Hey All,
Never tried using a turbo trainer before.
Can anyone recommend me one that could work with an old 26” hardtail frame?
My road bike got stolen, have an old Zaskar frame which is pretty stiff I’m hoping could work well to keep me sane while stuck inside. Hoping putting a slick rear tyre on will work.
Short answer - any, a ~2.1" slick tyre is about the same diameter as a 700x23.
Long answer - pick one that's supported by sufferfest or trainer road, that way at least you get virtual power data.
I've got a Minoura Hypermag, 7 levels of resistance but stick it in top (remove the adjuster cable so the magnet moves to the max position) and it's been pretty consistent. Would cost about £40 for one on ebay.
Longer answer - if you can stretch the budget to ~£150-£200 you're into the realms of budget smart trainers. They won't be any more accurate but will adjust the resistance according to the gradient in Zwift (a dumb trainer you have to cycle faster to increase the power output, so actually change up gears when going up a virtual hill).
Really long answer - a triple will be fine, but if it's 1x you may want to fit the biggest chainring you can (>48t) as most turbo trainers are expecting you to maintain ~20mph, if you cant spin it fast enough it can't provide the resistance.
I use a 2012 zaskar with rigid forks on my trainer - a kickr mk1.
Works great on Zwift and has a 42t chainring and 1x10 11-36 iirc at the back.
Have the reality slider thing about 20% on zwift so I get some feeling in non erg mode but tbh most of the time I use it in erg as I predominantly ride programmes or training where wattage is measured.
My kickr was s/hand and a positive bargain. Been faultless so far and is very quiet in comparison to the previous Tacx friction smart trainer.
If you can afford it, I’d say get a smart trainer every time.
Thanks for the advice guys. Didn't realise you could get Watts out of Sufferfest and there was such difference between smart / standard trainers.
I was going to get a budget friction trainer on Chainreaction to try out as an experiment, ended up grabbing a second hand TacX T2240 Flow for not much more. The Kickr looks awesome too, if I enjoy I'm sure I'll end up upgrading for next years off season.
Should be a decent intro to turbo training.
I started with that TACX ^^ trainer. It’s great. Works well with Zwift. You do need to re-calibrate it every so often.
Yeah, get your bum on Zwift op. It's almost as much fun as riding outside*, definitely during the zombie apocalypse anyway. Do they still do 30 days free on Zwift?
*Ymmv.😉
Sorry to jump in here but I’ve just bought a turbo, picking it up today.
It was a bit of an impulse but that I’m going to strap my hard tail to.
Hadn’t thought about ratios, if the largest ring that will fit is 36T am I going to have problems?
Hadn’t thought about ratios, if the largest ring that will fit is 36T am I going to have problems?
It depends on the trainer. If it's a smart trainer and you're going to use it on Zwift, you might conceivably run out of high gears. If it's a dumb trainer with adjustable resistance, you'll probably be fine just ramping up the load.
If it's a smart trainer and you're planning on running it in erg mode where the trainer automatically adjusts resistance so you hit the planned power targets, any gear - more or less - should mostly be fine, though some models seem more finnicky than others.
If it’s a smart trainer and you’re planning on running it in erg mode where the trainer automatically adjusts resistance so you hit the planned power targets, any gear – more or less – should mostly be fine, though some models seem more finnicky than others.
The power (and to a lesser extend slope) figures quoted for trainers are a bit misleading.
If you're lighter than average then the effective slope they can replicate will be much steeper, if it says it can do 7%, it might be 8/9/10%. If you're heavier the opposite is true. at the same time the maximum power is given at a speed, some trainers will carry on up the slope past that, but if you can't spin it fast enough then you won't reach that figure (just like the real world, if you only have a low gear there's a limit to how much power you can sustain as you just spin out). If a trainer says it can offer ~800W of resistance then you still need to spin it upto a virtual ~40km/h to achieve that.
Cheers. Apparently my frame will take a 38T so there’s one on the way.
And there’s now a big box in the spare room waiting to be set up
This turbo trainer lark is epic, even with budget second hand kit and a 22yr old 3x MTB. If there is one thing to keep me sane during lockdown.... The best bike component I've bought in an age 🙂
Def go smart if you are looking for one of these.
Now to ride with Loic in lockdown haha: https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/break-the-self-isolation-boredom-with-loic-brunis-instagram-live-spinning-class/
OP, if you are within travelling distance of SO18, you are welcome to collect a handful of old 26" tyre pairs (urban/all terrain Schwalbe models 1.9-2.35") plus a 26" (Conti?) turbo specific tyre.
@n0b0dy0ftheg0at Cheers for the offer, got 2x slicks to keep me going. Stuck in London right now.
Anyone try Loic Bruni's live spin class - good fun with jumping off bike for squats / press ups.
Set up my wife’s old 26” inbred on my new Elite Novo Smart today.
All working well but spinning out on a 1x9 setup and having my arse handed to me by other riders on Zwift. I presume I’ll have to fit a bigger chainring?
Depends on the course, probably not ideal on flat courses. What ring and cassette range?
34/16 with 100% trainer difficulty (slope feel) is not something I'd fancy up the likes of Grand Central, nevermind Alpe Du Zwift!
I'm kicking myself for getting rid of mine now