Best way for training indoors: Spin Bike or Trainer



somegaveall

New Member
Dec 17, 2006
5
0
0
Which way would be better for training indoors. I've been wanting to get a cycleops fluid trainer - that way I can use my bike (Giant OCR 2) and my shoes.

However, I saw a Giant Tempo spin bike. It looked nice and it supports clipless pedals. The bike costs a good deal more than the trainer. Which one is better, or which one would you prefer?
 
somegaveall said:
Which way would be better for training indoors. I've been wanting to get a cycleops fluid trainer - that way I can use my bike (Giant OCR 2) and my shoes.

However, I saw a Giant Tempo spin bike. It looked nice and it supports clipless pedals. The bike costs a good deal more than the trainer. Which one is better, or which one would you prefer?
The trainer. If possible, forget about spin bikes.
 
SolarEnergy said:
The trainer. If possible, forget about spin bikes.
If you are willing to spend that amount of money on a spin bike, just get a nice fluid trainer like the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine or other trainer such as the 1up USA and then buy a cheap set of rollers from nashbar or performance. I bought the 1up and nashbar reduced radius rollers and love them both. They both accomplish different things.
~Nick
 
I agree with getting a fluid trainer. I have a Cycleops Fluid2 and love it. I've never tried anything else so I can't comment on that. The reason I'd get a trainer over a spin bike is because you will feel different (in terms of geometry). You should ride your OCR 2 so you really can get comfortable on it, not so your switching riding styles right before the beginning of the season because of you riding a different setup all winter.
 
Fluid trainers feel more like the road I have the Kurt Kinetic with the speed to power computer for power based workouts.
 
ccrnnr9 said:
If you are willing to spend that amount of money on a spin bike, just get a nice fluid trainer like the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine or other trainer such as the 1up USA and then buy a cheap set of rollers from nashbar or performance. I bought the 1up and nashbar reduced radius rollers and love them both. They both accomplish different things.
~Nick
Im a bit of a newbie when it comes to these things, but looking for the ability to train indoors.

am i correct in assuming that the fluid trainer is used to develop power and the rollers are more stability / even stroke?
 
The most important thing in indoor training is the power measurement. Training stationary means that temperature, heart rate and feeling tempt to raise during the exercise. Without power meter this may lead to power decrease during e.g. the common 2*20 min intervals.

OTOH, one can ride with steady power with both rollers and trainers.
 
I have ridden three types of devices indoors: rollers, trainers and ergometers, in that order. I actually had a custom set of rollers built to my specifications in 1970 because all of the commercially available models were too narrow for my preference. Riding rollers does help a bit with balance and smoothness in high-cadence spinning, but I think variable resistance trainers (or rollers) trumps that benefit by miles. Most recently I have become familiar with ergometers and they are now my first choice by about one million to one. The benefit of ergometers is the ability to program a workout (by power), regardless of how complex the workout is. One can program any of a number of standard workouts, a TT course, crit simulation, you name it. When you get on the ergometer, the workout is pre-defined. You ride it until it's over or you stop pedaling. Targeting specific adaptations by power is priority one, hands down. If I were making this decision today, I would get the Velodyne ($2500), CompuTrainer ($1600) or the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine ($275) in that order (depending on my resources).
 
How do the Velodyne and Computrainer compare with the KK for road like pedal resistance? What type of resistance unit does the Velodyne use? Which one is the more heavy duty for sprints? Thanks

RapDaddyo said:
I have ridden three types of devices indoors: rollers, trainers and ergometers, in that order. I actually had a custom set of rollers built to my specifications in 1970 because all of the commercially available models were too narrow for my preference. Riding rollers does help a bit with balance and smoothness in high-cadence spinning, but I think variable resistance trainers (or rollers) trumps that benefit by miles. Most recently I have become familiar with ergometers and they are now my first choice by about one million to one. The benefit of ergometers is the ability to program a workout (by power), regardless of how complex the workout is. One can program any of a number of standard workouts, a TT course, crit simulation, you name it. When you get on the ergometer, the workout is pre-defined. You ride it until it's over or you stop pedaling. Targeting specific adaptations by power is priority one, hands down. If I were making this decision today, I would get the Velodyne ($2500), CompuTrainer ($1600) or the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine ($275) in that order (depending on my resources).
 
wiredued said:
How do the Velodyne and Computrainer compare with the KK for road like pedal resistance? What type of resistance unit does the Velodyne use? Which one is the more heavy duty for sprints? Thanks
The Velodyne probably trumps the other two for road-like resistance due to its 20lb flywheel as compared with ~6.5lbs. But, they are all quite acceptable in this area. The Velodyne has a range of 40-1400W compared with the CT 50-1500W, but according to the user manual in ergometer mode the CT range is limited to 995W. The Velodyne is not very mobile, so you don't want to be moving it around. I plan to get a CT and a Velodyne, with the CT for the road and the Velodyne for my home torture chamber. It's hard to justify the price of either compared with the KK at its price. It's really the ergo mode that I find attractive, especially for complex TT courses, crit simulations and the like. You can do it all on the KK but without the convenience of the "autopilot" feature of the CT and Velodyne. Some might like the "movies" you can get for the CT, but I can't even watch TV when I ride my trainer due to the sweat in my eyes. Music is nice, but I don't need any visuals (other than the lifesize color photo of the charging Bengal tiger on the wall behind me:D ).
 
RapDaddyo said:
Some might like the "movies" you can get for the CT, but I can't even watch TV when I ride my trainer due to the sweat in my eyes. Music is nice, but I don't need any visuals (other than the lifesize color photo of the charging Bengal tiger on the wall behind me:D ).
Sounds like you should check out this headband. I have the full head style for the winter and will get the headband only one for summer. Not one drop of sweat on my shades riding outdoors since i got one.

http://www.rei.com/product/47804477.htm

Unless of course the stinging salt in your eyes helps motivate you to keep that tiger off your heels. :eek:
 
Pureshot78 said:
Sounds like you should check out this headband. I have the full head style for the winter and will get the headband only one for summer. Not one drop of sweat on my shades riding outdoors since i got one.

http://www.rei.com/product/47804477.htm

Unless of course the stinging salt in your eyes helps motivate you to keep that tiger off your heels. :eek:
Thanks for the suggestion. I ordered one today. My FTP will probably go up by 10W because now I'll be able to see the tiger's teeth so much better.:D
 
can anyone make a suggestion as ot the best trainer to get for < AUD$500?

I'm looking at the minora ones, there is the 850 which has remote and the VFS which doesn't, but is more expensive because it is a fluid drive one.

can anyone care to make suggestions? pass comments? thankyou in advance.
 
How much resistance can actually be generated on a set of rollers, is it sufficient to do FTP training on a bike with a PM?
 
Nicolai Foss said:
How much resistance can actually be generated on a set of rollers, is it sufficient to do FTP training on a bike with a PM?
I'm sure it depends on the specific model rollers, but my 4.5" Alloy Kreitler Rollers with the Killer Headwind unit provides enough resistance for my needs. Here are some numbers from a recent interval workout (measured via a PowerTap):

Fan 1/3rd open:
180watts = 16.3mph
325watts = 22.6mph

Fan closed:
180watts = 18.6mph
325watts = 25.4mph

As you can tell from the speeds @ 325 Watts, I still had bigger gears available. Even when doing Level 6 efforts, I have never needed to open the fan more than 1/3rd (opening the fan vent increases resistance). But it's nice to know I have that headroom if I end up making massive improvements at some point!? :)

The Kreilter's resistance also feels more "road-like" than any trainer I've tried. I think it's the combination of the 4.5" aluminum drums and Headwind fan that gives it the right mix of rotational inertia and resistance. Not to mention the quality of these rollers is topnotch. They're solidly built and very smooth. I've had my set for 13 years! I highly recommend them!

Although I'm still intrigued by the ability to stand and sprint on the E-Motion Rollers. It's difficult to stand and sprint on "standard" rollers, so if I have to do a Level 7 workout indoors, I'll do them on my Cycle-Ops Fluid2 trainer.
 
Uhl said:
I'm sure it depends on the specific model rollers, but my 4.5" Alloy Kreitler Rollers with the Killer Headwind unit provides enough resistance for my needs. Here are some numbers from a recent interval workout (measured via a PowerTap):

Fan 1/3rd open:
180watts = 16.3mph
325watts = 22.6mph

Fan closed:
180watts = 18.6mph
325watts = 25.4mph

As you can tell from the speeds @ 325 Watts, I still had bigger gears available. Even when doing Level 6 efforts, I have never needed to open the fan more than 1/3rd (opening the fan vent increases resistance). But it's nice to know I have that headroom if I end up making massive improvements at some point!? :)

The Kreilter's resistance also feels more "road-like" than any trainer I've tried. I think it's the combination of the 4.5" aluminum drums and Headwind fan that gives it the right mix of rotational inertia and resistance. Not to mention the quality of these rollers is topnotch. They're solidly built and very smooth. I've had my set for 13 years! I highly recommend them!

Although I'm still intrigued by the ability to stand and sprint on the E-Motion Rollers. It's difficult to stand and sprint on "standard" rollers, so if I have to do a Level 7 workout indoors, I'll do them on my Cycle-Ops Fluid2 trainer.
Thats very interesting. But I was wondering if any rollers without a resistance unit was able to give a resistance that would allow approx 280-300 watts.
 
Nicolai Foss said:
Thats very interesting. But I was wondering if any rollers without a resistance unit was able to give a resistance that would allow approx 280-300 watts.
It depends. Some will, some won't. You really need to try some to find out. Different bearings, different drum diameters, different drum weights, different drum surfaces etc etc all have an impact. I've ridden some that I can barely get above L1 but my own set (Technique Performance) I can easily do 350W and be no where near top gear. Mine are great for road bike warm ups but can make track bike warm ups problematic as you don't have gears to select for resistance.
Mine are not top end rollers but they are pretty heavy and have a plastic type surface, not the super smooth metal of some.
 
Nicolai Foss said:
Thats very interesting. But I was wondering if any rollers without a resistance unit was able to give a resistance that would allow approx 280-300 watts.
Since I always ride with the fan, I didn't know the answer to your question...until now! I just went out to the garage and rode for a few minutes without the fan attached. This is what I got:

200watts = 24.4mph
300watts = 33.4mph

At 33.4mph, I only had a couple gears left, so while you can do 280-300watts, I'm sure you don't want to be limited to that. So take Alex's advice and ask around then try various units out.

But if the budget allows, the Kreitlers with the Killer Headwind fan is great. The fan doubles as a cooling device. With the vent 1/3rd open, it provides almost as much airflow as my 2' floor-standing electric fan.