN videos, e.g. ‘Get Fit Fast Sweetspot Workout’.
I did the same, they are good though after a while you might find you are joining in with the commentary!
I upgraded from a very basic Elite trainer to the Direto and have just been using the Elite software since as it came with a year free. Once that runs out I may give Zwift a try.
I did the same, they are good though after a while you might find you are joining in with the commentary!
Lol yeah, but I know the routine well enough now that I turn the audio off andcstick headphones in.
Quite often just use vid as a stopwatch if I'm doing a different workout, funny how nice it is when the end of your workout co-incides with the rider in the video reaching the top of the climb!
Right, all set up. Turbo trainers really seem to highlight any bb and drivetrain wear don’t they! Stuff you don’t notice out off road on the gravel bike is horrible when it’s the only noise you can hear/ focus on.
@burko73 If you fancy simply trying some routes in freeride to see how your turbo adapts to gradients etc., sign up for the free beta of https://www.rgtcycling.com/
Mont Ventoux
Stelvio Pass
La Formentor
Paterburg
Tuscani
Canary Wharf
And don't forget you get 25Km free trial per month in Zwift, which you can make go further by riding the big climbs (Mountain, Mountain 8, Alpe Du Zwift).
Where/ what is the best app to set up a train8ng ride or two that I can keep going at over the winter and monitor my progress?
I use a fr 935 as a him whilst I’ve been cycling and running outdoors. Can I connect this to the trainer? Do I need to, I guess I can log training miles in connect through my fr 935.
Forgot you get 7-day unlimited use free trial of Zwift through https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership/article/20181205-Zwift-member-benefit-0
Loads of training rides on Zwift, plus you can create your own... But you need to get some sort of idea of what your FTP is, most of us mortals do this using the "95% of your best 20min effort" every ~6 weeks.
Zwift has a shorter "ramp FTP test" but personally, I find it churns out a figure significantly higher than a sustained 20min effort, because under normal circumstances I'd expect to at least complete the 380W interval of the ramp test when my legs aren't made of lead.
But it gives you a rough starting point within ~20mins, a short warm up and then a 20W increase in requirements every 1min. Up a hilly route, under 8km. 😉