Get this one?

Got some vouchers which means it’ll only actually cost me about a tenner, so for the price is it any good as a stick in garage for the cold dark nights thing?

Never owned had or used one so what do you all reckon,

Thanks in advance everyone

I reckon you need to be pretty motivated and have a real desire to improve fitness, otherwise it will never ever be used. You see the turbo is one of the most horrible evil devices ever created. You have never felt boredom until you have spent an hour on a turbo.

Oh and because it is unlikely to ever be used, a cheap one is a good idea 🙂
However if you really are going to have a good stab at it then I would (did) get a good one. I have a kurt rock and roll as it helps me a lot with comfort.

wot he said rssistance is nice but you can just use your gears

\also good to get one cheap as they are dull and most folk will struggle to do an hour on one

Looks ok for the price

That’s what I thought, it will only actually cost me about £10 of real money, so I thought it would be worth a punt,

I understand they are evil, but it’s no fun going out for an hour and feeling like I should of put a wet suit on

Just bought the Tacx Satori from Decathlon for £129. Real cheap, but be quick !. Bit more, but includes a floor mat, a front wheel wedgie and a DVD for following the french roads. I spend about 30 mins on mine on the days I dont ride. I dont see the point of any more currently. Some excercise is better than none in my eyes. Set up a boogy box and a cooling fan for being more comfortable. Get a heart rate monitor I use mine to set pacing and I do sprints and rests etc to make it more interesting.It is harder to ride this than the bikes, with how I set it up, so when I do get out, will help me I am sure.

what do you think of the Satori – is there enough resistance for intervals?

Yes, plenty. There is 10 settings. Seems that at the moment no 3 is sensible for me, although I vary it , but have used 8 for hard sprints etc, then back off to the 1 or 2 to cool, before going back into 8 for the next sprint. Nice bit of kit and not too noisy either. Instructions are crap to build it. Do not use the instructions with the bag of bits, just the main instruction book and most of the bits and bobs arent needed !!

cheers

Turbos are very effective, but very boring, so as noted above, you need to be focused and motivated to get something useful out of them. I think that they are best used for interval sessions, because trying to do longer base endurance is a bit mind numbing. Get yourself an interval programme with a bit of variety, and that will help to make things more interesting.

I tried an elite (volare) – it was at the cheapest end of the scale – the resistance was too easy. I could spin-out in every gear. It is worth spending a little more for the better resistance. I ended up with an Elite Elastogel trainer.

As an experiment, find a blank wall in your house or garage right now, and stand facing it for an hour.
Once the hour is up come back and report on how it went for you. If the thought of adding sitting on a bike to the experience gets you stoked then it’s probably for you.

Oh forgot to add I have the iPad and tv catch up to ease the fact that I am riding staring at a wall….

I’ll go and have a look see at one, 30/45 minutes a day max, just to keep legs working really

Instead of going for a cheap one, with the assumption I wouldn’t use it much, I went for an expensive one which I use a lot and usually fine quite enjoyable – Elite RealAxiom. There’s a new wireless one on Ebay for £600 which is a good deal – compared to the RRP of £1k anyway!

Then there’s the Bkool ones for £360 at Wiggle.

I saw that Elite Realaxiom – what do you think of it?

Yeah, the expensive one is nice but as I said originally as a first foray into it and one that’ll only set me back a tenner, I’m thinking ill give it a go and see how it works

Oh I don’t blame people for not going for these things – could buy a bike for that! It’s just that I never bought a turbo as figured I wouldn’t use it then saw a RealAxiom on Ebay a few years ago and bought it for a good price so not so much of a gamble. Got really into using it and now have one of the latest wireless ones but one of the older ones are just as good. I think they’re great and get some good training in over the winter using it. Some race online with them but I haven’t tried that yet – I think Elite need to do more work in this area to create an online community. Tacx do this side of things better with their VR trainers but I think the Elite ones are better overall.

hitman – if you’re thinking about going for the Ebay one mail me if you want any specific info. These are useful (there’s a lot of boring stuff at the beginning though):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02jT3tQL1l8

Got turbo and now rollers. Yes 1hr + at tempo is duller than the in laws at Chrismas but for structured interval sessions when the roads are underwater they are ideal. You still end up wetter than an Otters pocket but the bike doesn’t take 3hrs to clean.

How do you get on with rollers?
It is something I’m also thinking about at a later date for technique

Rollers are a lot harder work, just concentrating on not falling off ups the HR. Longest session I can manage is 45mins. I program workouts into my Garmin, press start and just hold on.

Great for core stab and smooth pedal stroke.

I find it easier to stick bike onto rollers than set up bike on turbo, plug in, etc,etc. Plus now wife has nicked turbo.

Turbo’s are boring if you’re just spinning. If you’re doing intervals then they’re ok. Once you have got one then spend a little bit more and download some of these. Boredom will then be the last thing on your mind.

Maximus – what do you think the Mrs is getting for her birthday.

Well I’ve just been a picked the one in my link above up, I’ll let you know how I get on with it, now apart from the obvious Sufferfest training videos, are there any other training programmes/guides I should look out for?

hmmm I was thinking about getting a turbo, but is there going to be a huge difference between that and my cheap as chips exercise bike, if all I’m doing is using it for a 40 minute spin when I can’t face going out in the bad weather?

Negatives are I live in a flat, so I’m going to have to spend a few bob to get one of the quieter versions

Tp, turbos are far better than exercise bikes as you have constant resistance. You can do a 20 min sprint interval session and completely knacker yourself out. I bought a 2nd hand half decent Tacx on here a couple of years ago and it has been great. Just get some decent tunes on the old walkman and feel the pain 🙂