Wattage on turbo trainers

Odds are very good that the 700W will be enough. That's a serious effort to crank out for more than (very) short bursts.

Few people can crank out 700w for any appreciable duration. The difference would only be significant if you plan on doing a lot of short sprint type intervals. The difference is negligible for intervals of a minute or more. Unless you are an absolute beast, you will not be producing more than ~400w working on sustainable, threshold, power.

Looking at the Tacx website, it appears the difference in the trainer wattage will have an effect on the power required to attain a specific wheel speed. To get to 700w on a weaker unit, you need to get to ~38mph wheel speed which will be at a high cadence at a high gear. You can get to 700w at a signficantly lower cadence in the same gear on the 950w unit. If you need to get to high powers at lower cadences, which you probably don't, then going to a higher power/resistance unit makes sense.

I have to not that I was amused by the pictures of the models on the trainers at the Tacx website. On the homepage there is a woman, wearing some of her best kit, appearing to be cranking out some serious watts - they went to the trouble of making her arms appear sweaty, but nowhere else. The bike and mat are pristine. There is no fan to be found, the towel (dry) is halfway across the room.

Every one knows that, when used properly, a stationary trainer will turn you, your bike and the floor into a disgusting, wet sweaty mess. You take a shower afterward to dry off. Trainer time is time for wearing your second or third tier clothing; the stuff that is becoming transparent and loosing the elasticity to keep all your parts somewhat discreetly restrained.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by maydog
....time for wearing your second or third tier clothing; the stuff that is becoming transparent and loosing the elasticity to keep all your parts somewhat discreetly restrained.

Well said!

Maydog, everyone knows women don't sweat or fart!

What freaks me out on the TACX website is the picture of the guy training beside his bathtub...located in full view of the huge skylight roof with multiple apartment buildings looking in on it.

OK...'who' trains in the bathroom? More to the point, is it the same folks that bathe in full view of the neighbors?

OP, the T2650 / 700 Watt unit has an actual 600 Watt rating for a one minute sprint. Then the heat starts to build up and the Wattage resistance starts to fall off.

The T2600 / 950 Watt unit offers an 800 Watt sprint rating for one minute.

As stated by the guys above, unless you are doing repeat sprint intervals or do interval training near those power outputs the lesser model will suffice.

OK...'who' trains in the bathroom? More to the point, is it the same folks that bathe in full view of the neighbors?

People with bladder issues is my guess.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB
Maydog, everyone knows women don't sweat or fart!

What freaks me out on the TACX website is the picture of the guy training beside his bathtub...located in full view of the huge skylight roof with multiple apartment buildings looking in on it.

OK...'who' trains in the bathroom? More to the point, is it the same folks that bathe in full view of the neighbors?

Some marketing agencies are freaking stupid, they should at least know the product they're selling.

I'm renting the 5th floor apartment that looks in on the bath tub...the girlfriend pictured looking at the laptop on the stairs looked pretty hot and I have this kick ass telescope!

Too creeper?

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB

Too creeper?

No not at all, you just sound like you're a really observant man.

I just discovered that by placing the fan behind my trainer I get a great tailwind and increase my speed by 30%.

Kurt Kinetic Road Machine Fluid Trainers series:

[IMG]cyclingforums.com700Open ↗[/IMG]

We created an “average rider" assumed to be:

• 165 lbs.
  
• Riding a 23 lb. bike
  
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• Up a 1% grade
  
• At sea level
  
• With no wind
  
• On rough asphalt
  

The “outdoor ride” that we reference on the comparison chart above is based on this “average” rider's predicted profile using complex calculations of a variety of forces that interact with all outdoor riders including: rider weight, bike weight, atmospheric density, and other less obvious forces like frontal area.

Read more here: kurtkinetic.comkinetic power techOpen ↗

Bob don't diminish my theory. I am on a roll.

I find that the louder I crank my tunes the faster I go and the faster my hearing goes.

What?

You say sumthin'?

I can't remember stranger.

My wife has to repeat things to me...mainly instructions, orders, demands and complaints. I don't even have to pretend not to hear her.

Decades of shooting and hunting without muffs/plugs, motorcycles with straight pipes, loud mowers and tractors, industrial tools and machinery...and let's not forget (more to the point...let's try to remember them!) those '70's rock concerts where 2 to 3 hours 30' away from 50,000 watts of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Who, Yes and Pink Floyd fried the ears (and brain) for days after show.

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends...

I had a hearing test a week ago. Conclusion, I have lost some the high range hearing. No s**t. So have you doc since I came in for plugged inner ear issues.

I'm afraid of what the test results would indicate in my case. I'm still hearing most cars approaching from the rear if the wind noise isn't too bad. I have noticed that starting about 15 to 20 years ago cars and even some light trucks have become so streamlined, aero and what not...and tires have been designed to run so silently...that some vehicles do appear to pass me 'out of no where'. Happened right around the same time I started losing low and high end freqs...coincidence?

Plugged inner ear or middle ear? Just a ream & clean?

I backed the output down to 200-225 Watts this afternoon, but by the time 1/2-hour had gone by I was cranking the bass just to hold the cadence to the beat of some damned electronica from Euroland...Volnix would probably dance to it in a Greek disco. Damn...trainers are the debil. Boring.

We only got an inch of snow today and I thought...for all of 10 seconds...about taking the [censored] equipped Emonda out for another run in the salt water, road slime and fresh coating of grit. But, I'm finding it difficult to treat even Jap scrap [censored] like that.

I got a call yesterday from the friends that live a few minutes from those local ski 'resorts' (hey, they do have a decent bar/lounge!). I'll head up there this weekend if I can get away and take a bike or a pair of ski's along, depending on the weather. Might sleaze around the Winking Lizard and see if I can get slapped or tossed out!