TDF training bike...any good?

[BigonaBianchi]

http://boutique.letour.fr/stores/letour/products/product_details.aspx?pid=136295

Ok..so I don't have the cash to splash yet...but im saving...and one of the things on my hit list is a good turbo or training bike for the long winter months. I saw this advertised and thought hmmm...bloody expensive but maybe it's better than others??

Ideally I would like a screen and to be able to ride my own bike in 'virtual reality' while it's peeing down outside all winter. Does anybody have any suggestions for alternative to the above that do that?
Just sitting on a bike staring at a wall is not going to work for me.

I know many will post up that you can t beat the real deal etc etc...I know I know I know...but I'll be doing that when I can as well, but a good indoor training bike would be very useful .

TIA

 

[fossyant]

Real deal I am afraid. Seeing as you like your tours etc. sitting on a turbo or similar is mind numbing.

I only use a turbo if injured. That said my turbo has been lent to a forum member for the last year !

 

[User269]

Have a look at one of the Tacx trainers; http://www.tacx.com/en/products/trainers/i-flow
You will need a powerful computer with a good video card, processor and RAM to run it well.
Even if you need to buy a new computer to run it, it might work out cheaper and have better features. You can use it as a basic ergo trainer with all the data you need plus resistance, or you can do VR rides which looks like a computer game and allows you feel the slope of the hills on the course, steer, and compete against 'bots', previous versions of yourself, and also other real riders whose data you can import. You can create or import rides then do them in Google Earth, including 'street view', again, the electronic braking will read the slope and apply resistance. You can buy tacx DVDs, of Mont Ventoux for example, and watch the route in HD whilst riding against the slope. You can ride against real opponents both live online, or by importing their data to ride against.

As an increasingly fair weather cyclist I found it to be an enjoyable and effective way of training over the past chilly winter.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

Thanks...the tacx stuff looks more like what I'm after

 

[Ben M]

That strikes me as a colossal waste of money... I assume that you already own a bike and a television? Just buy a turbo trainer and job done...

 

[User269]

That strikes me as a colossal waste of money... I assume that you already own a bike and a television? Just buy a turbo trainer and job done...

Make sure you don't buy one then.
And how stupid of us not to realise that a bike, television, and a turbo trainer would do the job.
If only we'd thought of that ourselves.

 

[Ben M]

Make sure you don't buy one then.
And how stupid of us not to realise that a bike, television, and a turbo trainer would do the job.
If only we'd thought of that ourselves.

I don't plan to.

I still see no argument for buying a machine such as this, and your sarcastic reply failed to enlighten me.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

http://boutique.letour.fr/stores/letour/products/product_details.aspx?pid=136295

Ok..so I don't have the cash to splash yet...but im saving...and one of the things on my hit list is a good turbo or training bike for the long winter months. I saw this advertised and thought hmmm...bloody expensive but maybe it's better than others??

Ideally I would like a screen and to be able to ride my own bike in 'virtual reality' while it's peeing down outside all winter. Does anybody have any suggestions for alternative to the above that do that?
Just sitting on a bike staring at a wall is not going to work for me.

I know many will post up that you can t beat the real deal etc etc...I know I know I know...but I'll be doing that when I can as well, but a good indoor training bike would be very useful .

TIA

Tried one of these today and I'm pretty impressed, they do power readings and automatically vary resistance for inclines and the bikes lean for the inclines and descent. I think they are being discounted at the moment because there is a new one coming out which uses standard bike bars, Di2 style shifters and standard bike seats.
I got offered one today for £800 but having seen both am waiting for the next Gen to hit the UK, its only available in the US at this time
The only thing I thought they could improve on was the Q-factor which is noticeably wider than my bikes

 

[BigonaBianchi]

Im thinking of getting the tracx set up...I have a wide screen tv and a fast high ram gigamyjig laptop so im thinking run the video on the wide screen from my laptop...it will never replace real rides even in winter but it will be another way to stay in shape on a seriously cruddy day..of which there are too many.
Right....now where did I hide my piggy bank?...

 

[amaferanga]

Do they actually measure power or just infer it like most gym bikes and turbo trainers?

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Do they actually measure power or just infer it like most gym bikes and turbo trainers?

They claim to measure it, but I've not looked into it deeper so am unable to confirm

 

[themosquitoking]

Those tacx things look cool but how do you turn round a corner on them? Front forks look locked in place.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Those tacx things look cool but how do you turn round a corner on them? Front forks look locked in place.

They have a front wheel block which is kinda like a turn table.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Just in case there are other numpties like me on this thread, I had to look up Q-factor:

 

[themosquitoking]

They have a front wheel block which is kinda like a turn table.

Ah, the picture i saw had the front forks in a rack.