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idiots guide to trainers
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Iam extremely overwhelmed and have done lots of reading on old posts on this forum it seems nearly everyone on this site is very technology savy.... Iam a technology dinosaur and need some help please.
I currently do all my bike workouts at the local gym on an upright exercise bike which has a screen that gives power, time, cadence etc this works very well for me and is very simple to use you just start pedaling and everything is displayed.

The local gym is closing and unless i can try and buy one of these exercise bikes when they close iam going to have to either

A.) Buy an exercise bike like the ones the gym uses for my home or
b.) Buy some sort of trainer device to use with my bike (I have never used any type of trainer in my life)

It seems there is a million types of trainers out there. From what i can tell a lot of them need to be hooked up to a computer (PC) to be used ie the trainer road and computer trainer and wahoo. I dont have a computer to do this nor am I interested in doing this i dont need a screen or anything to tell me anything. All i need is like the bike at the gym something that desplays current power, time, and at the end of the session shows average power?

Is there a trainer that i can hook my bike up to that will display these 3 things on like a small kinda screen that you would use on a bike to show your speed etc? I do all my intervals etc with these 3 parameters and that is all i need no other fancy things hooked up to a computer. Can someone please simplfly all of this. My first priority is to try and buy the exercise bike from the gym second hand when they sell it and use that at home.

thanks
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Re: idiots guide to trainers [Bone crusher] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, there is. I have one: tacx flow.
Simple ergotrainer. Simple display. Works perfectly.
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Re: idiots guide to trainers [Ynsnits] [ In reply to ]
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Hey mate cheers for the info, I had a look at it on a few sites. One question it says you can set the power at a intended wattage and it holds you at that power? I'm not sure what that means but are you able to just ride to whatever power you want for as long as you want? I don't like the idea of having to set the power you want. I do my intervals at my own power by watching the screen and concentrating on my watts
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Re: idiots guide to trainers [Bone crusher] [ In reply to ]
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You can do both.
In ergomode you can set watts and hold that for as long as you like.
Then there is slope mode which is more like real cycling. When set on 0 it's like cycling on flat roads and you can produce any power you want, which will be shown on the display.
I guess this is just what need?!
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Re: idiots guide to trainers [Bone crusher] [ In reply to ]
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Just a thought but if you just want to ride on a trainer to a given power level, it might make more sense to get a basic trainer and add a power meter to your bike. The bike computer will then tell you your power levels. If you were doing this I'd suggest a good but simple fluid trainer like a KK Road Machine or the equivalent Cycleops trainer.
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Re: idiots guide to trainers [Ai_1] [ In reply to ]
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Ai_1 wrote:
Just a thought but if you just want to ride on a trainer to a given power level, it might make more sense to get a basic trainer and add a power meter to your bike. The bike computer will then tell you your power levels. If you were doing this I'd suggest a good but simple fluid trainer like a KK Road Machine or the equivalent Cycleops trainer.

This is the best answer so far. For the price of a 'smart' trainer you could probably get a used Powertap rear wheel and a KK trainer. Then you'd have power for all your rides. Of course, you may have to get a new bike computer if your current one isn't capable of giving you power.

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Re: idiots guide to trainers [natethomas] [ In reply to ]
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Older generation "smart" trainers such as the Tacx Flow or the Elite Qubo Digital (both motorized resistance and lcd handlebar remote control) are now cheaper than the KK road machine alone, at least in Europe.
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Re: idiots guide to trainers [natethomas] [ In reply to ]
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natethomas wrote:
Ai_1 wrote:
Just a thought but if you just want to ride on a trainer to a given power level, it might make more sense to get a basic trainer and add a power meter to your bike. The bike computer will then tell you your power levels. If you were doing this I'd suggest a good but simple fluid trainer like a KK Road Machine or the equivalent Cycleops trainer.


This is the best answer so far. For the price of a 'smart' trainer you could probably get a used Powertap rear wheel and a KK trainer. Then you'd have power for all your rides. Of course, you may have to get a new bike computer if your current one isn't capable of giving you power.

Exactly they are tanks. You will have it for years get a power tap or some power pedals and switch them all you want.
I paid 170 for a used KK from craiglist it was basically new.

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Re: idiots guide to trainers [mknight84] [ In reply to ]
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I'm reasonably happy with my kk. I use virtual power with trainerroad, which I highly recommend.

I'll probably get a power meter at some point, but I'm happy to wait a while and see if any new products/price cuts happen in the next few months.
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Re: idiots guide to trainers [srshaw] [ In reply to ]
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The other option is a simple trainer (I use a Cycleops Fluid 2) and a Powertap PowerCal heart rate monitor, It is not an super accurate power meter but it does the job, DCrainmakers review was pretty good on its usefulnuess. http://www.dcrainmaker.com/...in-depth-review.html
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Re: idiots guide to trainers [Bone crusher] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for the ideas people I didn't think of a power meter on the bike then a simple trainer this would then enable me to race with power outside as well which I have never had the luxury of!!!

How durable are these trainers such as the tacx flow, I ride around 7 hours a week all indoors doing my sweet spot and vo2 intervals etc my wife will also use the trainer too though she not interested in power. My current FTP around 315watts not sure if that makes a difference to the life of one of these trainers? Ie does working them at higher watts reduce their life
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Re: idiots guide to trainers [Bone crusher] [ In reply to ]
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I've averaged over 10 hours on my cyclops for over 3 years and it works as well today as it did 3 yeas ago.
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Re: idiots guide to trainers [Bone crusher] [ In reply to ]
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What kind of exercise bike are you using at the gym and considering buying? Most gym exercise bikes are not great for cyclists, but if it's working for you maybe stick with it... or maybe there is a better solution. It would be good to know the baseline equipment you've been using.
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Re: idiots guide to trainers [Bone crusher] [ In reply to ]
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I have mine for more than 7 years by now.During the off- season I use it freqently, 4-5 times a week and 1.5-2 hours per session. Never had a problem, still working flawlessly after more than 12000 km.
just burned lots of tires! ;)
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Re: idiots guide to trainers [tballco] [ In reply to ]
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The bike at gym is an upright bike from healthstream not sure on the model but so far it has seemed to work, at most of my local races my bike split is top5 overall. Tha doesn't mean though that by using my actual bike on a trainer in the aero position I couldn't improve further?

What do people think of the Kurt kinetic road trainer with the power attatchment
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Re: idiots guide to trainers [Bone crusher] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, I have tacx flow
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