Indoor training and equipment being used?

[uByke]

Hi,

Wanted to reach out to you all and get a better idea of how and what is being done in terms of indoor training. Alone? As a group? Wind trainers? Kinetic, cycleops, Properf etc? Tacx, sufferfest.....

The options and combinations go on, we want to know it all.

Thanks

uByke

 

[AyeYo]

I have a Kinetic and use it with Trainer Road virtual power. I don't know how anyone could train effectively without power. I typically train alone. Some of the shops have group trainer spin classes, but I'd rather follow my own training program. I also only use it during the winter. I'd rather be outside if the weather is sufficiently nice.

 

[Felt_Rider]

1. Alone
2. Trainer Bike: 07 Six13 with PowerTap G3 hub
3. eMotion Rollers resistance setting 1
4. Motorola SD-11 BT headphones
5. iPhone Pandora / Trance Radio
6. Flat screen TV sound muted (usually have the news on, but rarely focus on it)
7. Two fans and a dehumidifier
8. Train according to my own structure / training plan

I have a KK fluid trainer, but only occasionally use it. Used all last week while on vacation since it was smaller and easier to haul.

 

[RapDaddyo]

1. I enjoy training indoors, not as much as riding outside on a nice day, but I don't dread it as some do.
2. I have a whole range of entertainment media options, including a flat screen TV, Apple TV, Netflix, iTunes, etc.
3. I use a Honeywell 3-speed table fan for cooling. Cooling is not a big deal for me because my training room is kept at room temperature.
4. I sometimes use a Seiko electronic metronome for cadence.
5. I want to add an altitude simulator (e.g., Hypoxico) in the future, to train at altitude.
6. I use three trainers, depending on what I want to do:

• CompuTrainer Pro ergometer. This is nice because I can program a complex ride such as a crit simulation or a MAP test.
• Tacx Swing. This is nice and portable, relatively quiet and quick to set up. I use it mainly for pre-race warmups, but I also use it for NMP sessions (e.g., 10x 5sec max power w/ 5mins recovery between). My bikes have power meters, so I have power when I use this trainer.
• Tectrix BikeMax 1000. This is a programmable-resistance trainer (no power). The one thing I like about this trainer is that it has a big, comfortable granny seat that I would never put on a road bike. I use this trainer when I want to do a long, constant power ride. I'll brew up a pot of coffee and put on a movie and just mash away for a couple of hours.

If I were buying a trainer today, I would give a serious look at the Wahoo Fitness KICKR in lieu of the CompuTrainer.

 

[ira41]

Last fall I bought a Powerbeam pro and downloaded 50 or so routes. While I still have limited experience with it, its the only thing that's allowed me to get 3 hours on a trainer done. Its good enough to fool me in feeling like i'm riding outdoors. There is a beginning and an end without keeping time.

Previously indoors I was a serous clock watcher and doing anything over 90 minutes was torture.

 

[smaryka]

Alone for me. KK Road Machine and KK Rock n Roll. Powertap and Power2Max, also virtual power via speed/power curve for winter training (which for me is all about steady efforts in TT position, building threshold power). Dedicated turbo trainer wheels with trainer tires and a straight block cassette or as close to it as I can get. Laptop and/or Garmin displaying power. Big fan. Ipod with playlists and a bunch of other music I play in shuffle mode. Never spend more than ~75 min on the indoor trainer so don't bother with TV, videos, etc. Can't be bothered with the hassle of Sufferfest and all that.

Biggest thing for me is that it's set up and ready to go within 5 min of me deciding I want to use it. So a spare room is most important of all

I also use rollers when I travel with my bike and the weather looks too dire to get out riding much (e.g., in winter). Bike has powermeter so I can make up a variety of rollers workouts and set it up within a few min. At the moment the rollers are set up with a fork stand for TT race warmups which I'm finding is much easier than the trainer and all the **** that goes with it (extra wheel, front wheel block, etc.)

 

[dkrenik]

• Alone - dedicated room in basement
• 2 fans (temp is usually around 68 F)
• Lemond Revolution (very road like)
• TV (muted)
• Boombox with lots of 70's/80's metal and 90's grunge
• I keep it to an hour or so. Used to go 1 1/2 hours during the week and 2-3 hours on weekends (during winter). I don't believe that the training justifies the psychological numbing so I keep it to ~1 hour regardless.
• Overall I like training indoors. Keep it structured and the time passes reasonably well.

 

[AyeYo]

Originally Posted by smaryka
I also use rollers when I travel with my bike and the weather looks too dire to get out riding much (e.g., in winter). Bike has powermeter so I can make up a variety of rollers workouts and set it up within a few min. At the moment the rollers are set up with a fork stand for TT race warmups which I'm finding is much easier than the trainer and all the **** that goes with it (extra wheel, front wheel block, etc.)

Are these regular, no-load rollers? What kind of power can you put down on them?

 

[smaryka]

Originally Posted by AyeYo

Are these regular, no-load rollers? What kind of power can you put down on them?

I started out with regular rollers, they are Cyclops aluminium ones. Was fine for TT warmups as all I do is ramp up my watts steadily til I'm doing a bit above threshold, so my gears are enough to handle that without spinning out.

But I've recently added a resistance unit to it and that feels a bit better, and I can use it for road race warmups too where I want to really ramp up the watts for some surgy stuff.

https://www.sportcrafters.com/products/bike-rollers the overdrive drum is what I bought, the Cadence rollers are identical to the Cyclops ones so it fits perfectly.

If I were buying from scratch for this purpose, I might consider the Omnium rollers as they are nice and small. I hate lugging trainers and rollers to races where I need to set them up anywhere more than a few feet from the car.