I’m doing almost all my riding in the garage on zwift over the last year. Looking to upgrade my garage a bit to make riding more comfortable.
Any tips / thoughts on the questions below or others to make garage riding better would be appreciated
MacBook or appleTv
I ride in my garage and use zwift on a MacBook, sitting on a hospital-style table that sits over my front wheel
I’m debating if I should mount and extra TV on the wall and use Apple TV (I have extra of both today) - but looks like I still need a table to hold phone… so it doesn’t clean up my space at all. Are better graphics on TV that much more enjoyable?
flooring
I’m painting the garage floor this week. Hopefully get rid of lots of dust - and putting a rubber mat beneath the bike to catch sweat.
fans. - have 3 already. Good for summer, winter it’s freezing
sweat - drop a towel over handlebars / stem / toptube. .
trainer - on Neo b/c it’s silent
music - use Bluetooth headphones to listen to Spotify from my phone
What else should I do to make garage riding more comfortable?
Looks like you are already pretty knowledgeable about the options, but I’ll add in my 2 cents.
When I do zwift I connect my mac book to a 55" tv with an hdmi cable, and I do find that the big screen makes it more immersive. It’s mainly because of screen size that people like to use a tv, not graphics quality – that part depends on how new your macbook or apple tv is. Now if your macbook screen is on a table that is very close to you, say only a foot away, compared to a big screen that might be 6’ away, then maybe there would not be that big of a difference. I suspect the big screen would still be more fun. You would have to try it and see for yourself. The other consideration is I don’t know how well a tv would hold up in a garage over winter. Depends how cold it gets I guess, and whether there are humidity issues.
If you want to reduce clutter, you could always get a handlebar mount for your phone, which I find very handy, though some people still like to have a table close by for extra water bottles and snacks for long rides.
For sweat management, I find that a headband and wristbands work very well. They make you look like you just jumped out of the 1970’s, but they work.
I just ride old stuff, erg mode, etc. Nothing fancy.
I watch movies everyday while riding on a LCD TV.
Comfortable, trainer, those words do not go together.
I thrash myself just about everytime I get on the trainer - even little things like a front wheel mount (instead of phone book), table on wheels to sit over front wheel, good fans, etc. Not sure if it’s “comfortable†but it’s way better than when I didn’t have
Where do you put snacks if you don’t have a table? That handlebar mount is a good idea for phone.
I typically wear a tank top while riding - everything is drenched. So no pockets
I wear cycling jerseys when I ride inside. Other than the advantage of having pockets I find they wick sweat well and I like being able to unzip in the front.
Anyway the vast majority of my indoor rides (and I would think most people’s), are not long enough to require on-bike eating.
Where do you put snacks if you don’t have a table? That handlebar mount is a good idea for phone.
I typically wear a tank top while riding - everything is drenched. So no pockets
I wear cycling jerseys when I ride inside. Other than the advantage of having pockets I find they wick sweat well and I like being able to unzip in the front.
Anyway the vast majority of my indoor rides (and I would think most people’s), are not long enough to require on-bike eating.
Wait, what? People wear jerseys on the trainer?
I start off with one, but lose it at the end of my warm up, at the latest. Only thing to be careful about is that you don’t throw it in your derailleur. Did that once; I now have a very nice trainer-only jersey - fluorescent yellow with permanent chain grease stains.
Where do you put snacks if you don’t have a table? That handlebar mount is a good idea for phone.
I typically wear a tank top while riding - everything is drenched. So no pockets
I wear cycling jerseys when I ride inside. Other than the advantage of having pockets I find they wick sweat well and I like being able to unzip in the front.
Anyway the vast majority of my indoor rides (and I would think most people’s), are not long enough to require on-bike eating.
Wait, what? People wear jerseys on the trainer?
I start off with one, but lose it at the end of my warm up, at the latest. Only thing to be careful about is that you don’t throw it in your derailleur. Did that once; I now have a very nice trainer-only jersey - fluorescent yellow with permanent chain grease stains.
I usually start with a hoodie if it’s cold - and then take it off after warmup. I don’t know if my jerseys are warm enough these days …