WestCoastDan

I just received a free indoor trainer.
I thought it might work well for the days that i surrender to parenthood and stay home to "watch the kids".

My computer is wireless and I dont think that it can read a sensor mounted on the rear tire. If it can, then maybe i'll swap it to the rear and use that setup for road miles as well, but I'm guessing not.

So this then suggests that i will need a completely separate, wired-type sensor & a new computer or **********?

Perhaps trainer-miles are better tracked by time ?

What other methods/products do folks use?
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aham23

there is no such thing as trainer miles. track trainer efforts using time (hours!), power (if an option), and/or HR.

that is all i track for my trainer efforts. i dont have a speed sensor, so miles and speed dont even show/record.

trainer is all about time and effort. good luck. later.

mvnsnd

While trainer 'miles' may be frowned upon, sometimes it is all you have as a gauge. Just put the sensors on the rear wheel and see if it works. If not, then maybe a new computer? You won't necessarily need wired, as my Garmin Edge 500 is on the chainstay, so there should be products that can handle the distance from rear wheel to handlebar,

Training by speed can be a useful technique. Especially if you do not have a power meter. Since for the most part trainer effort is proportional to speed, speed can be used to indicate effort, especially when used with heart rate. For example, if you are doing an interval at zone 4 and monitor heart rate and speed, you can track improvements in performance by looking at speed that you can't see by keeping heart rate within a zone. It can also be used to make sure that your effort is constant for a duration or consistent through several intervals.

hhnngg1

Totally disagree.

While trainer miles do not equal road miles, if you use a road calibrated trainer such as a Cycleops Fluid2 or Kurt Kinetic, distance traveled using a rear wheel mounted speed/cadence sensor is a very good measure of your total volume.

Time is still perfectly ok, but you'll be surprised how variable your total training volume will be once you start tracking it on the rear wheel sensor computer, especially when doing sprint sessions like SPinervals compared to more continuous efforts. I've felt like I've 'gone the distance' on some days and looked down to see I was really dragging - by at least 10-15% on some days, and had to HTFU to go the expected distance.

On the calibrated trainers, speed = power as long as you keep tire pressure and setup consistent (which is very easy to do). There are graphs published by Cycleops and KK showing the exact power output for a given speed - people with separate powermeters have shown the measurements to be totally consistent and accurate <5% on a properly setup bike trainer, if not less than that.

I use a Garmin 305 with the garmin cadence/speed sensor mounted for rear wheel sensing. Works great. (GPS is off, obviously for that.)

I use my trainer a lot despite having great year-round riding weather - when you've got kids and rides of over 90 minutes (heck, over 60 minutes in most cases) are out of the question on a regular basis, trainer = most efficient use of time if you're trying to stay good enough to ride with competitive roadies.

WestCoastDan

Thanks for the input folks.
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v70cat

I hate trainers only use them in the dead of winter.

datlas 

I agree. Hate.

But they can be a necessary evil if you only have, say, 40 minutes of time and you want to do a few intervals.

Also if road conditions are icy.

Rollers are better than trainers IMO except for high-effort intervals anyway...but that's another thread.

carpediemracing 

I ride the trainer throughout the year.

A front wheel wireless pickup won't work with a rear. Too far. You can mount the computer somewhere else, like on your seat post.

I track my trainer time by hours.

Although it's possible to set up a trainer every single time to have accurate coast down etc, I just check tire pressure and go. I have a Fluid2 but don't bother with anything related to distance. I'm more interested in time and either watts/HR (depending on what I have on the bike).

I can't go above about 1000w on the trainer, which is significantly below my max. So trainer is more for steady work, not peaky stuff. I need to do sprints and stuff outside.

I have free-motion rollers but haven't learned to let go yet and really thrash on the bike. I also have no resistance so it's too easy to go fast. I use them more for working on form than anything else.

hhnngg1

Some folks just hate the trainer. If you live for outdoor riding, you'll likely hate the trainer too. Especially if the main reason you ride is to be outdoors enjoying the scenery.

But if getting faster or stronger or being the most time-efficient you can be to improve is important to you, trainer is the way to go. Like carpediem, I ride mine weekly, year round, and often put more miles on the trainer than I do on road even during great outdoor weather season.

Weirdly, unlike carpediem, I prefer to do sprints on the trainer. I can hit the same maxHRs on the trainer as I do outdoors. I suspect some of the non-peak power/HR some experience is due to airflow and cooling; even with a big fan, you won't get the same airflow cooling as you do while outdoors going 20+.

The key thing with a trainer that most haters/newbz neglect: a hassle-free, and good trainer setup in a good location. If you have to clear furniture, squeeze yourself into a closet, or other painful things, you won't last too long on trainer workouts. Also, if you provide zero feedback since you have no PM or speed sensor, you'll also get frustrated with you rlack of tracking your progress. A good DVD setup (not just for watching movies, but for watching painful training videos like Sufferfest) is also very helpful when you need more motivation - I've found that on my own, I can't consistently push into that serious pain zone, but with Sufferfest or Spinervals, I can really bring the pain.

carpediemracing 

I agree on the trainer workout area being "set up". I have a dedicated area for the trainer, with DVD player, TV, laptop (sole purpose is to play MP3s), all my bike DVDs, huge fan, etc. I have two bins of bike clothing so I just walk into the room, throw on shorts, older socks, HR belt, jersey (usually to start), shoes, hit play on DVD remote, hit power on TV, turn on fan, start riding.

I leave my bike alone except for the rear skewer (trainer skewer). This whole nonsense about trainer tires irritates me because it's so unnecessary. The last dozen times I rode the trainer I used a Jet 9 with some Maxxis tire on it, same wheel I train on. I've used my Krylions (they're getting old, 3 years, and a bit slippery when it's wet out), whatever. A tire's a tire. If you wear a tire down or see cracks in your front tire, that can be a "dedicated trainer tire" if you have a wheel set aside for the trainer.

I should point out that I can't get high end efforts in because I need to be out of the saddle. I converted my rollers to free motion but never got a resistance unit set up. I'm looking into converting my Fluid2 trainer into something like the KK Road thing (via plasma cutting a thick plate of metal we have at work and "creating" a KK-like flex unit).

I typically average higher on a hard trainer ride than when I train outside, but since I can't rock the bike, I only train certain muscles.

Trainers don't encourage coasting so that really helps create the "always pedal" habit. Watch novice riders - they coast all the time.

billykmd

I have the Kurt Kinetic rock and roll and have a dedicated room with fans, tv, etc. Luckily the Madone has a rear dual trap so I can measure speed, cadence, etc. I have a bad work schedule so usually have to leave work around 530 and come home after dark, so I find it easier to keep up with my legs during the weekdays.
I know people hate trainers, but if the other option is not riding at all, I find it better than nothing.
The rock and roll does allow me to get up out of the saddle which is a nice feature.

aham23

which makes you incorrect. mileage and speed mean nothing when on the trainer. they just dont transfer over from a "home trainer set up."

do they ever mention speed or mileage on those Spinerval or CTS training videos???

use time and HR to judge efforts. most cyclist these days have those metrics available to them. later.

Nachoman

Time only for me.

Beaker

I'm with aham23, speed and HR over time for me. I have a KK which allows me to ballpark watts from speed. Very helpful for tracking W/kg output for intervals.

simonaway427

Of course speed and distance count on a trainer - if you compare it to other trainer rides. I use a Garmin 500 with the GSC10 - works great. Just a few button pushes puts it in "trainer mode".

Unless you have power, I don't see any other way to track progress