ZWIFT, My Woosh, Rouvy, Trainer Road, all of those platforms are gaining massive popularity recently and tens of thousands of cyclists choose to skip the cold and miserable conditions outside and train indoors.
When we received all the items for review from ELITE IT we felt like rockstars. A palette full of boxes, probably worth more than my car. What do you think of me as a famous Rap artist with all the ELITE gear? Ok, enough of the shenanigans, you don't really need all of these products and we want to tell you which you will want to have for your specific training setup.
There are a lot of things to think about though when you’re buying your setup. From Budget, to technology, comfort pieces, the actual form of training (and therefore software) you want to use and obviously often overlooked is space. Where do you put all of your setup in your home? How easy is it to clean and stow away?
In this guide we want to give you a general overview of how to get started with indoor cycling the easy way!
DISCLAIMER
Our partner for this article is ELITE IT. A company we know very well from professional cycling where they equip an impressive number of 20 World Tour Teams! (11 men’s and 9 women’s teams).
You might also know them from other products they produce like bottle cages, bike bags and more. Even if you never heard of ELITE you probably already owned one of their water bottles, they are used all over the industry.
They are definitely a company you have seen around and you can argue in the trainer market they are one of the big three companies.
This paragraph also makes it clear: We have been supported to write this article by ELITE IT and therefore this is a sponsored article. We are describing all the steps using ELITE IT products and we received a full setup for testing purposes from ELITE IT.
That being said, you can be sure that we express our honest opinion in this guide and we hope you will find it helpful for getting started!
So let’s get started. This is your checklist for getting your indoor training setup:
- Indoor or outdoor? Or… both?
- What is your goal?
- How much space do you have available?
- How flexible should your setup be?
- How serious do you take your training? Do you need high accuracy?
- How long will your rides be? Do you sweat a lot?
- Checkpoint: You can now choose a trainer and accessories!
- Trainers
- An old school roller. You like to look badass and prefer looking at your cellar wall? (Just kidding.) The NERO is for you.
- Your are running on a budget and you don’t want hassle with assembling/ Disassembling your bike? A clip-on roller like the TUO might be your trainer of choice.
- You need connectivity and sensors? Want your trainer to be controlled by ZWIFT and co?You’re entering the world of smart trainers like the TURNO.
- If you want great riding experience, reliable power data and controls enter the world of interactive trainers with SUITO-T
- You care about accuracy and want maximum efficiency in training? You’re trainer should react quick to simulated gradients and represent climbs and descends like in real life? The JUSTO 2 is the elegant trainer that will give you all that out of the box, free of maintenance!
- Why a trainer bike might be your best investment yet. An outlook on the SQUARE!
- Accessories
- Protect your floor, take a mat!
- Protect your bike and stay fresh. Have a towel handy.
- You will need to drink… A LOT!
- Measure you’re heartrate, know your limits!
- FAN! Not a fanclub. One that cools you down is enough. (For now.)
- Snacks and data. Have all you need in reach with a desk.
- You’re a nerd and want the full experience? Take a RIZER and feel the gradient, just like outside! Steering included.
- SRAM vs SHIMANO - Choose your freehub and cassette
- How to set up your ELITE IT Trainer and create an epic pain cave!
- Are you a social rider or do you want to suffer solitarily? What software is for you?
- Structured vs. just riding. There is no right or wrong!
- Keep it clean.
- Is it a winter thing? Why an indoor trainer can be your best friend even in summer.
- Other things to consider and how the future of indoor training will look like!
- TL;DR just tell me what is the MVP of ELITE Trainers!
Indoor or outdoor training? …or both?
There is a certain type of people that get an indoor trainer and you will never see them outside again. Even in summer you see them getting zwift rides in one after the other. Maybe they just like to stare at numbers? Might be a Trainer Road fan and obviously the e-sports scene is growing and growing!
But you don’t have to lock yourself into your cellar for the whole summer. An undeniable fact is that you will get your structured training in way more effectively on an indoor trainer. And that rainy day where you can’t be bothered to go outside? The late evening after work where you don’t want to ride in the dark?
Your indoor trainer might be your best friend! It just gives you the possibility to get on your bike and move wherever you want.
And if you read this and think: “I do not want to sweat inside on my bike, I’ll ride outside!” That is totally fine! It’s not for everyone.
What is your goal?
One of the most important questions you will have to ask yourself before buying an indoor trainer is simply what do you want to achieve? Do you just want to have the possibility to move a bit inside? Have a social online ride and be sheltered from the weather?
Or do you want to train structured and want to reach a certain goal? E.g. getting ready for a race or event over winter?
You are a seasoned rider? Racing and performance are what you live for? Maybe you’re even a pro? You know what you want. Still we will give you some tips for what to look for when you buy your next trainer.
How much space do you have available? And how flexible should your setup be?
This is where things get tricky and you should really think about it BEFORE you buy your indoor training equipment.
If you’re in a shared apartment, trying to cram a trainer and bike in your precious room, chances are high you will want the flexibility of stowing your equipment. The same might apply to keep the peace in the house with your partner.
If you have a spare room where it will have its dedicated spot, then go to town! Maybe even a trainer bike will be your thing.
Also keep in mind if other people in your household might also want to use the trainer!
Measure the space you have available and think about how flexible you need to be and how quick you want to be able to set your equipment up and stow it away!
How serious do you take your training? Do you need high accuracy?
Measuring Power Output is not an easy task. The more precise the numbers you want to get, the more expensive your equipment will be!
±1% might not sound like a lot but let’s have a very simple example:
Your threshold power is 350w and you weigh 70kg. Making it a nice and round 5w/kg you can produce for one hour. 1% of 350w is 3,5w that your trainer over or underreads. At 2% that would be 7 Watts. Meaning if it overreads you are actually only capable of pushing 4,9w/kg.
The more serious you take your training the more you will want to invest in your trainer and therefore in its accuracy.
If you understood absolutely nothing about the last paragraph, you will be totally fine with having a less accurate system, and can focus on other aspects of your future indoor smart trainer!
How long will your rides be? Do you sweat a lot?
On your first indoor ride you will be shocked about how much your body is able to sweat!
No wind when you ride, fairly high temperatures indoor, static position, ... All those factors will not only make you sweat, but also put a higher strain on your body and deplete you of salts etc.
If you plan long and/or very intense indoor rides, you will need a fan (or two) and you will need a towel and obviously you will need to drink a lot.
If you know you are sweating in extreme amounts maybe think about how to protect your bike! The bearings might corrode from your sweat getting in the headset, etc.
You should also make sure to have storage within reach in order to have extra water bottles and snacks!
CHECKPOINT! Let’s find a trainer that fits!
An old school roller
You like to look badass and prefer looking at your cellar wall? (Just kidding.) The NERO is for you.
Rollers do NOT attach to your bike. You will need to balance yourself and your bike on the machine and ride in a straight line. You will surely have seen them in track cycling where athletes warm up on them next to the track.
It looks badass, requires skill and is one of the oldest forms of an indoor trainer!
However you will have a hard time doing structured workouts on your roller and it requires focus at all times. Well… the NERO is an outlier here. It has Bluetooth, ANT+ and other connectivities, can produce a resistance of over 800W and you could actually even do interactive training on Rouvy and co with it! The cheaper models will not be able to do that though.
Plus it is probably the most flexible setup you can have:
Bike doesn’t need to be attached, just put it on top, the roller itself folds away without extensive disassembly.
A Clip-On Trainer
You are running on a budget and you don’t want hassle with assembling/ disassembling your bike? A clip-on roller like the TUO might be your trainer of choice.
Just mount your bike WITH the backwheel on the trainer. Your backwheel will get resistance through a roll the bike is attached to.
It is simple and not so long ago this was how indoor trainers mainly looked like! Clip-On trainers are still a viable option and most of the time more budget friendly. The most simple ones can produce over 500 Watts resistance, don’t even require power supply and a model like the Quobo Fluid costs just €339.
The top of the line TUO clip-on trainer comes with connectivity to connect to apps like ZWIFT, allow control of the resistance and compatibility with accessories like the RIZER. On top it can be easily folded!
It is still under €500.
Keep in mind though that with the tire being in between, your accuracy will be way lower than with a direct mount trainer and you will use your tire on the indoor trainer. It is actually recommended to use a specific indoor trainer tire, which takes away flexibility again.
It is a great entry level solution though!
Direct Mount Trainers
You need connectivity and sensors? Want your trainer to be controlled by ZWIFT and co? You’re entering the world of direct mount smart trainers like the TURNO.
The biggest difference here is that you will remove your backwheel from the bike and put your bike on the trainer with its own cassette. Setting your bike up will therefore take a tiny bit longer, however your accuracy will be a lot better!
On top, those trainers basically always come with smart features like Bluetooth, ANT+, FE-C, S&C and more. Meaning your application like ZWIFT can receive data like power, cadence, speed etc. from your trainer and therefore you can use it for those applications. However, the resistance of the trainer cannot be controlled from outside. Therefore it is not an interactive trainer.
Entry Level interactive trainer with the SUITO-T
The Suito-T is the budget king here. It does come with ±2,5% accuracy and simulates slopes up to 15%. Combined with all the sensors you might want it will give you speed, cadence, easy calibration with Spindown and it will actually use software to try and compensate for temperature differences!
Yes, powermeters are quite sensitive and will struggle to keep consistent when the temperature of your trainer rises during training sessions!
This trainer does come with a handle and you can stow it away fairly easily. ELITE’s My E-Training comes included for 12 months as well.
Oh and it is supported by accessories like the ELITE RIZER, immersing your ride even further.
A thing to consider is the lack of WiFi connectivity which is becoming a standard for trainers and apps that you want to connect. If you plan to race or train on a very specific level ±2,5% might not cut it for you and if you are an absolute monster and sprint at over 2000 Watts you might want a bigger, heavier flywheel. A cassette is also not included, you will have to buy one and install it on the trainer. Depending on the drivetrain you use that might me a good idea anyways instead of adjusting you shifter and B-Tention screw between riding indoors and outdoors! A cassette will set you back around €50, so just factor that cost in.
However for a lot of mere mortals like us, this will be quite a good deal and a trainer offering plenty of features!
Prepared for the years to come with the AVANTI
However, as I mentioned before, WiFi is becoming more and more important and accuracy being a strong consideration, maybe you want to go one step up with a trainer like the Avanti.
It packs WiFi connectivity, dual Bluetooth Channels and even can work as a bridge between your Apple TV and other accessories that have a limit to the Bluetooth devices it can connect to! (Yes this can be an issue!)
±1% accuracy and a heavier flywheel will also make the trainer way more reactive, put more resistance against your punch, it will be more accurate and it will handle higher power output and temperature rises way smoother!
I also like the idea of the trainer auto calibrating the power meter as you ride so you don’t have to do a spindown test every now and then. (Which of course you will basically never do. 😂)
For €749 it comes at a higher price but also with some commodities for a more premium product. Thru-Axle adapters are included and stow away in a nice little compartment in the trainer. Overall it looks more premium and like a product you can leave in your apartment as a statement.
It also has foldable feet with flexible feet which promise a lateral movement of up to 4,5%. You can get even more flex with additional feet that give you up to 7% which you can buy in the elite shop. I do have to say I feel way more sore way earlier on an indoor trainer and part of it is that you are sitting on a very rigid setup. A bit of movement can bring comfort, so you should check it out.
There a few more premium features that might get your attention like the possibility to connect your Shimano Di2 so you can use your buttons to control the training app you are using. If you plan to race online, fast and secure connection is your priority and therefore the possibility to connect your trainer directly with the ELITE Gateway Wired Ethernet Dongle will be an option for you to leave nothing up to coincidence when you’re trying to go for that sweet victory in a ZWIFT or MyWoosh or other race.
Nice to mention is also that ELITE have taken an effort here to use over 50% of pre-consumer recycled plastics and are working towards a circular production model. It is surely not the definite solution looking at the responsibility towards our planet but I like to see when brands are aware and are taking steps in the right direction.
You will have to buy your own cassette for this trainer as well, just keep that in mind for your budget!
Full Pro Setup with the JUSTO 2
If you want peak accuracy, all the connectivity and a smooth and reactive ride you will probably want to go with the flagship trainer the JUSTO 2.
The Justo 2 weighs around 4kg more than the Avanti. And for indoor trainers that is a good thing, because the Flywheel will be heavier, meaning it has more momentum. What Moment?
Flywheel moment of inertia which is measured in Kgmm2 and the Justo 2 has 34708 Kgmm2 compared to 16229 Kgmm2 for the Avanti. So around double the inertia moment. That doesn’t mean the Avanti is a bad trainer, in fact it has excellent values for all its capabilities, however the JUSTO 2 will be able to raise resistance and react to power surges way quicker.
If you just want to move in winter time and have some relaxed rides while watching a TV show you will probably not care, however if you want to race online or train on a very high level for peak performance this will make a lot of difference.
In fact it will make a difference even for your experience on virtual rides as it will be very quiet and a ride feel that is smooth and reactive.
The Justo 2 has more than 99% accuracy when reading power data and of course it calibrates itself.
One thing you don’t have to worry about is a cassette! The Justo 2 comes with a 12 speed cassette pre-installed.
In general I would say the Justo 2 looks the most stylish out of the line and can really integrate as a nice piece in your home. ELITE being italian, they of course worked with a design studio, namely Adriano Design for their flagship trainer and it is a desirable object!
You will get a whopping 36 month subscription for ELITE’s my E-Training included should you want that and of course it has all the features mentioned for the other trainers.
The Justo 2 is the choice of the Pros. Tadej Pogacar and his UAE Team Emirates colleagues use this trainer. Do you need it? It depends, but if you want the top of the line trainer and ride like the best then this is your choice!
Should you get a trainer bike? An outlook on the ELITE SQUARE.
If you are highly committed to your training and plan to ride indoors a lot, if you like to experiment with different positions on your bike, maybe jump on the hype of short cranks?
Recently there was a lot of news about the ZWIFT Ride. Wahoo has been offering the KICKR Bike since a long time and ELITE are now coming up with their own solution to have a complete setup for your complete indoor setup.
And while the ZWIFT Ride comes in a cool look and is quite good and easy to build up and adapt to positions, it is not as flexible in trying new setups. Crank e.g. is a proprietary design and can not be changed. Meaning you could not adjust your crank length. On top it comes with a chain that is doing ok, but sure noisier than the belt drive on the SQUARE.
The KICKR bike has the trainer itself integrated, but also comes with a massive price tag.
The SQUARE will be your ready to go setup for training. Quick to adjust and very quiet.
You will not wear your expensive drive train parts and there’s basically no maintenance but on top you have buttons to control your virtual ride experience on the handlebar!
The SQUARE is not the prettiest object we’ve ever seen, but especially for me as a very dedicated athlete it comes with interesting features and I will write a separate report on it.
Accessories
The Trainer and your bike is the minimal requirement for getting started with your indoor training. However there are a few accessories that we highly recommend.
Most of those will not break your bank, but they will make your ride way more pleasant and comfortable. (And probably more performant.)
Protect your floor, get a mat!
Did we mention that you will sweat a lot on an indoor trainer? Yes, you will want to protect the floor underneath your bike!
You can get trainer mats from a lot of brands and ELITE also offers a few if you want it matchy matchy with your ELITE Trainer.
There are not a lot of requirements for those mats. They should cover the whole area of your trainer and bike and a bit more, they should have an easy to clean surface and it should be a material that doesn’t slip on the floor! Trust me it is annoying when your mat slips during hard efforts and the mat bulges up and touches your pedals.
They don’t have to cost a lot of money, some have some cool features though. The ELITE DRY Mat e.g. has a little removable section made of cotton terry cloth that absorbs sweat during your workouts and is then easy to remove and wash. You want to watch your hygiene!
Always have a towel handy!
A towel will be your best friend when sweat literally runs down your face. Wiping your bike off will also protect it from the salt and corrosion that might occur from your sweat.
The towel is just a towel. It doesn’t need any carbon fiber in it or anything fancy. You can buy a branded trainer towel if you want, but any towel you have at home will do. Well maybe not a 2m long Sauna towel, but a short and handy one.
Again, if you want one that is your specific indoor cycling towel, with a brand on it you admire, grab a towel from a brand you love and identify with! ELITE do offer a matching towel for your trainer setup e.g.
The ELITE Towel has an adapted shape. It is narrow but longer and therefore pleasant around your neck or not slipping down your handlebar. I have to say now that I have it I am very pleasantly surprised by the shape and how cozy it feels.
You will need to drink… A LOT!
I can’t come up with specific evidence now but I am very confident that you will drink at least double the fluids you would need outside on an indoor trainer.
A small bottle of water for an hour of intense indoor training will not be enough! If you ride with hard intervals for an hour indoors I noticed I need to drink up to 0,75 litre bottles of water per hour.
There are three things to think about here:
First make sure you can reach and store a lot of bottles and therefore water. Bottle cages on the bike and some space where you can securely store the bottles within reach when on the bike.
The second will be the bottles you want to use! Basically any cycling specific bottle will do, I just feel some are not having as much flow when you want to drink quickly and some get leaky after a while of use. That will be one for you to experiment with, but you don’t want half the water you want to drink going all over your bike instead of rehydrating you.
ELITE offers bottles and I like the FLYER bottles for the great flow through the valve.
Lastly you will want to get electrolytes back in your body if you sweat a lot! So some hydration drink or maybe even a carbohydrate drink with electrolytes will help you to not deplete yourself through sweating!
Measure your heartrate
We talk about power in cycling all the time. Watts per kilogram and massive powernumbers are the nerdy talk we like. And fair enough, power is a very important metric to evaluate your performance and it has become more affordable than ever to get a power meter even as a hobby cyclist.
However, power is not consistent. You will feel different levels of exertion in different power zones day by day and obviously your threshold and other important numbers will change over the course of training. Heart rate is still one of the most important measures for endurance training and will give you a better and more complete picture of the strain you put on your body during training.
That is not only important for performance and getting the most of your training, it is also important for your health! Heart rate and how it varies across intensities and over different days will tell you a lot about your health and whether something is unusual.
If the sweetspot interval you have done many times suddenly requires you to go at a way higher heart rate and you feel off, it is probably time to ease off or even quit your ride!
Heart rate monitors come from a lot of brands and with a lot of price points. Generally I think it should have bluetooth connection and potentially still support ANT+ for compatibility. Nice to have is a rechargeable battery. I prefer an HRM that you can wear on your arm rather than your chest. I have found those kinds of heart rate monitors like the COROS Heart Rate Monitor to be way more accurate and more comfortable, not slipping down your chest.
You will need a fan!
Indoors there is one thing missing you didn’t know you would miss before. Headwind.
Without the wind in your face, riding your bike outside, your body will heat up quickly and you will sweat like you didn’t know was possible before.
The simple solution is a fan. A cooling breeze on demand!
And of course you can go to your local hardware store and get any cheap fan, however be aware you can not control it! You will probably have to get off your bike or do dangerous poses on your bike to reach it. However, the better option is a controllable fan.
Some work with a remote control, some can actually be controlled by the speed of your indoor trainer or even your power or heart rate!
The ELITE ARIA is definitely one of the most premium fans you can get, but I personally think its worth every penny. First it will blow the wind towards you at up to 50km/h. Second you can adjust it (10 adjustable positions to be exact) so it will give you optimal cooling and of course you can control it. Via App, Speed, Power, Heart rate and Core Temperature! As a serious athlete I think core temperature sensors will be a large step in the future for athletes to understand their performance and get closer towards their maximum performance possible.
Of course you can control it manually over the buttons as well or use the Elite myETraining app.
The ELITE ARIA sticks out among smart fans for me because of its adjustability and it’s connectivity. WAHOOs Headwind doesn’t support BLE Bluetooth Smart devices e.g. which leaves me without control for my specific Heartrate monitor. The headwind is also only adjustable in two (weird) positions.
That being said the ARIA comes at a very premium price of €290.
Be aware that the fan is most likely the most noisy part of your indoor setup as well… it blows air at you with a fan. For me personally it has the most pleasant sound out of the fans i tested and it is very quiet for what it does. (Blowing air.)
Snacks and Data readily available - why have a desk?
As mentioned before, it will be very hard to get things that are further than an arms reach away. You should consider this when you plan where to put your setup and how to set it up for longer sessions!
Of course you can use a normal table or desk or shelf you have around and position it within reach. You will want to put some snacks on it, maybe some additional water bottles and, if you’re not using a huge TV or something, your phone, tablet or laptop for your training app. Whether it is ZWIFT, Trainer Road, MyWoosh, XERT, My E-Training App or else.
If you go for a specific Training Desk for indoor cycling you will get some commodities. It will come with wheels so you can roll it around, you can adjust the height so it fits your specific needs and on top the ELITE Training desk comes with cable routing!
Well not the one you have on your bike, but to power your tablet or laptop you will have a neat compartment for your power plugs and cable guiding so you have a clean setup without a messy look.
I also really like the ability to easily fold the training desk and stow it away after training. What I am missing is some bottle holders and a stand for your tablet/phone.
Specific desks are again a premium product and the ELITE product comes in at €290. You can find cheaper options, they often look goofy and are extremely bulky though. If you like a premium looking piece of furniture with a lot of thoughtout features integrated, go for the premium desk!
Get nerdy with gradient simulation
Indoor cycling is a simulation of our beloved sport of riding our bikes outside. The word simulation implies we want the feeling of riding a bike outside to be as realistically simulated as possible!
ZWIFT and other software immerses us in digital worlds with perfect roads, smart trainers let us feel gradients and resistance like outside and squishy feet for your trainer give you a bit of side to side movement. Wahoo went as far to make a moving trainer with the KICKR Move. I have not tested that and cannot tell what its like, but it is interesting to see a glimpse of where trainers might go in the future.
Simulating gradients is another step to get closer to that real life feeling indoors. A gradient simulator like the ELITE RIZER will give you exactly that! It will have you ride at the gradient your app simulates for you, rising your bike up as you would riding uphill outdoors.
On top the Rizer can also simulate steering! Therefore it is the only product on the market that provides both of those features in one. While steering in ZWIFT etc still has some way to go, it might be interesting especially for e-racing in the future. Optimizing draft, adding a level of complexity.
Neither gradient simulation nor steering are required for you to get started with indoor training, but when in Rome…
It is a pricy accessory coming in at €849, but like a fancy sports car if you want it you will get it.
SRAM vs. Shimano - choose your cassette!
An overlooked detail will always be what cassette to get for your trainer!
Check your bike and make sure to get one with the correct gears. Most modern bikes use 12 speed shifting, but maybe you still have 11 or even 10 gears.
Especially with modern 12 speed drivetrains the margins and spaces get smaller, patterns on the teeth on the cassette become more complex. Therefore you will get the best shifting experience using a cassette from the manufacturer of your drivetrain. Shimano uses a different technology than SRAM and Campagnolo will be a different topic altogether.
Therefore it might be worth considering a specific freehub that fits the cassette you need. Namely SRAM XD Driver, Shimano Microspline are some of the unfortunately proprietary formats of different manufacturers needed to install 12 speed cassettes on your trainer.
Alternatively you can think of using something like a ZWIFT cog to use virtual shifting and not relying on a cassette at all.
This obviously only refers to direct mount trainers, but we assume in this day and age you will most likely choose one of those trainers!
Using a cassette that resembles what you ride outside as well also makes getting your bike setup indoors way quicker. The reason is that you don’t need to adjust your shifting according to the different cassettes even if it may just be the B-Tension screw according to your gear ratio on the respective cassettes to get smooth shifting.
That might become even more interesting as a topic with direct mount drivetrains coming into play from SRAM. There you need to use a specific cassette with your derailleur. But that will be a future topic for another article!
How to setup your ELITE indoor trainer and prepare your pain cave
Well, that is probably the most you will use your tiny biceps as a cyclist. Big flywheel, stable base and all the accessories means big and heavy boxes!
But don’t fear, take your time. The setup is easy and the process is designed to be easy and quick.
To not make this article too long, we put this guide in a seperate article which you can find here.
All setup? Give it a quick test and set up your favorite music playlist or a tv show, get ready for your ride!
What software is for you?
Are you a social rider or do you want to suffer solitarily?
That is the main question here. ZWIFT and other platforms virtually elevated and gamified indoor cycling experiences. It is becoming more and more “real” a real world where you feel real gradients, effects of draft, you can have social rides with people around the world or race basically any time of day against each other, meet up virtually with real world friends, or just have a structured workout ready prepared for you!
From real world climbs and routes from former world championships to made up routes to strike all the boxes of cycling paradise for cyclists.
And competition is coming fast! Training Peaks recently started offering their own virtual riding simulation, Rouvy and My Woosh are crashing into the market.
Which one is for you? Hard to say, just try some until your happy! Your ELITE trainer will come with vouchers to get some trials on a lot of popular platforms!
Some however just want to follow their structured workout and not be obstructed. Maybe watch something on the side or just listen to music.
In that case there are plenty of options like Trainer Road, XERT or even something in between like you can read about in our Wahoo SYSTM review.
In case you want no obstruction and screens at all you can actually try the ELITE ZONA. It looks very weird at first in a digital world, but then maybe it’s brillant.
Just a few buttons. You can train by Zone based on your FTP, by 16 levels of resistance, by a set of w/kg or use one of 7 workouts preset based on your FTP.
I like the idea more and more. After a day in the office with horrible weather outside do you want to spend more time in front of your screen? Just exerting yourself after a rough day and getting that sensation of feeling tired and satisfied after having moved your body seems super refreshing!
Having tested it now, it'll not be my sole setup for training but I like it way more than I thought when ELITE sent us the press release. What i would love to see though that the small interface would allow me to control the ARIA fan. It would be perfect, as you can mount it directly on your computer mount!
The choice is yours and your trainer can do all of them! Just try and experiment of what works best for you. I personally enjoy a good mix of all of those variants, bringing some variety and fun in my training.
Structured training vs. just riding. There is no right or wrong!
Cycling is a crazy rabbit hole. The more you dive into it the more it is about numbers and stats.
As soon as you want to get the last few percent out of yourself to compete on the highest level you will have to deal with the idea of following a training plan with structured workouts. FTP Tests, VO2 max training, sweetspot, Over/Unders, 40/20s… If you’ve already gotten down all the road to madness you will nod in agony.
If not, you wonder what language I've just spoken in.
If you want to go that way go ahead and dive deep into the world of complete training nerdery!
That being said, there is a crazy amount of great riders who are just riding. The more volume your training has, the more fit you will become. And clearly not everyone wants to ride with a beeping noise every few minutes alerting you of a new interval.
Enjoy some social rides online, just discover some virtual worlds and climb gruelling climbs. Maybe try some e-racing against others?
Both are great! If you’re limited on time you might find structured workouts to provide quicker progress for your fitness though.
Your choice!
Keep it clean.
You can find a lot of horror stories online of corroded headsets, broken handlebars from corrosion and more!
Apart from parts on your bike breaking it’s also a question of hygiene. You will take a shower after training right? Give your indoor setup a good clean and wipe everything off after your training.
You can protect your bike with a specific sweat cover if you like and as mentioned before the ELITE training mat with removable cloth makes cleaning super easy!
Is it a winter thing? Why an indoor trainer can be your best friend even in summer.
In winter an indoor cycling setup can be your only real chance of riding a bike regularly and keep fit. Based on where you live of course. Even if the weather is mild where you live, days will be short and riding in the dark after work is not really pleasant.
Naturally you will spend more time on your indoor trainer in winter.
Then there are some people that prefer to cycle indoors even in summer. A special breed you could say! The e-racing aficionados and structured training nerds.
Some will have their indoor trainers covered in dust during the summer as well. Fair call! Obviously feeling fresh air and some sun combined with our favorite sport is why we started this all right?
I like a combo. In winter I will use the indoor trainer a lot to get effective and safe training sessions in and don’t suffer from cold and icy conditions, where most likely I cannot safely perform my training outside.
In summer still sometimes you will have a day of bad weather where it’s nice to be able to stay dry and warm inside. Sometimes you have a packed day and you will only get to train at night.
Some might even live in an area where it becomes too hot to ride outside during the day.
Another point is that maybe you can’t safely complete a certain workout close to home outside. Riding 1h at Threshold through the suburbs? God no, that is suicidal tendencies!
In all cases I feel an indoor setup is just your best possibility to always fit a ride in and motivate you to ride your bike. Plus with modern software rides are becoming more exciting and an immersive experience. You can even simulate key sections of your next race or event and get ready, try gear ratios etc.!
I am using my indoor setup year round and I believe whatever keeps you motivated and moving is great.
Other things to consider and how the future of indoor training will look like!
Now we are seeing moving trainers, vibration simulation, steering, climb simulators, controllable fans etc. it will be exciting to see where we go.
I am predicting that the ride experience will become more and more immersive and the feeling will become more real and move towards a simulation.
More social aspects to indoor cycling, more technical possibilities like adapting your position and optimizing your performance. More data… you get it. We are far from the end of what’s possible in indoor cycling and it will become a more important part of the outdoor industry to cater for this segment.
What are your thoughts? Where do you think we will head with indoor training?
TL;DR just tell me what is the MVP of ELITE Trainers!
From a performance standpoint it is hard to say anything else than the Justo 2 because it is the most accurate and beautifully built trainer, but the price point makes it the premium product it is.
For having a future proof trainer with all connectivity like WiFi, BLE and ANT+ as well as a heavy flyweight, giving you immediate feedback on resistance changes, gradients etc. the AVANTI is the MVP we see in the ELITE category. It is a great price point for what it offers.
It is also a beautiful machine with a ton of really nice features built in.
It is the full package with all the features most riders would ever need and want to have.
