Planemaker

It seems as though January was really long and cold. I've been able to ride outside only three weekends this year and nothing during the week. Thankfully, I've taken full advantage of my smart trainer and Zwift.

Because, I've been able to ride indoors, on the three weekends I did ride outside, I was able to get 100 miles in each weekend. With the 300 outdoor miles and 700 miles on Zwift,this is the fastest I've ever gotten to 1,000 miles to start off a year. I'm hopeful all this preseason work will pay big dividends when the true outdoor season begins.

Alfster 

I've been looking at some smart trainers and Zwift. Which model of smart trainer do you have, and would you recommend it? It looks like we're in a deep freeze for a while yet before the temps warm up. I wouldn't mind trying Zwift to make the indoor training a bit more palatable.

Planemaker

i have the Cycleops Hammer H2.

It works really well.

I do think direct drive is the way to go. I did have reservations about putting my expensive carbon bike on it. I ended up putting my aluminum Trek FX and I'm very happy.

BlazingPedals

I've got a Kickr Snap, which seems to work pretty well. I agree that a direct drive unit would be preferable to wearing out a tire on the trainer; but I won't wear out enough tires to justify the extra expense.