Trainer question

[li10up]

I rec'd a Travel Track Century V+ Fluid trainer for Christmas and have a question or two. It is a lot harder to pedal the bike on the trainer than it is in the same gear on the road. Is that normal? I set the resistance knob 2 turns after it touched the rear tire as it said in the manual. I've also set the remote resistance lever to the easiest setting. Why is this thing so dang hard to pedal?

[kelownagirl]

I'm by no means experienced with this but I set the resistance to a level that allowed me to maintain a speed that I know I can do on a flat road.

[li10up]

Shouldn't the gear I'm in on the trainer mimick what you would experience on the road? I'm having to drop into my smallest chainring (triple) to maintain a high cadence on the trainer. Maybe this was a dumb question but I don't know the answer and haven't seen it anywhere online. Is it supposed to be harder to pedal on the trainer than on the road or do I have something setup wrong?

[mtbdarby]

Shouldn't the gear I'm in on the trainer mimick what you would experience on the road? I'm having to drop into my smallest chainring (triple) to maintain a high cadence on the trainer. Maybe this was a dumb question but I don't know the answer and haven't seen it anywhere online. Is it supposed to be harder to pedal on the trainer than on the road or do I have something setup wrong?

If all things were the same, yes. But you are stationary now so it will be harder. I believe the trainer you have does have resistance. Is it on the easiest setting? Your front wheel isn't moving so you lose the momemtum that would normally give you. And the air. It's hotter riding on a trainer so if you have a fan let that blow on you. By the time winter is over and your legs are used to this you will see the difference on the road come spring!

[HillSlugger]

I think I have the same trainer. I only tighten the rear roller tight enough so that the tire does not slip on the roller: I hold the roller with one finger and then try to turn the wheel past it and tighten only enough to stop the slippage. I'll generally keep the remote resistance set on easiest and then use the gears to adjust the workout. On a rare occasion I'll increase the resistence and drop down on the gear to simulate hill climbing.

Considering everything, yes, the trainer is a bit harder to pedal against; I find it easier to pedal at higher cadence out on the road. It's also more uncomfortable on the trainer since there's less shifting of weight, standing up, coasting, etc. Still, I'll use the trainer up to 5 days a week as it's better than not riding at all.

[Wahine]

Li10up,

There's another thread in the new riders section of this forum that has a lot of replies and opinions related to riding on a trianer, verses the road. You may want to check ito out. I think the thread is even called something like "Trainer very different than riding on the road".

Yes it is, very different.

[li10up]

Thanks for the info. Slug, I think I'll try adjusting the resistence on the roller. It must be a bit too tight. Yeah, I was only on it for 25 minutes and I was sweatin' buckets! Bringing in the fan next time. I tried to stand for a bit but felt really awkward since I couldn't shift the bike laterally.

Wahine, I found the other thread-thanks for pointing me to it. I was searching on posts instead of on thread titles - makes a big difference on the results.