Setting up a trainer at my temporary residence, on the other side of the ocean
 

As my name indicates, I normally live in Minneapolis, where I have a dedicated trainer setup and Zwift, using an on old road bike that hasn't been outside or off the trainer for a few years now.

I've relocated to Germany at the beginning of September, and I'll be here until May. I'm in a small town in rural Bavaria.
(To my surprise, the road biking scene here is almost non-existent. I've never seen a place in Europe with so few road cyclists, but that's mostly the subject of another thread.)

I brought one bike with my - my Canyon. Brining one bike was difficult enough logistically, I wasn't going to bring two.
I knew that I'd miss the trainer - winters here are dark and wet. (Bayreuth is at 50°N, well N of Minneapolis at 45 °N), but already in mid-September, that reality is setting in.

So I'm going to get one and set one up, but there are some challenges. It will cost way too much to ship the trainer back with me, and I have little confidence that I can sell a used trainer in a small town with essentially no road biking scene (plus language issues). So it shouldn't be a particularly expensive trainer.

It doesn't have to be a smart trainer, as I have PM pedals (Favero Assiomas) and so I can Zwift with a dumb trainer. But I'm looking at the Tacx Flow, which only costs €260 from local mail order and is a low-end smart trainer. I'm also looking at the Tacx Boost at €230. (At the moment, 1€=1$ almost exactly). Like I said, I don't need a smart trainer, but the cost differential is pretty small.

]Here are the full range of my choices - anybody see a better deal that's a similar bargain?


I'm also going to need:
A stand for my ipad
A good fan
A matt to protect the floor of my rented apartment.

So far so good.

But where I'm stuck is the fact that I only have one bike. When the weather is good, I will still want to ride outside when I can. And I don't really want to have to change tires every time I take the bike on and off the trainer. Buying a spare wheel is hard to justify. If I were home, somebody I know would have a crappy old wheel to lend me (though it would have to be a through axle with the right threading, etc.). Maybe I'll buy a spare wheel and then ship it home at the end.

I'm thinking of putting something like a Gatorskin on the rear wheel. From experience I know that it will last a long time on the trainer, though it develop a flat profile. Oh well, when I ride outside, I think I can ride a slow tire that's developing a flattish profile. If it gets too flat and begins to seem unsafe, I can replace it.

Any other solutions?

when i first started out riding indoors i did so at a bike shop during the winter on an old computrainer. old wheel on trainer that also adjusted resistance per grade. i only did 40 mi/week on it and also used the bike outdoors weather permitting. i just used the one wheel i had and kept a road tire on it. it lasted the season. in my opinion since this is a one season event i'd just stick with your current tire. much cheaper than a wheel.

also, ditch the mat and just use cardboard.

see, saved you some euros already.

I have had a tacx flow for around 2 years now and it is OK. I don't have a higherend trainer to compare it to but it is better than my old fluid trainer. The weakest part about it is it's climbing simulation since it only goes up to 6%, hills never feel any harder than 6%. I was lazy last winter and just stuck with my normal tire and didn't seem to hurt it that much though I did just replace it due to sidewall damage.

Thanks for the input. That's reassuring. DC Rainmaker also says that the Flow spins out above 800 watts. I wish I could say that that is a problem for me, but it's definitely not.

You've been around here a long time, you know what you're doing. My take is - this is a matter of months, so keep it cheap, man. I'd choose a dumb friction trainer over anything trying to be both smart *and* cheap. I'd be looking for a "german ebay" solution for something that I'm going to leave in the garbage when May rolls around (pun intended). I would not even worry about changing tires, deal with that if/when it becomes an issue - might not, I think wear issues on a trainer are generally over-advertised. I put my iPad on top of a barstool. The fan, that might be most important thing. Just keeping the quads tight.

Yeah, it's definitely going to be on the less expensive side. Ebay.de is a thought. The appropriate search term is farrhad rollentrainer. There are some deals, to be sure. Though I'm not wholly confident of my ability to judge the working condition based on photographs. Also, if I buy the Tacx, I know exactly what adapter I need to mount my thru-axle bike. With an unknown model and brand, that won't be so straightforward.