Which Indoor Trainer is right for me?

 

With the leaves coming off the trees and a chill in the air, the outdoor cycling season is coming to a close for most.  The change in season is a great time to take advantage of the consistency, convenience and data analysis possible with indoor cycling on a trainer.  There are so many fantastic and fun cycling apps and programs available now that the indoor cyclist might have more fun and variety over the winter months than outside! 

 

There are so many trainers on the market, a lot of options and quite a lot of information to consider.  But the primary consideration for a buyer to look at is whether to purchase a Classic or Smart / Interactive Trainer.  

 

The Classic Trainer in its most basic form is a stand and rolling wheel that offer resistance for you to pedal against using your road, gravel or mountain bike.  This type of set up usually weighs less than an Interactive Trainer, requires no external power source  and offers resistance via magnets or fluid.  The user does not need to take the rear wheel off the bike in order to use this type of set up.  This is super convenient for both beginner cyclists and  more experienced riders as this can be a great shoulder season purchase when the weather is on and off for cycling.  Classic Trainers offer more affordability than interactive trainers and the Elite brand Classic Trainers have the option to be converted into interactive trainers with some of the features of the more expensive options using an add-on sensor. 

 

The Interactive Trainer offers indoor cyclists connectivity to all major cycling apps and programs such as Zwift or Sufferfest, but they also come with their own software programs too. An Interactive Trainer, like the ones shown below from Elite offer a huge amount of data for the user to analyze.  With this the user can accurately track power, cadence and other information about their cycling.  One of the important benefits of a wheel-off trainer is that it offers more resistance.  Resistance, measured in watts, or the amount of power / turning force the cyclist applies to the pedals and crank are an accurate way to track the level of energy output an athlete produces on any given workout set at any given time.  So it can be an incredibly useful way to measure progress and control effort and exertion.  There are very simple ways to correlate this data to Functional Threshold Power, unique to each rider, which is the gold standard baseline measurement from which a cycling workout can be tailored around.  With an interactive wheel-off trainer, the bicycle chain connects directly to the rear cassette drive gear, eliminating roller slippage.  Often this cassette is purchased separately.  

 

If you know that you will be using this piece of equipment mostly at one location and accurate data or cycling apps are really important to you, you will want to consider an interactive trainer.  Additionally, if you are a strong cyclist or training at higher wattage for sprint efforts or other high power type workouts you may want the benefit of the increased wattage and stability of a direct drive interactive trainer.

 

For the recreational cyclist who won’t be pushing massive watts and may not really need or value the precision of data metrics or games apps of the interactive trainer, today’s Classic trainers are better than ever and offer great value.  The ease of set up with the Classic trainer is a huge benefit for anyone who is on the go and needs ease of portability.  It’s a great option to go from the home to the weekend place for example.

 

Whether it’s an interactive trainer or a classic trainer this winter, the Italian Elite brand is an absolute leader in the cycling industry and these trainers featured below are not going to disappoint.  Made from high quality components, and designed by cyclists, any of the below trainers will last a long time and offer thousands of kilometers of cycling enjoyment!  

​

Need more info?  Please use Elite's buyers Guide and Video HERE