I've got a I-Magic turbo and been putting in a fair few miles on it recently (New baby arrived so not getting out much)... Doing GPS re-runs of local loops and some of there MTB training tracks.
I know there not going to be exactly comparable, but in straight fitness terms, how many Turbo miles compare to "Real" miles ?
I always get pretty knackered on the turbo. Put something good on the tv and go for it.
... One of the stw gurus will know more but you dont get to freewheel and stop n chat when you're on the turbo so it's pretty effective !
I think any kind of mileage measurement on a turbo isn't terribly useful (or accurate). Time at a given cadence/wattage/heart-rate is more useful.
For me i think it's much easier to do a workout on a turbo, no traffic lights or junctions and you can maintain a constant pace. This also means it's a bit more tiring than the road for me, and also time passes slower without anything whizzing by.
Mile for mile its just as effective as the road i think, a lot more efficient for planned workouts i'd say, because of no traffic or sharp turns etc.
Time is a better measurement for the turbo though. Some people say it takes away from your bike skills but as long as you ride a real bike every so often i don't think it makes a difference. Hard to say how many real miles compare to turbo miles, if you have a long straight road with no interruptions then they're probably similar, but then you have the wind and road surface to consider.
I am a real miles man, as I loath the turbo(and don't mind the weather),but a mate was always getting horrible cold/flu things over the winter.
He put it down to dragging himself out on grim nights thinking 'he had to get real miles in'.
He switched to an uber fancy turbo last winter ,which seemed like a smart move when all the snow came down(and how long it stayed around).
He had less coughs and colds and it didn't take him long to get race fit once he got back outside.
I am still not tempted,and have my boxes of screws ready to make some ice tyres 
Each to their own an all that 
mmmm, interesting stuff.. I'm only getting 45 min session, but 4 / 5 a week, So I guess its better than nowt !
It's like dog years and real years. Turbo miles are actually the equivalent of five of your human years of pure boredom and shorten your life by a disproportionate degree. There's some research been done that suggests that a dog riding a bike on a turbo would age in human years instead of dog years, but I'm not sure how true that actually is. So it might be worse than nowt. Maybe.
I borrowed my brothers I-Magic, I recon its pretty much as knackering as doing the real routes. I did a local gps loop on the trainer and it took me roughly the same amount of time as it would in real life.
It only seems to simulate up to a 5% gradient, but it slows your virtual speed down to compensate meaning that it will still take as much effort for you to ride a hill.
Have you tried any real life videos? They are by far the best part of the I-Magic.
I've recently bust my shoulder, which means I can't get out on the bike plus im off my work with it 
I was gifted a turbo trainer a couple of years ago but had never got round to using it till now.... My god It's boring, I loose the will to live after 20mins, and im nearly deaf after a session.. but needs must i suppose
Thats why the Tacx VR machines are so good. Its not boring at all, I can happily ride all over the world in the comfort of my living room for a good few hours.
PMSL John, Thanks for that
Aye, I dont think I have the will to stare at the wall but the VR thing helps, that said... I find myself looking around the garage and thinking of new projects instead of watching the video.. !
each turbo mile is equivalent to 2.5 outdoor miles, simply because riding a turbo is like watching paint dry.
Turbos aren't about miles anyway, they're for intervals or recovering from injury, just grinding out 'base' miles is way too dull to do on a turbo...
I've got an I-Magic, but still detest the boredom and consequently never use it, how do you upload gps routes onto it? That's an interesting proposition! The novelty of the VR software wears off very quickly IMO, and the 'feel' when it ups the resistance is awful.
I use mine for pyramid intervals and micro intervals. Staring at the stop-watch and counting down to the next up-change or rest interval makes the time pass fairly quickly.
I never do more than an hour on it though, including workout.
A lot of micro interval routines are around 15-45 mins and are very effective. A recent study quoted in this week's cycling weekly demonstrated that micro ints can increase VO2 max and endurance.
how do you upload gps routes onto it?
A lot of micro interval routines are around 15-45 mins and are very effective. A recent study quoted in this week's cycling weekly demonstrated that micro ints can increase VO2 max and endurance.
This may be the way forward. I used to do HIIT on my turbo, but it damm near killed me.
Doing intervals for about 20 minutes seems like it would be beneficial and about my boredom threshold.
It's worth reading the article Kudos. British Cycling are big exponents of micro ints, whether on the turbo, track or road.
A lot of pros also do a kind of short micro interval routine whilst out on a longer "endurance miles" ride.
I use mine for pyramid intervals and micro intervals. Staring at the stop-watch and counting down to the next up-change or rest interval makes the time pass fairly quickly.
Agree with this. I rarely do base miles on the turbo.
I rarely do base miles on the turbo.
I did nearly all of my base miles last year on the rollers (max 1hr at a time)
Made a massive difference
To not doing them at all, or to doing them on the road?
To doing them on the road (although i didn't test this fully).
It was what my coach said at the time. He said I didn't need to do endless miles to build a good base and a lot of the time i only needed to do a quality hour on the rollers (sticking in 1 HR zone for the whole time)
when you ride the VR its like doing micro intervals, as the training program takes your through that.... that said.. I can't even get to the Power it says as a target ever !
Hmm, sounds like my hitherto-though-of-as-rubbish approach might actually be of use after all then!
I've got a SS on mine - and my entirely unscientific approach is: get on, stretch/warm up for a bit, slowly building the cadence, then spin out as hard as I can, for as long as I can, (which, without a HRM, I take to be the nearly feeling sick/giddy stage, rather than actually feeling sick/giddy stage), then I slow down for a bit in relative terms to let my pulse / breathing slow up a bit, then go as hard as I can again etc ... (repeating until either I'm worn out, or bored (& worn out usually comes first)), finally warming down, getting off, doing some token stretching, having a shower, then having a cup of tea and some cake (which is the best bit).
20 minutes maximum end to end (excluding the shower/tea/cake bit), and that's a struggle (mentally) - there's no way I'd be able to grind the miles out on it at lower intensity. If I had any more time on hand than that, (but not too much more) I'll go out running, which I also dislike, but at least I'm outside. If I've got more time, I'd try to ride.
I'm an old man now, and I'm not training for 'anything', so grabbing a quick 15-20 minutes of exercise every couple of evenings is all going to be useful - it'll generally help with heart/lungs/bloodflow if nothing else. I can see the benefit in using a turbo for interval sessions / part of a structured training plan, even tho' I just make it up as I go along.
According to my extensive googlinging…. turbo is twice outdoor miles because there is no free wheeling. Also tests show 2 hours training a day has same effects 1 hour a day. Also... 3 times a week has same effect as 5-6 times a week, 6-7 times a week can actually be detrimental. And for 3 times a week, 3 days in a row or every other day makes no difference.
Ive been searching for some DH videos for mine so I dont have to pedal at all....
Sounds like a plan, BTW my Cycleops Fluid 2 has died after 15 rides
nmdbase - Member
Sounds like a plan, BTW my Cycleops Fluid 2 has died after 15 rides
Surprised - had mine for 4 years and still going strong. (though not sure ive used it 15 times tbh:))
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