mag / wind trainers

Dej

gday,
anyone got non product specific websites for info on mag / indoor trainers?
i'm finding it hard to get out in the cold & rain for a ride of late
i went to a gym last night to check out what they have to offer. The staff
member spent 15 mins showing me around and 25 mins trying to get me to pay
up on the spot.

So are these things useful? Any gotchyas to look for when purchasing? I'll
probably go for 2nd hand to hopefully save some cash and hopefully reduce
risk of verbal assault from wife for spending more money on bike gear

hippy

>Originally posted by Dej gday, anyone got non product specific websites
>for info on mag / indoor trainers?

google is really the best thing for this. google groups will get you
some useful opinions or links to sites for comparisons.

Try "mag trainer" "indoor trainer" etc...

>i'm finding it hard to get out in the cold & rain for a ride of late

Join the club!

>So are these things useful?

Yes and no. They are better than nothing for replacing riding. They are
great if you are doing serious training and need to focus on specific
intensity levels that can't be maintained on the road due to lights,
traffic, wind, etc, etc.. That said, I find indoor training to be dead
boring. I watch movies and listen to music when I occasionally jump on
my mag trainer these days.

>Any gotchyas to look for when purchasing?

Non-rim trainers will need slick tyres and will wear these tyres down.
Fluid trainers are meant to better match road feel but are usually more
expensive. I have a Minoura Rim mag trainer and it does the job it's
supposed to.

>I'll probably go for 2nd hand to hopefully save some cash and
>hopefully reduce risk of verbal assault from wife for spending more
>money on bike gear

ebay.com.au tradingpost.com.au bicyclingaustralia.com

hth hippy



--

Unkey Munkey

Dej wrote:
> gday,
> anyone got non product specific websites for info on mag / indoor trainers?
> i'm finding it hard to get out in the cold & rain for a ride of late
> i went to a gym last night to check out what they have to offer. The staff
> member spent 15 mins showing me around and 25 mins trying to get me to pay
> up on the spot.
>
> So are these things useful? Any gotchyas to look for when purchasing? I'll
> probably go for 2nd hand to hopefully save some cash and hopefully reduce
> risk of verbal assault from wife for spending more money on bike gear
>
>
We've got one at our place nobody ever uses (because it is so damn
boring), it was left behind by the guys who lived here before us. It's a
mag trainer, contact with tyre. Are you in Sydney? You can come check it
out if you are anywhere near Redfern.

- Munk3y

Tamyka Bell

Dej wrote:
>
> gday,
> anyone got non product specific websites for info on mag / indoor trainers?
> i'm finding it hard to get out in the cold & rain for a ride of late
> i went to a gym last night to check out what they have to offer. The staff
> member spent 15 mins showing me around and 25 mins trying to get me to pay
> up on the spot.
>
> So are these things useful? Any gotchyas to look for when purchasing? I'll
> probably go for 2nd hand to hopefully save some cash and hopefully reduce
> risk of verbal assault from wife for spending more money on bike gear

Wind trainers are kind of like a little fan inside the unit, so the
faster the wheel starts spinning, the more you increase the resistance.
Also the louder it gets! If you want to sit in front of the TV and
really spin, with very little tension, it's a bad thing. If you want to
get really, really strong, it's a good thing.

Mag trainers use a big magnet, often in oil, and so the resistance isn't
speed-dependent. You can just spin and spin at whatever speed you want.
Sometimes you have to jump off to adjust the tension and some mag
trainers have a cable that goes up to your bars so you can adjust from
there. (This is like the intensity control knob on an exercise bike). I
use a mag trainer, I just work different gears for different intensity
because I"m too lazy to get off my bike. Or I get my housemate to adjust
it for me, he's a good slave. Quieter ones are more expensive.

You can also get cool "rollers" which have three big... rollers, you
basically put your bike on it and spin, spin spin spin spin! Because
you're not locked in like a wind/mag trainer you get to develop balance
as well. Not recommended for outdoors on a windy day as I saw at a demo
at uni.

Make sure you have a sturdy training tyre on your back wheel, you don't
want to waste a really nice tyre on the trainer. You may have to change
the qr skewer on the back wheel but there's usually a nice strong steel
one provided with the trainer. Make sure the contact is firm enough that
the wheel deforms a few mm. If you're going to do a lot of training on
your indoor trainer, it's nice to have your computer rigged up to the
back wheel instead of the front, so you can see speed/distance stats
when you're not going anywhere. I'm too lazy to change mine, it's on the
front and that's where it'll stay. But I only use it on rainy days,
which aren't too frequent in Sunny BrisVegas.

I use a Minoura mag trainer, it came with a support for the front wheel
and one of those sweat covers for the bike, it's light but strong and
adjustable and not too noisy.

I guess the biggest point is that, so long as it holds your bike stable,
it's pretty good. The more expensive ones really are just quieter in
general.

Tam

flyingdutch

Dej wrote:
> I'll probably go for 2nd hand to hopefully save some cash and
> hopefully reduce risk of verbal assault from wife for spending more
> money on bike gear



tell her it will buy you more time to do all the other things she is
nagging, er, reminding you to do. Cos now you will be able to wind-train
at nights,etc

either that or say its either a windtrainer or that sportscar [insert
far more expensive hobby here] you have been thinking of...



--

DRS

"Tamyka Bell" <tbell@hms.uq.edu.au> wrote in message
news:40D10757.94C9B54D@hms.uq.edu.au

[...]

> different intensity because I"m too lazy to get off my bike. Or I get
> my housemate to adjust it for me, he's a good slave. Quieter ones are
> more expensive.

Where do you get your slaves? You can probably get them cheaper on ebay.

--

A: Top-posters.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet?

K&C Russell

"hippy" <usenet-forum@cyclingforums.com> wrote in message
news:4n7Ac.2557$7Q.1466@fe17.usenetserver.com...
> >Originally posted by Dej gday, anyone got non product specific websites
> >for info on mag / indoor trainers?
>
> google is really the best thing for this. google groups will get you
> some useful opinions or links to sites for comparisons.
>
> Try "mag trainer" "indoor trainer" etc...
>
> >i'm finding it hard to get out in the cold & rain for a ride of late
>
> Join the club!
>
> >So are these things useful?
>
> Yes and no. They are better than nothing for replacing riding. They are
> great if you are doing serious training and need to focus on specific
> intensity levels that can't be maintained on the road due to lights,
> traffic, wind, etc, etc.. That said, I find indoor training to be dead
> boring. I watch movies and listen to music when I occasionally jump on
> my mag trainer these days.
>
> >Any gotchyas to look for when purchasing?
>
> Non-rim trainers will need slick tyres and will wear these tyres down.
> Fluid trainers are meant to better match road feel but are usually more
> expensive. I have a Minoura Rim mag trainer and it does the job it's
> supposed to.
>
> >I'll probably go for 2nd hand to hopefully save some cash and
> >hopefully reduce risk of verbal assault from wife for spending more
> >money on bike gear
>
> ebay.com.au tradingpost.com.au bicyclingaustralia.com
>
> hth hippy
>

You can spice the indoor up by training to a program. ie intervals etc.
Check out the Sally Edwards Heart Rate Monitor Book it has plenty of indoor
workouts to choose from.

I don't reckon the tyre wear argument holds up. Typically we replace tyres
earlier than needed or end up with a tyre with a sidewall cut that we would
not race or ride on yet it is great for the trainer because there is no
injury risk if it fails. If you have a spare bike or even a spare rear
wheel you use on the trainer the worn tyre can be used to its max.

Kevin

By the way I went for the fluid trainer.

Geoff

"Dej" <dejonica@n.o.5p4M.dejonica.com> wrote in message
news:bc6Ac.62$ze3.2441@news.optus.net.au...
> gday,
> anyone got non product specific websites for info on mag / indoor
trainers?
> i'm finding it hard to get out in the cold & rain for a ride of late
> i went to a gym last night to check out what they have to offer. The staff
> member spent 15 mins showing me around and 25 mins trying to get me to pay
> up on the spot.
>
> So are these things useful? Any gotchyas to look for when purchasing? I'll
> probably go for 2nd hand to hopefully save some cash and hopefully reduce
> risk of verbal assault from wife for spending more money on bike gear
>
>

Resistance trainers are really useful for complementing your road riding.
They allow you to train at specific intensities without the influence of the
environmental factors that exist when training out on the road.

For example a recovery effort at which you would want to be operating at or
around LT (Lactic Threshold) heartrate to get the maximum benefit. If you
were to try this on the road you would find it unbearably slow in terms of
bike speed. You would almost certainly not be able to remain disciplined
enough to go this slow. Factors such a hills and wind would make this even
harder as they serve only to increase your heart rate. On a resistance
trainer it is much easier to maintain a constant heart rate and cadence and
hence a more effective workout.

As to what type of trainer to use will depend on what type of training you
are planning to do. If you plan to do High Power Low Cadence work then
steer clear of the Rim type trainers. They do not cut it. (I used to have
one. The rubber wheels loose traction with the rim). If it is just low
power (ie < 200Watts) spinning they are ok but you will still probably find
that your pedal stroke is not as fluid as it could be. I think this is due
mostly due to the mag unit's flywheel being relatively small.

If you are after something that will give you a good feel you will need to
be looking at good quality Fluid or Mag resistance units that have a large
heavy flywheels. If you anticipate you will be doing High Power Low Cadence
(ie > 300Watt) workouts as well as Low Power High Cadence (Spinning) then I
would be looking at Mag units and "Adjustable resistance" Fluid units.
Examples to these would be the Tacx "CycleForce Swing", the Elite "Volare"
or Minoura "Hypermag 1200".

Rollers are a good option if you are after a spinning type of workout. It's
not too difficult to maintain a specific heart rate on rollers but you will
find your HR will be a little higher for the same output power (due to the
increased demands from the muscles of the upper body for oxygen) when
compared to a stationary type trainer. If you use a road bike on the
rollers you can easily change your resistance on the fly by moving through
the gears. You cannot do Low Cadence High Power on normal rollers.

Personally for training I use a "Senator Ergo Frame" (see
www.rickleonard.com) fitted with a Tacx resistance unit of the same type
that is found on the Tacx "CycleForce Swing" trainer. This combination
gives a realistic roadlike feeling.

I use Rollers for pre/post race warming up/cooling down when it is just not
possible to justify transporting the Ergo to a race. I also have a Tacx
"CycleForce Swing" that my wife uses, with her bike, for her indoor
training. She used to think that the Minoura Rim trainer was good until she
started using this. I have tried a High Power Medium Cadence power workout
using the Tacx "CycleForce Swing" with my road bike just to see if it felt
any different from the same workout on the ergo. The feel was reasonably
similar, as expected, with the exception of one thing. The flexing of my
road frame under load (est. power of 420-480W). This amount of flexing I
did not see as being too good for the bike frame so I decided that the Ergo
was definitely the better platform for this type of effort. There are other
Ergo trainers out there, (eg Perkins, Evans) but they all seem to use air
for their resistance method. These air resistance models are quite noisy
when in use. Noise is also an issue to keep in mind when considering "fan
type" resistance trainers

There are some bargains to be had on the 2nd hand market. "Ebay" and the
"Trading Post" usually have listings for resistance trainers. Hopefully
there will be something that meets your requirements. But if you are after
the ultimate, however less portable, solution go for the ergo style trainer
where you don't use and abuse your road bike.

If you go the Ergo option and get a QR seatpost clamp. Your wife will be
able to use it as well by moving the seat to a height that suits her. You
could even have a second saddle and seatpost set up if she did not like your
saddle. Then you can say you didn't buy it just for yourself.

PS: If you thought you had problems justifying spending money on bike gear
try convincing your other half that you MUST have a $2000+ carbon disk wheel
for pursuiting next track season when the track bike already has two more
wheels than it can actually have fitted at any one time.

DRS

"Geoff" <ggoodyear@NOSPAMlabyrinth.net.au> wrote in message
news:casbsq$1vdh$1@arachne.labyrinth.net.au

[...]

> PS: If you thought you had problems justifying spending money on
> bike gear try convincing your other half that you MUST have a $2000+
> carbon disk wheel for pursuiting next track season when the track
> bike already has two more wheels than it can actually have fitted at
> any one time.

Oh, that just means you need a backup frame.

Sheesh.

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A: Top-posters.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet?

Geoff

Oops, the link in my previous post should have been www.rickleonard.com.au

sorry

Geoff

"DRS" <drs@remove.this.ihug.com.au> wrote in message
news:casc2t$8bj$1@lust.ihug.co.nz...
> "Geoff" <ggoodyear@NOSPAMlabyrinth.net.au> wrote in message
> news:casbsq$1vdh$1@arachne.labyrinth.net.au
>
> [...]
>
> > PS: If you thought you had problems justifying spending money on
> > bike gear try convincing your other half that you MUST have a $2000+
> > carbon disk wheel for pursuiting next track season when the track
> > bike already has two more wheels than it can actually have fitted at
> > any one time.
>
> Oh, that just means you need a backup frame.
>
> Sheesh.
>
> --
>
> A: Top-posters.
> Q: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet?
>
>

Hmmm, backup frame. A BT perhaps. (maybe for 2005/06)

BG

I have a question regarding a blackburn fluid trainer i purchased recently.
sudden sprinting seem to cut in the resistance rather quickly.....
not sure if it feels right.....
any comments welcome

Tamyka Bell

DRS wrote:
>
> "Tamyka Bell" <tbell@hms.uq.edu.au> wrote in message
> news:40D10757.94C9B54D@hms.uq.edu.au
>
> [...]
>
> > different intensity because I"m too lazy to get off my bike. Or I get
> > my housemate to adjust it for me, he's a good slave. Quieter ones are
> > more expensive.
>
> Where do you get your slaves? You can probably get them cheaper on ebay.
>
This slave is my partner's little brother. I got him for free and he
cooks well too. He even pays his own rent.

Struggles with cleaning though.