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Should I buy a trainer?
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Hi everyone,

I'm interested in buying a trainer to get be through the rest of the Chicago winter-- instead of carving out time to get to spin classes during the week at the gym. I bought my first carbon road bike (Felt F4C) and I've heard various opinions about putting a carbon frame on a trainer. Is there any reason to be concerned about wear and tear on the bike frame or components?? (Yes, I plan on putting an old/trainer tire on the back wheel). I'm average height/weight (5'7" 130), and I'll probably use it three times a week, 1-2 hours. Just want to make absolutely sure it won't cause too much damage to my bike before making the investment.

Thanks for your help!

And yes, my seat's too high. ;)

Jen
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Re: Should I buy a trainer? [JNelly7] [ In reply to ]
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This topic comes up every once in a while. Tom Demerly wrote something about it a year ago or so...here's a post that his his original post linked somewhere.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/..._reply;so=ASC;mh=25;

I ride my carbon bike on the trainer 1-2 times a week when I'm in season. As do a lot of the people I train with. I've never had a problem at all. My bike is 2 1/2 years old. And I really crank down the trainer so the bike stays in (a little paranoid because it came out once and I broke my wrist as a result of it). Get a cheap shimano skewer to use.
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Re: Should I buy a trainer? [PirateGirl] [ In reply to ]
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Ah, thanks! Sorry for the repeat, now I can stop being paranoid... :)
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Re: Should I buy a trainer? [JNelly7] [ In reply to ]
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Absolutely. Get one so you can share in the pain. :-)

I just got off of my trainer. The first indoor ride of the winter for me! My road bike (which is on the trainer) is carbon, and I don't think I've done any damage to it by using it on the trainer.

If you do buy one, spend the $ to get a good one.
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Re: Should I buy a trainer? [JNelly7] [ In reply to ]
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Me too on the no problems with the CF bike on the trainer. I do all my riding indoors when the weather is lousy. I'm a weather wimp on my bike so I've put a lot of miles on my trainer.

The thread QRGirl references is really good one and confirms our experiences.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce
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Re: Should I buy a trainer? [JNelly7] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, get the trainer! I live in Chicago as well and live on the trainer. My bike has held up just fine over the last three years.
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Re: Should I buy a trainer? [JNelly7] [ In reply to ]
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I would suggest rollers. I have both a trainer and rollers and I prefer the rollers, though the learning curve is a little more and you just can't space out on them like you can on the trainer.

clm

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
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Re: Should I buy a trainer? [trackie clm] [ In reply to ]
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One should to consider the type of workouts as well. Rollers are awesome - great fun, and a solid workout. But if you want to either:

~sit on the bike and crank out (n) hours while watching movies
or
~throw down insanely hard gut busting intervals that make you want to puke, cry and faint all at the same time


then rollers might not be ideal. For those types of workouts a stationary trainer is generally safer.

Optimally you'd want to own both a set of rollers as well as a good stationary trainer. Another option is the "e-motion" rollers by InsideRide. They allow for more movement (sprinting, etc) and offer somewhat of a safety net over conventional rollers, but they're pretty pricey ~$800 last time I checked.


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Re: Should I buy a trainer? [QRgirl] [ In reply to ]
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Hey we should have a Women's "group trainer ride" lol. ;-)

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS
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Re: Should I buy a trainer? [AndyPants] [ In reply to ]
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OK, I sucked it up and bought a CycleOps fluid trainer... thanks for all the advice! I thought about rollers, but might need the time to study too (...grad school).

Updates to follow about how much I hate being on the trainer/how bored I am... ;)

Thanks again--

Jen
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Re: Should I buy a trainer? [JNelly7] [ In reply to ]
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We ride our trainers in the cold months. The biggest problem is the boredom factor as trainer riding gets old quickly. I'd also recommend picking up some of Coach Troy's work out tapes. They're quite good and make trainer riding a bit more interesting.
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