Turbo Trainer's and HRM's

[SimonJOsborne]

I am thinking about getting a Turbo Trainer to improve my fitness and get a bit more strength in the old legs. At the moment I am looking at the Tacx Satori and the Swing. Has anyone got any advice or recommendations in general, maybe even some experience of the afore mentioned trainers? But, I want to avoid getting something that is too much to start with, as apparently the Satori works at high power at low frequencies.

Also, I think it could be a good idea to pick up a HRM to help here, and the Polar S150 looks ok. But I already have a Flightdeck so I don't want to go stupid on features I won't need.

I don't have a massive budget to play with probably £200 in total at most. Activesportskit.co.uk have got a good sale on Turbos, Arogs-sports.co.uk have the S150 for £69.

Any thoughts, recommendations or advice is welcome.

[siwickm]

I think the Swing is quite good. I used to have one, it is very similar to the Minoura 1200 so you could look at that as well and compare price. Both are magnetic rollers and offer a good level of resistance, but it can be turned down.

I like the HRM that has the percentages that can be programmed in as this is useful so you know what zone you are in. So if the 150 does that then get it.

Cheers

Marek....

[Rob]

if you can, really try get a second hand turbo...youll end up spending loads on a turbo trainer, use it, find out how amazingly boring it is..then let it gather dust

[Richard (Apples)]

I've got a really basic Tacx. Its magnetic and has about 6 levels of resistance.....I find the only way I can overcome the boredom is to set up in front of the TV and watch a comedy dvd....Dave Spikey or Jimmy Carr keep me amused for an hour or so.

[Ian A4size]

If you can afford it get some training DVDs- spinervals are great- sigma sport sell them so do wildside cycles- i find them really good and they keep me focused for an hour and a half. I have not had the courage to do the 3 hour one just yet- 3 hours at 5 beats below AT, makes Toks 2x20 mins efforts look like the J4F group . I have done 90 mins but i ran out of water, i reckon you need 4 bottles plus some food as well. Tough love!

[Richard (Apples)]

Yeah they look great Ian . I've put a couple on my Christmas list .

Simon

You can find them on the Planet-X website

[huw williams]

Here is my review on the Minoura from next weeks CW in case it helps.
These cost about £200 in the UK but with the weak dollar and US mail order firms its possible to get one sent over for around £140 - but I didn't tell you that!


Minoura VFS G turbo trainer

I’ve always hated turbo trainers. They’re noisy, they take too long to set up correctly and unlike a bicycle, you don’t get anywhere when riding on them, surely the point of cycling in the first place. They are however a fantastic training aid and as at time of writing there is a force 9 gale driving rain sideways across my lawn outside, a convenient way of continuing to train during the winter months. As we know, most serious road racers and all time trialists have a pathological inability to stop training during the winter whatever the conditions. It’s a good job then that we don’t live on the Siberian tundra.

If you do, you could do a lot worse than check out this latest combined fluid/magnetic turbo from Minoura, which would happily negate training in the permafrost. It uses a clever load-bearing central hinge system that lowers the bike onto the roller under its own weight, thereby replicating road conditions more accurately than a standard turbo. Efforts in or out of the saddle realistically weight and un-weight the rear wheel as they would on the road. This also does away with painful hours of set-up time trying to position the bike properly. On a standard turbo too little pressure on the roller will quickly wear your tyres out – not a problem here. The same hinge system also contributes to quick storage of the trainer as it folds away flat without having to undo any bolts or quick release levers. There’s a heavy duty QR skewer included to replace your expensive lightweight titanium one and a 7 level, bar-mounted remote lever to control resistance although my standard pattern of gears proved so realistic that I barely switched from the medium setting.

So far so good then but where the VFS ‘G’ really scores is in how quiet it is. The build quality is impressively tight and ‘chunky’ so there’s nothing rattling around even under high stress. Unlike any turbo I’ve ever tried I couldn’t get this one to sound remotely offensive. So quiet is it that I initially thought it was set up incorrectly or I wasn’t trying hard enough but no, even biggest gear at high-speed mosh testing still proved impossible to upset my flat mate let alone the neighbours. That’s particularly important if you live on the Siberian Tundra where after a hard days surviving, the native Yakut are partial to an early night. Very highly recommended.

[SimonJOsborne]

Thanks for the info so far guys. I have been checking out turbo's on Ebay but I found some of them don't cost that much less than a new one, if you hunt around online. It seems that Tacx trainers seem to hold their price well so maybe I would get a bargain on a Minoura.

You guys have also got me thinking about fluid trainers. Cycle Ops, Kurt Kinetic and the Minoura VFS all look good. From what I gather fluid trainers offer a more realistic feel. Do they do the business?