Is there a trainer with an odometer? Or what is the best trainer. Moved into the country about 25 years ago and found that the road I live on just has no room for cycling. Made a kind of mountain bike run on the property just as the rains came in Oregon. Have an old Cannondale I got new tires on and want to be ready for next spring. What's a good trainer? The pluses for more money. Thanks, David

Easiest solution would probably be a bluetooth speed sensor connected to a phone app like Strava, Wahoo, etc.


And I've said it multiple times in the last couple of months, but I'll say it again. A smart trainer connected to Zwift has turned my indoor time into a delight.

Tacx NL has some with computer integration , https://www.tacx.com/en/products/trainers

Learn how to ride rollers and since the front wheel turns as well, your regular odometer will tick off the Miles.

and there is always the one advertized on TV during the TdF.

The cheap solution for any trainer is to get a wired computer with a wire long enough to read a sensor on the rear wheel. I did this for several years to keep track of pace (and mileage) on my cheap Blackburn mag trainer.

I now have a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine and use my Garmin 500 paired with a speed and cadence sensor. Kurt offers their own InRide electronics package, which adds power measurement.

Odometer doesn't matter. You can set it to light pressure and get lots of "miles", or you can set it to heavy pressure and not go as far. Similar to counting miles on the road- riding on the flats vs doing serious climbing.

Measuring hours is a better rough metric.

If you want to spend more money, it's hard to beat the KICKR. And it's worth it.

That's what I did...there is a concern with wireless odometers that they don't have sufficient range to receive a signal from the sensor if mounted on the back wheel, assuming you want to mount the display in the usual location on the handlebars, but it could work. That being said, I was lucky my cord just barely reached... It's such a tight fit it makes my bike difficult to steer on the road, although that's not an issue because its a dedicated trainer bike now.

As far as the need for an odometer, I don't think you can compare "miles" on a trainer directly to actual miles, but then again, its hard to compare actual miles to actual miles (when different routes and conditions are factored in). I find "miles" to be a useful metric to compare total exertion among different trainer sessions, as I keep tension and tire pressure relatively constant.

My bike's Cateye Strada Digital Wireless computer works exactly the same whether I'm riding on the road or on the trainer. Speed/cadence sensor is on the rear chainstay. It will measure the virtual speed, average speed, virtual distance, cadence, elapsed time, and increment the odometer just the same.

As on the road, I am more concerned with time & effort. Doesn't matter how far I go.

I'll happily sell you an odometer for your trainer that's guaranteed to be 100% accurate. It's a paper label with a zero printed on it.

Me too.

The screen on Garmin I use 90% of the time just shows power, HR, and interval time.