Black wallnut 

My thoughts are unless the spin bike fits you as well as your road or cx or mtn bike or whatever bike you ride and the position(s) are nearly the same a spin bike might help you maintain fitness, heck if you work real hard you could even improve fitness. That is the good. The bad is that unless fit is close to the same the spin bike might not improve your cycling on your real bike.

Hadrien

Would the same opinion apply to an indoor training bike that I know is too big for me? I have a 29.5" inseam but am 6 ft tall so I usually ride a pretty small bike (have yet to find something that fits me really well). I recently got a killer deal on an 82 Schwinn Voyageur 11.8 (like $10), its actually a really nice older steel bike but the stand over on it is 32". I can ride the bike by hopping up on it, but don't trust myself on it for longer rides out of fear of busting up "the boys" if I fall. I got it to use as a bike to work on and just mess around with, but now I am contemplating using it as a trainer.

Would it be a waste as a trainer since it is not a geometry that would benefit me, or should I just go ahead and put it on a trainer because "Any riding is better than no riding"?

fietsbob

Ride Rollers all winter and your ability to ride in a straight line will be Very Rehearsed.

Black wallnut 

IMHO it is the interface and fit between the pedal and hip as determined by saddle placement. So hip angle, knee angle and where your feet hit the pedals (or cleats if clipless) all matter.

Cognitive

Well, I just want to maintain the pace. My current bike is a Specialized Expedition, which has the fit and geometry of a sofa, i.e. not very challenging physically in terms of a position etc for an older rider like me. What concerns me gravely is that as days get shorter and weather gets nastier, I am not able to do my usual 70 minute ride for 12 miles, something that in the Expedition I did nearly every day till October 1st. Then we had a nasty windy cold spell here in Indiana, work reared its ugly head, and weather overall got nasty, so even 6 miles are difficult. On the weekends I used to do 18-20, at 10-11 mph so again not high speeds. Now I'm lucky to find time to do 6 miles before it gets dark or rains.

Hadrien

Im in the exact same situation here in Northwest Indiana. By the time I get home it is near 30-40 degrees and really dark where I live. MapMyRide says I've only been able to average 10.5 miles per hour as of late, but I feel even slower since I only did 4.35 miles tonight in 30 minutes. I feel like the cold is sapping all of my power even though I don't feel burnt out when i have to quit riding. I want any training I do to be both good fitness wise as well as improve my cadence and make help break my sit bones in since I just started riding. I will look into getting that Cyclocross bike I've been wanting and the trainer so that any indoor riding will be as similar as possible to outdoor riding.

LGHT

Pretty much what I'm going to be using. Weather is nice enough in So Cal where I won't miss a whole lot of ridding!

Cognitive

Here in Central Indiana it's not the cold (yet :-)) as much as it is the lack of saddle time. Thru September I was doing 12 mile rides 4 days a week and 17-19 miles the other two, averaging well over 60-70 miles a week. Then October rolled in, and what with work, very nasty wind (15+ mph winds and 25+ gusts nearly every day) and that's all she wrote, this week I did 7, 7, and today 12. I felt like a corpse. Like a few days off the saddle and it's like, dude, where's the starter button.

So, I have come to the realization that some spinmeister variety implement is needed. I'm the 10mph, 10 mile ride type guy riding upright so as long as it's comfortable and I have a TV in front of me I have Game of Thrones all on DVD or DVR so we're good there.

I had an old Schwinn Airdyne 20 years ago and liked it, a bit noisy but was OK. I was not cycling at the time but did not get the feel that air resistance is a good simulation of what you encounter on a 'real' bicycle. I'm looking for something like an "Indoor cycle" like the Schwinn IC2 so...

Is there a good place that gives tips on selecting such a thing? I understand the part about adjusting the geometry to look similar to your real bike, but in terms of resistance, feel, etc???

TXsailor

I have read through this whole thread and learned a lot but there are a couple of things I am still wondering about. Do most people put on their riding shorts to use the trainer or just regular shorts?

One more.... I just bought a "dumb" trainer that you change the resistance by shifting the bike. My bike (Origin8 Lactic Acid) with a 105 triple shifts perfectly on the road but I can't get it in big ring on the trainer. It shifts from little to middle and back with no problems. I am not sure I need big ring on the trainer, it seems pretty hard on the middle ring but am I flexing the frame or something that is keeping it from climbing up the big ring?

WonderMonkey

I am taking the time on the trainer to not use bike shorts. I do use compression shorts though to get rid of seams. I feel if I am able to build the time I can be on my bike with no shorts then when I get back outdoors my longer rides will be more comfortable WITH bike shorts. I'm still going to try and NOT use bike shorts on my shorter (1 hr, etc) outdoor rides.

Try this... first day don't wear bike shorts. Second day do. Third day don't if you can't, etc. and build to where you don't need them at all.

Black wallnut 

I wear bike shorts on the trainer, always. About the only times I do not wear bike shorts is if my ride, on the road, is going to e less than 30 minutes. Because of the static position on a trainer the comfort and support of bike shorts is more important.

Will your bike shift with you turning the crank by hand when it is mounted in the trainer? Perhaps your high limit screw is a bit too tight or your cable tension is a bit low. I'm not familiar with your bike brand but 105 works for me. I've yet to have a bike not shift right on a trainer.

WonderMonkey

Coming up with a NFL or College trainer game. Go participate.

https://www.bikeforums.net/clydesdale...l#post17212502

TXsailor

I tried shifting to big ring with the bike on the trainer and the wheel not touching and it shifts fine, then I got on the bike and it still shifts the same, I tightened the knob to make the tire hit and it won't shift to big ring with me on or off the bike. I backed off the limit screw 1/4 turn and its the same, changing the tension didn't help either. I am sure I could make it shift if I tightened the cable and backed off the screw enough but sort of doubt the chain would stay on when I ride it off the trainer.

Null66

Well said...

Me?
I'm trying to recover my health, that and get ready to not enjoy next springs 200k...

Willbird

OK got the Sportscrafters Resistance rollers :-).

Went to the mfg in Granger, IN and got a little one on one coaching from the owner of the co who just happened to be there today :-). First off he set them up in a doorway, and hopped on my bike to show me just how simple it is to ride them :-).

Then it was my turn :-)....he grabbed the head tube and coached me through it, in 5-10 minutes I was doing decent, not a pro by any means but decent :-).

Got home and took care of a bunch of other chores, we do not have a non carpeted hallway so I cut a piece of 1/2" CDX plywood 24" wide and 6' long to set the rollers up on, and gave them a shot. Made it 30 minutes without breaking anything, I did bump off the walls a few times gently to get going right again :-). WHAT a workout though, HR average was 141 the whole 31 minutes. I did have a tower fan setup and will have to refine that setup a little.

Riding in the tops is the easiest, on the brake hoods I could not quite make 10 minutes yet before I got wobbly and had to go back to the tops. It will take some practice to be able to look down at electronics for more than a second :-). I think I need to maybe set the IPAD up now in a better sight line more conducive than "on bike" with the Iphone. I just used the Wahoo ap right now set on stationary bike, just HR, no speed/cadence.

I have a Garmin GSC-10 speed/cadence sensor on the way, and a USB ANT stick so I will be able to interface with Trainer Road and run Virtual Power.

Bill

Nine7051

This is what I do too. I don't drive by choice so it's either ride or walk. It doesn't snow here often, but I really need a fat bike for those days.

Jack Lorington

+1