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Turbo trainers
tritriagain
Posts: 48
in General Chat
I know this question has been asked many times before but I would like an up to date answer. I am going to buy a turbo trainer and I have about £150 to spend. Does anyone have any recommendations bearing in mind I want to speed sessions including spriints on it.
thank you for your thoughts
thank you for your thoughts
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I bought an Elite Crono Mag last year - it was £120 - nice and simple and it works wonders! Good variation of resistance and easy to fit the bike to.
Happy shopping!
I have had a bit of experience with a few different trainers. I can personally recommend the Tacx sirius soft gel. Its what I'm currently using, I have used a few mag and fluid trainers and this one is the best for the money, from wiggle it only costs about 115, but feels so much more expensive! and its really quiet!
However, it was a swine to put together. I had to bend the frame out and in again, as well as remove welding burrs, to accommodate the mag properly. Had I bought it in a shop and not on-line, at that stage it probably would have been returned quickly with a stern face.
Now I'm quite happy with it.
Reporter : "Angus you have 10 albums out and some say they sound the same?"
Angus : "You're wrong - We've 11 albums out.... and they're all the bloody same"
So with turbo trainers they're all the same!
One question I would be asking myself if I was you, why am I buying a turbo trainer at the start of summer?
A turbo trainer is no replacement for the open road...
Strangely enough I have just started thinking about a turbo trainer. I have always been a bit weak at warming up as well as I should. I am thinking that if I have a turbo trainer am I more likely to take the time to warm up properly before heading out for a run/ride?
I can't be sure but if I can get hold of a cheap turbo trainer I can't see that trying it would do any harm.
Having said that, it's great for sprint sessions (no getting slowed down by stupid cars), or for days when the weather is just too bad to hit the road.
But even though it is summer i think a turbo is an excellent buy. I live in the middle of leeds, and the road can get really fustrating sometimes, with all the cars and buses. So i find it great for doing a good fast paced, and more importantly consistant paced workout. It also helps with one leg drills, etc, which you cant really do on the road, and ive found its improved the smoothness of my cadence, which has translated into greater power and efficiency. well worth 100 beans in my book.
I got the tacx sirius and agree with notifitsraining that is was a bit of a stuggle to get it together but well worth the investment.
The plan is that the winter hack for cycling to work can go on the turbo trainer and I'll cycle to work along the tow path on the MTB. Might have to give the dedicated turbo tyre some consideration though.
However, my gym is only 50 yards from the house and the exercise bikes there are always free. How transferable is, for example, a tough 50-60 minute interval session on a gym bike (not a spinning bike) to proper cycling?
I'm "between jobs" at the moment so haven't been doing my daily bike commute for about 8 weeks now. I've done tons of running but have let "real" cycling drop. However I have been doing regular interval sessions on the gym bike, seeing how far I can get in either 50 or 60 minutes at a set level (16) using the same programme (random). My heart rate is always in the 145-174 range and I try to do 5 mins tough, 3 mins recover and over again.
My legs feel it, my heart and lungs feel it and I sweat like mad. Surely this is good TT practice?? I know it doesn't exactly replicate my bike - I'll start riding properly again this week just to get more mileage done.
I'd love to hear informed opinion on this.
my reasons are
1. gym bikes put you in a more up-right position with hands higher etc, i dont think this is good, as you are using your leg and hip muscles differently to how you would in aero or normal road bike position.
2. you cant clip in, so you cant scrape back and roll over like you would pedaling normally, therefore you will be pushing down alot more to maintain power, not only will you tire your quads quicker than usual you will be going back to how you pedaled before you learnt how to pedal properly! so this may translate to when your on the bike.
Overall i think a turbo is a much better bet. save the gym for resistance training and the rower only, using the bike and treadmill breeds poor technique.
Tommy