TXCiclista

Just got my new trainer and put in 20 mins. Using my cyclo, I kept up a 16.3mph pace.

Now, I've heard lots of people say "Trainer miles aren't as hard as road miles". Well, my initial response is gonna be "BS". In just 20 minutes, I put in a workout that was 2x as hard as a similar speed on the road. Now, I DO live in TX, so we get mostly flat roads, so that may color my impression. Nevertheless, I was actually sweating and feeling a burn in my quads, something that NEVER happens these days out on the road at 16.3. In fact, I didn't have my cyclo mounted on the bars (just sitting on the floor by the trainer) and I thought "Surely this has been an 18mph pace".

So, the next time you say "Trainer miles don't count" let me suggest that you actually get on one and try to ride five miles at the same pace you would on the road. If anything, I'd say "Trainer miles count MORE"

PS For those that still don't know why, there's one simple reason (IMHO): you can't coast. No pedaling, no miles...

minder357

No coasting! yikes! what is this. . . the fixie forum?

'nother

I think most people who say, "trainer miles don't count" say it not because the difficulty of the workout is different, but because the overall experience of riding a trainer is not the same as riding outdoors. You also can't turn, go up hills, go down hills, etc. etc.

Personally, I hope never to find out

thewalrus

I'll say that trainer miles are HARDER than road miles... in being able to motivate yourself to stay on the trainer and keep going.

No wind in the face to cool down (unless you set up a fan, but it's still not the same)

No scenery to break the monotony

Temptation to get off the trainer and read a book/watch tv/get a snack/do something else.

There was a thread last week about trying to do a century on a trainer. To me that sounds like torture...

ovoleg

Yea I am still contemplating that but I doubt I will be able to make it past 30 miles

I totally agree, I've been saying it all along, trainer miles, with resistance are CRAZY. All the above points are what I noticed!!

1. No wind to cool you down
2. Scenery sucks
3. Temptation to get off

Also, as mentioned, there is no coasting....As soon as you stop pedaling, within 3 seconds your at 0mph which sucks pretty bad.

After about 40minutes on the trainer, I am already in full blown sweat and HR probably in the 180's. Its quite a workout. The only thing I don't like is the fact that it doesn't rock back and forth which kinda feels wierd.

galen_52657

I don't think you will get any argument that you can get a good workout on the trainer. But, the 'miles' on a trainer to not equate to 'miles' on the road. Just like the 'speed' on the stationary bike at the gym does not equate to the 'speed' on the road. The measurements are just points of reference. You could set the trainer's resistance to the lowest setting and ride it all day and not break a sweat. Or, set it at the hardest setting, shift into the twelve and have a hard time turning the pedals over.

kosherdave

After 20 minutes on my trainer, I really feel it too! I think it is really cause you do not coast and enjoy the scenery. You're on the trainer for exercise or perhaps while you watch TV. I have mine in front of a big screen 57inch TV, so I kinda have some degree of sceenery to keep me going, but man, after half an hour it hurts more than an hour on the road!

R600DuraAce

Here is the issue. In the off season it is important to spend as much time on the bike as possible. 20 minutes isn't even long enough of a warm up. Try more than an hour. After an hour on the trainer, you may want to kill yourself afterward and to curse the trainer for eternity. An hour riding on the real road is nothing. On the real road, you are less likely to overheat. You don't get bored. Spending 3 to 5 hours riding at base miles intensity is very doable on the real road.

ovoleg

what if you up to 400w? I think 20 minutes will be killer at that point Sorry!


yea I guess if you get used to it, then you can do it but you get pretty bored fast and there is ALOT of temptation to stop. When your on the road, there is no stopping, you keep going. On the bike, someone calls you, you get off and pick up the phone so you get out of it already

Eatadonut

it takes me at least a 30-minute warmup to turn the dial up to 400w, i'm just not man enough to keep it set on 400w when I first get on.

roadwarrior

Or get a good trainer that you do not have to adjust and just pedal the bike and feel it resist you regardless of how fast or slow you pedal so this does not happen.

Like a Fluid2 or a Magneto....your power output may very.

HWS

If you get bored, put a Spinervals DVD in and follow along. I can assure you boredom won't be an issue anymore!

rpc180

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks trainer miles aren't easy! Even at the lowest setting it feels like an slight uphill battle. Then again, I'm a beginner - so not the best hill climber But I seriously don't feel bad if I can't ride to work and back again one day and spend an hour on the trainer instead. I only feel bad for the carpet, the sweat on the bike, and the shirt I was wearing.

It is harder than the excercise bike in the gym ... I have that thing tuned to level 8 of 10 and still don't break 150BPM and can run it for an hour. Throw me on the trainer for 20 minutes and I'm ready to drop.

badkarma

Granted, I just bought my first trainer last week (1-up), but I think it's ludicrous to look at speed/distance as the determining factor for a workout. I think it all comes down to the resistance you have the flywheel set to. If you have the lowest resistance set, then I think it's easier than flat road riding, but if you have a more moderate resistance setting, than it can easily be harder mile for mile than riding outside. I think the best metric for measuring the workout is an HRM. Use that to determine how difficult/easy the workout is.

TXCiclista

As for the boredom, I had the 2001 TdF (12 hour) in last night and that helped a lot.

As for the miles not translating, that seems like a bit of a "literalist" statement. I guess the question is whether you count miles just to count them as a show of fitness on/dedication to a bike. For me it's the latter, so trainer miles count. I guess my point is, if I'd been out on my bike, I would have had 2x miles, so the trainer miles count...

And as for being on the bike, I agree 100%. It's just that on some days (when I work a lot) it's quicker to get on the trainer (especially when I have only 2 hours before bed and don't want to be too worked up to sleep). It's also the only option on the those "freezing" rain days when it's 45 outside and raining. Of course, I can (and have) get out in that crap, but I'd rather not. And I think once my wife has a bébé (hoping for this upcoming summer) a trainer will be an integral part of keeping my fitness level up...

Still, good points all

late

Last winter I used a trainer. I would ride while watching old ST:TNG episodes. When the commercial came, I'd stop and catch my breath a bit while fast forwarding over the damn things. Spring hit, and on my first ride I was just flying down the road. I thought that was great!. Then I turned up the mountain I live on and started a steady grind at a medium pace. Suddenly I was a candidate for a coronary. I stopped, and when my heart stopped trying to extract itself from my chest, I went home, chastened.

The moral of the story is that trainers are great. But this year I am using Spinervals...

Avalanche325

On my trainer (1-up) I have to push hard to average over 17mph for an hour. On the road I average 20+mph for 45 - 50 miles. The trainer is way harder. Then there is the mental thing. You can stop and be home at any time.

ImprezaDrvr

Find a 7% climb that takes about 20 mins to do and climb it at your 16 mph pace.

Trainers are alright at best. Give me layers and cold air in the lungs. Bring on the 20's (F)!

curiouskid55

Seems to be a disconnect here. Trainers aren't for riding. They are for training. They are ideal for technique , cadence, specific types of endurance, climbing,and other drills that are difficult to manage while riding on the road. If you just sit on your trainer and spin in one gear at one cadence you are missing the boat and wasting your time.

ovoleg

^^ thats not true, you are still getting a cardio workout depending on your cadence/gear.

One gear in one cadence does not mean your wasting time...Come on now

kosherdave

IT seems to me that we can all agree, if you really wanna use your bike, get outside. If you can't for some reason, don't sit on the couch and eat potato chips, time spent on a trainer, while nowhere near as fun as outdoors, is still better than putting on the extra winter weight! I use my trainer when I absolutly can't get outdoors, but having it keeps me from getting too lazy! You can still burn a lot of calories on a trainer though, not to mention working on your form and such.

TXCiclista

True, but not many people do that and they certainly don't get to the top and stop. They get the downhill on the other side...

My contention is simply that "Miles count". Someone in another thread posted a great response (not related to trainers). Which of the miles 'count'...?

18 miles up a 7% incline?
18 miles down a mountain?
18 miles on the flats?
18 miles at 50% Max HR?
18 miles at 80% max?
18 miles on a trainer?

Personally, they all count. Here's another way of looking at it...

Some say "But on the bike, you actually 'go' somewhere". Well, for the average rider (from a Physics perspective) your net distance = 0. If you go out and ride, turn around and come back, you've gone no where.

So, why do miles on the road count and not on the bike? They're all simply an electronic counter counting how many times a magnet pushes it. Heck, how many of us make sure our tires are at the same PSI each time you ride? Do you reset your cyclo when you lose 10 lbs? Do you change it if you get new tires? Do you calibrate it against a "known"?

So far, the "Trainer miles don't count" argument has only 1 real distinction (IMHO): "I actually got closer to whatever I was looking at." Seems like a weak argument to me...

jslopez

Seems to me you're trying a bit too hard to prove something to some unknown internet poster (s). If oyu think they count then they count, who cares what other people say.

craign04

is 400 watts sufficient wattage to drop the poseur in a disco kit on the trainer next to you?

timmhaan

technically you're not going anywhere, so there are no "miles" to speak of. everyone should record time instead of miles anyway. time on the bike is the common factor no matter what. miles don't carry over.