Turbo trainer Vs Excercise bike
Discussion
Recently had a heart attack, so looking at getting something to help with exercise at home.
I currently have a Trek Marlin 5 mountain bike so thought about a turbo trainer, but I believe that you have to replace the rear tyre with a smooth one for the A frame turbo trainers, or I can get a direct drive turbo trainer, but confused as to what tends to come with those, and if they would be a direct fit.
The other option is a excercise bike.
Figured that the collective minds of PH would be a good place to ask for peoples advice and opinions.
TIA
I currently have a Trek Marlin 5 mountain bike so thought about a turbo trainer, but I believe that you have to replace the rear tyre with a smooth one for the A frame turbo trainers, or I can get a direct drive turbo trainer, but confused as to what tends to come with those, and if they would be a direct fit.
The other option is a excercise bike.
Figured that the collective minds of PH would be a good place to ask for peoples advice and opinions.
TIA
Hi Op, I wouldn’t bother with the old tyre turbo trainers, you’ll soon get bored and want to upgrade. I recently invested in a smart turbo trainer (wahoo kickr V5) and a Zwift account (£12.99 a month). It’s a game changer, the workouts, races, rides are brilliant and really encourage more riding, a quick 20 min ride at lunch with no faffing getting the bike out, rain etc. There are exercises for all levels so don’t be put off when looking at the pros on YouTube. Your trek will fit as they come with different adaptors.
On the other hand, I quite like a simple dumb Turbo Trainer.
I'd advise getting a fluid based model as they are quiet and offer good resistance.
The very cheap magnetic models seem to lose their drag and make a noise.
They make a great bench stand for working on the bike though!
Yes you need a smooth tyre. I got one secondhand and put it on a spare wheel.
An ordinary tyre is just noisy and you'll wear it, making a lot of black dust.
I just use a simple bike speedo and go a few minutes at target speeds to give some sort of measure of my effort.
I just get on it and pedal away thinking about other stuff, maybe with some music on.
My feeling is that gym type exercise bikes are either rubbish or very expensive, but I can't claim to have tried all of them!
If you want to do indoor racing or cycle in some sort of video game, that's great, but not everyone needs that.
I got my trainer in Lockdown, when supply was short, so paid good money to someone who'd upgraded to a smart type.
The biggest wind-up for me is that the cheap bike speedos are terribly unreliable, there seems to be a gap in the market between £5 tat and OTT stuff with GPS and internet banking.
A bonus of the simple option is that my wife uses it too, I can't see her getting involved with a 'boy's toy' smart trainer.
Our is an Elite Chrono Fluid I think.
I'd advise getting a fluid based model as they are quiet and offer good resistance.
The very cheap magnetic models seem to lose their drag and make a noise.
They make a great bench stand for working on the bike though!
Yes you need a smooth tyre. I got one secondhand and put it on a spare wheel.
An ordinary tyre is just noisy and you'll wear it, making a lot of black dust.
I just use a simple bike speedo and go a few minutes at target speeds to give some sort of measure of my effort.
I just get on it and pedal away thinking about other stuff, maybe with some music on.
My feeling is that gym type exercise bikes are either rubbish or very expensive, but I can't claim to have tried all of them!
If you want to do indoor racing or cycle in some sort of video game, that's great, but not everyone needs that.
I got my trainer in Lockdown, when supply was short, so paid good money to someone who'd upgraded to a smart type.
The biggest wind-up for me is that the cheap bike speedos are terribly unreliable, there seems to be a gap in the market between £5 tat and OTT stuff with GPS and internet banking.
A bonus of the simple option is that my wife uses it too, I can't see her getting involved with a 'boy's toy' smart trainer.
Our is an Elite Chrono Fluid I think.
I'm in Smart trainer camp. One of the best things I've bought and only did so due to an injury that put me off the bike for a few months, couldn't be without it now over the winter.
If you buy one I'd advise you to try all the various apps you can get before settling on one. Some people love Zwift but I didn't gel with it preferring the more realistic ones like Rouvy and FulGaz....
If you buy one I'd advise you to try all the various apps you can get before settling on one. Some people love Zwift but I didn't gel with it preferring the more realistic ones like Rouvy and FulGaz....
Don’t discount a set of traditional rollers. They are very good for teaching you a smooth pedalling style and give more of your body a workout as you have to balance all the time you’re on it. Easy to use your MTB on with the knobbly tyres - just adjust the position of the front filler s I it is under the front wheel and off you go.
Full disclosure - it is traditional to fall off them a couple of times whilst you get the hang of it, but you’ll soon get it.
Full disclosure - it is traditional to fall off them a couple of times whilst you get the hang of it, but you’ll soon get it.
I use an old Tacx Flow magnetic turbo with what was once the cutting edge in "computer" readouts. It can be calibrated and gives approximations of the pedal & road speeds plus the power you're generating in watts. You can adjust the magnetic resistance and apart from me once tripping over the lead and ripping it, the rig has been reliable and smoother than previous magnetic trainers.
Fluid trainers are just as quiet and probably smoother, but unless you're spending a lot they don't have as wide range of resistances. Bang/buck they are usually a better value package than magnetic, or at least that was the case when I got mine. (I paid more for the resistance/readouts)
I've used gym exercise bikes and some are very good, the downside is that they were the ones costing £1K+, not the £500/£600 models. If your intention is to replicate road riding them I struggled to get an identical riding position on a gym bike, they are adjustable but just not the same as your own bike.
A cheap fluid turbo plus smooth tyre would get you up and running but the biggest drag is boredom. To get benefits you need to measure what you're doing and relate to previous sessions, just sitting and pedalling for half an hour isn't going to cut it.
Like another poster I fitted a speedo to the rear wheel on my previous turbos to check my progress and do stuff like measured intervals, etc. An MP3 player is another essential unless you're on a smart trainer with a video feed to keep your attention.
Fluid trainers are just as quiet and probably smoother, but unless you're spending a lot they don't have as wide range of resistances. Bang/buck they are usually a better value package than magnetic, or at least that was the case when I got mine. (I paid more for the resistance/readouts)
I've used gym exercise bikes and some are very good, the downside is that they were the ones costing £1K+, not the £500/£600 models. If your intention is to replicate road riding them I struggled to get an identical riding position on a gym bike, they are adjustable but just not the same as your own bike.
A cheap fluid turbo plus smooth tyre would get you up and running but the biggest drag is boredom. To get benefits you need to measure what you're doing and relate to previous sessions, just sitting and pedalling for half an hour isn't going to cut it.
Like another poster I fitted a speedo to the rear wheel on my previous turbos to check my progress and do stuff like measured intervals, etc. An MP3 player is another essential unless you're on a smart trainer with a video feed to keep your attention.
Difficult to see what data is output from that.
In any case, I would advise using a proper heart rate monitor (chest strap type) and structuring your workouts according to heart rate.
Get advice on this.
It is surprisingly easy to over do it on a bike trainer, and using a HRM will give you the tools to build up strength and endurance without creating problems.
In any case, I would advise using a proper heart rate monitor (chest strap type) and structuring your workouts according to heart rate.
Get advice on this.
It is surprisingly easy to over do it on a bike trainer, and using a HRM will give you the tools to build up strength and endurance without creating problems.
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