The Indoor Cyclist's support thread

qclabrat said:
Rouvy day 2, seems I need to do some type of calibration to my trainer or maybe it's just my old setup. It's an old Kurt Kinetic, but with a Lezyne speed sensor since I can't seem to get the speed sensor on the KK to work. Rode definitely faster than the 46 rpm average posted and others were passing me like I was standing still. I usually drop to a high gear on the hills to simulate a climb. I know, not realistic but that's what was doing before with a real dumb trainer. I'd hate to invest in a smart trainer as I'm not sure it's even for me.
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Uh… wouldn’t RPM be referring to cadence?

Anyway… Walter, the reason you can’t get into Zwift/Rouvy/Other is because you’re NOT using a smart trainer. It’s the effort being controlled by the virtual environment that makes it tolerable. The new round of budget smart trainers are so good now that it’s inexcusable not to use one. Just my 2c.
 
qclabrat said:
I'd hate to invest in a smart trainer as I'm not sure it's even for me.
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Night and day difference between a smart trainer and an old dumb trainer IME. When you feel changes in elevation, it's just one more thing to trick your brain into thinking you're really riding. With certain apps like Indy Velo (now Training Peaks Velo or something like that), you can even feel increased resistance from the "wind" when you get to the front of a pack. Black Friday could be a good time to make the investment.
 
I used Zwift for many years on just an older CycleOps Fluid2 with speed, cadence and HRM. I started out doing short HIIT workouts and unofficial (i.e. before group events was a thing) group events. Then as Zwift got better with the pacer bots i'd do a few sessions with that. I even tried a few races but without smart trainer it doesnt count in the results (who cares). Never really did more than an hour or so. I got a lot of great workouts in and really increased my fitness.

On days I want to recover or JRA I would put up a flat route and watch netflix or youtube events (yup cycling) and the time goes pretty fast.

I got a free to me Saris M2 wheel on smart trainer sometime last year and it really is a lot better since it feels more like riding outdoors with the grade changes. Ive been on zwift nearly 10 years and I have built up to being able to ride indoors a long time if I am feeling motivated enough but most of the time its 1.5 hours or less depending on the workout.

But if I still had the old trainer I could still accomplish all the same things.

side note - this is a pretty good deal he's offering same trainer I have: https://www.mtbnj.com/forum/threads/new-saris-m2-smart-bike-trainer-250.58178/#post-1267461
 
jShort said:
Short and difficult workouts are easier to manage indoors. Just riding aimlessly in some virtual world is boring no matter what you do. 30-45 minutes of tough intervals will make a bigger improvement in your fitness than the aimless riding.
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100% this^^^
 
krink said:
Zwift robopacers work here too. start with a slower W/kg and transfer in ride to higher and higher efforts until you cant hold on, then come back down.
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^^^^^^^^
This 100% I use this all of the time and it's great, along with the usual group rides.

Also like @Juggernaut said, a wheel off smart trainer is an absolute game changer, and these days you can pick the decent ones up for like $300 bucks, so it's not like 5 years ago where you had to spend $1k on one, get one, you will absolutely not regret it
 
Juggernaut said:
Uh… wouldn’t RPM be referring to cadence?

Anyway… Walter, the reason you can’t get into Zwift/Rouvy/Other is because you’re NOT using a smart trainer. It’s the effort being controlled by the virtual environment that makes it tolerable. The new round of budget smart trainers are so good now that it’s inexcusable not to use one. Just my 2c.
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Someone had a Zwift Hub for sale on here a while back for a good price. It would be a cheap and very capable intro into smart trainers
 
working back to 340w hr. no computer bikes just power sweat and youtube. 4 minutes sitting one minute standing makes time go by quickly. Only issue is my neck is sore and my ears ring more after the workouts i am hoping pending surgery fixes it.
 

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Ryan.P said:
Set up the unused peloton with my old road shoes . Not having a subscription just gives you a basic screen with stats but 40 min ride with a couple pyramid ramp ups went by quickly. Hopefully I stick with it I'd like to get some sort of fitness back lol .
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I use the peloton too since it’s in the house and paid for, and we also subscribe so that helps. I look at it as a completely different thing and not bike riding. Indoor riding blows and I’m not gonna try to make it like riding a real bike. I embrace the suckage for what it is and just go with the classes, which somehow makes it better for me. I found a few instructors I can tolerate and do their classes. I usually stick with a hard 30 mins and that’s it, which is leagues better than doing nothing!
 
The hardest part of motivation. I tried zwift and was bored because i felt the disconnect from the bike to the TV.

Add a bunnyhop sensor, wheelie feature, turning sensor, XC races i would be all in. Make the power hit fast and instant, no disconnect or lag in power.

I am motivated by gaining power, if i knew i were not capable of adding power i would not use the trainer.

Try watching different things to stay motivated, bike races, car races any races. Movies can be slow and unmotivating, anything where you need to pay attention too much.
 
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Santapez said:
Riding on the trainer tonight for an hour made me want to start looking into wintering in Arizona.

I don't know how some people do it and like it.
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Liking it is a stretch (for me at least). I think I learned how to temporarily shut off the part of my brain that finds it monotonous.

I also keep “busy” by constantly switching between shows, music, adjusting the fan, counting down the time left in the current interval, drinking mix or eating gels. Or whatever wrist is keeping my mind from going numb.

And like I said in a previous post, it’s easier to go hard than easy indoors. I did 90 minutes of sweet spot today and I think that level of intensity is a perfect indoor workout. 90 minutes of Zone 2 would be way harder to get through.
 
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