Newbie biker

(Scott) #1

I have really riden a bike except to get a little excercuse and the odd spin class till I hurt my tailbone . I just ride an old norco Rama . The weather has been so bad I have only been able to ride about 4 times and only do about 5 miles at a time as my legs get tired and carrying a lot of weight , jan I was 6’2” and 321 now 260.

Keep looking at bike trainer to use in-house with bad weather and for winter . No idea what to get alotofthereviews say you need a training tire or if you don’t it will wear out your present one. Just looking for a decent cheaper one that will allow me to use my bike without buying extra stuff

Thanks

(Joseph) #2

Take a look at https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/10/annual-trainer-recommendations.html. My favorite is the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine (puzzled it wasn’t reviewed and you can probably find some good deals on used trainers). STAC Zero is pretty interesting but I would avoid BKool and Tacx. CycleOps fluid mag is another good go to. If you are going for the smart trainer route, go with wheel off if budget stretches. Avoid Wahoo and Tacx (except for Neo), PERIOD.

You don’t need a trainer specific tire. Make sure the tire is for road use (smooth tread or else it’s going to be loud) and “clean” (no glass or other debris embedded in the tread). The tire doesn’t get much wear on the trainer. Your tire can get shredded with incorrect setup, any tire, so just follow manufacture’s instructions.

(Scott) #3

It looks like a mountain bike not the old racing bikes but not a complete mountain bike but has some treads . Thanks I am just looking st the budget one not smart . The only problem is to take off back tire one side is easy and the other seams to have the gears and everything attached so looks a little more complicated tonattached to trainer

(Central Florida Bob ) #4

Can’t top @jkc’s reply, but I have another CycleOps trainer, a Magneto. Looks very much like this one:

https://www.cycleops.com/product/magneto

It says there’s a speed sensor for it if you want to train with one of those online places.

For the month of March and April, my wife was recovering from a broken thigh bone, so to make sure the risk from riding in traffic could get as low as possible, I rode on my Magneto indoors. It kept me at the same level so that I could switch over to riding outside once she got comfortable with me doing so - around mid-May.

I can’t say I’ve ridden lots of trainers, but they feel different than being outdoors on a bike. It’s pretty flat around here and if I stop pedaling for a few seconds, while I adjust my glasses or something, my speed on the bike doesn’t change much unless there’s a strong headwind. On the trainer, if you stop pedaling, the speed goes down almost instantly. Someplace I read ages ago said figure your workload on an indoor trainer is probably 10 to 20% higher than riding outdoors because of that. I know my average speeds were lower on the Magneto while indoors, for what I thought was the same level of exertion.

Climbing actual hills is probably the exception to that rule of thumb.

(Scott) #5

Thanks , it’s just to get some cardio when it rains outside or bad weather and with the kids most times I can’t at night as to late

This is my tires to attach to trainer

image
4BCB8B7E-036B-4AD5-B6E2-32DE725A11B7.jpeg3024×4032 2.06 MB

#6

you do not have to remove tire to use on a trainer. The trainer will clamp onto rear wheel skewer. You would just need to replace what you have with a steel one. If trainer you find does not come with one you should be able to get one on ebay. Also lots of Kurt Kinetics on ebay. Very nice "dumb "trainer.