Turbo trainer

[nickyboy]

Only just seen this thread and was hoping to push the button today on a turbo. As I get older I worry more about bombing around the hills in wintry weather.

I was going to go for a fluid-resistance model. But the comment upthread about variability in resistance due to temperature has made me think. I'll be using it in an (almost) unheated conservatory. So at the moment it isn't much above freezing. But it could be 15 degrees on a sunny winter's day. Much variability with this sort of temperature spread?

To keep motivation I'll need to set targets etc so I don't want variability in resistance to undermine this

Looks like Cycleops is a recommended brand. Their mag version I can buy for £104, the fluid version is about double that. So bearing I mind the potential issue with temperature varying the fluid resistance, is it worth the extra?

 

[Rob3rt]

Temp variation with a fluid trainer is NOT an issue. When you 1st get on and start pedalling, speed for a given power will be higher, then as it warms up, speed for the same power tends to reduce for maybe 10 minutes and then the speed vs power relationship is extremely stable. Day to day, the speed vs power relationship is highly repeatable.

I should know, I've done about 900 hours on one in the last couple of years...

 

[Rob3rt]

A magnetic one offers more consistent resistance,fluid ones vary day to day temperature etc...OK if you are not specific training and just slugging it out,but not consistent enough for recording linear gains

Absolute bollocks!

 

[nickyboy]

Temp variation with a fluid trainer is NOT an issue. When you 1st get on and start pedalling, speed for a given power will be higher, then as it warms up, speed for the same power tends to reduce for maybe 10 minutes and then the speed vs power relationship is extremely stable. Day to day, the speed vs power relationship is highly repeatable.

I should know, I've done about 900 hours on one in the last couple of years...

Thanks for shooting down that myth. Appreciate you may have a super all singing and dancing trainer, but any view on the Cyclops mag @£104 v Cyclops fluid @£208?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cycleops-fluid-2-trainer/
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cycleops-mag-trainer/

New to turbos but I have a fair bit of free time so I would anticipate using it maybe 5-6 hours per week

 

[Rob3rt]

Thanks for shooting down that myth. Appreciate you may have a super all singing and dancing trainer, but any view on the Cyclops mag @£104 v Cyclops fluid @£208?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cycleops-fluid-2-trainer/
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cycleops-mag-trainer/

I have a CycleOps Fluid2 (after about a thousand hours of use, it finally gave up and started to leak oil, Paligap, the UK distributer are posting me a new resistance unit, no questions asked, without the need to even return the broken one).

My partner has a CycleOps Mag (which I occasionally use to warm up on at races, if our start times are far enough apart - saves taking two trainers and it is the lightest and most compact of the two given the smaller resistance unit and also the lack of a flywheel).

I would buy the Fluid2 every time. The mag trainer is a toy, the fluid one is a tool!

 

[Hip Priest]

Temp variation with a fluid trainer is NOT an issue. When you 1st get on and start pedalling, speed for a given power will be higher, then as it warms up, speed for the same power tends to reduce for maybe 10 minutes and then the speed vs power relationship is extremely stable. Day to day, the speed vs power relationship is highly repeatable.

I should know, I've done about 900 hours on one in the last couple of years...

 

[Rob3rt]

@Hip Priest Excuse me?

 

[nickyboy]

I have a CycleOps Fluid2 (after about a thousand hours of use, it finally gave up and started to leak oil, Paligap, the UK distributer are posting me a new resistance unit, no questions asked, without the need to even return the broken one).

My partner has a CycleOps Mag (which I occasionally use to warm up on at races, if our start times are far enough apart - saves taking two trainers and it is the lightest and most compact of the two given the smaller resistance unit and also the lack of a flywheel).

I would buy the Fluid2 every time. The mag trainer is a toy, the fluid one is a tool!

Thanks very much. I'll press the button on the Fluid2

 

[Rob3rt]

You could also consider the Kurt Kinetic road machine (or Rock 'n' Roll), not familiar with the prices, but they are very well regarded trainers too. You can also buy a larger flywheel for them if desired, which provides an even more road like experience.

 

[Hip Priest]

@Hip Priest Excuse me?

Sorry, I meant to say that it was Graeme Obree that put the idea in my head that fluid trainers were inconsistent. He also advises you to remove the flywheel and resistance cable. It's interesting to hear the alternative view.

 

[Rob3rt]

Maybe they were inconsistent back when he was using them, I don't know. But I do know that the Kurt Kinetic and CycleOps Fluid trainers are well regarded in terms of their power vs speed characteristics and in my experience, having used mine in my parents garage at -3 degrees and in my kitchen in the middle of summer when the temp is >20 degress, I get the same speed for the same power, within a very small margin of error beyond the 1st 10 minutes or so. I suspect the heat generated by the resistance unit dominates with regards to it's temperature (and thus speed vs power relationship) in use, as opposed to atmospheric temperature. The rate of stabilisation during warming up is likely to vary a bit but beyond that, I think it is near irrelevant.

You could always stick a temp sensor to the resistance unit casing and see what the temp is vs the room temp for various room temperatures and also log the rate of change of temp at the resistance unit for various room temps, if you wanted conclusive proof of my suspicions etc. But for me, it isn't worth it, since the stable power and speed data is enough for me.

With regards the flywheel, well that opens up a can of worms...

 

[ColinJ]

I don't understand what people are doing on turbo trainers to get bored!

I can't see much point in getting on one and messing about for hours, so I would only use one when I wanted to pack a lot of effort into a relatively short period of time and in that case I would be too focussed on what I was doing for boredom to be a factor.

 

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

Sorry, I meant to say that it was Graeme Obree that put the idea in my head that fluid trainers were inconsistent. He also advises you to remove the flywheel and resistance cable. It's interesting to hear the alternative view.

I found it hard to read The Obree Way and consider any of it as serious. Sure I'll just start lobbing cables off my turbo, might even unplug it from the mains first...

 

[Hip Priest]

I found it hard to read The Obree Way and consider any of it as serious. Sure I'll just start lobbing cables off my turbo, might even unplug it from the mains first...

He is a bit single-minded. A classic British eccentric. I'll wager that plenty of world-class cyclists achieve success without butchering their turbo trainers, using Olbas Oil to open up their nasal passages, and taking a jug into the shed to wee in.

I still found it an enjoyable read though. I'm new to training, so all the stuff about proper recovery and how to pace time trials was useful.

 

[shadow master]

He is a bit single-minded. A classic British eccentric. I'll wager that plenty of world-class cyclists achieve success without butchering their turbo trainers, using Olbas Oil to open up their nasal passages, and taking a jug into the shed to wee in.

I still found it an enjoyable read though. I'm new to training, so all the stuff about proper recovery and how to pace time trials was useful.

He was only an Olympic champion,world champion,hour record holder,time trial record holder,all drug free,and one of the most influential people in the cycling world! Why listen to a word he says?people on here must know better,riding a few hundred miles a year on there cobbled together eBay purchases lol.