Turbo trainer recommendations

[Ken Sington]

Since I only tend to use the place for cardio training anyway, have decided to dump my excessively pricey London gym membership, since what I save on that will very quickly cover the cost of a decent TT. What is a good set up? The Tacx Flow looks pretty good, but there seems to be a big jump in prices from there to the systems that can be ridden with a hook up to virtual riding. Any recommendations?

And to those who want to respond, just get out and ride, I agree, but the clue is in the word London, to which you can add winter/traffic/dark/wet/taxis/white vans

[Bobley]

I dont think you need anything flash at all. I've got the old version of this

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/elite-volare-ma...

and its been a steady workhorse for best part of 10yrs now. Forget the computer gadgets, as long as you can get the mindset to keep it turning and you can monitor your heart rate to make sure you know you're pushing on then jobs a good'n.

If you must get some toys then a cheap wired bike computer (wired becasue the wireless ones range wont reach the back wheel) can tell you an effective speed and cadence. Speed is kind of irrelevant I suppose but cadence is handy if trying to keep in check with a Sufferfest vid.

If you're in a flat you would have to make sure you park it on a thick mat as is may whirr a bit.

There is an Elite direct drive turbo which is ultra quiet but its new so £££s.

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/t...

Edited by Bobley on Thursday 19th September 12:33

[murray]

I had a Tacx flow which I really struggled to do any tempo or threshold sessions on as it just seemed so hard compared to doing things on the road. I've got a Powertap on the bike but generating the Watts on the Flow seemed a lot harder than on the road. Could very rarely do a simple tempo session which would be very easy on the road. I also found motivation and boredom an issue. Decided to buy a tacx Genius and sold the flow in whilst waiting for delivery. Got he Genius set it up, calibrated it etc. trully shocking doing the RLV. Any gradient > 5% and you couldnt turn the pedals or if you could it was just mashing. Sent it back, was confimed that it was faulty which seems quite a common occurrence nad got a refund. Decided to up the ante a bit and ordered a Wattbike. What a difference, no messing around, no problem doing tempo or threshold sessions, it just works. Also, got guaranteed entry to Ride London next year as part of the purchase which was part of the buying decision after doing it this year.