It’s going to be a long winter on the trainer. I have a fairly nice bike that I’ve been using on my Kickr but was kicking around the idea of getting a junk bike to put on the trainer all winter. Should I be worried about ragging out my components on a trainer all winter?
If I do get a junk bike for the trainer should I be concerned about trying to get the same geometry as my race bike?
Some say all bikes are fine on the trainer, some say not… I chose to be careful so 7-8 years ago I bought a brand new bike from a sporting goods store for $400. It’s heavy, ugly and has many really cheap components but it has worked very well. Took the brakes off and parts I don’t need, it’s 8 speed with shimano Sora but I’m still using original components, chain etc. Still works like a charm. Good enough for me doing Sufferfest stuff in my basement, it gives me a mental break (no power measurement) but I can still train well and am not causing any wear on my good bike.
No. Bikes are meant to be used, not babied. Just use an old towel or something to protect it from sweat, wipe it down if any sweat does get on it, and you’ll be fine.
I’d want my position almost identical to the bike i race on for most of my training. It’s one thing to drag out the road bike a couple times a week, but I think most of your miles should be on the bike you plan to race on… and should be done in the aero position, so you can get used to holding that for 2-5 hours (depending on your A race distance)
What are you going to wear out that can’t be replaced?
I just replace my chain, casette, and maybe chainrings before my first “A” race or"B+" race. RD pulleys aren’t that expensive and can a nice upgrade anyway. Put the old cheap ones on for winter training.
I have the same DuraAce shifters, RD, FD, on my road bike from 1999. They are aren’t as crisp as they were 20k miles ago, but they still work. Same headset and wheels too. Very light low spoke count Velomax wheels. Never trued them. Repalced the rear bearings in the rear hub once maybe 10 years ago.
I have a super tri bike, a real nice road bike, and a $1200 road bike. The $1200 road bike is basically permanently affixed to my Wahoo KICKR.
I wouldn’t worry about getting the exact same geometry on the trainer. Riding is riding. It won’t take long for your body to get used to your race bike position once you can get in some outdoor riding. My tri bike is rather aggressively fit. The bike on my trainer is a Trek Madone 2.1 with the H2 geometry. It’s setup for comfort.
I’d want my position almost identical to the bike i race on for most of my training. It’s one thing to drag out the road bike a couple times a week, but I think most of your miles should be on the bike you plan to race on… and should be done in the aero position, so you can get used to holding that for 2-5 hours (depending on your A race distance)
What are you going to wear out that can’t be replaced?
I just replace my chain, casette, and maybe chainrings before my first “A” race or"B+" race. RD pulleys aren’t that expensive and can a nice upgrade anyway. Put the old cheap ones on for winter training.
I have the same DuraAce shifters, RD, FD, on my road bike from 1999. They are aren’t as crisp as they were 20k miles ago, but they still work. Same headset and wheels too. Very light low spoke count Velomax wheels. Never trued them. Repalced the rear bearings in the rear hub once maybe 10 years ago.
I agree with trying to replicate my race position. For my third race of the season I put my road bike on the trainer and trained exclusively on the trainer for that training block. Come race time I cramped up in several of the smaller muscles in my legs. I attribute that training on my road bike exclusively.
Do you replace you chain , cassette, and chainrings every year?
My fully tricked out Transition will spend all the cold winter months on my trainer in the family room this season, just as it has for the last 3 years before. My Allez will be hung in the garage (missing its back wheel - that is my trainer wheel) for the entire time.
I do this for exactly the what you are asking in the last question - I build fitness and endurance in the full aero position during the winter. Then during race season I only ride the race bike in races and for the occasional brick. Otherwise the Allez is the main bike.
It’s going to be a long winter on the trainer. I have a fairly nice bike that I’ve been using on my Kickr but was kicking around the idea of getting a junk bike to put on the trainer all winter. Should I be worried about ragging out my components on a trainer all winter?
If I do get a junk bike for the trainer should I be concerned about trying to get the same geometry as my race bike?
I use my “A” bike. It’s a TT bike.
I will add that if you’re a big sweater, it’s absolutely worth it to get a quality bike cover. For the TT bike, the cockpit cover made by anaerobic zone for $30 does an amazing job of protecting the entire front end. Befoer I got that cover, I tried a regular bike thong and/or towel, and managed to destroy the front brake system and headset from corroding sweat. This becomes a serious issue if the bike sits ont he trainer for weeks/months - if you ride it outdoors 1+ times per week I think the grease and motion keep things moving, but when it’s static for so long, even a trace ammount of salt will corrode the parts that you can’t see, and next thing you know when it’s time for outdoors again, you’ll find your brakes are frozen and the headset won’t turn,e ven though they look fine from the outside.
Haven’t had thisproblem at all once I got the cockpit cover which covers the entire cockpit including front brake.
To be safe I would buy a beater bike for your training. I broke a $5000 Spectrum Ti Road bike frame last year on my trainer. Although, I am a little tougher on my bikes that most Tri guys. I do a lot of Sprints workouts on my Trainer and I also broke a Serotta Ti bike doing sprints outside.
As a mechanic for a lot of athletes, I seriously recommend a secondary bike for the trainer if possible. I see so much damage from the mix of sweat, sports drink, and torsion. Most of the carbon frames still have aluminum inserts for cable ports and the addition of an electrolyte like the sodium found in sweat and sports drink causes a galvanic reaction that causes the aluminum to corrode. That corrosion can cause the aluminum to swell and it usually cracks the frame paint around the area.
Unless your bike has high end stainless steel cables, the galvanized slick cables will corrode quickly too. I’ve seen a couple crazy instances where someone’s sweat is very alkaline and it will literally cause all of the components like the crank, shifters, front derailleur, and front brake to “rust”, flaking off all of the clear protective coatings and anodizing. I also see some damage to headsets too once in a while, but most of them are not pretty well sealed. Usually the bearings will rust out very quickly.
One of the major concerns I also have is the strain of the frame being supported by the quick release while the bike is in the trainer. I’ve seem frames where the person didnt tighten the rear skewer properly or the act of tightening/loosening the trainer knobs caused some play between the frame and skewer. Most skewers used in trainers are steel while most bicycle dropouts are aluminum. As the person(s) rode on the trainer with the loose skewer, the motion milled out circles in the dropouts.
For a trainer bike, the only real thing that has to match in quality to the primary bike is the saddle. Everything else can be a lower value as long as it’s the same size.
It’s going to be a long winter on the trainer. I have a fairly nice bike that I’ve been using on my Kickr but was kicking around the idea of getting a junk bike to put on the trainer all winter. Should I be worried about ragging out my components on a trainer all winter?
If I do get a junk bike for the trainer should I be concerned about trying to get the same geometry as my race bike?
i have an older Felt F75 road bike i got off craigslist. I had it fit as close as possible to my tri bike setup and use that for the winter training…
saves on the wear and tear…during winter months, that’s up to 8 hours a week (but more like 5-6) of very hard efforts.
buy the junker.
do you find it harder to maintain your aero position inside on the trainer vs being outside? I can hold Z3 efforts outside 30-60min no problems but coming inside holding that effort on the trainer i struggle…is that normal?
I use my best TT bike on my Computrainer.
The cheapest sweat protection I’ve found is just a heavy-duty garbage bag over the front end with a towel on top. It lets you still use the shifters, but also gives complete protection from sweat. I’ve ridden through 3 winters using this arrangement without any corrosion. And I’m a ludicrously heavy sweater. Whenever I go to a CT studio, other riders might have 1-2 drips under their bikes, but I’ll have a puddle.
I spend quite a bit of time on the trainer so I have a p2sl set up in a very aggressive (no spacers) position (for me). This makes the transition to my other tri bike much easier (it has a few spacers).
I like the convenience of a bike permanently affixed to the trainer.
I have two super tri bikes and one high end road bike. All share time on the trainer. The only thing that unique to the trainer is that I bought a low cost rear wheel from Performance Bikes years ago and mounted a trainer tire on it with an ultegra 12-25. Whatever bike is on the trainer is with that wheel.
My “A” bike goes on the trainer. My “B” bike can’t go on the trainer do to design and once I get my “C” bike built up, that will be going on the trainer for sure.
I do not see there ever being an issue using a trainer other than the tire itself that will be worn out very quickly so I just buy a cheap tire for the winter. I also have a spare wheel I can pop on with the junkie tire.
I’ll be using my NP3 on the Computrainer this year. I have a training wheel with a training tire mounted and will put a sweat bra on it as well as a towel on the front end under the aero bars. Part of what I need to learn how to do better is to ride at consistent power, in aero for hours. As I’ve transitioned from a road bike that I was riding last year, I find I’m getting better but I need to spend a lot more time in my “Triathlon” position and keep the power up. If there should be a nice enough day to go out riding before April or May next year, I’ll take my road bike out but realistically, we don’t get many of those.
As a mechanic for a lot of athletes, I seriously recommend a secondary bike for the trainer if possible. I see so much damage from the mix of sweat, sports drink, and torsion…
This bike is 4 year old and used extensively inside and outside. I just clipped couple of towels to it and I have monster fan that saves me from sweating. Other then regular maintenance for worn out parts no damage at all.
If you are concerned about sweat damage (and you should be), complete protection for bikes mounted on trainers is available at www.anaerobiczone.com.
If you are concerned about sweat damage (and you should be), complete protection for bikes mounted on trainers is available at http://www.anaerobiczone.com.
I will vouch for this product. I got this product last year for my bike and it works great. Customer service was great and he answered my phone calls.
If you are using you “A” bike for the trainer all winter, are you going to change out your cassette, chainring, and chain after winter?