[SteveM]

if i was getting one now i'd buy the cycleops fluid trainer, mainly cos it looks much better made and has a much heavier flywheel.  i think that's the key thing that makes a trainer more realistic.

And only £152 on wiggle this morning. Anyone got any dissenting views before I part with hard earned cash?

[fatkid2000]

if i was getting one now i'd buy the cycleops fluid trainer, mainly cos it looks much better made and has a much heavier flywheel.  i think that's the key thing that makes a trainer more realistic.

And only £152 on wiggle this morning. Anyone got any dissenting views before I part with hard earned cash?

I got one a few weeks ago from Mr wiggle - and it seems fine to me. Really easy to use & just wait to see how much your bike frame flexes when into it.

[SteveM]

That's sealed the deal, I'm logging onto Wiggle right now before I change my mind.

[Percy B]

First session tonight - intervals for 30 minutes. Made me feel quite sick! Its quite an experience turbo trainning with a track bike on the turbo instead of a bike with gears. You have to maintain a very high cadence with no escape into the bigger gears. Maybe we should have a challenge to see how hot you can get your turbo - mine was pretty damn warm when I packed it away!

[fatkid2000]

Saturday morning starting at 6, I did a 2 hour session - felt rather shite for the rest of the day, but recovered enough by Sunday for a bit of MTBing. Sounds interesting using a track bike - nowhere to hide with gears etc.

[Yossarian]

have any of the recent cyclops purchasers got any feedback about how wonderful / evil their new toys are?

i did some proper intervals tonight, rather than steady state. it was a bit of an epiphany.  rather then spending 20 - 30 minutes wishing the clock would speed up a bit, i instead found myself willing the minutes in between the intervals to slow down. the painful bits were quite horrid though...

[fatkid2000]

Evil machine - is all I can say, did a quick half hour after work - it was minus 2 and I was still caked in sweat at the end.

 

[SteveM]

The machine's fab. What it does to me is evil 

Wiggle sent a free race dvd along with it that includes a warmup, recording of an actual race and warm-down sections which proved a decent distraction from the lack of variety in the scenery. I was only on the bike for 30 mins but it felt like a lot longer and like fatkid I was drenched afterwards. Had to have a shower and everything. Going to try for the full 40min race simulation later this week...

[Yossarian]

Along the same lines, I went to the lab for some testing this morning. Nothing beats a bit of science and I love a little prick in the hand from time to time. If a turbo trainer is torture then the srm ergometer is like a week with usay hussein armed with some handcuffs and a hammer drill.

[chappers]

so...i went out with the manchester wheelers on sunday.
i am not exaggerating when i say it is the most miserable time i have ever had on a bike. it was VERY cold and very windy. my hands were too cold to open the packets of any food, so, by the time i was at the top of the cat and fiddle i had the knock, fully. tried to keep on for the rest of the ride but got dropped. horrible experience.
i have lost alot of my fitness, very fast from too long off the bike (3 months).

as a result, today i bought a tacx turbo trainer.
what should i do? (i have about 2 months to get it back before the cheshire cat!). i want to build it up slow to start...

Along the same lines, I went to the lab for some testing this morning. Nothing beats a bit of science and I love a little prick in the hand from time to time. If a turbo trainer is torture then the srm ergometer is like a week with usay hussein armed with some handcuffs and a hammer drill.

i have been through the same process in november, only got the results this week due to email fuck up. i love all that science stuff - shame my results no longer apply to me since i am now weak!

i need to get this back:

"Observations

Body composition was assessed using air plethysmography.  This yielded a %BF of 6.40% , which would place you within the lean category based on normative values.  Lean body mass was 93.60%.

VO2max was 69.89 mL.kg.min-1 indicating excellent aerobic capacity (average for healthy males is between 42 – 50 mL.kg.min-1).

Blood analysis revealed haemoglobin (Hb) levels of 10.5 mmol.L.  This variable is very age and sex dependent, but values obtained during testing are at the upper end of what is thought to be normal for males of your age (8.37 – 10.8 mmol.L). As Hb is the compound that oxygen binds to, this would indicate a high potential to utilise oxygen. This is also reflected in the VO2max value obtained.  Haematocrit (Hct) reflects the percentage of whole blood packed with red blood cells. Analysis of Hct found your Hct to be 47.0 %.  This again is within the normal acceptable range for men (40 – 54 %). 

Maximal aerobic power output averaged over the final minute of the test was 323 watts. Again this is comparable with highly trained cyclists."

[Yossarian]

How much did you weigh when you had that test?

[Yossarian]

my lab test revealed that my plan (as mentioned further back in the thread) to get fit as fast as possible by concentrating entirely on beasting myself has had some curious results.

my max minute power is down 50ish watts from where it was when i was fit before. i am generally less fit and my economy is pretty rubbish. however, my hypocapnic hyperventilation parameter "exceeds that of a professional cyclist". my vo2 max has improved too.

i have been prescribed a load of level two riding.  as webbo pointed out at the time, concentrating on top end riding with no base is not a terribly good way of going about it. so i'm doing about 5 weeks of long steady rides and turbo sessions, adding some intervals in again in maybe 3 weeks time, and then stepping it up again. 

apparently it's still really important to continue to include level two riding even when you're building and peaking.  something i've not considered before. level two plus level three/four gets you fitter than solely the latter.

[chappers]

How much did you weigh when you had that test?

i was 65.9 kg.

4.2 kg fat, 61.7 lean.

my plan is to do long sessions (1hr ish) on the turbo at medium intensity for a while, then start to introduce intervals.

my main problem is i feel really fit in my lungs and heart, but my legs are sluggish and i get the knock easy because i have so little stored energy.

[jordysi]

have been "playing" on my turbo since getting a chest infection in November and not getting out, do about an hour ten to an hour twenty, use a heart rate monitor, and am now finding i can measure performance not only in time and heart rate but diameter of sweat puddle on the floor, currently managing about 3 foot 4 inches can anyone beat this, is it good where do I stand in the pain vs fitness stakes?

[webbo]

but where is your turbo.if you've got in the kitchen your going to sweat more than in the garage.i mop myself with a towel and also have a thing to stop the sweat landing on my bike.
a better measure would be the difference in the weight of your shorts i.e.before and after but no pissing youself allowed.