Pardon me if this as been asked before, but what trainers do you use with your 80s or 70s era bikes? My google fu wasn't good enough to turn up answers.

I think we are in for a short stretch of good weather but eventually it will be rain, rain, and more rain and I would like to get some exercise on account of I am overweight.

What I'm concerned about, though I don't know if it's a valid one, is the width of the rear. Do trainers generally only take wider rear ends like on newer bikes or are they capable of adjusting to narrower ones?

Thanks

I use rollers. I like the fact that there is balance involved. Feels like riding, sort of.

An old Cycleops magnetic trainer. Friend gave it to me last year after I was hit by a car and couldn't ride outdoors for a couple of months. Really helped maintain most of my hard-earned conditioning. Mostly I use it with the Ironman, but I also use it to test all my bikes for shifting accuracy, etc. Just needs the right skewer and end cap that securely fits the adjustable holder doodad on the trainer.

I still use it occasionally especially on cold rainy days, mostly for short interval sessions using a timer; or longer very easy recovery rides while watching TV. I tend to push myself too hard anytime I'm outdoors on the road bike, so when my legs are sore or dead I do better on the trainer, just moving my legs around with little effort for an hour or so. Helped last week. I road pretty hard four consecutive days and my legs were still sore a couple of days later. A couple hours on the trainer at a very easy effort helped.

And I find it difficult to do regimented high intensity interval training outdoors. Not enough flat terrain. So I'll do three to five sets of intervals, usually 5 minutes on, 5 minutes easy effort, lather-rinse-repeat. I usually do 10 seconds max effort, 20 seconds easy, for 10 reps per 5 minutes; or 15 seconds max effort, 45 seconds easy effort, for 5 reps per 5 minutes. Mostly good for cardio/respiratory conditioning.

Some folks recommend special trainer tires but I just use the same Continental Ultra Sport II tires that I ride outdoors with. No problems. Very tough tires, durable, grippy and a bargain at $15-$20 each. I got one wire bead 700x25 Ultra Sport II for around $7 closeout from Nashbar last year, but the folding bead versions hold up just as well on the trainer.

But I wouldn't use expensive road tires on a trainer. There are some reports of tread separation, etc., mostly from overheating due to friction. Resistance trainers with metal rollers do get pretty hot, especially at high rpms. I max out at 160 rpm but only for 10-15 seconds. So far, so good.

Cyclops fluid trainer. It's what I use for vintage or modern bikes.

Hell yeah, rollers! I used an old Windtrainer years back and it really messed up the paint on the BB shell on that particular frame. Plus, they don't help you iron out your spin like rollers do.

DD

Trainers are for winter riding. If it's raining, snowing or ice on the roads I ride indoors. Cyclops adjustable mag stationary. I took it apart to add a spacers so the magnet gets closer to the rotor - more resistance. My poor old Moto stays clamped into that. Good for one leg'd spinning.

I also have Kreitler rollers and like them too. I still have to stay pretty focused on them to keep going but the focus is good for me too. I use myY2K Cannondale on those. I have a separate wheel for that bike that I use for the rollers. Easy to swap the original wheel back in when the roads are clear. I alternate between the two trainers and riding the neighborhood on Babe, the Blue Oxen, my winter Free Spirit sled.

I got an old Cycleops magnetic trainer at Goodwill for less than $5. I put it on the highest setting and use my gears to change the effort.

To answer the general question, any of the trainers that grab the rear axle from both sides are adjustable for any width. You don’t have to worry about an older bike not fitting. Trainers are also something that a lot of people have and don’t use so they end up on craigslist and places for very cheap. Check your local listings. I think the magnetic ones or fluid tend to be quieter than wind.

I have a centurion semipro on a Wahoo kickr. I think a smart trainer is necessary to keep my interest. The rear end of the Semipro must have been spread, fit right on the trainer without issue.

cyclops fluid and I have a phone mount so I can time myself for intervals or listen to music or otherwise distract myself on the ride to nowhere. My trainer is on a covered porch but if I was smart it be set up in front of the tv. About 15 years ago I would ride in front of the TV and watch grand tour videos

Most of the wheel on trainers will work with our bikes but a wheel off requires you to have a chain that will fit a cassette that will fit the trainer. I guess you can use any cassette as long as you have the right spacers. I use a Cycleops Magnus smart trainer and have also used a TravelTrac fluid trainer, they both work well.

I used a Kinetik fluid trainer a few times and it was fine. My biggest advice is to put a phone mount or put it in front of your TV. Playing games on my phone keeps my mind off the fact that my body is in misery sweating away.

Also get yourself a few high volume fans. You are going to sweat. A lot.

Do you happen to have a picture of what the skewer looks like? I have a Cycleops Fluid trainer that I need to fit either my Ironman or my Shogun into and I think the skewer that came with it is the wrong one (FB marketplace purchase). I determined this through very scientific repeatedly-falling-over-after-20-seconds testing....

I ordered the "official" Cycleops skewer, but it turned out to be an ordinary skewer with metal conical end cap to fit the trainer's adjustable retainer. I could have used my Ironman's existing skewer, but I'd need to replace the fancy shaped anodize end cap with a conical end cap. The Ironman's original Suntour GPX group included nice looking blue-grey finished cam lever and end cap -- nice looking but impractical for a trainer like the Cycleops.

After seeing the Cycleops skewer I just ordered a batch of generic steel skewers with old style cam levers and conical end caps, so I have extras if I misplace one.

Basically, the Cycleops won't work with the lightweight aluminum external cam lever skewers that come with some lightweight carbon fiber bikes.

This video pretty well demonstrates the skewer and mounting. Unfortunately there isn't a good, short (3 minute or less) demo video that clearly shows compatible and incompatible skewers, replacing the skewers (I've discovered some folks have their bike shop do everything and don't even know how to fix a flat), tightening the skewers properly, and installing the bike on the Cycleops. You can get the gist of it from watching several videos, but I'm surprised there isn't just one comprehensive tutorial that covers it all in only a couple of minutes.


With the appropriate amount of pressure on the adjustable clamp, the bike may rock slightly in the Cycleops but shouldn't come loose even when standing to pedal or doing intervals with high cadence.

Thanks for the replies. I will check out cl and see if I can pick up a cycleops or other trainer.

Rollers sound interesting as well but not too many available on cl right now plus not sure I won't fall off it.

Bye

Went out and got a Kinetic trainer this afternoon from craigslist. It seems to work fine.

Thanks again!

Husband just ordered one. Unless Amazon really did process the first six times he tried to order and they said it failed, in which case, he just ordered 7. If this is the case, he also ordered 21 bike hangers for the new storage system.

I kinda hope it goes through multiple times so I have a reason to get more bikes...the hanger system weight rating says I can hang 84 bikes on it...

Thank you for the pointers!

It's good to have spare skewers. They can get bent rocking side to side if the wheel isn't clamped quite right in the trainer, or if I get too enthusiastic standing to pedal during interval training. Usually I can bend the skewer straight again but I won't ride outdoors with a skewer that's been bent and straightened. If I fall indoors I'll land on something soft, like my fat cats.

I am definitely not C+V with the indoor trainer. I use a Wahoo Kickr Snap. Smart trainer has made it so I actually get a quality workout in rather than drag myself unwillingly to the old existence unit and suffer for 45 minutes until I get bored and quit. I leave my old aluminum TT bike on the trainer.

If you’re going to ride a steel bike indoors, use a shield over the top tube or rinse and wipe down carefully after each ride. Sweat collects under the top tube and has rusted out many a nice frame.

I have a Blackburn fluid trainer, set up with a 1986 Trek 400 that I built up for it. 126 mm rear hub, just mounts to the quick release on the bike. Width of the rear hub really doesn’t matter, but it does need to mount to a QR skewer. Also ditto on the fan, and big screen TV.
Tim

For prosperity, I vote rollers as well. People don't be afraid of them.

To answer the OP's big question, I have something newer - I think it's a CycleOps magnetic trainer - and it works just fine on narrow rear ends. I think I could put a track bike in there, with how narrow it goes.

I've done wind, mag, fluid, and rollers. I prefer the rollers - I have the Kreitler metal ones - with the caveat that resistance is not very high, and the available "killer headwind" attachable fan resistance unit is noisy! You can make quieter resistance by getting really awful cheap tires and running them at low pressures. Don't use your nice tires, they'll wear out! The key thing for me was to get some of those chainsaw earmuffs and put in earbuds under them so you can hear your favorite podcast over the din.

Or ride through the winter, but beware New England road salt will corrode your nice stuff, no matter how well-fendered your bike is!

Good advice on the top tube.

Are you using Zwift? I'm thinking that a smart trainer is the way to go and $500 isn't bad for a quality product that works with Zwift (or some of the other platforms out there).

I may have to find a C&V aluminum bike for this,

Yup, Zwift. I sign up at the first prolonged cold snap, usually late December, early Jan and use it through March. I don’t often do the races or scheduled workouts. Just get on and ride. I ride harder, and usually longer, on Zwift compared to a regular trainer because of KOM intervals, sprints, chasing down other riders, etc.