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I suspect my good road bike will be getting put away winter shortly and my mind is wandering to winter turbo sessions.
I bought a £50 turbo last winter and it got used weekly and whilst coupled with sufferfest actually enjoyable (relatively speaking) and made quite a marked improvement to my fitness. This winter I would like to be a bit more structured and plan to use trainer road.
It is however quite a noisy contraption - it feels similar in Volume to a vacuum cleaner. Also as it is a no brand turbo, there are no power curves in trainer road.
I live in a small, ground floor flat so whatever I get has to be compact for stowage. It also means that my partner will be close by so quiet as possible is needed.
I suppose firstly, what would be quieter, a fluid turbo or a set of rollers? And how would they compare to the sound of a vacumme? Also what is optimal balance between cost & utility best out there fore sensible money?
Part of me thinks I would prefer rollers as I have, perhaps an irrational fear of my my carbon bike clamped in the turbo, as such I stay constantly in the saddle to minimise forces through the frame.
Rule 5
Cheers Ben, Most helpful.
I've a Minouras magnetic turbo and it's quieter than my pc speekers watching a sufferfest vid. Rollers and fluid trainers are quieter again.
Im tempted by the planet x rollers with resistance, reasoning that although theyre bigger than the turbo they would be hidden by the bed and the bike could lean on the wall so it wouldn't loik like it was taking up all the space. Also marginally less faff to grab it and go for a ride on a dry day.
Watching this with interest, just started to think about how quiet rollers or a turbo can be.
We have 2 kids, one of which is very sensitive to noise at night but I'd like to do some spinning at night if it's quiet enough...but it'll have to be MUCH quieter than a hoover!
I have rollers for when it's rough outside, otherwise I put my lights on and just get out there, found otherwise yes I had fitness but no real leg strength. You can increase and decrease resistance on rollers easily by altering tyre pressures.
You won't get the workout of a turbo in rollers. They are complementary and I view them mainly as a warm up/cool down aid. They are more fun to ride, however.
What makes you say that TiRed? There are virtual power curves in trainer road for rollers. Does that no indicate you can do proper intervals on them?
The power curve for my 3" Kreitler's is much lower than my Tacx TT and corresponds to level 4. That is fine for me, but bigger riders may find this too low (you can add resistance fans and flywheels though). You can try intervals, but balancing on rollers is an important part of riding that the harder you are going, the more you will be thinking about balancing! TT's take that side of the equation away. I do prefer rollers, but intervals are a challenge compared with a TT.
Thanks for the insight TiRed, most helpful.
I've got an Elite T Trainer, I found that to be quiet, certainly quiet enough that it didn't disturb the kids when I used it.
I've just borrowed a set of rollers which I want to try, but I think that I would stick to the turbo for decent sessions, leg strength will come from the mtb 🙂
I've been using rollers with TrainerRoad and Sufferfest for the previous few winters and will continue to do so.
Whilst I would undoubtedly be able to squeeze a few more watts out of each session using a turbo, the actual act of cycling and balancing using the rollers is just so much nicer.
As for resistance issues, well I haven't come across any, 30 second sprints requiring me to make 550+ watt efforts, which as a number are easily achievable, if not always physically achievable, provide enough of a workout.
Elite Arion rollers with resistance.
I suppose one advantage of using rollers over a turbo trainer is you can use your 'nice' bike as a lot of carbon frames' warranty won't cover turbo use.
To be "quiet" on rollers requires the right tyres. I've found some to be extremely noisy.
Question for you rollers out there?
Can you do standing high power intervals?
This is easy on Turbo, but had a quick go on my rollers and thought was very tricky??
It takes practice, and some rollers are easier than others to stand up and sprint on. I find the Elite ones I've got pretty hard. This is where a turbo would be a good complement.
You want these
There are virtual power curves in trainer road for rollers
I could get nowhere near my threshold HR on rollers using trainer road. it's for that reason I'll be buying a turbo for this winter.
IMO Rollers for warming up for events and cadence work, turbo for threshold and over / under interval work
For those that say 'MTFU'. if you're training properly during the winter for the racing season, you simply can't get the quality in during the winter on the road, 4 or 5 times a week. Why do you think the pros don't have training camps in northern Europe in January?
Hitting FTP levels and above is ok for me, it's the low cadence power work that I have to miss out on. However the road to my house is 20% so I make up for it.
Whilst I like the thinking behind Rule#5 when its minus and ice out its just not ssfe/practical to do quality work.
Whilst I like the thinking behind Rule#5 when its minus and ice out its just not ssfe/practical to do quality work.
Maybe not so much over here, but with dark, cold, wet evenings I reckon I can get more quality work done inside and not risk accidents and colds. Still try and do a ride on the roads every now and again though. If I want to go riding at night I'd much rather do it on the trails than on the roads.
As for turbo/rollers, agree with those that say they are complimentary. Find that rollers work best when you can spin a decent gear and get the wheels going fairly quickly, sort of makes up for the lack of flywheel. That's why I got a resistance roller, then promptly swapped the resistance drum for a non-resistance one! Just find a turbo is better for that sort of thing (high power intervals, low cadence grinds, etc.) Mostly use the rollers for steady z2 and recovery work.