Going to dust off the turbo.
Since I last used it nearly 2 years ago I’ve got a carbon road bike.
Saw something on YouTube showing just how much the bike flexes when you give it some hammer.
Worth buying a shitty old bike just for turbo use? So long as it fits ok and has a drivetrain I’m not bothered about the rest as it’ll never see the road anyway. Good idea not stressing the nice bike or stupid bonkers crazy idea?

N+1

I wouldn’t put my nice carbon one in a turbo, that’s why I kept my old road bike when I bought the new one 🙂

That said, you may consider rollers instead. Much nicer to ride on, don’t hurt the bike, and trains your core as well as your thighs. Probably cheaper than a second hand bike too.

I use my posh summer bike on the turbo as it never gets ridden in winter.

Makes sense in that removing the bike off the turbo can be a PITA. I’ve got a different wheel with a turbo tyre which is fine in winter as I don’t tend to ride the road bike at all in winter so have it permanently set up in the garage on the turbo, but if you want to use the turbo all year then it makes sense to have a dedicated turbo bike. A mate of mine picked up a old Specialized Allez frame for about £30 off eBay, built it up with some spare parts as a dedicated turbo bike. So long as you can get the same gear ratio’s and riding position it doesn’t matter what the frame is.

I don’t think it is an issue the bike flexing and preserving your decent bike nor ‘stressing it’. They designed for it and I doubt the bike flexes any more on a turbo than in the real world for the same power input, you’re just going to notice it more on a turbo as the bike is stationary and in the real world it’s moving about.

http://road.cc/content/feature/216681-it-okay-use-your-bike-turbo-trainer

Just to be clear, carbon road bikes are NOT designed for use in a turbo. The Bianchi manual actually calls this out alongside using roof rack systems for transportation as things you must never do.
Carbon road frames are designed for road riding and nothing else. Anything you do with your bike aside from that is your decision, but turbo use really does add stress to the frame. Pro riders don’t use the same bike on their turbo at the bus as they do on a stage, and they only need their bikes to last two weeks!

I put my old alloy bike on the turbo, nice carbon for the road, i think in the Cube paperwork it says to not use carbon frames on a turbo.

Just to be clear, carbon road bikes are NOT designed for use in a turbo. The Bianchi manual actually calls this out alongside using roof rack systems for transportation as things you must never do.
Carbon road frames are designed for road riding and nothing else

Depends what the manufacturers has designed the bike for. This cannot be a carte blanche statement for every carbon road bike every made. It’s not an issue of the material the bike is made of. Many people use carbon bikes on turbo’s with no issues whatsoever. Nothing in the manual for my Giant that says this.

Bianchi are probably just limiting their liabilities under their warranty with a statement like this.

I agree, it’s possible to make a frame designed for use on a turbo out of Carbon. I can’t think why anyone would though as it would then by definition not be optimised for road use and would likely add weight and change stiffness/forgiveness characteristics. Since these are the very reason people buy carbon bikes in the first place it would be commercial suicide to create such a monster unless someone was purposefully making a high end trainer only bike to go with the new wave of ultra high end trainers coming onto the market. Realistically though, most people doing enough training to justify that cost would already have a second bike to use and possibly more.

Done a bit of reading up on this…inconclusive is what I’ve learned 🙄
Not sure I want to chance it hence getting a difference cheapo bike…then someone suggested rollers.
This has to feel more like natural riding than a turbo surely…even though I have a turbo and find it deathly dull. It’s not solidly planted like turbo.
Worth getting one and selling the turbo? I can just use my Cube as is without having a shitty bike in the way too.
What’s good/bad and what’s a reasonable price?

You don’t get the same resistance on rollers as you do on a turbo so if you want a workout they won’t really give it to you. A certain amount of skill is required as well!

My rollers will do 400 Watts, that’s more than most people can sustain for any length of time. The extra wattage on a turbo is there mainly for hill work. It’s a different workout but it’s definitely a proper workout, especially since the rollers are also working on your core muscles not just legs.

My carbon Isaac did thousands of turbo miles in 2017… it will do thousands more in 2018 too.

lustyd – Member

Just to be clear, carbon road bikes are NOT designed for use in a turbo. The Bianchi manual actually calls this out alongside using roof rack systems for transportation as things you must never do.
Carbon road frames are designed for road riding and nothing else. Anything you do with your bike aside from that is your decision, but turbo use really does add stress to the frame. Pro riders don’t use the same bike on their turbo at the bus as they do on a stage, and they only need their bikes to last two weeks!

Just to be clear, if you are issuing a blanket statement that carbon road bikes should not be used in turbo trainers, that is complete nonsense. Happy New Year! Comparing availability of bikes to everyday riders to Pro’s is just…..silly really.

Personally I’ve done 1000s of miles on the turbo and outside on the same bike over 4 years without dying but anecdote doesn’t equal evidence. Some of the manufacturers on the road.cc have no issues with it either, and most of the concerns are about wear from not clamping a bike in well enough.

If you want a dedicated turbo bike for whatever reason then go ahead. It’s your money, your decision, might make things easier for you.

I’ve a Medium Scott CR1 frame going cheap if you are interested. It was my main summer and turbo training bike but’s been replaced. There’s some wear on the inside of the chainstays from RIDING OUTSIDE so it’ll be difficult to sell for much. I only noticed the wear when I cleaned it up after moving the bits to a new frame. Tyre rub from fitting slightly too big tyres…

Out of interest – how many people have broken bikes on turbos?

I bought a Carrera TdF Road bike from a Halfords sale specifically for my turbo. 😀

Just because, well, easier isn’t it. More so now I’m on a direct drive turbo