So after a lot research and thought I’ve decided to go with a Kickr Move and Climb….I do 15 hours a week indoors except when I’m able to get in long rides on the weekends. I started riding outside 2 years ago.

Indoors has been on a Peloton. Obviously not comparable to a real bike hence why I’m looking to add a trainer. My question comes down to the bike. I have a nice road bike and do not want to go back and forth. I don’t t need brakes or wheels.

I will replicate my Shimano D12 groupset…..can I buy “any” frame? Obviously something decent but can I buy something relatively inexpensive? I have a fitting so I’ll have it built but I was looking at a simple Trek frame for the trainer.

Any advice?

When my Kickr was new, I tried out my nice Di2 carbon road bike on it. It worked fine, and the left side Stages power meter matched up with the Kickr's reported watts quite closely.

Now I keep my nice "adventure / all weather" bike on the trainer. It's mechanical shifting, and that's never been a problem on Zwift. In fast-for-me group rides on Zwift, I do shift quite often, but in other Zwift activities, not as much as I do when riding outdoors. For workouts, it's always in ERG mode, which sets the current watts from the workout plan -- and with a fairly steady cadence, is always the right watts range no matter what gearing I'm in at the moment -- so I just set the chain in a middle cog for quieter operation.

So an inexpensive bike setup would work fine for me. I'd want something compatible with my outdoor bike, to use it as a temporary replacement if the main bike needed fixing. The same 11 speed, 12 speed, etc. The same axles too.

You certainly don't need a high end frame for exclusive use on a trainer. Even the fit is not that critical as long as the saddle is the right height and the reach is in the right ballpark. The rest of the geometry ie. head angle, wheelbase, trail, seat stay length etc is irrelevant. Weight and stiffness also don't matter indoors.

But if you are doing 15 hours per week indoors then why not just go all in with a Kickr Bike? I've had mine for a couple of years now and it is great. It can simulate any electronic groupset gearing and feels very realistic.

That was my original plan but I like the idea of the Move. The Kick is completely static. I think overall the Kickr Bike will likely be less expensive once is all said and done.

Maybe I’m wrong though and overthinking the need for the Move

The Kickr Bike actually mimics the flex of a real bike quite well - without feeling flimsy. I haven't done it myself (because I don't really see the need) but you could put it on a rocker board that moves both fore/aft and rocks. For example:-

https://www.turborocks.com/products/...-react-stealth

Thanks for the insight Pete. I’ve seen the rocker plates but thought the Move would make more sense.

I think I’m back to my original plan of the Kickr Bike going off of what you said. I can always add the plate if need be…..thanks again, all the info is helpful

+1 on Kickr Bike
I've nearly 7000 miles on mine.

Pretty good mileage for an indoor bike in California.
(I was out in summer kit before end of January)

Barry

I placed 3 layers of Harbor Freight foam flooring under mine.
It just added to the flex of the bike, & I’m cheap.

More importantly to whatever you do on a trainer, CLEAN YOUR BIKE! Seriously CLEAN YOUR BIKE. You are dripping sweat all over it and it soaks into the handlebars and corrodes things and it can get to the point where you have holes in the handlebars from sweat. Also just like on a regular bike clean and lube your chain (more lubing than cleaning as it shouldn't pick up anything but still and on a note not so relevant here but for those who will have a wheel or two on it, pump your tires regularly just like you should on your outdoor bike.

In terms of a different bike I guess you could build something special if that is your forté, though honestly I would use my main bike or just use a lesser bike on it. I don't think I would build a specific bike purely for the trainer with new or higher end parts unless I already had them. Not that you shouldn't have a good trainer experience but I think fit is more important than anything else and maybe replicating your cockpit might be of more use than the groupset. Honestly I would love to just run a fixed gear drivetrain on it and keep that up more.

what veganbikes says is right. you will be sweating a lot indoor riding and since there is no wind you will be dripping. i just keep the bits that might get sweat covered with a cloth. it never gets that wet but there are times. so off it comes and in the laundry it goes.

Use a Wahoo Kickr Headwind fan and you'll have all the wind you need. The thing is expensive for what it is, but it works so much better than a typical fan.

Also, I can't image spending 15 hours a week on an indoor trainer. I have one, and absolutely hate riding on it. I doubt I'll get 15 hours for the whole winter on mine. It is truly torture for me. Just bores me to tears. It has to be effectively unrideable outside for several days before I'll consider it. I mostly do some Zwift workout when I use it, simply because those workouts tend to be overly complicated with many power level changes. At least it changes things up. I probably should look at entering races just to make it interesting (and humiliating).

For the OP, spending 15 hours a week on the indoor trainer, more than justifies spending the money to get your dream setup. Whatever that may be.

15 hours is just routine now. I listen to music and watch TV/ movies. I wake up very early to “ride”. When the weather is tolerable I shoot for 120 miles outside over Sat/ Sun but still do 10 hours inside during the week.

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I am set on the Bike with the fan.

The last piece to the puzzle is the TV, monitor and computer. Can I go with just a smart TV with the Zwift app? Or do I need an actual PC to run everything?

I’ll be in my basement and I have a good wifi signal and can always run a NAP if need be.

Can I assume I’ll be able to connect the bike to the app for all my metrics? I won’t be racing or anything like that. Just riding on my own all over the world.

i have a fan i use. i'm pretty frugal so an old panasonic table fan my grandmother had suffices. i even use bricks under the front wheel to simulate the grade change. but a fan is not the same as real wind all over your body. i have an open window, a ceiling fan running as well. still not enough.

not sure what your trainer is but i suppose it is not for everyone. had a whaoo, now have a direto. being smart trainers i do not dread them at all. today spent 1 hour 42 minutes in New Zealand, a pretty brutal 31 miles.

if you use zwift you will not be riding all over the world. it is very limited but still quite good. apps like Rouvy or FulGaz will allow yo to ride all over the world. you should try them because they will each have a week or month free trial.

not sure about the smart TV. i have a sort of smart TV but use an old laptop and an HDMI cable for a display.

post #1 is my wonderful setup.
2023/24 Edition of indoor cycling setups

Great thread and good info. I’ll need to research what will give me the widest variety to ride solo.

From the looks of it I will probably need Apple TV to run it

I think you can use any frame that fits you, and has a RD hangar. Battery can stay external, but it should fit in the seat tube, and no hydro brakes on the trainer, so, yeah.

I spread an old steel frame to 130 mm and used a braze-on adapter for the FD and it worked fine. 10 speed mechanical.

A well functioning PC is probably best, but you can use AppleTV to do it. I'm not sure if any other streaming hardware or Smart TV's have a Zwift app. The problem with AppleTV hardware is the VERY limited number of Bluetooth channels. I think it has three, and one of those is dedicated to the Apple remote. So, you just have two. That's typically not enough to connect to a heart rate monitor, cadence sensor, power meter, smart trainer, and whatever else I'm forgetting.

I have a Zwift Hub One (?) and I think most of the devices are able to connect to it but I use the Zwift handlebar controllers and they need their own Bluetooh conneciotn. I think each one (left and right side) need their own separate Bluetooth connection.

So, to get around that, I run an app on my phone called "Zwift companion". This will accept all of the device Bluetooth connections and then relay them to the Zwift app on the AppleTV. No idea if it is doing it via a single Bluetooth channel, or perhaps going through WiFi. It's a little added complication, but seems to work fine.

I thinking running a PC, like a laptop, is very common. I recently tried using an older PC I had. It sort of worked but would stall. I think because I had to use a Bluetooth dongle since the PC didn't have Bluetooth built in. I think the issue was with the Bluetooth dongle. I have no idea if there is any functional difference between using AppleTV or running Zwift on a PC. Things like screen resolution. But Zwift is cartoon land anyway, so there's noting real about it that needs high-res.

Mtracer ,
AppleTV works fine with a KICKR
1st BT channel is connected to Kickr for power, it’s estimate of Cadence and Trainer control.
2nd channel is connected to your HRM

regular Kickr estimates Cadence from variation of power during your pedal stroke.
A Kickr Bike measures actual Cadence.

Barry

But if you also use the Zwift handlebar controllers, that's more BT channels. Also, I don't think all trainers necessarily combine data sources into one Bluetooth channel. The limited number of Bluetooth channels on the AppleTV is an issue, though not necessarily for all trainers and all users situations.

Save money on the Wahoo fan, get this Vornado, they push a lot of air. I got mine at Lowe's, its a couple of years older than this model, but I actually picked up a second one when they were on a pretty deep sale so I have wind at my back and wind at my front and stay so much cooler in the summer here in the deep south when I am on my stages bike.

I use this air mover with remote control. It moves a ton of air.

OP is now planning to use a Kickr Bike, so this won’t be an issue.

Zwift has a dedicated App for Apple TV and is a relatively cheap and effective solution. I use a MacBook Air M1, but I wouldn’t buy a computer exclusively for use with Zwift. Some other cycling Apps, notably Rouvy, are also compatible with Apple TV. But others like Wahoo SYSTM are not currently compatible.

Rouvy is great for solo riding with real world video. But I still find Zwift is King for group rides and especially racing. I find enough variety in the Zwift worlds to avoid boredom and there are always other riders to pace, challenge or simply ignore as you prefer.