Indoor cycling season is here, or maybe it has been here, or since we are in the lovely NW it is usually always around. There is a reason that things are so green around these parts and all those reasons are what makes cycling in the winter a little less fun than other times of the year. Whether you like them, put up with them, or despise them for some they the only way that you can come out the other side of winter with any level of fitness and maybe a few less pounds around your belly. They call it the pain cave for a reason, and it isn’t just because riding a bicycle is hard. That much we know is true, but when you take the scenery, fresh air, people yelling at you, your riding buddies, cars throwing stuff at you out of the equation and lock yourself in a room with Simpson reruns on Netflix every pedal stoke hurts.
But we are in a new age of trainers and training. Before you had very few options to choose from and not many of them made indoor cycling any better. Enter the age of the smart trainer and programs that work with them.
Smart Trainer?
Yes!
What makes a smart trainer smart? College?
Nope, not college. Controlled resistance.
Couldn’t I do that with my old trainer and the silly lever or by changing gears on my fluid trainer?
Well, kind of. With a smart trainer, someone or something is controlling the resistance for you.
I don’t know if I want someone controlling the resistance for me. It might get hard and no one wants that.
That is the best part of the whole thing. You just get to ride and if you want to have hard day you can and if you want an easy day that is an option also.
Without getting too technical the smart trainer can communicate with your computer or tablet. It sends all sorts of info to your device and with a little bit of math and wizardry whatever program you are using can turn that into magic. That magic from the program goes back to the trainer and depending what settings you have it on will make you work harder or easier. Think of it like this. If you are riding uphill it will make pedal forces harder, riding on flats things will get easier.
This sounds like it is more than just about the smart trainer.
NO MORE QUESTIONS! Just kidding and you are correct it is more about the programs that control your smart trainer. Your trainer is not very smart (Yep, no college) but it has the ability to take input from the program that is smart and make your trainer do things, like add resistance when you go up a hill.
The biggest influence on the current trainer world is a program called Zwift. Zwift has created a virtual world with all the things you might find on your ride (minus people in cars running you off the road). One neat aspect of Zwift is that you are riding with thousands of other people. Log in, climb on, and you are on the road and riding with people from around the world.
Zwift provides the roads and everything else you need to get out of the pain cave and into the Zwift world. Go up a hill in Zwift and your trainer makes you work harder. How hard you work is up to you since if you want to go slow you can, but if you want to go fast you will need to work harder. Back to math and wizardry Zwift takes your height and weight and roughly translates that into your cycling profile (aerodynamics and typical cycling performance). The amount of power you put into the pedals and down into your trainer gets magically sent to Zwift and you are now riding along at 15mph.
It is just Zwift there are multiple different companies doing similar things. Trainer Road allows you to plan workouts and Trainer Road will control the resistance so that you keep the power where you are supposed to. Cycleops Virtual Training takes actual mapped and video footage and lets you ride out on real roads.
So what kind of smart trainer should I be looking at?
Well it's your lucky day! Joy Ride has recently joined the ranks of dealers for Wahoo Fitness trainers, and we would love nothing more then to put your butt on a bike, and on a trainer. If your are adamant about staying dry and warm this winter it is really the best way to go.
That is the basics without getting into the wizardry!
Joy Ride Bike Crew
But we are in a new age of trainers and training. Before you had very few options to choose from and not many of them made indoor cycling any better. Enter the age of the smart trainer and programs that work with them.
Smart Trainer?
Yes!
What makes a smart trainer smart? College?
Nope, not college. Controlled resistance.
Couldn’t I do that with my old trainer and the silly lever or by changing gears on my fluid trainer?
Well, kind of. With a smart trainer, someone or something is controlling the resistance for you.
I don’t know if I want someone controlling the resistance for me. It might get hard and no one wants that.
That is the best part of the whole thing. You just get to ride and if you want to have hard day you can and if you want an easy day that is an option also.
Without getting too technical the smart trainer can communicate with your computer or tablet. It sends all sorts of info to your device and with a little bit of math and wizardry whatever program you are using can turn that into magic. That magic from the program goes back to the trainer and depending what settings you have it on will make you work harder or easier. Think of it like this. If you are riding uphill it will make pedal forces harder, riding on flats things will get easier.
This sounds like it is more than just about the smart trainer.
NO MORE QUESTIONS! Just kidding and you are correct it is more about the programs that control your smart trainer. Your trainer is not very smart (Yep, no college) but it has the ability to take input from the program that is smart and make your trainer do things, like add resistance when you go up a hill.
The biggest influence on the current trainer world is a program called Zwift. Zwift has created a virtual world with all the things you might find on your ride (minus people in cars running you off the road). One neat aspect of Zwift is that you are riding with thousands of other people. Log in, climb on, and you are on the road and riding with people from around the world.
Zwift provides the roads and everything else you need to get out of the pain cave and into the Zwift world. Go up a hill in Zwift and your trainer makes you work harder. How hard you work is up to you since if you want to go slow you can, but if you want to go fast you will need to work harder. Back to math and wizardry Zwift takes your height and weight and roughly translates that into your cycling profile (aerodynamics and typical cycling performance). The amount of power you put into the pedals and down into your trainer gets magically sent to Zwift and you are now riding along at 15mph.
It is just Zwift there are multiple different companies doing similar things. Trainer Road allows you to plan workouts and Trainer Road will control the resistance so that you keep the power where you are supposed to. Cycleops Virtual Training takes actual mapped and video footage and lets you ride out on real roads.
So what kind of smart trainer should I be looking at?
Well it's your lucky day! Joy Ride has recently joined the ranks of dealers for Wahoo Fitness trainers, and we would love nothing more then to put your butt on a bike, and on a trainer. If your are adamant about staying dry and warm this winter it is really the best way to go.
That is the basics without getting into the wizardry!
Joy Ride Bike Crew
