Hello

I’m after a Turbo Trainer and am not yet up to speed with all the types and terminoligies related to them.

Do I need to us a geared bike on all types of trainer or can I get away with a Singlespeed on some to save having to build a fully geared bike to go on it…..?

I notice some trainers have built in resistance which self-adjusts depending on how hard you ride, then theres the other type that have a resistance adjustment you take care of manually. Would a Singlespeed bike suit either or non of these….?

Any help on what trainer folk are using and what bike setup they have would be of great help………

Cheers & Happy New Year…..

Johnny

you could run a ss fine.

I’d recommend the Tacx range – I have a “swing” which is magnetic (therefore quietish), and variable resistance which you set via a lever on the bars. I use a geared road bike on mine.

most turbos have variable resistance but it tends to be large increases in resistance

Tacx Flow is an alternative as you can set the power you want to acheive and then the resistance is matched to it no matter what gear or cadence but they are £200 from decathlon

If you are going to turbo more than twice a week get a proper program of seesions otherwise you will not acheive as much as you could

see the timetrialling forums as they have some good coaches who offer advice

pk-ripper

do you tend to use the gears on your bike much or just the resistance setting on the trainer…?

Cheers for the advice

Johnny

I tend to put it on one setting, and then use the gears to change the resistance, and doing pyramids on it – i.e. x minutes in low gear, x-1 mins in the next gear, etc, and then back down again. As my fitness / strength improves in the spring / summer I can change the tt resistance and do the same.

On a SS, you could still do that using the settings on the tt resistance.

I use a singlespeed mtb on a Tacx Swing turbo. It works fine and I just adjust the resistance to make the work out harder. The bike is setup with a 32:16 ratio. On the easiest setting I could probably spin away for hours, on the hardest a couple of minutes – there are a total of ten settings.

It is worth getting a dedicated indoor trainer tyre, as they are much smoother and quieter. I have a few of the Spinerval DVDs and find them good for giving me something to take my mind off the boredom of the Turbo.

Iw as baout to say search for my previous topic but that would be long gone. For a ss bike a geared trainer would be better for variable resistance where as with a geared bike you can change resistance on the bike. I’m buying a cyclops mag for about £80, it’s older brother the mag plus is a few quid more but has a remote control that you cna put on the handlebar.

I’ve still not worked out this gel rollers and whether or not they are better but loads of people advised on a magnetic roller with a Conti trainer tyre [£20]