Idiot's Guide to Turbos

[Spinney]

In this icy weather, I'm tempted to see if I can fit a turbo in my shed...but I have very little idea how they work. I know you mount the back wheel so it runs on a roller, but...

- how does the turbo frame hold the bike? is it a big faff to put it on and off?

- do the things come with a stand to hold the front wheel as well?

- I won't be too bothered about the noise - is it worth paying more than (say) £100 for one? (assuming ebay doesn't have a suitable one!)

- how much space around you do you need when using one? i.e. if I can set it up in the shed and get on it, is that enough?

 

[Garz]

If I may hijack/join your thread spinney.. due to the weather was about to ask opinion of them too as im going to have to purchase one (too much time off the bike now).

I briefly checked some out but speaking to friends the lowdown seemed to be "don't buy a cheap one". I'm not loaded but would push up to £200 or so if it is necessary.

Anyone have make/model they recommend? TIA- Garz

 

[amaferanga]

how does the turbo frame hold the bike? is it a big faff to put it on and off?

The rear wheel is clamped in the frame. It takes seconds to put the bike in and take it out.

do the things come with a stand to hold the front wheel as well?

Usually not, but all you need is something to raise the front wheel by an inch or two.

I won't be too bothered about the noise - is it worth paying more than (say) £100 for one? (assuming ebay doesn't have a suitable one!)

The more expensive ones usually feel a little more realistic, but £100-£150 will get you something pretty decent.

how much space around you do you need when using one? i.e. if I can set it up in the shed and get on it, is that enough?

You don't need much space - room for the bike plus a foot or so either side of the rear wheel.

 

[jay clock]

I got one of these for Xmas solely on the basis that I tried one that a friend had it seemed perfect http://www.saris.com/p-309-fluid.aspx

1 It took about 10 mins to set up first time round
2 Virtually silent. I use it in the same room as people watching tv and it is acceptable
3 the yellow thing is the knob for adjsuting and is diifferent from most of the pics online which show a black knob (which was a slightly earlier version). The yellow one is a cam lever as well so much better in my view as you can quick release the pressure when taking the bike off. i think mine was from Wiggle and although their pic showed the old version we received the new one
4 re the thingie for jacking up the front wheel I can frankly not see the point

 

[Spinney]

Thanks all.

I've been looking up other threads on this (I did try before I posted this thread, but for some reason the first time I tried the search thingy did not show anything!).

Now I'm wondering about getting rollers instead (in spite of scary-looking YouTube videos of people's first goes!)

There seems to be a lot about turbos wearing out tyres. My balance isn't the best, and it seems that practicing on a roller could help with that. I also spend some time at a friend's house, and have an old bike there. I could take the roller/turbo when I go, but I think the old bike isn't really set up for fitting a turbo to the back wheel.

Wiggle has the Tacx Antares Professional Training Rollers for £119 (the cheapest ones I have managed to find new - very little on ebay). Others are up to £300 or so. What do you get for your money with the more expensive ones? (Some of these expensive ones have resistance, but not all).

 

[amaferanga]

I got some rollers (Tacx Antares from Wiggle for only £99 ) for the first time at xmas and I really like them. I use my turbo for low cadence, threshold intervals and the Rollers for 1 hour sessions at the moment.

You CAN get a really good workout on the rollers, but that requires high cadence (I rarely drop much below 100rpm) and I don't think I'd much like trying any balls-out intervals for fear of momentary lapses in concentration. If you just want to ride indoors when its icey then they're great. If you want to do structured training then the rollers alone are not enough IMO. I think I find the rollers less boring, but that could still be the novelty factor.

As for first rides on the rollers - I spent the first couple of minutes thinking this is impossible, but then it clicked and I've had no problems since

 

[lordjenks]

i just got a cycleops megneto, you cant change the resistance but you change gears, i cant get into the highest gear becuase it really does hurt, got or 130 new from ebay and i am really pleased with it tbh

 

[Spinney]

Thanks amaferanga
I'm a 'like long rides in nice scenery and nice weather' kind of person, and want the turbo/rollers to get some exercise in horrible weather, rather than being part of a structured training programme.
Sounds like rollers it is!

 

[Scoosh]

I bought a Volare Elite mag trainer last year from gumtree's local ads. Cost about £35, IIRC.

It's Ok - does the of keeping the legs/wheels turning during the snow/ice - BUT it, like most trainers, is mind-numbingly B-O-O-O-R-I-N-G.

 

[Garz]

Purchased the Taxc Satori tonight after work with evans 10% discount. Shall update thread once I have used collapsed on it tomorrow.

 

[Spinney]

Just ordered rollers from ChainReaction (Wiggle's website said they were in stock, but then they emailed me to say they weren't! grrr).

So tales of falling onto the dining table/kitchen floor will no doubt follow next week sometime (or banging my head on the shed roof, as the clearance there is not a lot!)

 

[fossyant]

Or coming off them at 25 mph and shooting across the room....done that........

 

[Downward]

Hi do Turbo's come with a cycle computer to measure things ?
I use GPS so that's stuffed unless I can get my old cycle computer working and put the magnet on the rear wheel ??

 

[Scoosh]

Hi do Turbo's come with a cycle computer to measure things ?
I use GPS so that's stuffed unless I can get my old cycle computer working and put the magnet on the rear wheel ??

Fancy ones might

I'm considering the same thing of putting my magnet/sender unit on the rear wheel but I know that some of the cheapo receiver units don't like being too far away from the sender. I've had some issues in the past but it might have been just the magnet alignment, rather than the sender-receiver distance. I'd be interested to hear how you get on.

I currently use a VDO 'puter and it still works when it's off its mount and in my back pocket !

 

[Garz]

I have resorted to just using the HRM on the turbo (watch), with computer still feeding back cadence. This keeps track of some stats but as it's indoors as long as I feel like it was a good workout then fake mileage doesn't matter to me.

Sweated big time on it, glad I had a towel handy!