New bike or spare wheel?

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Hi, I am after some advice please.

I bought a smart trainer in last year's lockdown and love using it with Zwift. Have put a turbo trainer tyre on my road bike but now the weather is showing signs of improvement I have a bit of a dilemma. Do I buy a spare rear wheel and swap them whenever I want to go out for a ride, or try and buy a cheap 2nd hand road bike to put on the trainer, avoiding the faff of changing wheels?

Storage is a bit of an issue which was making me lean towards a spare wheel, but know I can probably get a bike for similar cost to a wheel and rear set. Also, if I switch wheels is it likely that I will need to adjust the derailleur to ensure smooth changing each time? Know it would be easier to get a cheap bike, and that as long as the gears work and saddle is OK, the rest of it won't really matter. Just means I need to find space for a 3rd bike in the garage (other one is a hybrid which I suppose I could use on the turbo).

Finally, see elsewhere on here that some people just advocate using a road tyre on the trainer, so guess I could do that and accept i might need to replace the road tyre more frequently. That could be the easiest option!

Any thoughts/advice?
 
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Oldhippy

Cynical idealist
Real bike every time.
 

Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
If you can leave the bike permanently setup on the trainer. Then get a cheap spare bike. If not then get a spare wheel. It doesn’t take long the change in scheme of things if setting up turbo each time.

Also depends on how frequently you use the turbo. I’m generally once maybe twice a week so swapping wheels is no biggie.
 

rivers

How far can I go?
Location
Bristol
I've gone cheap second hand spare wheel with the same ratio cassette. My TT bike is currently set-up on the turbo. My summer road bike also has the same ratio cassette,so I can swap between the 2 bikes in about 5 minutes. If the weather ever improves, it will take me a few minutes to swap wheels and away I go. I've just recently swapped from a cheap road tyre to a turbo tyre. It's noticeably quieter.
 
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