The Sufferfest! (video training aide)

[simon.sharwood]

I've just found this website: http://www.thesufferfest.com/
Long story short, it offers free video podcasts that talk you through a one-hour static trainer/roller session while showing vintage cycling footage.
I've been doing static trainer sessions watching TV shows on the podcast, which certainly helps the time to pass. This looks a little more demanding!
Shall report on how these work out in three sessions time - my next two sessions are devoted to the last two episodes from Season Five of The Wire!
S.

[timyone]

cool thanx
I dont know if ive got speakers long enough, but this could be a good idea for tuesday rollers Heart rates really are alot of work.

[simon.sharwood]

I do it with headphones on - bought a cheap pair with looooong cable and hook the iPod up in front of my trainer.

[jimmy]

I used one of these this morning. A really good workout and certainly a distraction from the tedium of rollers.

I did have problems trying to do the climbs (7/10 effort at about 74rpm), once I pushed it to top gear and then started pulling the brakes on. I was able to get some good resistance.

James

[Terry]

I've done these at home on a spin bike which i think is what they're designed for and it works well.

Although i did one of them ( ithink #3 the onr that just makes you go really fast then not so fast 1 Min each for approx 40 Min) on my fixie on a stationary trainer which worked alright.

After one of these workouts I feel absolutely stuffed if i have put in the requested amount of effort.

[jimmy]

I am going to look at tightening the rollers up so that they provide more resistance.

James

[jimmy]

I did one of these again last night on the now quite tight rollers. I was able to do the hill climb, 75rpm cadence in top gear. However, I noticed when tightening the rollers that the front drum isn't centred properly. When you turn it, you can see that it has a wobble.

Does anyone have any tips on trying to fix this up? They are an old set of rollers, so should I just bite the bullet and get some good ones? Does anyone have experience with rollers which have a resistance device? I know that I can use a trainer, but I like the fact that rollers put no unusual stress on the bike, tyres or rims, and also smooth out your pedalling stroke.

I came across these

http://velogear.com.au/products/Indoor_ ... 221-0.html

Which while a good price, don't seem to have variable resistance. Cecil Walker sell the Minoura with the Mag Unit

http://www.cecilwalker.com.au/category117_1.htm

But it has a pretty hefty price.

I think I might bring the road bike down to the track one Thursday Night, to see what a good set of rollers feel like before I spent any money though.

James

[JohnR]

At the risk of going off topic

This whole static training thread, couple with the review Bicycling Australia magazine have this month of 25 trainers got me wondering...

I've got a stationary bike in my house - a pretty high quality one that uses electromagnetic force for resistance and has pre-set or programmable routines in it. Not a $159 k-Mart job. I got it a while back for my wife - who wanted to be able to grab some spin time when she was at home. So long story long to the question - how is riding a stationary bike like this different to putting my "real" bike on a trainer? Intuitively I get that mechanically and fit wise it's a different beast but conversely I'd have thought there's advantages in being able to program in say a tough hills course and going for it?

[weiyun]

1) Ride positions are different.
2) Cleat vs platform pedals.
3) There's a kinematic differences b/n riding stationary and road riding, where additional muscles are needed for balancing.

Bear in mind that those pseudo hills, sprints etc are mainly there to keep the boredom away and are often more cardio focused than for developing power. Otherwise specific intervals sessions with pre-defined resistances will improve you faster on the power front, and you can do them quite effectively on a stationary bike. Look up '2x20 interval training' under Google.