Probably Stupid Trainer Question
 

As the weather gets ickier, I'm thinking I need a trainer. But I don't have a lot of "non public" space in the house for such a thing. So the question is:

How easy/hard is it to take the bike on and off the trainer?

Could I set it up in the living room and ride for an hour in front of the TV and then put it away with some ease or is it a complicated/timeconsuming mounting/dismounting proceedure that's best done as little as possible?

Thanks!

Depends on the trainer. Some of them unmount and fold up pretty quickly.

Example(s)?

You can easily fold up a Minoura or Blackburn trainer and put it away. Now if you're looking for something bigger with front wheel sttachment etc it won't go away so smoothly, still easier than the ultimate - Krietler rollers if you have the space!

It is very quick. No tools, you just have to twist a couple knobs.

My Tacx takes about two minutes to set up and take down. When folded it is about 18"X16"X8". It is also very quiet. Also, make sure you have something to catch the sweat (like Blackburn Sweat Net) as it rolls off you and before it hits the bike. All that salt is very corrosive. But I'll warn you, riding your bike indoors on a trainer may be about the most boring thing in the world.

I have been using a CycleOps Fluid trainer and it works very well. It is easy to attach/remove my bike, and it folds up quite compactly. I take it to races for warm-up. The resistance increases with wheel speed and it seems to be well built. It is not cheap however.

A good fan really helps too and if you point it right at your face you can pretend you are fighting a mighty wind.

another vote for cycleOps. Fluid trainers give you a good workout, and are relatively quiet. You can store it in a closet, and it will take you 5 minutes max to set up and take down. I'd buy a cheap pad to go underneath it. It will help cut down on sound, and preserve your floor.

setting up a trainer requires about the same effort as putting on gloves, booties, layers, etc. to ride outside in the cold. neither are terribly difficult or time consuming.

Fantastic!

That's pretty much exactly what I wanted to hear.

Good note about the pad under it - I wouldn't have thought of that. As for the sweat catcher, I'm not sure an old towel wouldn't do the trick. I have lots of old towels.

Boring - yeah, but I'll put it in front of the TV. Better than sitting in front of it, which I'm likely to do anyway.

As for the fan, I fear it would slow me down...

Don't minimize the role of the fan. Since you don't have any breeze like on an outdoors ride, very important so you don't overheat and collapse!

(very much like the fans car guys use when running a car on a dyno in a garage, you absolutely need to use a fan)

I was kidding.

Related to the fan issue is general room temperature. If it's comfortable enough for my wife and kids, it means I'll be sweating buckets within minutes even if I have a fan going. So I'll often set up the trainer in the sun room or garage where it's cooler and I can open the doors to the outside. So if you have a garage, sun room, covered porch, etc., you may be more comfortable.

Fan = godsend.

I put my bike on the trainer nightly after my commute home(on the bike) as I use it for a warm up before hitting the gym.

:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: Irony is lost on these forums. I got you! I put a fan behind me and I go faster!

Sweet! I'll try that!

I put a fan beside me and I fall over.

open all the windows and blow the fan on you. I rode the trainer in my dorm room once and the whole room turned steamy and the windows fogged up.

The trainer is a sweat producing machine

You also get the added advantage of not inching across the floor from all the sweat that has dripped off your top tube and stem and onto your wood floors because you didn't think you needed to spend $15 on a sweat net and didn't feel like setting up a fan in front of you. Ask me how I know :o

About the pads in question, would those be the foam interlocking type that you can get at a sports store? Will they stay put on a carpeted floor?

Yeah, any aerobics or exercise mat will do. the foam may even help to dampen the noise just a bit, but that also depends on the trainer, some are loud, some aren't.

My tacx computer trainer takes about 1/2 hour to set up. Boot up computer, load cycling software, attach usb module to bike, connect module to computer, attach cadence monitor to crank, change skewers, attach bike to trainer, plug computer, usb module and cadence monitor into trainer, plug trainer into electrical outlet, load cycling track. Then disassemble, about the same time over again.

I have a 1up-usa trainer. It takes about 20 seconds to set it up and put the bike on. I use a rear wheel sensor for my speedometer so I never have to mess with that.

I sweat buckets on the trainer so I put an old towel under the bike.

You could put the fan in front of you but point it blowing away form you. You'll be faster in the draft. :D