turbo trainer a few strange questions (maybe)

[lutonloony]

Apologies if this should be in the turbo trainer thread, but looking at it feel this is more of a beginners spot. Please move if req'd

In a moment of madness it was decided that we ( a small local charity) would do a fund raiser using "exercise bikes"

It seemed to me to be a better idea to buy a cheap trainer, so that proper bikes could be used. I has only got to last 12 hrs ish, so not looking at spending a huge amount. If we wanted to keep a track of mileage, I am assuming that we would need to fit cheapo cycle computers using the back wheel for the sender/sensor?

Does this sound feasible, also would I be possible to switch bikes over relatively easily.

TIA for replies from those who know what they are talking about

 

[Shortandcrisp]

I would suggest hiring a watt bike for the duration or asking a local gym for permission to use theirs for the charity ride.
Might be rather a lot of faffing about with a turbo trainer ( even one with a quick release mechanism).
Others might disagree.

 

[mjr]

I don't know what I'm talking about about trainers (sorry) but exercise bikes seem to go for about £50 second-hand for really quite posh ones so it barely seems worth it if it'll cost more than that (because of the wear on tyres and so on) unless you don't have a beefy van to transport exercise bikes (because most of them seem to weigh a ton), in which case riding bikes to the location and having someone bring turbos in a trailer or car might be a good option.

 

[ColinJ]

The 'mileage' doesn't mean anything so I suggest not bothering about it!

Effectively all it would do is to tell you how many times the wheels went round but not how difficult it was to make them do it. If you set the trainer resistance really low then it would be easy to pedal away for 'miles'. Set it high and you probably wouldn't even manage 5 'miles'.

Why not just set the resistance to something quite hard but manageable and then measure the effort in hours instead?

 

[JtB]

If it's a charity event I don't see the problem with tracking the mileage via a cheap cycling computer and a sensor on the rear wheel. It's just a bit of fun and doesn't need to be calibrated to real road conditions.

 

[Justinslow]

It's super easy to swap bikes on a turbo, my elite Volaire uses a special QR though (to fit the turbo clamp) so you may have to swap that too. If using cheapo odometer then presumably each bike would need one otherwise you'd be swapping the sensor and computer over too? Could you not just use the same bike and adjust the saddle height?

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

The 'mileage' doesn't mean anything so I suggest not bothering about it!

Effectively all it would do is to tell you how many times the wheels went round but not how difficult it was to make them do it. If you set the trainer resistance really low then it would be easy to pedal away for 'miles'. Set it high and you probably wouldn't even manage 5 'miles'.

Why not just set the resistance to something quite hard but manageable and then measure the effort in hours instead?

Actually in this instance it does. "We're hoping to ride 500 miles in 12 hours and gather up some much needed £ for charity" sounds a lot fancier and painful than "We're taking turns riding here for 12 hrs to gather up some much needed £ for charity"

To a non cyclist, the triviality of miles on a turbo is wasted, so you exploit it and make the fund raiser sound like a real challenge. Talk it up and passers by may well feel compelled to dig a bit deeper.

 

[Shortandcrisp]

Actually in this instance it does. "We're hoping to ride 500 miles in 12 hours and gather up some much needed £ for charity" sounds a lot fancier and painful than "We're taking turns riding here for 12 hrs to gather up some much needed £ for charity"

To a non cyclist, the triviality of miles on a turbo is wasted, so you exploit it and make the fund raiser sound like a real challenge. Talk it up and passers by may well feel compelled to dig a bit deeper.

Or don't tell them how far you hope to travel, get people to sponsor you per mile and put the turbo setting on super easy!

 

[Sunny Portrush]

The 'mileage' doesn't mean anything so I suggest not bothering about it!

Effectively all it would do is to tell you how many times the wheels went round but not how difficult it was to make them do it. If you set the trainer resistance really low then it would be easy to pedal away for 'miles'. Set it high and you probably wouldn't even manage 5 'miles'.

Why not just set the resistance to something quite hard but manageable and then measure the effort in hours instead?

So, if you only count miles if they are done hard, do you ignore the miles you do when descending during a ride, after all, the resistance will be really, really low

 

[ColinJ]

So, if you only count miles if they are done hard, do you ignore the miles you do when descending during a ride, after all, the resistance will be really, really low

But my uphill miles are more than twice as hard as flat miles would have been so they make up for it!

For example - today's 22 mile ride had over 2,400 ft of climbing including several sections at 20%. A flat 22 mile ride would have been way easier.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Or don't tell them how far you hope to travel, get people to sponsor you per mile and put the turbo setting on super easy!

That works too of course

 

[lutonloony]

Just to give a bit more info. We have managed to blag an exercise bike from one of the local gyms. Hoping to use two bikes for 12.5 hours thus making it 25 hrs as it is our silver jubilee. We are a community transport, so aiming for 365 miles (a mile a day type thing). Easy peasy settings,, but as stated earlier, joe public hopefully will have little perception. Also not all of the volunteers are keen cyclists, so don't want to kill them off

Thanks for all thoughts/comments so far

 

[huggy]

That's 14.6 miles per hour for 2 bikes for 12.5 hours with no breaks, not even to change riders. You need to test to see if 15 plus mph is possible no matter what resistance setting is used.

 

[lutonloony]

That's 14.6 miles per hour for 2 bikes for 12.5 hours with no breaks, not even to change riders. You need to test to see if 15 plus mph is possible no matter what resistance setting is used.

it will make it a good challenge!! (not sure we will manage, but it gives us something to aim for)

 

[lutonloony]

It's super easy to swap bikes on a turbo, my elite Volaire uses a special QR though (to fit the turbo clamp) so you may have to swap that too. If using cheapo odometer then presumably each bike would need one otherwise you'd be swapping the sensor and computer over too? Could you not just use the same bike and adjust the saddle height?

problem with changing seat height is that I am 6'3" and we have little people, but I suppose we could use mine for the giants and use the exercise bike for normal people