Bike at home... turbo trainer

[agteacht]

Hi all

Due to both the CV situation and having a 3 month old daughter I need to find a way to exercise at home.

As I've always enjoyed spinning... it wouldn't be quite the same but I was thinking of buying a turbo trainer for my bike in order to do some sort of indoor cycling...

Does anyone have one and if so would you recommend / can you do a decent workout with one?

Thank you!

Utterly exhausting but very dull, one

DH has a very fancy one that links up to a computer, it's keeping him busy & distracted at the moment. He'd definitely recommend. As would I as it stops him going stir crazy. And yes, you get a very decent workout.

Thanks both

Could you rent a spin bike and do some online classes? There are companies that deliver fitness equipment for rental.

I’ve got one, a very basic one, it’s fine, I watch something on iplayer/Netflix etc to combat the boredom.

My DH got one in Dec (a Wahoo Kickr Core). It wasn’t cheap, but I’ve become obsessed with it...and he barely uses it! Though I guess that might change in isolation....

I use a cycling app on my iPad called Zwift, check it out, it’s cool and the competitive element makes me push myself harder. We set it up In the spare room with the tv so I watch some trash telly whilst I pedal. I lost my winter weight (a stone) in about four weeks, doing an hour 5 times a week and now it’s just part of my routine.

It kept me occupied through all that crap weather we had and now I’m sure it’ll be a lifesaver over the next couple of months!

I'm selling one. In its box, never used! If you're in West Yorkshire PM me

@S0upertrooper that's really what I would love as I normally do a spin class... couldn't see anywhere to rent one but maybe I'm looking in the wrong places! I will do some more googling...

@Goatinthegarden so helpful thank you!! I will look both the wahoo and the app up now. Did you cycle much before?

@thatmustbenigelwiththebrie aw unfortunately no I'm in London!

@Goatinthegarden eek that's expensive!!! Maybe an eBay one!

@S0upertrooper now I feel stupid - no idea what I googled before but there's clearly companies that do this although many seem to have no stock as other people had same idea! Will do some proper research.

I was doing tjisbyesyerdya and deciding between direct drive or fluid or magnetic. In the end I didnt want to get a direct drive one due to cost, having to buy a cassette for most of them and putting it on.

Went for middle.option and ijust got an elite novo smart so can hook bike up quickly but benefit is if you use zwift with it it has bluetooth enabled so resistance changes based on the program your using.

Plus with this I can dismantle it quickly and on warmer days put it in the garden, least pretend I'm doing my usual outside ride

I watched a few YouTube videos on different models to determine how noisy they were as well so you might want to do that.

Also went to my local bike shop and they had one for £199 but they basically said you need one with resistance otherwise your just basically spinning if you use your own gears. Makes sense.

I use Sufferfest, my bike and a cheap turbo trainer from Aldi.

Also you could get a group of you on a Skype call and do a group work out if you like the feel of a class workout. Nominate a group leader for each session - base it on reps, choose a sound track and off you go.

I’ve never heard of one without resistance. Mine isn’t available anymore from here but this is it.

Really basic and it wasn’t expensive. Magnetic.

How does the resistance work? Using the gears on your bike?

Settings on the trainer itself. You can then use your gears.This one has a cable with a control to change the resistance.

I have only ever used a basic one. XH took his with him but that was a basic magnetic one that was 20 years old and he cycled a lot.

I can’t imagine what you would get that wold be massively different with the £££££ trainers but what do I know 🤷🏻‍♀️.

You can use the gears on your bike but once your pretty fit you cant get more resistance to make the workout harder. So some trainers have a cable with a job to add resistance, others are smart ones with provide resistance based on the programme selected when paired with an app.

This is what my bike shop told me as they were showing me my options on what to get.

I have a wahoo kickr core hooked up to my road bike, been using it for over a year now (mainly winter/bad weather) and so glad I have it during this time! I use it with zwift - so I'd definitely recommend. It's a smart trainer to adjusts the resistance for you, to eg mimic hills, but you can still change gear. The core is the lower range one, not cheap but not as crazy as some of them go. Def try eBay or bike shop. Any questions about zwift etc I'm happy to answer!