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Scenario - currently not riding properly as I am recovering from a shoulder operation. Possibly 2 more weeks before I can get back to real riding.
I don't race or specifically train for anything, but a normal week of riding for me is 140-160miles of mtb and Gravel.
I think I would use it a bit over winter when the weather is especially bad.
Anybody else a turbo trainer sceptic? Interested in both sides of the argument
See if you can borrow one first (even a dumb turbo with cadence/speed sensors).
I find Zwift a bit better than eg. doing intervals.
It seems a common experience that you will ride outside less, and certainly my enthusiasm for going out in unsuitable weather is less (though probably I ride more).
As above - but depends on personality type.
With the gamifying of Zwift, I found the turbo terminally boring. However, Zwift really works best with a Smart trainer and then you end up down the rabbit hole of how to run it, what size of screen and how much you are prepared to pay for fans 😀
If you have a specific event or training programme then that might be enough incentive to use a dumb trainer. Not for me though.
Yep, I can fit in a lunch session, throw a shirt back on for a teams call in seconds. Getting out on the bike the can take much longer, so weekend’s mainly. I’ve got a smart bike though, so no set up.
@scotroutes You do and you don’t. I run it on my iPad, I have previously run it on my phone. Biggest issue is trying to get a decent wifi signal in the garage…
Yeah, I think I would need the game aspect of Zwift to keep me engaged.
Maybe it's just because I am off the bike at the moment and bored!
They definitely have their place I reckon. You can smash out an hour before work or in the middle of the day in a way you can't really by actually going out on your bike. Zwift is engaging enough to take the sting out of it.
I got mine at the start of lockdown in 2020 but it is basically unused for a good few months of the year. I'm still glad I got one though.
They’re useful for recovery and fitting in short sharp sessions when you haven’t got time to go out on your actual bike.
You could pick up a dumb trainer for £30 off Facebook classifieds and use it with a heart rate strap, speed sensor and a phone with Bluetooth to get a feeling for using a fitness app. If you have a powermeter on your bike then even better.
I use TrainerRoad - and to start with I tried it with a dumb trainer to see if I’d use it all. It got me into the idea so I went nuts then and bought a wahoo kickr core - the direct drive trainers feel much nicer than wheel on trainers - and are also a lot quieter. With something like trainer road it’s more interval and graph based so I’ve not felt the need to use anything more than my phone.
If I went down the Zwift route so you’re competing in races for motivation then I’d use an iPad (as my wife has one) plus my phone for the companion app. You could use a decent ish laptop or Apple TV with a tv screen for bigger graphics etc.
However I’m able to lotvatw myself enough for TR with headphones on and no sessions longer than an hour 15 mins.
In terms of results I’m way fitter than I was before - particularly on rides where it’s up to a couple of hours with the pace really being pushed on up hill. I have higher leg speed by some margin and so I’m also clearing rocky technical climbs better as I have a burst of spin / power I can put in - where before I’d have been too near my limit already to do that.
So for me it’s well worth it.
If you only have limited shoulder strength then the order of the day is some mild zone 2 riding to start with - for that I set my TR app going and use an iPad to watch a film / program on Amazon prime. Zone 2 is very boring and I just try to switch off from what my legs are doing. I much prefer sprint type sessions on the turbo really.
edit - if you want to use Zwift then some kind of smart trainer would make it better for you - cheapest generally is the wheel on kickr snap - can pick those up secondhand pretty cheap. But direct drive is genuinely a lot nicer - but spendier.
Yeah, I think I would need the game aspect of Zwift to keep me engaged
Meh, depends on personality perhaps, I've been content with a decent second hand dumb trainer (some sort of Kinetics fluid model), GCN training vids ripped off YouTube so I don't need to rely on WiFi, the British Cycling 20 minute warm-up printed out and taped to the wall next to me, and various techno mixes I've discovered on YouTube, ripped and downloaded to my MP3 player.
It's all very dumb but that means no IT faff, can run it on an ancient laptop, and for an hour's workout once or twice midweek I don't see the need for hours of immersive gameplay. Perhaps if I was trying to replace the longer weekend ride as well.
Go second hand but invest in the wee ancillaries like HRM/cadence/speed sensors and expect to spend a few workouts just finding your zones etc.
Edit:
but a normal week of riding for me is 140-160miles of mtb and Gravel.
Kudos! That's a fairly exceptional big week for me these days 😭
Thanks all. I have looked at picking up an old dumb trainer, but all my bikes are bolt thru axles, plus knobbly tires probably aren't suitable.
Halfords currently have an Elite Zumo direct mount trainer reduced to £379 - I could mount my Gravel bike on that, and try some basic workouts, before committing to buy an Apple TV and a Zwift subscription.
(I could see myself buying a snotter Road-bike in the future that I can have permenantly set up on the trainer!)
As an alternative I didn't like the zwift experience but then I'm content to watch numbers and match them.
I do like the wahoo "on location" rides. Turbo is good for an hour's ride that's a lot less faff than taking a bike out.
@scotroutes - Thanks, I have already watched that - I like his videos
Lots of cheap stuff on eBay - post Covid barely used toys.
Get yourself on Facebook Marketplace. It’s full of second hand smart turbo trainers, a lot of which look like new. All the gym bunnies bought them during lockdown when the gyms were shut and now they’re selling them after 2 years of gathering dust
I have a Smart Turbo trainer (I paid £120 for off Facebook) that I use quite a lot over winter, but gets put away during the summer as I’m out on my bike. I use Zwift and cancel the subscription in the summer.
As other people have said, it’s handy for smashing out a quick 10 miles first thing in the morning or at lunchtime
Oh… buy a big fan. You’ll need it! You get very very hot cycling while stationary
Well thanks, that YouTube link led me down a rabbit hole where I ended up watching a Labrador that reared 3 tigers.
It's raining and the ride was cancelled.
A dumb trainer with a speed/cadence output will work with Zwift for most things. Zwift won't be able to change the resistance but you can with the gears. I've been using one for years.
Have a look at indievelo instead of zwift it's free at the moment and I've been told it's good. Not used it myself yet.
IndieVelo is almost like Zwift, but full of bots. They claim more realistic physics but I can't say I noticed much difference on the couple of rides I've done. Worth a try though.