If I ride outside in nice weather, an hour goes by like it was 5 minutes. On the trainer, I can barely keep enough motivation to make it 25 minutes. Unfortunately cold weather riding isnt an option cause I have almost no appropriate gear or funds to get any.

Should I just settle for 25 minutes of training and wait for better weather, figuring some is better than nothing, or do you guys have some recommendations to make the trainer make me not want to hang myself....

Make a training plan for your trainer rides. Decide what kind of ride you're doing (tempo, intervals, etc.) and then make a music playlist to suit it and pretend you're in a spin class at the gym.

https://www.thesufferfest.com/

Trainerroad with sufferfest. Netfix. Spotify. Training plan.

I watch movies. I really like the old cycling videos like the greatest show on earth: giro d italia 1974. I need to buy some more cycling videos. I notice when they are going uphill i gain a mph or two trying to work as hard.

Other options are crappy steven seagal movies and anytime he fights you sprint.

The only reason for getting on a trainer or rollers is to accomplish something. If you don't have anything to accomplish, sit on your couch and watch TV. OTOH, if you are trying to do something, you can't possibly be bored because it's impossible to do a good enough job at anything, really. I'm never bored. Ever. Why would I be bored? I never watch movies or DVD's on my rollers. It's all a distraction, takes concentration away from what I'm trying to do. I don't even own a TV. Total waste of time. Sucks your brains out through your eyeballs. I do listen to music, though news radio is better for getting the anger up for intervals.

For example: Take your cadence up to 120 and see how long you can hold it. See if you can hold it for 45 minutes, steady, no break. Not boring, right? That's a good thing to do this time of year, though better to have started working on that a couple months ago at least.

https://www.audible.com

A large stack of movies - or a tv series you want to watch. Been working my way through Sons of Anarchy for the last month or so. Makes the time pass quickly.

+1000 on this one

I've said this before: It's a perception in your head so getting into a different mindset will make a world of difference. It is your goal and only YOU can work towards achieving it.
I am a TV series fanatic so I like (re-)watching old seasons, however, music could also work for me. Once you have a plan and a goal, distractions are no longer distractions. In the last couple of weeks I even did a couple 2h Z2 sessions on the trainer.

I have no experience with rollers, from what I hear you need a little more concentration there so watching a TV screen might not be optimal.

I wrote an article on the subject not too long ago; I call it The Indoor Trainer: A Love Story
https://www.thetallcyclist.com/2013/0...-a-love-story/

Mix it up.

Join a spinning class 1-2 days a week. That'll get you out of the house and doing something with a group of people.
Ride outside once a week, middle of the afternoon on the weekend, when the weather is the nicest.
On your trainer, do commercial intervals a couple days a week.
On your trainer, watch a really good movie while doing your long, steady distance ride.

Join your community centre gym and swim, run on the treadmill, ride the spin bikes, and lift some weights.
Do some outdoor winter sports.

I've just got into this and so far I'm watching series one of Prison Break and sprinting whenever a certain character is on screen, changing up gears and climbing when a different character is on screen.

You could take up another activities: mountain biking, running, hiking, crosscountry skiing during the winter. I don't even last 5 mins on a trainer. Luckly I get to ride pretty much year round.

If you want to ride outside put on warm clothes and go do it. You don't need biking specific gear. No one's going to look at you anyway. I ride outside in the winter because I could not stand being on a trainer which I agree seems immensely boring. Once you warm up, winter can be quite enjoyable. If you can't train as intensely as you like, look at it as base training for warmer weather riding.

Movies are for Z1-Z2 trainer rides.
Hell I enjoy the trainer nowadays. It's either that or not ride.
I am starting to subscribe to the ride inside on workdays and outside on weekends model. That is until the new baby comes along in a few weeks when I will be lucky to ride outside.
I work from home and am crazy busy with family and work. Heck...I finally have a break today and am jumping on it shortly.
Either make the best of the tools you have or whine incessantly and gain weight while losing fitness.

My trainer is in the basement so I pull up Netflix on a laptop and watch foreign movies with subtitles. Adding the element of reading engages the brain a little more fully so that I pay less attention to the clock. Fast-moving action/adventure flicks work best to keep me going. Since I don't like to ride alone and can find no one else in my bike club to brave the northern Illinois temps, I put in an hour of intervals or hills (programmed computrainer) 4-5 times a week.

Intervals are what gets me through rides on the trainer. Instead of looking at the timer watching it slowly tick to an hour, I have my computer set to show the lap times. If I'm doing 5 - 3 min intervals with 4 mins rest, then I'm either watching the clock tick to 3 mins or to 4 mins...when I'm done I've already knocked out 35 mins and then with a warm-up/cool-down you can easily get to an hour. Also rollers make the ride a little more exciting and feel a little more like you are on the road (not much more, but a little).

I am on my second winter of using a trainer. Last winter the whole five seasons of 'The Wire' got me through, but I was not really 'training,' just doing it for general cardiac etc fitness. This winter I'm trying to be a little more serious, and am wearing a HR monitor, but so far am just working on 'base,' so 'Breaking Bad' suffices. The association of something I am really anxious to get back to with the trainer is a great motivator. In the next month or so I'm going to dip into the Sufferfest, I think.

Oh, crap, how is Walter going to get out of this? I better get down to the basement NOW.

Well, you can add in a couple of days per week of spinning. Nothing wrong with taking a class. They are there for people that need to be pushed when they can't do it themselves or enjoy training in a group. Or- set some objectives for your training. Get a heart rate monitor, figure out your heart rate parameters, and put together some training rides. It's winter- get some base training under your belt and some cadence drills to work on increasing your spin. If you can't figure this out, I will always recommend starting with the Sally Edwards books- simply explained and beautifully done. Get "the Heart Rate Monitor Book" to learn how to use your heart rate monitor. It's an easy read. Then get "The Heart Rate Monitor Book for Outdoor and Indoor Cyclists" (I believe). It has a crapload of great rides you can replicate. Then get some rockin' music to keep you motivated during those rides if you need a little more.

Winter sucks, but it's only 8 more weeks!

koffee

Sufferfest + trainerroad + e-motion rollers.

upbeat music+youtube videos or old races work wonders.

paris-roubaix, worlds, tour de france, anything really

Yeah, I suffer from the same problem. Movies, tv, and music dont make it any better for me either. I have a question though, I am new to cycling. I have a trainer and have been biking a lot but my computer doesnt register anything because its hooked up to the front tire, what should I get so I can see how far I went and how fast im going while on the trainer. This is prob a dumb question.

One that registers using a magnet on the rear wheel. I use a garmin 500 with an ant+ speed sensor.

I do something similar to others...but I agree, my trainer has become my arch-nemesis and I think that it is possessed by an evil spirit.

We recently had reason to purchase an Amazon Prime membership. With Prime membership you can watch a lot of different movies and TV shows at no additional cost. There is a viewer app for the iPhone that I downloaded and I use that. I know you're low on funds but if you can scrape together enough to get a membership or join Netflix or something similar, it really helps.

I'm a Sufferfest fan myself. Keeps you going and you have to pay attention.

Also, a Cateye Astrale 8 computer has cadence and works off the rear wheel, and is relatively cheap although I don't know if they are still available. That Garmin 500 with the bits will set you back a lot of money.

Yes on that Cateye Astrale. Cheap, too.