My neighbour has lent me his turbo trainer for a bit and as the weather is rather inclement i’m going to set it up today.

As i’ve never used one before i’m guessing my set up is sound:

Singlespeed road bike with slick tyres

Two things – Should i use/not use SPDS and can I fit my computer to the back wheel to get an idea of distance covered.

Thanks

You really want gears to make the most of a turbo set-up although rollers work fine with SS/fixed.
Definitely use SPDs.
Yes, some wireless computers have the range to run off a rear wheel, otherwise Cateye do computers with extra long cords to run off the rear.

Def get the ‘puter on the rear wheel – even if you have to tape the head unit to the rear of the top tube to get signal/wires to reach.

Watching the numbers change on the display is probably as exciting as riding on a turbo gets…

But, shirley, the distance covered won’t be an accurate measure unless you exactly replicate the resistance of outdoor conditions ?? e.g. you could pop it on the lowest setting and spin for an hour, you will cover much more “distance” as measured by the pick up than you would on a road. 15 minute 10 miles galore !!

Turbos are for ride ’til you puke hard training anyway, distance is not relevant it’s time in Zone 11 and how much vomit on the bars and sweat you wring out of the towel at the end that counts.

If you couple yourself to a heart rate moniter it helps; you can actually ride for a long time in more pain than you think possible!

I use the speedo to make sure I keep cadence at about 90rpm and the HRM to show how hard to set the resistance.

I’d also suggest rigging a fan up in front of you and sticking yourself in front of a TV.

It isn’t a great deal of fun, but it may convince you to get out in the cold and wet 😉

Use SPD’s, i think Boba might be thinking of rollers which might be better off being ridden without SPDs.

I use a HRM and monitor cadence on a turbo, as above distance isn’t really relative as you could do maybe 30 miles in an hour on a low resistance.