Indoor Trainer - how to get a setup that I can share with my husband

[DIPSLICK]

Just now, DIPSLICK said:

IN THE CLASSIFIEDS R16K sell what you not using easy quick adjustments, someone who is clever can help with the link 

[Paul Ruinaard]

TBH I have many times thought consolidating all of it a of buying 1 x Kickr training bike for both of us which would likely simplify my life a lot and in hindsight is probably what all the add ons I have invested in building my Zwift setup for two of us has cost.

But this still does not address what happens on a cold and rainy morning in CTN in winter when we both want to Zwift.

You can get away cheaper and dont need all the below but the add ons start adding up as well:

- monitors - rather than laptop - you will buy some sort of large screen TV eventually when you get in to it

- training mats to put the trainers on

- dedicated training desks to stand all the accessories on you need (remotes etc)

- fans and aircons for cooling 

- blocks to raise the front wheel

- rocker boards etc and feet for the Kickrs to make them move more naturally

- long list of Dongles, cables (ANT +, HDMI) and USB C adapters for laptops

Like everything in cycling its an endless list of things that you are buying to get it all up and working

Oh and i forgot the bluetooth speakers and headsets for being able to Discord and talk to your mates on long rides.

Edited January 12, 2022 by Paul Ruinaard

[madmarc]

45 minutes ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

TBH I have many times thought consolidating all of it a of buying 1 x Kickr training bike for both of us which would likely simplify my life a lot and in hindsight is probably what all the add ons I have invested in building my Zwift setup for two of us has cost.

But this still does not address what happens on a cold and rainy morning in CTN in winter when we both want to Zwift.

You can get away cheaper and dont need all the below but the add ons start adding up as well:

- monitors - rather than laptop - you will buy some sort of large screen TV eventually when you get in to it

- training mats to put the trainers on

- dedicated training desks to stand all the accessories on you need (remotes etc)

- fans and aircons for cooling 

- blocks to raise the front wheel

- rocker boards etc and feet for the Kickrs to make them move more naturally

- long list of Dongles, cables (ANT +, HDMI) and USB C adapters for laptops

Like everything in cycling its an endless list of things that you are buying to get it all up and working

Oh and i forgot the bluetooth speakers and headsets for being able to Discord and talk to your mates on long rides.

Haha we both been down the same rabbit hole.

 

But wait there is more.

Subscription to Trainerroad

Subscription to ZWIFT, because TR can get tedious and boring - but have the best training plans

More Ant+ & BT dongles so you can do TR sessions while riding in ZWIFT

When LG launch their ZWIFT curved overhead monitor - that will be next

Oh wait - after that there will be VR goggles 

I wonder who will design the BOT that will do my training sessions while i sit on the couch and watch Netflix  

[wessie12]

So glad my wife lost interest in cycling.  First world problems is hard on a man🤪

[Edereese]

3 hours ago, Chingy182 said:

Hi Sam

I don't have any solutions for you, but I am in the exact same boat.

I have an indoor trainer that I use with my road bike.

I am 1.9m tall and my wife is 1.6m

To complicate matters even further, my bike on the trainer is an 11-speed and her bike is a 10-speed.

We are left with 2 options, which is to buy a bike somewhere midway between both of our sizes and just fiddle with the adjustments every ride (both maybe left a little uncomfortable) or just to bite the bullet and buy her an IDT too (not really feasible at this stage with finances).

This is an easy fix. Get your wife an 11 speed chain, find a gear that is not noisy and use the trainer in erg mode 👌🏾

[edgarblount]

What about the software side of things?

We've got the hardware (1xMedium Scott road bike on a Wahoo Kickr Snap) sorted. We just adjust the saddle height.

The wife currently rides on my Zwift profile and we just discard that ride afterwards. Do you guys have individual subscriptions on Zwift or Trainerroad as well?

Starts getting expensive man.

 

 

[DIPSLICK]

2 minutes ago, edgarblount said:

What about the software side of things?

We've got the hardware (1xMedium Scott road bike on a Wahoo Kickr Snap) sorted. We just adjust the saddle height.

The wife currently rides on my Zwift profile and we just discard that ride afterwards. Do you guys have individual subscriptions on Zwift or Trainerroad as well?

Starts getting expensive man.

 

 

my daughter started last year,,,, N+ becomes the figure

2 apple box, 2 screens, 2 trainers, 2 fans, never mind bikes, zwift,sufferfest,fullgazz

it would have been sooooo much cheaper throwing her on a R150 brand new MOTOR BIKE

CYCLING THE "GIFT" that keeps giving,,,, i cant even say ive at least got a partner, she is too strong on the climbs, and at 13 she is at her "ssshhhh time,,," she says we cycling not chatting

[HdB]

14 minutes ago, edgarblount said:

What about the software side of things?

We've got the hardware (1xMedium Scott road bike on a Wahoo Kickr Snap) sorted. We just adjust the saddle height.

The wife currently rides on my Zwift profile and we just discard that ride afterwards. Do you guys have individual subscriptions on Zwift or Trainerroad as well?

Starts getting expensive man.

 

 

2021 my wife and I both paid for Zwift. Plus I have Rouvy Premium, as the family thing means three people can use it (me, wife, my dad).
Now I really only use Trainerroad, and my wife and dad use Rouvy; really should just cancel my Zwift...

[madmarc]

20 minutes ago, edgarblount said:

What about the software side of things?

We've got the hardware (1xMedium Scott road bike on a Wahoo Kickr Snap) sorted. We just adjust the saddle height.

The wife currently rides on my Zwift profile and we just discard that ride afterwards. Do you guys have individual subscriptions on Zwift or Trainerroad as well?

Starts getting expensive man.

 

 

I have both

TR is my goTo app, but I was fortunate to get grandfathered in when they increased their subs so I still only pay $99.00 per year as long as I stay a member and pay on time every year

ZWIFT I originally joined and basically used the free 25km monthly use.

But TR becomes tedious and boring day in and day out, so I started mixing up my indoor training with both apps. the lekka thing with Zwift is you can pay for the months you want to use it, if for some reason you not gonna be using it for 3 or 4 months you simply stop paying. 

I now simply load enough $ on my USD virtual card at the beginning of each year and let it debit me each month - out of sight out of mind 

I also use the TR & ZWIFT at the same time - so TR training plans while riding in ZWIFT - I get full use of both apps

[Paul Ruinaard]

 

41 minutes ago, DIPSLICK said:

my daughter started last year,,,, N+ becomes the figure

2 apple box, 2 screens, 2 trainers, 2 fans, never mind bikes, zwift,sufferfest,fullgazz

it would have been sooooo much cheaper throwing her on a R150 brand new MOTOR BIKE

CYCLING THE "GIFT" that keeps giving,,,, i cant even say i've at least got a partner, she is too strong on the climbs, and at 13 she is at her "ssshhhh time,,," she says we cycling not chatting

I am glad i am not the only one that is in this "first world" equation. My Zwift hardware budget is considerable - was just looking at it now.

Then when it all goes pear shaped as Bluetooth is flaky or Zwift brings an upgrade out or the wifi on the Apple TV 4 k bounces a huffy fit is thrown by She Who Always Must Be Obeyed (henceforth SWAMBO), and i then get to spend the afternoon recalibrating trainers and working out why it all stopped working. 

Zwift also believes in fast code releases so all they do is break 10 things with he new release and fix the previous 8. It's a joke. 

July last year i was about 85% up Alpe du Zwift, SWAMBO decides it would be nice to ride as well, she gets on and her trainer  connects to my phone (as i had been doing spindowns a week before so had the Wahoo app loaded on my phone), which then means there isn't enough BT available for all my connections and my session stops. Every time i try and restart it, it does it again. 

I didn't get the mellenstein wheels that day.

I also learned a lot about how many BT sessions a phone or an Ipad or a mac can handle and it isn't a lot, and if you do get something that is persistent it will hook a BT port and NEVER release it. So once it has it connected then nothing else will connect. Aftershokz headsets will crash an Apple Macs BT so badly you need to reboot the Mac. I still have no idea why but i have proof of it cause my mates does the same. Best solution was going back to a cabled headset.

Anyway like you say - first world problems.

[madmarc]

19 minutes ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

 

I am glad i am not the only one that is in this "first world" equation. My Zwift hardware budget is considerable - was just looking at it now.

Then when it all goes pear shaped as Bluetooth is flaky or Zwift brings an upgrade out or the wifi on the Apple TV 4 k bounces a huffy fit is thrown by She Who Always Must Be Obeyed (henceforth SWAMBO), and i then get to spend the afternoon recalibrating trainers and working out why it all stopped working. 

Zwift also believes in fast code releases so all they do is break 10 things with he new release and fix the previous 8. It's a joke. 

July last year i was about 85% up Alpe du Zwift, SWAMBO decides it would be nice to ride as well, she gets on and her trainer  connects to my phone (as i had been doing spindowns a week before so had the Wahoo app loaded on my phone), which then means there isn't enough BT available for all my connections and my session stops. Every time i try and restart it, it does it again. 

I didn't get the mellenstein wheels that day.

I also learned a lot about how many BT sessions a phone or an Ipad or a mac can handle and it isn't a lot, and if you do get something that is persistent it will hook a BT port and NEVER release it. So once it has it connected then nothing else will connect. Aftershokz headsets will crash an Apple Macs BT so badly you need to reboot the Mac. I still have no idea why but i have proof of it cause my mates does the same. Best solution was going back to a cabled headset.

Anyway like you say - first world problems.

I feel your pain - I've had so much K$K with BT connections - I now only use Ant+

My daughter immigrated and left her older MacBook Pro at home, so i decided to use it as a dedicated training laptop only on BT connection - Oh Lordy Lordy !! I'm sure i would get a job at apple as a developer after all the research i did trying to solve the connectivity issues

Now i'm back to Win10 on my Lenova laptop with 2 Ant+ dongles (1 for each app) works perfect and has never crashed.

 

[ChrisF]

5 hours ago, wessie12 said:

So glad my wife lost interest in cycling.  First world problems is hard on a man🤪

Paul and madmarc is 100% correct.

 

If both cycle then it is just a matter of time for the dual trainer setup ....

 

 

Friends of ours went through the same.

 

 

Glad I am spared this ...

[Mamil]

Concur. 2x trainer setup is the way to go. I love spending other people's money so freely. 

[RocknRolla]

Hi Sam, welcome to the hub.

I think its great that you and hubby both are keen on indoor training. 
 

The wife and I share a kickr with a 10 speed cassette. She uses a silverback alu roadbike, and I use an old 26 inch mountain bike. Both with quick release, swopping bikes between sessions takes less that 2 minutes ( which includes getting the relevant bike from the garage.)There was a notice from some of the carbon bike suppliers that extended use on an indoor trainer could compromise the frames a while back, (cough-canyon-cough) the issue seems to have been resolved mostly. Im not a tupperware fan, so It’s not an issue for me.

By the sounds of it, you would be best suited getting a direct drive trainer, and fitting a 10 speed casette on the trainer and fitting a 10 speed chain, shifter and derailer on the 7speed bikes. These can be had for little money, as you only need an entry level spec for the dedicated bikes on the trainer. 
We have a very tight cycling budget, and have been doing ok by having the absolute minimum for indoor use. I dont have a gym contract, so spending the couple of hundred rand on zwift for me is not an issue. 
 

As for direct drive trainers, We have had a very faithfull and hardworking kickr1 with no issues. Elite has some solid options, but as far as technical support goes, nothing beats wahoo’s local representation.

[Bub Marley]

Not sure if these are still available, but try and get a quick release seatpost clamp. Use your old bike as a stationery bike on the trainer and convert the trainer cassette to match the stationery bikes cassette. This will make seat adjustments much easier. Reach might still be an issue but I think it’s easier to compromise on reach than seat height. 

[Pusher]

40 minutes ago, Bub Marley said:

Not sure if these are still available, but try and get a quick release seatpost clamp. Use your old bike as a stationery bike on the trainer and convert the trainer cassette to match the stationery bikes cassette. This will make seat adjustments much easier. Reach might still be an issue but I think it’s easier to compromise on reach than seat height. 

This is what I have done with my old mtb. When my girlfriend wants to ride I just adjust the seat height and off she goes. Works like a charm and I don't have to worry about swopping bikes.