I ride a cyclops fluid two (2010) with a dedicated trainer bike (2006) and assiamo power pedals (2019) and trainer road (2014?). I am in a winter climate and ride four to five days a week on the trainer. I can't see any reason to change my trainer until it dies.

I too am on the dumb trainer + bar chart + Netflix team. 7 years with the CycleOps Fluid 2, 4+ years without Zwift.

As an additional benefit, with a dumb trainer you are not tempted to go to erg mode, so you can better learn how different intensities feel.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

I'm on an Elite Chrono dumb fluid trainer, and use it with Trainer Road. I like it and it was quite a cheap setup with a power pedal. But after a few years with it I feel like I'm ready to graduate on to a smart trainer... Something about them just feels more legit, or more like Evenepoel on the Zwift ads... Bloody marketers!

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Dayoutsports.com.au| Australia's Newest Cycling and Tri Apparel Brand

the only issue with the 4iiii is you need a specific wheel. It has to be welded, not a pin joined metal rim. I discovered to my chagrin that even though a Mavic Ksyrium is welded it does not work.... 4iiii were great though and took it back no problems. So if your wheel is the right type then 4iiii is great but for me that was a problem.

I am on a cycleops wheel-on dumb trainer with assioma pedals for power. No interest in Zwift etc... Earbuds and AppleTV on 55in screen low on the wall

Only thing I keep looking at is rollers but have never pulled the trigger

I still use my 7 year old Stac Zero magnetic trainer, my fourth dumb trainer over 30 years. I know I'm missing out on all the high tech stuff that the smart trainers offer with graphics and races etc, but I don't feel that the performance side is compromised. I make up my own workouts, ride as hard or easy as I want, hard interval workouts, overgear work. I've done 4 hour rides, plugged into Netflix, you tube, or just music. I loosely follow heart rate, but no power or cadence monitor. It can still be done the old school way :)

Rollers are a good time do it! I do have a smart trainer, but I plan to spend at least 50% of my indoor time this winter on the rollers instead.

I do not use a smart trainer... I ride rollers with power and use PerfPro... watch movies, college basketball... something.

My wife though who suddenly decided she wanted to do an Ironman... never done a tri, had a Kurt Kinetic road machine and went with a new Wahoo Kickr. She really likes Zwift and there are a lot of different programs out there... even PerfPro like I use on my rollers.

Anyway I think the smart trainer checks a lot of boxes and there are some very affordable options out there, like the new Zwift trainer... but the Kickr is pretty awesome too.

I know its more money but the Wahoo bike would be really awesome since you two are the same bike fit... that's more expensive for sure but would also be a really nice solution for both of you for a dedicated trainer.

My vote is to go smart in some way.

Same situation for me. Try to ride mostly rollers on PerfPro but do have a Hammer as well. I prefer chasing the watts to erg mode, but the Hammer does make riding in course mode possible when I want a it of variability.

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I PM'ed you. I don't want hijack this thread

My Qubo Elite dumb trainer got me 2 podiums this season.

I have a smart trainer, but ride it in "dumb" mode (with power meter on the bike).

Love the old school approach.

I'm also very much a Luddite. Never owned a trainer, smart, dumb or otherwise. 100% of training done outdoors.

A friend once asked me if I race on a penny-farthing.

I actually have to use a dumb trainer at the gym because I still can't find an perfect gym in my area where they have smart trainers that I can link one of my apps to.

I have a smart trainer that I generally use in erg mode and some e motion rollers I use with a power meter. I like both but if you held a gun to my head I’d be perfectly happy with the rollers. I like the erg because I don’t have to pay attention, but with the rollers I can adjust efforts by feel which isn’t a bad thing.

That said, the wahoo trainer is pushing the price point for smart trainers down significantly

I have my old steel custom road bike on a Tacx trainer I bought in 1988. I use it 2 or 3 times a year when it rains in Phoenix. I have also used it when recovering from various surgeries. Other than that no need for a smart trainer.

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Andrew Inkpen

I've been riding a "Feedback Sports" trainer (one of the ones where you take the front wheel off and the rear wheel runs on a pair of metal rollers) for three years now, since I broke my Kurt Kinetic one. I have a bike computer that tells me my current speed, distance travelled, average speed and I love the set up. It is totally manual, so very little that can go wrong (it'll probably fall apart when I get on it today after saying that) and I find the speeds it registers to be pretty comparable to what I manage outdoors in training and racing. The rollers seem to wreck my tyre less than the KK trainer did and it runs way quieter. I set it up at my workplace and ride after work, doing intervals and watching sport on TV (world cup right now, it's a bonanza) and find that I am able to follow any workout plan I want. Paying attention to cadence, gearing, and speed on the trainer is a good thing imho, it teaches you good habits for when you are outside. I've also wondered about "smart trainers" but have resisted so far because I am not convinced they would be that much better. I also think if I was doing Zwift races I would burn out pretty quickly. Full disclosure: I'm also the last person I know who doesn't own a cellphone, so I am not exactly a tech person...

Anyway, my point is: I don't think you *need* to have a smart trainer to be able to get full value out of your indoor workouts, as long as you are prepared to pay attention and push yourself honestly (and measure your output, whether that's speed or power).

made the decision two years ago to sell my Tacx neo2 and only ride outdoors…

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wovebike.com | Wove on instagram

In the land of rolling hills and no flats, a smart trainer is a man's best friend. I tried to pull off a legitimate zone 1 recovery ride outdoors the other day and while my average watts was where I wanted it to be, the unavoidable surges up the hills is something I can't avoid. Simply don't have the gears nor do I want to go 4mph up a hill with cars coming. I guess as I become a stronger cyclist and my zone 1 watts increases this will be less of an issue, but I am less than a year in with training.

I do wish I had gotten a tacx over the wahoo core, so I could get some basic back and forth movement while on the trainer, but other than that I'm totally satisfied with it.

I have a Tacx Blue Motion, it honestky works fine but I do want to get rid of it. But nobody wants to buy it.

I have a blue motion too for 7 or 8 years now. I used to be an almost only outdoor guy, and the trainer was there to avoid to skip a session when the weather was really bad. then covid came by and the trainer became my best friend during lockdown days. two months ago I bought an elite smart trainer and now I'm enjoying indoor training much more. I'm not selling the dumb trainer though, it's just sitting there in case a back up solution is needed

I'm still on a computrainer - it's my second. Bought first one used in 2008 and it was on the money for over 10 years, then the resistance unit went. I bought an unused computrainer on ebay for $250 (included the shipping) and I don't think it can be beat (for me). I hate that you need a smartphone to work a Wahoo (I tried it - hated it). And the fact that the Wahoo I tried was so heavy. Moving that thing around was ridiculous.

Still on my Computrainer as well. The thing just won't die. Can't remember specifically how long I have had it, but has to be in the 15-20 year range. I still really enjoy it and like that I can easily adjust the wattage manually using the console. Though, no pretty pictures for Strava.

I'm on this:

I also use earphones with a 25ft cord to plug into the jack on my TV screen, and keep Ian McKellen's recording of The Odyssey (14 cassette tapes or so) and an old boombox handy, for longer sessions. I recommend the McKellen, but not the headphone setup.

the back up solution was needed eventually: the smart trainer suffered a failure and the dumb one was resumed