Rocket-Sauce 

Does anyone here use spin bikes during winter? I am not talking about spinning classes -which are not great training for cycling, but great for sweating. Do any of you use a spin bike in lieu of a trainer/rollers?

I am leaning towards a spin bike because it will ease wear and tear on my road bike. Since I already have a trainer-specific wheel, tire cassette etc.. it got me thinking of getting a trainer specific bike -probably something used off CriagsList. Looking on CL, I saw some spin bikes for about what I was thinking of spending on a used bike.

Assuming I could get a similar riding position on a spinning bike (hopping on one at the gym, it felt pretty close), what is the downside vs a trainer? Opinions?

merlinextraligh

We have a spin bike. It's ok, but it only gets used when one of us is using the trainer. A good fluid trianer gives more "road like" resistence in that resistence varies with speed. Also, unless you buy an expensive spin bike the position is never going to be a perfect mimic of your road bike.

Besides if you buy the used bike, you always have a second road bike as a backup and for bad weather. You can't ride the spin bike on the road.

DXchulo

I don't think there's a real downside on the positioning. To me, riding indoors is going to feel artificial no matter what. I don't care how much the trainer company tells you that their trainer replicates riding on the road- you're still indoors and it just doesn't feel right. You can ride every day on the best trainer, but spend 3 months on the trainer alone and that first ride back on the road is going to feel a little strange.

As for buying a spinning bike vs. a beater bike, I always assumed that buying a beater bike would be cheaper. Then you get the advantage that you always have a beater bike in case of rain, mechanical failure, etc. A spinning bike is limited to sitting inside in your basement at all times.

AngryScientist 

i have an older trek mountain bike that i stripped and put drop bars on and dt shifters for my trainer. the position is almost identical to my road bikes and i like the 1" slick rear tire for the trainer.

i also dont like to mount my nicer road bikes to the trainer, as i have the space in my basement to leave a dedicated training set-up mounted all winter.

i say go that route, it will be cheaper and less space consuming in th end than a spin bike.

ericm979

Make sure your spin bike can mount a real bicycle saddle. Not all can.

The spin bike is handy since it gets left set up. I don't need to get a bike from the garage and set up a trainer to "ride". It's sturdy, so I can stand on it without feeling like I am going to bend the fork or something. But there's no way to measure speed, distance (if you count trainer distance) or power.

Rocket-Sauce 

I am not too worried about positioning since position changes over the course of the season anyway.

Also, I am thinking it will be easier to share the spin bike with my wife than it would be to get her on the trainer.

jrobe

It seems foolish to me to spend money on either a "spin bike" or a second used bike just to "save wear and tear on my road bike" on the trainer. There is very little wear and tear on a trainer.

I save my old worn out tires from the summer and then wear them right down to the threads on the trainer (trainer tires are not needed). There will be a little chain wear (just like outside) but chains are cheap and easy to replace. If you keep the chain well lubed, there is very little wear on the drivetrain.

Every hotel spin bike I ride is designed to replicate the bike that Dorothy rode in the Wizard of Oz. Save your money for something useful like a Powertap, etc..

datlas 

If you can put up with a fixed stationary bike, more power to you. I think they are torture devices.

The only way I can "ride" inside for more than 15 minutes is to use rollers....so I that's what I use....or better yet, bundle up and ride outside.

carpediemracing 

The biggest limiter to indoor training (as opposed to outdoor training) is the inability to rock the bike. This severely limits what muscles you work on the bike. Whenever I transition from a lot of trainer riding to the outdoors, I get really sore when I first start outside. There are two ways to deal with this - the "free motion" rollers or the Kurt Kinetic trainer gizmo that allows you to rock the bike. Both are expensive, and making a free-motion roller set can be time consuming (but not as expensive).

The second biggest limiter to indoor training is boredom or measuring your workload. It helps immensely if you have a power meter, heart rate monitor, or even cadence. I think it's much more engrossing riding real courses with visual references. You can do this with videos, the computrainer or Tacx, or the CycleOps Joule spin bike (or power trainer). The first doesn't adjust the resistance to match what you see, the last doesn't give you visuals beyond a little bar or something. All are pricey.

Other than that, the generalities are:
- Rollers work on form, not so much strength (free motions excepted)
- Trainer work on strength, deteriorate form.
- Spin bikes... I can't figure out what they work on, but I hate riding mine except to do max rpm efforts.

Form > Strength. You can always build strength, but bad form stays with you for a long time and ultimately will prevent you from being as good as you could have been.

cdr

Fat Boy

I've got a spin bike and rollers. I've spent plenty of time on a trainer.

The position of the spin bike is all wrong and because the adjustments are so coarse, you can only get it to within about a 1/2". Maybe that's not a big deal to you, but it is to me. The good thing about the spin bike is the big disk. The inertia from that thing make 'spin-up' workouts more effective than the other two. That's really the only good thing I have to say about it, though.

Good trainers, like a Kurt Kinetic or similar, are pretty good. The better ones have enough inertia to mimic road reasonably well. You can vary resistance and gearing to make everything feel pretty good. You can get out of the saddle and sprint if you want. Your position is perfect, because it's usually your normal bike. You can use a climbing block to simulate going up hill. The downside is that since the bike is held vertical you don't have to balance at all. I've given up riding a trainer before a race because while my muscles get warm, my bike handling skills for the first couple laps are off. I just feel behind the bike.

Rollers are what I spend my stationary time on. I've got a set of Kreitlers with a fan. They also make a flywheel that would probably be a nice addition. Position is your own bike, like the trainer. Resistance and gearing make it very similar to normal riding. Balance on rollers is somewhat more difficult than on the road, so if anything, handling skills are improved with riding rollers (not cornering, but certainly the skill of riding in a straight line is improved). I can go straight into a race after being on the rollers and not feel 'weird' in the pack, which is a good sign. The negative to rollers is the ability to get out of the saddle. It just doesn't work very well, so sprint work is out. I often do seated 'sprints' or 'surges', but they aren't the same thing. There are floating roller which claim to allow a rider to sprint, I don't know, I've never ridden them.

All in all, I find rollers to be the best indoor alternative and overall, I think you'd be hard-pressed to beat them for winter training.

RichinPeoria

I use my wet weather bike on the rollers during the winter. Its a lugged steelie from the '80s

jmess

I was in the doldrums with my spin cycle and mag trainer. This all changed when I got a set of rollers. Now I bounce back and forth between the spin cycle and the rollers; it is more fun and challenging. This combo is helping me keep my fitness level up. As others have testified, 60 minutes of intervals works well. Now when I get out on the bike I feel closer to where I am when the weather is more pleasant.

dalava

+1. And I have the E-motion floating rollers and you can definitely practice out-of-saddle sprinting on them too. I've tried stationary, trainer, cheap roller (Performance Bike house brand), decent roller (Kreitler), and expensive roller (Inside Ride E-motion), and the E-motion is definitely the more interesting one to use and you will spend more time on them.

RichinPeoria

the thing that makes riding rollers much easier for me this year is watching competitive sports while riding.

jerlwe

I like my rollers, they are the only thing that I can stand without going completely crazy from boredom. It is really good for form like mentioned above but you can help build strength by putting a towel under your back roller and letting out some tire pressure.