INDOOR TRAINING: Part 1, Equipment Settup

1 Sep 2018 by Diesel Dale

I thought I’d write these articles in case any of you are thinking of getting a trainer for Christmas, as I did last year, to help you through next winter. There’s a lot more to it than I at first realised. My hope was to find something that would enable me to keep fit while my local Yarra Valley has been dark and foggy as I leave for work and by the time I get home of an evening. It has met those expectations and been great fun besides.

EQUIPMENT CHOICES AND SETTUP

In choosing your indoor cycling gear there are various considerations from budget to convenience to available spaces. The most important for me, though, was fun. I wanted an immersive experience to keep me motivated. The trainer that would keep you fittest is whichever one you’d ride the most.

Exercise Bikes:
We shouldn’t forget that perhaps the easiest setup is going down to your local gym for a spin class or to use their exercise bikes with programmed workouts. You can buy a second hand spin bike at reasonable cost for home or you can go all out and invest in a package of bike, built in screen and streamed recorded or live classes. USA companies Peloton and Flywheel are rolling these out globally and there may well be others. They are very expensive in outlay and then there’s a hefty monthly subscription for the classes.

Rollers:
These are a simple set of three rollers, two for the back wheel and a front roller driven through a rubber band by those at the back. There is no fiddling about attaching the bike as it just balances on rollers as you ride. I’m told its great for developing technique but its not what this article is about as the rollers provide little resistance and no variation.

Trainers:
There are 3 choices of turbo-trainer mechanics: wind, magnetic (or electromagnetic) and fluid. They provide variable-resistance in different ways, the fluid trainers being the quietest and smoothest in variation but the magnetic trainers being the easiest to control. On wind and fluid trainers the rider varies resistance by changing gears. Magnetic/electromagnetic trainers can vary the flywheel resistance remotely, either manually or through a computer program. Some high-end trainers use hybrid mechanics to combine the different benefits.

There are two variations of turbo-trainer attachment. Those driven by the back tyre against a roller require connection by the back skewer to the trainer and adjustment of the back wheel so the tyre sits just right. They tend to wear through tyres and skewers fast so people use training wheels and skewers. Then there are direct-drive trainers where the back wheel is removed and replaced by the trainer unit’s cassette. This is generally a much quicker installation (it takes me 10 to 20 seconds), which is handy if you are frequently switching between real life cycling and indoor training.

The third choice of design is whether or not to invest in a smart-trainer. Most trainers allow you to connect to software via cadence monitors, heart-rate monitors and power-meters but smart-trainers allow the software to control the resistance in return. These smart-trainers generally have inbuilt power-meters. Some even vary the angle of the bicycle as you climb or descend during your training session! Although more expensive as a group, there’s still a huge price range between different smart-trainers. Before buying check out the reviews and consider what software you want to access.

Computer:
Perhaps the ideal for a smart-trainer is a gaming computer with a hard connection to a big screen. Many people use a laptop on a stand in front of their bicycle. A tablet or smart-phone will generally run the required software and many training programs use a phone app as an adjunct to allow easy control while on the bike. Some people have a wireless keyboard within reach when cycling and others use speech-recognition or audio chat apps to send messages to others in interactive internet settings. I wouldn’t lay out lots of money until you’ve tried the basics. I run everything from my iPhone. Video software takes a lot of grunt so you will probably need to arrange power supply to any phone, laptop or tablet you use during a session.

Connectivity:
You may only need your usual links to your bike computer, probably through your ANT+ devices. If you have a smart-trainer, though, you may need a work-around if your computer or smart-phone does not communicate by ANT+. If this is the case you can either attach an ANT+ receiver via a USB port, supplement or replace your ANT+ devices with those that transmit Bluetooth or get a wireless ANT+ to Bluetooth “bridge” (such as CABLE).

When arranging your setup you may need to consider Bluetooth interference. Some software, especially Zwift in my experience, is very sensitive to Bluetooth dropout. Bluetooth transmissions can interfere with each other and fans, TVs and Wi-Fi modems will also have some proximity-dependent impact. Its trial and error I’m afraid.

Other Elements:
• If you have a simple trainer, perhaps you’ll want a TV to watch or table with a newspaper and magazines. A table is handy for food and drink too.
• Possibly a HDMI connection from computer to TV screen or, as I do, a way of mirroring your phone or tablet screen to the TV screen. I use an Apple TV box but many smart-TVs have mirroring capability inbuilt.
• One or two good fans. You will sweat a lot. I wear a headband and cycling gloves to soak up the sweat. Some people surround themselves with towels!
• A rubber mat’s a good idea for noise reduction.
• A means of playing music if you like that during a ride.
• Good wi-fi if you are using software that accesses the internet. Many people place their trainers in a garage or on a deck so you may want to invest in a wi-fi extender (an old router can often be re-commissioned for this purpose).

Improvised Systems:
In constructing a system around your trainer you can either purchase the ideal or, as I have done, piece it together from whatever you have, only spending to fill the gaps. I have no laptop but have an old TV and an Apple TV box no longer in use. I was lucky enough to have old fans and a thick piece of rubber matting. My phone can only handle running the training software alone. When running Zwift using the phone to play music or voice-recognition will crash the ride. Luckily I have a spare stereo system though so I burned my hard-pumping workout playlist to CDs and use that.

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