Looking to purchase both of the above. I have never had either of the above so if there anything I need to find out before purchasing any help at all would be very greatful. Also advice on a second hand road bike that is sufficient. Only using to keep fitness up over the winter months. £500 is my budget on the bike and £300 on a turbo trainer
Go out for a run, it's cheaper and more fun !
Very very good turbo for the money
Spend the £500 on the turbo and get a Kickr snap. Spend £300 on the bike.
What sort of bike can I pick up for £300? Looked on eBay and there's loads but only ever mtb so not the foggiest when it comes to road bikes. I'll research kickr snap
Tacx Flow turbo from Halfords (dozens of us on here bought this last year, search for the threads) and a £300 B'Twin Triban bike from Decathlon. You don't need anything fancier than these. You'll also need a ANT+ dongle (£10-15) to connect to your PC if you want to run Zwift, TrainerRoad etc , which you should as it is more fun
Is this the turbo trainer your recommend mate https://www.evanscycles.com/wahoo-kickr-snap-smart-trainer-EV313762?esvt=54344-GOUKE4273420&esvq=&esvadt=999999-0-1300154-1&esvcrea=205639061710&esvplace=&esvd=m&esvtg=pla-335424443268&esvo=EV313762-NA-BLK&esvaid=50080&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4ceC1Y2f1gIVzcmyCh2khgQnEAQYASABEgIJu_D_BwE
Jamie P brilliant thank you. Is it worth getting the one from wiggle on offer or is it not as good as the tacx one? I was going to set the turbo up in the garage is ant+ something you would still recommend?
Yup, the Snap is classed as IMO the best in the budget smart trainers. It does full variable resistance etc.
As for the bike, there's people with far better knowledge than me to answer that.
Smart trainer v normal, just depends how flush you are.
Smart trainers alter the resistance for you, normal ones you do it via bike gears or a lever on the trainer.
The outcome is the same
Personally I like changing gear as it is something else to think about in the monotony of doing turbo routines.
To be fair you do need trainer road/swift subscription which ever way you go
I'd rather have a nice bike that can be used in the real world, especially for when you get bored of using a turbo.... which will happen at some point
What is trainer road/ swift subscription? Is this just an app I can get on my phone to track the miles calories ect per workout?
Smart trainers alter the resistance for you, normal ones you do it via bike gears or a lever on the trainer.The outcome is the same
Mmmm that's not exactly true. On Zwift for example the turbo if a 'dumb' is set to a specific value. THerefore you don't alter the resistance. So changing gear then becomes too easy.... etc.
Obvoiusly outside of Zwift for just turboing that's true what you wrote etc.
Zwift £8 per month.
swainy90 - MemberJamie P brilliant thank you. Is it worth getting the one from wiggle on offer or is it not as good as the tacx one? I was going to set the turbo up in the garage is ant+ something you would still recommend?
The one on wiggle is better, but I am querying if you actually need one that much better for your intended use. The Tacx Flow and the Wiggle one are both ' Smart' ie electronic, requiring to be plugged in - do you have garage power? it may be that you simply want a 'dumb' one to grind out miles while staring at the wall(?)
ANT+ is like Bluetooth, to connect the turbo to a computer to run training programmes like Zwift or TrainerRoad. These make smashing out turbo miles actually be fun and so you will be more likely to do a session. See [url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/zwift-my-journey-my-weight-and-my-fitness ]this thread.[/url]
See the PSA for the £99 Elite Fluid in the Bike Forum. There are those here that use it fine for Training and Racing.
Unless you're racing or seriously committed to performance improvement don't waste £500 on a Turbo - you might hate it.
The Elite Fluid will be a very good trainer for this winter. If you then decide to go down the route of proper training plans and turbos upgrade this time next year, otherwise you'll be wasting a fair bit of cash.
The I'd go looking for a Giant Defy / Cannondale Synapse / Plant X / Ribble [i]winter/endurance[/i] road bike to suit your budget
Are you going to ride the bike outside or just turbo on it?
You could bosh together a workable turbo bike very cheaply (old frame (mtb or road) flat bars & old mtb shifters'n'mech from that box in your garage, no brakes, ...)
Can this swift be set up on phone with that turbo trainer on offer from wiggle?
Very rarely if at all. Just want to keep my fitness up over the winter so nothing too complicated/ expensive just something I can jump in the garage after work for an hour to burn some calories that's all
no, you need a computer to install and run the 'game ' on. The phone app just controls some of the options on the 'game'
Krpton thank you very much. Like I say I haven't a clue so something half decent to keep me fit is sufficient for me. Can you get these bikes for less than £500?
A smart turbo and a subscription to zwift. For a couple of years I've been using a dumb turbo, heart rate monitor and not much else. The motivation to start was probably harder than the session itself.
Second hand bike would be fine and easily picked up. Don't know where abouts you are but check out local facebook groups. In Newcastle and the NE there are loads. The bikes that come up are often in good condition and you can see before you buy. Better than buying blind on ebay. CDNE bike sales os probably the best. Otherwise the Decathlon one above is good and the Tack 2240 (Flow) on halfords. Picked mine up for £198 (£220 - 10% BC discount). Smart, with feedback for Zwift.
TrainerRoad is a programs that runs on either a smartphone or a tablet and "talk" to your turbo. You do need a bit of extra kit to do this: the Ant+ dongle and some form of speed sensor so that the app knows how fast you are pedalling.
I've not used Zwift but it seems more race oriented than TrainerRoad. The latter has a series of training programs for you to follow, typically warm up then efforts then cool down. You do a test so that the program knows how to adjust the power levels for each workout to suit you. I can last about twenty minutes on a turbo before getting bored but with TR you are thinking about the efforts and meeting the power outputs for that session and I can do a 90 minute session. Certainly with TR and probably with Zwift you can suspend your subscription during the summer so yes it's £8/month but only while you are using it.
Any cheap road bike will do, I've found getting a turbo specific tyre to be worthwhile as well. Don't think it's been mentioned but get a decent floor standing fan!
There is or was a huge thread on Trainerroad on here, do a search.
No need for a road bike IMO. If I was training only to ride a mtb I'd train on a mtb frame with similar ride position to my summer bike.Very rarely if at all. Just want to keep my fitness up over the winter so nothing too complicated/ expensive just something I can jump in the garage after work for an hour to burn some calories that's all
A cheapo s/h mtb frame (26er) will take a 700c road wheel. "Any" old drivetrain will do the job well enough, especially at first (no mud, no bumps etc - though clicks and niggles may drive you insane when that's all you can hear 😀 )
[quote=jamiep ]no, you need a computer to install and run the 'game ' on. The phone app just controls some of the options on the 'game'
zwift has an iOS version.
Best fb page forbuy/sell road bikes guys? Think I'm gonna purchase the trainer off wiggle like recommended
In that case, get a lightly used B-twin Triban off Ebay/gumtree too
Plug for my Sufferfest mates, training with a sense of humour community there. trainer, resistance via gears and virtual power, cheapest bike that fits and a decent saddle.
I'd definitely just get a cheap s/h MTB or road bike. If you get an MTB stick a slick on the rear wheel and that's all you need. A road bike is a bit nicer as you can change hand positions, but it'll be a bit more stretched out which you may not like.
I upgraded to a smart trainer last winter (in my case a BKool), and while it's more fun than the dumb trainer it replaced, the end result is the same. If you're trying to keep the cost down you might want to look out for s/h trainers too - lots of people are doing the same as me and moving on to Zwift etc.
Another option no one's mentioned would be to get a spinning bike. They're silent, tough and have a load of hand positions so you can move about on the bike. Add in a tablet mount and fire up Sufferfest, and you'll certainly get a decent workout.