Reality Check
Cyclist looks into the latest developments of the machine that’s going nowhere fast
Sportful Giara bibshorts, £75
c3products.com
Sportful Giara socks, £17
c3products.com
Specialized S-works 6 shoes, £310
specialized.com
Turbo trainers haven’t always been considered valuable training tools. The first stationary cycling devices appeared back in the 1880s, but the 1896 edition of the Badminton Library (a rather quirky series of sports books) concluded home trainers to be ‘odd contrivances’ whose value to racing cyclists was ‘practically nil’. Try telling that to Orica-scott (soon to be OricaMitchelton) pro Mat Hayman, who returned from injury to win the 2016 edition of Paris-roubaix after six weeks training exclusively on a turbo.
A turbo may have turned around Hayman’s fortunes but they are still viewed with suspicion by some cyclists, who see them either as a copout for those too feeble to brave bad weather or as instruments of torture for lonely masochists. To win these people round, the industry is turning to technology to prove that indoor training can be more effective than riding on the road, and that – with the right set-up – it can be enjoyable too.
‘Turbo training provides opportunities to riders beyond that offered by purely riding on the road,’ says Team Sky’s performance scientist, Conor Taylor. ‘For example, certain interval-based training sessions designed to promote specific central [cardio-vascular] or peripheral [the working muscles] physiological adaptations are at times easier to perform on a turbo trainer, as a rider aims to hold a precise power and cadence for a set duration, followed by a defined rest period. As you can imagine, this might be far harder to perform out on the road depending on the terrain, road traffic and climate.’
That last point is particularly pertinent to the normal rider – even the pros, god-like as they are on the bike, can’t train as well in grotty
weather. Taylor explains it puts those Sky riders living in Poland, the UK and Ireland at a disadvantage in the wintry off-season compared to those from sunnier climes, so the turbo still allows these riders to achieve high-quality training sessions regardless of the weather.
No need to sweat in solitude
As turbo trainers have developed from simple wind-based units into fluid designs capable of providing data, and most recently into electromagnetic smart trainers, an increasingly popular aspect to them is the social interaction they offer.
‘Community is a really big thing for cyclists in general, so having software platforms on which you can engage with other riders makes geography a non-issue – you can go on group rides with anyone in the world while in your garage,’ says Megan Powers, product manager at Wahoo.
According to Elite’s Peter Lago, the decision by major brands to open
‘You can go on rides with anyone in the world, in your garage’
up their platforms and connectivity to third-party developers served as the catalyst for an explosion in new technology. The days of putting on a recorded show and doing interval efforts in the ad breaks are gone – now you can engage with cycling-specific virtual packages that adapt and react to the user, much like computer games.
‘I think new software companies like Zwift, Sufferfest and Trainerroad have created a new market with new desire, pushing hardware companies like us to come up with something better,’ says Lago. ‘Looking at our product range two or three years ago our high-end trainer was the Muin while today we have the Direto. Comparing the two, the technological progression in terms of accuracy, ride feel and connectivity has been greater in the last two years than in the 10 before that.’
It all adds up to the user experience being more realistic. Powers says she
is seeing this reflected in the habits of riders in her local area in Georgia, USA. It is a rarefied part of the States that boasts a climate mild enough for cycling outdoors to be comfortable year-round, and yet she’s noticing more people choosing to remain indoors to train. ‘I think we are seeing a fundamental change in cycling culture,’ she says.
Dealing direct
The advance of training software has seen a similar shift in the hardware, and Lago says there has been a marked swing in popularity towards directdrive turbo trainers as a result. Directdrive turbos have their own cassette, requiring the user to remove the back wheel from their bike and install the frame directly onto the trainer.
‘Generally, we’re seeing 40% of our sales as direct-drive nowadays,’ says Lago. ‘Three years ago that would have been around 5-10%. This is partly down to the benefits of the technology, but also as a result of a change in customer tastes. Firsttime buyers, drawn in by the new software options, are spending far more than they used to.’
Dutch brand Tacx has also seen an upsurge in direct-drive turbos. ‘They have a lot of inherent advantages,’ says Tacx’s Bianca Willems. ‘Their design means there’s no tyre wear or slippage, plus there’s less noise and a higher degree of accuracy, which makes for a more realistic – that key attribute again – and enjoyable experience for the user.’
Does that mean the wheel-on turbo is effectively dead in the water? ‘No, wheel-on turbos will always have a place,’ says Willems. ‘By their nature direct-drive turbos are far more expensive to produce, so less accessible. A direct-drive turbo also requires some mechanical skill to set up – you have to remove your bike’s back wheel, and maybe adjust the cable tension of your rear derailleur. That can be intimidating for some users. Wheel-ons are much more portable too, so unless you’re a pro you’ll want a wheel-on turbo to take to races as a tool to warm up on.’
Tomorrow’s world
After such a dramatic period of development, one might expect the turbo market to settle down for a while, yet the experts Cyclist consulted seem to think there are plenty of avenues yet to explore in both software and hardware applications, all with the goal of making indoor training more reminiscent of actual riding.
‘Tacx is releasing native software to rival the third-party options currently out there – we think that products designed to work together will offer a smoother user experience,’ says Willems. It’s an attitude Wahoo’s Powers agrees with.
‘For us it’s about rounding out our “ecosystem”, so not too much about the trainer per se but more about the accessories to accompany it. We think the Kickr Climb – a device that physically adjusts the angle of your bike to better simulate changes in gradient – will be a success because it’s a unique way of bringing indoor training one step closer to the real thing.’
While this sort of advance in technology promises to enrich our training experience, the gap between the real and the virtual is growing ever narrower, so is there a danger of cyclists shunning the road altogether, turning into pale gamers with no bike-handling skills?
‘As advanced as indoor training is becoming, people who solely train indoors are missing the point of the technology,’ says Lago. ‘Everything we do is just a conduit to make you better at riding outdoors. It’s just that the indoor part is a little more enjoyable these days.’ Sam Challis is editorial assistant at Cyclist and enjoys regular trips into his pain cave
Is there a danger of cyclists shunning the road, turning into pale gamers with no bike-handling skills?