Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 51 total)
  • Turbo or rollers- recommend?
  • hora
    Free Member

    Not spend-silly but again not spendthrift. Just something thats recognised as a alot of performance/good product for the price?

    Any recommendations?

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    kurt kinetic and a trainerroad subscription.

    The-Swedish-Chef
    Free Member

    Both types have their advantages and disadvantages, personally I rate rollers as they offer a better workout by improving pedal stroke and balance as well as just power.

    However if you want to just rip it and not worry then a turbo is probably better.

    The Kurt ones, as mentioned, are very good, if somewhat large.

    Bregante
    Full Member

    hora, I’ve got an Elite Crono Elastogel that’s had about 20 hrs use, along with an elite front wheel block (unused) and a vittoria turbo spdcific tyre.

    Look them up. They’re very well rated but I genuinely find nothing as soul destroying as sitting on a turbo for hours. I’d much rather go for a run and that’s saying something.

    As you’re local you can have the lot for £80. 🙂

    TiRed
    Full Member

    Rollers will improve riding skills, give you “supplesse” and provide the same resistance as a magnetic turbo on about level 3-4 – enough for all but out and out sprint efforts. You can’t tinker with bike set up and position on rollers 😉

    Cheap turbo first, then nice rollers if you get the indoor bug. Personally I hate riding indoors, but like the consistency of efforts.

    Gary_M
    Free Member

    Not spend-silly but again not spendthrift

    Do you know what spendthrift means?

    I guess it depends on what space you have for your set up.

    Rollers take up more space but you can just stick your bike on and go, turbo trainers are noisier.

    Have a look at bkool, they get great reviews generally.

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    I genuinely find nothing as soul destroying as sitting on a turbo for hours

    thats where trainerroad works for me. headphones in, follow the power line and zone out.

    benji
    Free Member

    Rollers, it’s like riding on pebbles on Cannock Chase 😆

    I’ve got some Elite Parabolic rollers, they are spot on, the edges are lipped so when you get close to the edge they make a nice little squeek just to warn you, so you have chance to put it right.

    The test this month in cycling plus rated the direct drive items, but they are pricey, but very quiet.

    hora
    Free Member

    Bregante will lookup/mail you

    GeForceJunky
    Full Member

    I like my rollers (planet X resistance jobbies), but I do have to admit, I have fitted 2 horizontal roller blade wheels either side of the front roller, just to save those moment where you get distracted and ride off the edge.

    uponthedowns
    Free Member

    kurt kinetic and a trainerroad subscription.

    This ^^

    kilo
    Full Member

    I’ve just got hold of some second hand Taccx rollers and they do require a bit more concentration than a turbo, but I was up and going after about a quarter of an hour slipping all over the hallway. First impression is I think I prefer them more than the turbo as the turbo is, in our house, a faff to set up and I can’t ever seem to get into it, the rollers also seem more involving to use. Mrs Kilo is not so keen on the rollers at the moment, I think she feels they are a tad dangerous 🙂

    mooman
    Free Member

    JetBlack rollers from PlanetX. Alu sealed bearing rollers.
    Much better than the plastic rollers.

    adsh
    Free Member

    Turbo, fan, laptop, netflix and breaking bad/lillehammer/mad men/band of brothers etc etc. I actualy look forward to base miles on the turbo!

    sefton
    Free Member

    GOT BOTH – TURBO FOR SURE – YOU CAN DO MORE ON IT.

    CAN’T REALLY PERFORM HIGH INTENSE INTERVALS ON ROLLERS 30SECS ON 15 OFF ETC.

    ROLLERS GOOD FOR STEADY INTERVALS BUT STEADY = BORING AS HELL

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I went turbo (a tacx bluemotion, seems nice and reasonably priced) mostly because it’s less involved- you can sit and mindlessly spin on a turbo, watch TV, stuff like that if you want and let the legs work while the brain does something else. I gather it’s better for orrible intervals too but I’ve not tried rollers for that

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    Cheap turbo first, then nice rollers if you get the indoor bug.

    This ^^^ and a big fan.

    You can get a half decent turbo for 100 quid. I got the planet x rollers when they were a lot less than the current 200 quid (sure there will be a NY turbo deal on the way.)

    CAN’T REALLY PERFORM HIGH INTENSE INTERVALS ON ROLLERS 30SECS ON 15 OFF ETC.

    You can, but you need to put in a lot of practice. Much easier initially on a turbo.

    bacondoublechee
    Free Member

    I use Sportcrafters Progressive Resistance ones (now called Planet X Overdrive I think?). I used a turbo before and much prefer the rollers. The progressive resistance ones are perfect for Sufferfest videos too (and I guess TrainerRoad), just change gear to adjust resistance (as wheel speed defines the level of resistance).

    I can do 99.5% of the intervals I could on the turbo, but you have to save the last 0.5% to stop you falling off in a heap! I’m sure my pedalling motion isn’t very good but I picked it up straight away and can even ride no handed on them now.

    welshfarmer
    Full Member

    Buy a fat bike and make you own. Be a good DIY project for the dark winter evenings 🙂

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC7QGFyOXlE[/video]

    sefton
    Free Member

    You can, but you need to put in a lot of practice. Much easier initially on a turbo.

    you can, but you can’t give 100% – and 45-50mph on rollers while your breathing out your arse is dam sketchy! haha

    if you want steady training they are great – its harder when you want to start interval training at high intensities.

    which ever you get the novelty will quickly fade and they will become either instruments of boredom or torture!

    I wouldn’t be without my turbo – I’d simply struggle to go out and train like I can on the road or trails.

    natrix
    Free Member

    Turbo with sufferfest – sorted

    hora
    Free Member

    Tacx blue motion at 118 good? Any other good ones round this price?

    zippykona
    Full Member

    My turbo sits there as punishment for not riding the long way home. It’s a good incentive.

    MikeWW
    Free Member

    If you are planning on doing focused high intensity work outs then definitely go for the turbo.
    To be honest a 45-60 min work out( with a selection of sufferfest vids) works really well and its certainly not boring.
    However the moment you get on a turbo without a plan then boredom will set in very quickly
    Rollers work well and can be fun but are less well suited to harder work outs IMO

    barrykellett
    Free Member

    Kurt Kinetic + Trainer road again

    Cheap Turbo’s are a horrible experience.
    A good fluid resistance Turbo trainer with a small range cassette is perfect. I have an 11-21 for turbo use, makes a lot of difference.

    bazzer
    Free Member

    I have a Wahoo Kickr that I am using with TraineRoad. Its a great bit of kit, not bored at all on it yet.

    Doh1Nut
    Full Member

    For a good informed independent review of a bunch of trainers /trainer types then DC Rainmaker is the best read.

    I tried a friends Tacx to check I did not hate it, and then bought a Kurt Kinetic. Generally the trainers go up in price as they try to add pseudo power which did not add any value to me as I had a powertap.
    I also wanted something that would be pretty repeatable so I did not want one with resistance adjustment.
    Think also will go for trainerroad subscription

    mindmap3
    Free Member

    Hora, I have a Tacx Bluemotion turbo and it seems pretty well made and stable. It’s easy to set up. It is however boring as hell – I really hate using it but with limited time to ride these days its better than nowt (although I’ll probably start running again in the New Year).

    I couldn’t use it indoors though – I get too warm in the garage let alone the living room. It is less painful if I take the ipad with me and stick something on to watch. 45 minuts is about my limit at the moment due to boredom.

    Pawsy_Bear
    Free Member

    plus one turbo left setup in front the TV plus fan comfortable quick and no danger of falling off!

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    It is however boring as hell

    45 minuts is about my limit at the moment due to boredom.

    Maybe it’s seeing it as something you have to do when you can’t do what you want to be doing?

    See it more as a training tool that complements proper riding. If you have a good turbo setup, a plan to follow, keep things challenging and varied, and measure progression, then it is a lot more enjoyable.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Maybe it’s seeing it as something you have to do when you can’t do what you want to be doing?

    See it more as a training tool that complements proper riding. If you have a good turbo setup, a plan to follow, keep things challenging and varied, and measure progression, then it is a lot more enjoyable.

    This +1, I tried to do the “watch a star trek/LOTR/Breaking Bad box set” turbo training and it was soul destroying. Trainer road and sufferfest makes it bearable. At one point I was doing an easy session (dial a sufferfest down to 85%) in the mornings and a propper sufferfest every other day in the evening as I couldn’t be bothered to commute. I wouldnn’t say it was enjoyable, but it was preferable to playing in traffic on a wet tuesday morning in January.

    As for fan’s, don’t cheap out on a £5 one from argos that would barely keep you cool sat stil in the office, £40 and it’s like riding into headwind!
    http://www.screwfix.com/p/fe45-h1-18mm-high-velocity-floor-fan-220-240v/54056

    I’ve a minoura turbo, cost about £150 and the best I’ve tried so far. Would like to try rollers as over the winter there’s not so much point in doing really hard intervals, more threshold work and I get enough short sharp intervals on the singlespeed or riding round Swinley. And that’s kinda the point, unless it was actualy horrible outside or I was injured it was nicer to find a briedlway loop of quiet ish, well surfaced non technical trails that could be done in about an hour and require minimal bike washing afterwards and do that than it was to sit on the trainer.

    DT78
    Free Member

    Has anyone ever had a turbo damage a frame?

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    Has anyone ever had a turbo damage a frame?

    Often see the question asked but I’ve not seen any evidence that it does. I have an old road bike as a dedicated turbo bike so not really something I worry about. Though I’ve done a lot of turbo work over the past couple of years and not had any problems.

    sefton
    Free Member

    might get a small range cassette!

    sweating is part of the appeal – it adds to the satisfaction of getting through and nailing a hard planned session. (you’ll also need somewhere to spit)! haha garage floor is perfect…carpet..not so much!

    BadlyWiredDog
    Full Member

    The one thing I’d add is that you need to be really clear that riding in a turbo is essentially deathly dull unless you’re hammering yourself senseless as part of some sort of structured interval session when the pain will take your mind off the tedium – or maybe just occupy the same space in your head.

    It is in no way like riding a real bike. Most people struggle with more than an hour at any sort of steady pace, no matter what they’re watching on the telly or listening to.

    You’ll also – as above – benefit from a bloody great big high-powered fan or you’ll simply melt in a pool of your own sweat before evaporating.

    Finally, even the quiet ones are noisy, particularly once you add in a fan at full blast. Using a dedicated mat helps a little, but don’t kid yourself that you’ll be quietly spinning away with everyone else in the house completely oblivious to it.

    All I’m saying is don’t start of with the idea that it’s likely to be any sort of fun and you might even be pleasantly surprised.

    Oh, my old Tacx whatever it is has survived around eight years now with a decent amount of winter use, in that time it’s broken two bolts and there’s a groove worn in the roller at the back that doesn’t affect function at all. I’d buy another Tacx, but I’m sure there are plenty of other decent options out there.

    Personally I’d always rather ride my bike unless I really want to be able to do a set of repeatable, structured intervals, in which case the turbo makes a lot of sense. Can you borrow a turbo – there are an awful lot of unused and unloved ones out there – to see if you actually enjoy it before buying?

    Northwind
    Full Member

    @hora, I’ve got the high resistance version of the bluemotion (not specifically because I need the high resistance, it was just cheap). It seems good to me, I can’t really judge but it works and it’s miles quieter than the cyclops I used before. It does feel a wee bit less sturdy- it splays a bit when you fit a bike but it doesn’t seem to matter

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    hora, I’ve heard the tacx bluemotion comes up a little on the small side and is susceptible to side winds 🙂

    Bregante
    Full Member

    Has anyone ever had a turbo damage a frame?

    Often see the question asked but I’ve not seen any evidence that it does.

    There was a thread on Bikeradar about 12 months ago started by abloke whose cannondale ( CAAD10 possibly) snapped on the chain stay. He returned it under warranty but Cannondale refused the claim as it had been disclosed that it had been used almost exclusively on a turbo.

    Edit.

    Found it.

    So it was only 7 months ago.
    It was a CAAD9.
    And he had owned it 4 years.

    Apart from that – may be worth a read*
    http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=12969984

    *or not

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    Interesting thread that. Maybe an even more pertinent question now that manufacturers are producing frames using complicated maths to figure out the optimum carbon layup for riding stresses. I doubt they consider the bike being clamped to a turbo in their sums.

    TBH it’s partly why I use an old road bike as a dedicated turbo bike, that and being able to have it set up all the time. If you’re worried about it just buy any old bike that fits off ebay.

    rsvktm
    Full Member

    Only used carbon road bike once on turbo, looked down and everything was twisting. Got off quickly, old steel 456 used now. As to rollers v turbo, rollers are great for warm ups and cadence work but I can’t get enough watts on them so when need to work I use a turbo (only had one for a month so still a novelty)
    It’s a wahoo kickr so not relevant re cost issue… But if I can keep going over winter looking forward to next season.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 51 total)

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