I have a mental note of all those friends on Strava that never give kudos for indoor cycling (zwift, kinomap) because they deem it as "not worthy" of their praise, so when they upload a little walk on the beach or a swim or yoga etc, I now don't give kudos to them, because after all it's not riding. Funny really how I can do a massive very hard zwift ride and receive no kudos from them and yet I put this to the test and rode my bike very slowly around the block for 1/2 a mile and they all gave me kudos! Go figure.
I find Zwift riding to be motivating enough for even those long rides. Ride Ons, collecting kit/badges and challenging other riders keeps me happy. Zwift running, not so much. But I just figured out that on my iPad I can open a CZcams window in Zwift with a virtual real world run. That seems to help. There’s only so much you can do to make the treadmill more motivating. I keep hoping that Zwift will bring more features/routes to running🤞
Good set of recommendations! Don't be afraid to spend the money needed to have what you need to set up a good indoor training experience as it is a game changer these days. The KICKR Bike has been worth every penny!
The best tip for me was buying motion plates for my HT. Had so much pain in the a** before that it was unbearable. Now it's so perfect I started racing again and doing 1h+ workouts. Couldn't do more than 30mn before that. Never had such pain outside. I think too rigide HT can actually be harmful long term for the seatpost area. I wouldn't be surprised to see more prolapsus / medical problems related to HT 5-10 years from now. Careful with that.
Excellent points. I've been riding indoors for years, but only recently started understanding the true value of it as you've stated it here. Well done!
Great points…spot on! Consistency, having a good setup, and exploring different kinds of rides keeps it interesting. Or just doing a Z2 flat ride and watching more of your videos for a couple hours is a good use of time!
Great points, I hadn’t realised about the air quality issue. I recently moved my set up to another room temporarily, it happens to have much better ventilation than the old spot and I’m seeing improvements that I couldn’t understand. I think that’s it, fresh air ! I’ll be leaving my gear where it is now.
Same as you, durring the winter indoor rides, I'm setting my goals and then using training plans I'm doing everything I can to execute them. Improving myself and getting ready for the spring motivate me. Thanks for your advice and videos you share with us. Have a lovely Xmas and a happy New Year ❤
Nice overview 👍 I would extol the benefits of being part of a team or social group as well, using tools like Discord or Facebook to interact and chat whilst group riding, racing and even when off the bike. This has been a massive motivator for me.
@@SmartBikeTrainers Tariq i sure appreciate your journalism and hope you can help me with this... as you may have seen with my questions these past weeks i've been trying to decide on the indoor setup and your feedback has helped me along the way (getting closer now). i ride with 2 by Shimano and 1 by Sram, road vs tri. power meter on both. So a wheel on trainer vs wheel off is for sure. i want the benefits of rollers (core, balance, mental focus), and the specificity of erg. i do my long indoor rides (2 to 4 hrs) in sim mode (shifting gears and varying cadence to manage terrain and pace) in FulGaz or Zwift. I do my erg rides in Zwift (1 to 1.5 hrs). if you were me... would you use kickr snap or kickr rollers for erg? and being newish to rollers do you think it will take 2 weeks or 2 months or 2 years before i feel solid tackling the 2+ hr rides in FulGaz on them given i already ride that duration on another trainer?... if 2 years i'd be wanting to do those long rides on wheel on trainer too then... in that case kickr snap or kickr rollers? i read recently that when you come out of the saddle climbing on kickr rollers power drops and getting it to come back might take sitting down again... did you have that trouble with them? Tariq thanks :)
Here's what I went with: Tru Trainer rollers and Kicker Roller. Currently using tru trainer for first part of full gas course ride then switching to kicker roller to finish up. as I get more used to / fit for rollers i'll do more of the fun gas aerobic / course sim ride on them ... eventually all God willing :) easy to swap between bikes, the kicker roller out of the saddle for climbing... I tested it and yes it drops but it also comes back pretty quickly just like if you suddenly lessen pedal pressure in erg when seated. higher wattage floor on kicker roller vs kicker snap... I can look into a broader range of gears if need be to get that lower for recovery sections during erg intervals (my Tri bike has a 1x, road bike a 2x so that helps). and I think that the kicker roller is going to be more bike frame friendly in the long run than the kicker snap would be. Tariq thanks for the good info you share this took a bit to sort out and I appreciate your patience with me and help :)
Fantastic list and video hitting on key points that can make or break indoor riding. I will keep this handy to share with others getting started or looking to improve their experience.
Fresh air is vital....Even at -10c recently here in Scotland I had both windows open allowing a through flow and the vacmaster 54 fan moving the air....takes a bit without the fan to get warmed up but even after 3 hrs I haven't visibly sweated...the fan just removes the sweat leaving the salt on the skin!! (I leave an oil filled radiator on "low" when it's this cold so the PC/TV etc don't suffer with the room getting too cold)
I thank the cycling Gods for Rouvy. I like the RLV videos but backed off from using them because they are hard to see clearly because of the frame rates. One company, Real Life Videos, made 4k videos that kept me tuned in but I would still primarily use 3D training like Tacx TTS4 virtual program. The trainer became so boring to me that it was a clothing rack for the most part. Rouvy has come out and it combines a 3D avatar into a real life route and this has sparked me up again. I generally don't like paying for a subscription to use my trainer but I have been paying for Rouvy for two months now and I'm using it. Hopefully this will keep my interests for this Winter season or the next 4 months anyway.
Consistency during winter is really good and the main point for me. When I run with my bip short through the house my girlfriend ask if I put on my super mario costume again 😀
Get a Tv and hook the Ps5 up. Nothing more fun than getting in game time while getting all the productive adaptation stimuli of cycling. It’s so much better than riding outdoor now that I honestly find outdoor cycling so damn boring now. Don’t bother with zwift etc. just get a good training program, turn on ERG mode, start a good game and disengage with what your legs are doing. Riding indoor is by far SUPERIOR (enjoyment and physiological adaptations) to riding outdoor, period.
Hi Tariq, I was looking at the stages sb20 indoor training bike. It seems awesome BUT the model is 4 years old now. Do you know if it will be upgraded in 2024? Thanks for any help
I bought one last year. Love it without any issues (5-8 hours per week). However, I'm dreading that day because according to the forums the US customer service is pretty much non-existent. Just my 2 cents. Maybe read with caution.
Stages hasn’t said anything about a new bike and personally I wouldn’t worry about any updates as this one ticks all the boxes or most of the features found on most trainers. And at the current price, it’s a great value for what you get. On the support issues, I’ve heard both good and bad stories. In line with most companies these days 🤷🏻♂️
I used the emotion rollers by InsideRide for many years and used it to prep for 4 Ironman races. That was all before smart trainers were as big as they are these days.
I have a mental note of all those friends on Strava that never give kudos for indoor cycling (zwift, kinomap) because they deem it as "not worthy" of their praise, so when they upload a little walk on the beach or a swim or yoga etc, I now don't give kudos to them, because after all it's not riding. Funny really how I can do a massive very hard zwift ride and receive no kudos from them and yet I put this to the test and rode my bike very slowly around the block for 1/2 a mile and they all gave me kudos! Go figure.
The group rides is what motivates me. These rides is what I like together with music.
I find Zwift riding to be motivating enough for even those long rides. Ride Ons, collecting kit/badges and challenging other riders keeps me happy. Zwift running, not so much. But I just figured out that on my iPad I can open a CZcams window in Zwift with a virtual real world run. That seems to help. There’s only so much you can do to make the treadmill more motivating. I keep hoping that Zwift will bring more features/routes to running🤞
Good set of recommendations! Don't be afraid to spend the money needed to have what you need to set up a good indoor training experience as it is a game changer these days. The KICKR Bike has been worth every penny!
Always appreciate your videos!! Thank you and happy holidays
Always Appreciate your support. Happy holidays to you too!
The best tip for me was buying motion plates for my HT. Had so much pain in the a** before that it was unbearable.
Now it's so perfect I started racing again and doing 1h+ workouts.
Couldn't do more than 30mn before that.
Never had such pain outside.
I think too rigide HT can actually be harmful long term for the seatpost area. I wouldn't be surprised to see more prolapsus / medical problems related to HT 5-10 years from now.
Careful with that.
I love my indoor trainer setup…it makes riding convenient when you have limited time to workout.
Excellent points. I've been riding indoors for years, but only recently started understanding the true value of it as you've stated it here. Well done!
Great points…spot on! Consistency, having a good setup, and exploring different kinds of rides keeps it interesting. Or just doing a Z2 flat ride and watching more of your videos for a couple hours is a good use of time!
That’s definitely an excellent use of time 😊
Great points, I hadn’t realised about the air quality issue. I recently moved my set up to another room temporarily, it happens to have much better ventilation than the old spot and I’m seeing improvements that I couldn’t understand. I think that’s it, fresh air ! I’ll be leaving my gear where it is now.
I'm buckled up, subscribed and ready to learn the secrets of loving indoor cycling . . . because I'm horrible at indoor training. Thanks for this one!
Welcome aboard Matt 😆
Same as you, durring the winter indoor rides, I'm setting my goals and then using training plans I'm doing everything I can to execute them. Improving myself and getting ready for the spring motivate me.
Thanks for your advice and videos you share with us.
Have a lovely Xmas and a happy New Year ❤
Happy holidays to you as well!
Nice overview 👍 I would extol the benefits of being part of a team or social group as well, using tools like Discord or Facebook to interact and chat whilst group riding, racing and even when off the bike. This has been a massive motivator for me.
That's a great idea!
Tariq this was good thanks mate :) the CO2 tips were something i hadn't thought of... and the mental strategies were solid ... good job!
Glad you found it helpful. Thanks 🙏🏼
@@SmartBikeTrainers Tariq i sure appreciate your journalism and hope you can help me with this... as you may have seen with my questions these past weeks i've been trying to decide on the indoor setup and your feedback has helped me along the way (getting closer now). i ride with 2 by Shimano and 1 by Sram, road vs tri. power meter on both. So a wheel on trainer vs wheel off is for sure. i want the benefits of rollers (core, balance, mental focus), and the specificity of erg. i do my long indoor rides (2 to 4 hrs) in sim mode (shifting gears and varying cadence to manage terrain and pace) in FulGaz or Zwift. I do my erg rides in Zwift (1 to 1.5 hrs). if you were me... would you use kickr snap or kickr rollers for erg? and being newish to rollers do you think it will take 2 weeks or 2 months or 2 years before i feel solid tackling the 2+ hr rides in FulGaz on them given i already ride that duration on another trainer?... if 2 years i'd be wanting to do those long rides on wheel on trainer too then... in that case kickr snap or kickr rollers? i read recently that when you come out of the saddle climbing on kickr rollers power drops and getting it to come back might take sitting down again... did you have that trouble with them? Tariq thanks :)
Here's what I went with: Tru Trainer rollers and Kicker Roller. Currently using tru trainer for first part of full gas course ride then switching to kicker roller to finish up. as I get more used to / fit for rollers i'll do more of the fun gas aerobic / course sim ride on them ... eventually all God willing :) easy to swap between bikes, the kicker roller out of the saddle for climbing... I tested it and yes it drops but it also comes back pretty quickly just like if you suddenly lessen pedal pressure in erg when seated. higher wattage floor on kicker roller vs kicker snap... I can look into a broader range of gears if need be to get that lower for recovery sections during erg intervals (my Tri bike has a 1x, road bike a 2x so that helps). and I think that the kicker roller is going to be more bike frame friendly in the long run than the kicker snap would be. Tariq thanks for the good info you share this took a bit to sort out and I appreciate your patience with me and help :)
Tariq - another great, informative video from your channel. Always on point and rich with useful recommendations.
Happy you found it informative. Always appreciate your support 🙏🏼
fantastic insights! thanks for sharing. I've been riding on the Inside Ride rollers for the past two years and love riding on them.
That is awesome! Glad to hear you are enjoying them 👍
Fantastic list and video hitting on key points that can make or break indoor riding.
I will keep this handy to share with others getting started or looking to improve their experience.
Awesome, thank you!
Fresh air is vital....Even at -10c recently here in Scotland I had both windows open allowing a through flow and the vacmaster 54 fan moving the air....takes a bit without the fan to get warmed up but even after 3 hrs I haven't visibly sweated...the fan just removes the sweat leaving the salt on the skin!! (I leave an oil filled radiator on "low" when it's this cold so the PC/TV etc don't suffer with the room getting too cold)
I agree. Consistency is King. If you can master that, then the rest will follow.
Awesome as usual. Thanks
My pleasure!
I thank the cycling Gods for Rouvy. I like the RLV videos but backed off from using them because they are hard to see clearly because of the frame rates. One company, Real Life Videos, made 4k videos that kept me tuned in but I would still primarily use 3D training like Tacx TTS4 virtual program. The trainer became so boring to me that it was a clothing rack for the most part. Rouvy has come out and it combines a 3D avatar into a real life route and this has sparked me up again. I generally don't like paying for a subscription to use my trainer but I have been paying for Rouvy for two months now and I'm using it. Hopefully this will keep my interests for this Winter season or the next 4 months anyway.
Rouvy got some good stuff going and the app is fun to use 👍
ive been riding kickr indoors for 8 years just picked up elite smart rollers and power pedals
Nice. Enjoy the new pedals and rollers 👍
Consistency during winter is really good and the main point for me. When I run with my bip short through the house my girlfriend ask if I put on my super mario costume again 😀
Yippeeee! 😂
just curious, where are you located that the weather is hardly good? good video, good advice about cracking the window.
North east Ohio
Can you add a link to your air quality video or give a recommendation for what monitor you use/recommend?
Here is the link: czcams.com/video/kaHgS5I6siE/video.html
I also added a link to the timeline on the video.
For section #5, the word "consistency" is spelled correctly in your timeline, however, it is spelled incorrectly on-screen (consistancy).
Ugh 😑
Sadly, can’t fix it once uploaded 🤷🏻♂️
Get a Tv and hook the Ps5 up. Nothing more fun than getting in game time while getting all the productive adaptation stimuli of cycling. It’s so much better than riding outdoor now that I honestly find outdoor cycling so damn boring now.
Don’t bother with zwift etc. just get a good training program, turn on ERG mode, start a good game and disengage with what your legs are doing. Riding indoor is by far SUPERIOR (enjoyment and physiological adaptations) to riding outdoor, period.
I tried playing Wii back in the days when it was popular with the kids while on rollers. That didn’t end up well 😂
Thanks for sharing 👍
Thank you great hacks - Are you running zwift on the Windows platform?
That’s my main setup. Running on Windows 11
Thank you. Any specific specs? Are you specific specs besides the minimum?
Any Zwift music songs people recommend for my playlist?!
Hi Tariq,
I was looking at the stages sb20 indoor training bike. It seems awesome
BUT
the model is 4 years old now.
Do you know if it will be upgraded in 2024?
Thanks for any help
I bought one last year. Love it without any issues (5-8 hours per week). However, I'm dreading that day because according to the forums the US customer service is pretty much non-existent. Just my 2 cents. Maybe read with caution.
@@Galaxieguy428 thank you for the feedback, appreciate it
Stages hasn’t said anything about a new bike and personally I wouldn’t worry about any updates as this one ticks all the boxes or most of the features found on most trainers. And at the current price, it’s a great value for what you get. On the support issues, I’ve heard both good and bad stories. In line with most companies these days 🤷🏻♂️
Thanks for sharing Tariq
What roller setup did you use?
I used the emotion rollers by InsideRide for many years and used it to prep for 4 Ironman races. That was all before smart trainers were as big as they are these days.
Consistency is key
not consistancy
Thanks. I did notice the misspelling after I hit publish and there is no way I can fix that now 🤷🏻♂️
I’m sorry, but I cannot trust any adult who wears a ball cap backwards, especially indoors. Gave that up in fourth grade.
Gave it up in fourth grade? Yet you still use pathetic comments in hopes of feeling better about yourself.