Training / Indoor / Stationary Cycling

AndyCr15

AndyCr15

AndyCr15

Soldato
Joined
28 Apr 2011
Posts
15,192
Location
Barnet, London
I'm already thinking ahead to the cold, wet evenings ahead and how I can keep cycling. I have a couple of issues here though... 1) I don't have space in my flat for a bike, or rollers even, so would need to be in my garage 2) I really want it to still track in Strava 3) The garage doesn't have power

I like the look of the Wattbike Atom, but that needs power.

I like the idea of Zwift, so I can ride specific routes and such.

I guess I could get a small generator to power the Wattbike, but seems like a bit of a pain.

I have a Wahoo ELEMNT, what does the speed sensor do if I get one? Will it let me 'track' riding on rollers in Strava still?

So, what are my options?

Thanks :)
 
just doing a little research myself, it looks like they all will need power input, so I wonder if the Wahoo Kickr Snap is perhaps the best option for me. One review said it folded up quite compact, so if I clear some space, it can go under my bed perhaps. I do (just) have enough room in my bedroom or lounge to set that up and use in front of the TV with Zwift, which I would imagine to be quite fun :)

How essential is a training tyre? I'm a cycling noob and haven't yet even taken a wheel off and will likely make a right mess of things when I do. (I guess I just need to learn this stuff for when I eventually get a puncture out and about). Still, it would be easier to simply clip the bike in as is.
 
One of the Tacx (Bushido I think) is self powered so no electricity needed, pair it with an iPad and you have a Zwift setup that will do what you need and not need power when you are riding, all the activities can be uploaded to Strava.

I am in my first year of turbo ownership and swapped to a training tyre early on as it was destroying a gatorskin tyre I had, the Tacx turbo tyre looks as good as the day I fitted it and has seen about 800km!
 
Thanks. Okay, sounds cool. One of the selling points of the Kickr Snap was the nice big fly wheel. How does this compare?

I also see it's half price on Wiggle, even when the Tacx Bushido is still on eBay around £300-£400...

Do you just get a whole other wheel for the training tyre, or you swap them over each time?
 
AndyCr15 said:
Thanks. Okay, sounds cool. One of the selling points of the Kickr Snap was the nice big fly wheel. How does this compare?

I also see it's half price on Wiggle, even when the Tacx Bushido is still on eBay around £300-£400...

Do you just get a whole other wheel for the training tyre, or you swap them over each time?
Click to expand...

I think the snap is better but I didn’t want to spend much more than £200 as thought I would hate it, I’m going to upgrade to a wheel off trainer this winter - Kickr core most likely!

I had a spare wheel so bought a new cassette but then ended up buying a new bike so old bike is on turbo duties only.
 
@AndyCr15 - Kickr Snap is a good choice. Zwift available on iOS and Android now also so could help with the limited space and no power situ if you cna use a phone/tablet for Zwift.
You can easily pair your Zwift account to Strava so anything you do on Zwift uploads straight to Strava without you needing to do anything.

A cheap rear wheel with a turbo tyre on would be best bet for a wheel on turbo like the Kickr. Changing a tyre every time would soon annoy the living daylights out of you and if you use your proper tyre it will not take long to wear a flat spot on the tyre.

Put the chain in the little ring on front and onto the smallest cog on your cassette. Undo QR skewer and it is a doddle to take off/put on the rear wheel. As you say, good practice as well rather than having to do it for first time out on the road. Once you have done it the one time you will wonder why you ever really worried about it! :)
 
Had a very quick go on it last night, I like the trainer. My old Carrera Hybrid apparently has wheels that are too small... so I have to use my main bike. How normal is it to get a whole different wheel and switch it out with one with a trainer tyre on? Apparently my wheels are 700c (or is that just the tyre?) If I get a replacement rear wheel does it need to have the same 11 gear socket on the back too? (It's a Boardman 8.9 HYB if that helps)
 
Some do buy a dedicated rear wheel to "permanently" have the turbo trainer tyre installed, to quicken the process of switching a bike between indoor and outdoor riding.

Having a secondary, replica cassette on the turbo wheel keeps things simple. That means you can safely use manual gear change mode and know your drivetrain will work as well as your gear changes work outdoors (while there is pretty equal wear between components at this early stage).

If you haven't tried it already, presuming the Bushido has such a feature, don't forget to give "ERG mode" a try in the likes of Zwift. Typically, you use the small chainring and a cassette sprocket somewhere around the middle of the block. Zwift and similar apps will then adjust the Bushido resistance to a given power in a training session eg. 200W for 1min. It's great for doing turbo session with specific power aims, because under normal circumstances, you won't need to change gear.
 
I won't lie, I can't get my head round ERG Mode yet, but I think it will make sense when I try it :) I also want to know about working out my FTP... but will be having a play with things on it this week.

What do I need to know about the wheel, tyre and cassette to make sure I buy things compatible? Does the disc brake come with the wheel for example? **EDIT** I guess I don't need brakes on the trainer actually...

Thanks for the help :)
 
AndyCr15 said:
Had a very quick go on it last night, I like the trainer. My old Carrera Hybrid apparently has wheels that are too small... so I have to use my main bike. How normal is it to get a whole different wheel and switch it out with one with a trainer tyre on? Apparently my wheels are 700c (or is that just the tyre?) If I get a replacement rear wheel does it need to have the same 11 gear socket on the back too? (It's a Boardman 8.9 HYB if that helps)
Click to expand...

I think you just need to change the setting on the trainer for smaller wheel, assuming the hybrid is running 26” wheels?
 
How far away is the garage from the house. Surely laying a cable shouldn't be that difficult then you can have all the lighting etc that you probably want anyway along with the TV, pc etc for zwift :)
 
Shimmyhill said:
I think you just need to change the setting on the trainer for smaller wheel, assuming the hybrid is running 26” wheels?
Click to expand...

I had it as close as it would go.

SoliD said:
How far away is the garage from the house. Surely laying a cable shouldn't be that difficult then you can have all the lighting etc that you probably want anyway along with the TV, pc etc for zwift :)
Click to expand...

About 30 to 40 meters... if you go through a bush. About 60 meters if you went round.
 
Awesome, thanks. Sorry, hadn't noticed that before and clearly it's the main way to make sure your wheel and the drum are aligned properly!

Problem now, my old bike is a bit more MTB, even though it's a hybrid and currently has 26x1.90 which there don't seem to be training tyres that big. I guess if I got a whole new wheel, I could get the same size, but thinner. At the same time, in some ways, just let this current tyre wear down and then make a decision. I will only be using this bike on the trainer, not on the road.
 
AndyCr15 said:
Awesome, thanks. Sorry, hadn't noticed that before and clearly it's the main way to make sure your wheel and the drum are aligned properly!

Problem now, my old bike is a bit more MTB, even though it's a hybrid and currently has 26x1.90 which there don't seem to be training tyres that big. I guess if I got a whole new wheel, I could get the same size, but thinner. At the same time, in some ways, just let this current tyre wear down and then make a decision. I will only be using this bike on the trainer, not on the road.
Click to expand...

Don’t you just replace your 26x1.90 with the 26x1.25 tyre?
 
I have no idea :) I read the tyre shouldn't be thinner than the wheel itself... but I'm not sure where I can get the wheel width? Checking it now, the wheel does seem a lot thinner than the tyre. If that's the case, I've found a 1.25 already! (and a new inner tube)

(Thanks for all the help, gradually I'm getting there :) )
 
I had no issues running a hybrid 26" on a turbo but it wasn't a Tacx. Although the Tacx Vortex I had afterwards, did have adjustment where you could mount the drive/resistance unit to the frame (with screws during assembly) in 1 of 3 different places to accommodate different wheel sizes. I'd sold the hybrid before that so never fitted it...

I did have a trainer tyre for the hybrid, but sold it. It was made by Contiental and called a 'HomeTrainer' or something like that.
 
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