PM 2.5. Mad roads and traffic. COVID-19. The weather. Stray dogs!
These are just a few of things that make riding outside a challenge in Thailand!
I’ve encountered all of these in the last few years, so that was why I finally decided to invest in an indoor bike trainer back in January 2021.
An indoor trainer allows you to replicate the experience of riding outdoors but from the comfort of your own home. There are many benefits of an indoor bike trainer: it’s more convenient, time-efficient, workout-productive, not weather dependent, improved riding position, and far safer.
Read: 6 Benefits of Indoor Cycling
There are 4 main types different types of indoor bike trainer:
Rollers
Basic wheel-on “dumb” trainers
Wheel-on "smart" trainers
Direct-drive "smart" trainers
The goal of this post is to give you a quick + easy overview of each type and which one might be the best choice for you.
It’s been about 20 years since I rode a bike indoors, my only previous experience was using my Dad’s exercise bike in the late 1990s!
Thankfully, things have moved on a bit from those days!
So, let’s take a closer look at the 4 different types of indoor trainer.
Rollers
These are perhaps the most basic in terms of technology, yet most difficult to use of all indoor trainers - if that makes sense!
Rollers are basically a floor-based unit which has 3 cylindrical tubes that roll (hence the name).
You put your bike on these “rollers” and pedal away - the catch being that you have to balance both yourself and your bike and keep yourself from tipping over!
How hard can it be, you say?
Well, take a look at this clip to see for yourself!
I’ve not mustered up the courage to use one of these myself, but aside from looking pretty difficult to get the hang of, they do have some great benefits.
Because you’re effectively using your bike in the same way you would outside, they create a very realistic “real-life” cycling feeling. It’s just you and the roller!
In addition to this, you need to keep an even and smooth pedal stroke to maintain your balance. This is an excellent way to improve your pedaling technique and make you a more efficient cyclist.
Coming soon: How to Improve your Pedaling
On the flipside, as we’ve seen above they can take a bit of practice to get used to.
If you're gonna give them a go, set yourself up in a doorway first or someplace that is easy to keep yourself upright if you feel yourself falling!
At least if you do fall off at least it will be in the privacy of your own home (unlike the first time I ever used clipless pedals!!)
Another downside to rollers is that apart from the top-end versions, they don’t allow the resistance to be changed. This makes it hard to control the bike during super-intense efforts and means it’s not really possible to get out of the saddle for a total full-gas effort! (maybe you feel this is a benefit!!)
Because of this, rollers can be good for long-steady efforts but aren’t really suited to interval-based workouts.
A final point on rollers. As you have to concentrate to keep the bike steady and upright, it can take away some of the boredom of indoor cycling as you have to keep focused.
Bike Trainers
You have three main options when it comes to indoor bike trainers:
Let’s look at these in a bit more detail.
Basic “Dumb” Trainers
To use a basic trainer, simply connect your back wheel to the main unit. Your rear wheel then spins against a drum which provides resistance.
Compared to rollers, basic trainers are much easier to use. Once your bike is hooked up to the main unit, all you need to do is pedal - you don’t need to worry about keeping upright!
They are also a much cheaper option than smart trainers.
However, basic trainers only provide a limited amount of resistance. On most trainers this change is done manually, sometimes even requiring you to get off your bike to do so.
Of course you can always shift into a higher or lower gear which will make it easier or harder to turn the pedals!
The other drawback of basic trainers is they don’t allow you to connect to third-party applications, such as Zwift. More on that later :)
Read: Beginners Guide to Zwift
If you do have a slightly lower budget, then one of the best options on the market is the Alpcour Bike Trainer Stand which you can pick up on Amazon for $219
Ok, that covers our “dumb” trainers, so let’s move onto “smart trainers”.
There are two different varieties:
Wheel-on
Direct-drive
Wheel-On Smart Trainer
Wheel-on smart trainers work with the same concept as a basic trainer but with one noticeable difference.
A smart trainer allows you to connect wirelessly to an online, virtual cycling world, such as Zwift, Peloton, Sufferefest, TrainerRoad and Rouvy. Smart trainers connect to these apps wireless ANT+ frequencies or Bluetooth.
This makes your indoor training far more enjoyable and the resistance is changed automatically depending on what you’re doing in the virtual world.
For example, if you’re riding a route which has hills, the resistance on the back wheel will change automatically to mimic riding up the hill. Similarly, when you go downhill, resistance is reduced.
Secondly, you may choose to do a workout based on riding in different power zones. The higher the watts you need to produce, the higher the resistance.
There’s a couple of important points to bear in mind if you go down this route.
Firstly, you really need to have a decent sized tablet or laptop on which to run your virtual world app, and secondly you need to plug the smart trainer into an electrical output - so make sure you have somewhere suitable!
At the time of writing this article I’ve had my smart trainer, a Wahoo KICKR Snap, and a Zwift account for almost 4 months and it’s so much fun - one of the best investments I’ve ever made!
The final (and most expensive) option is a direct-drive smart trainer.
Direct-Drive Smart Trainer
These work by attaching your bike with the rear dropouts, replacing your wheel and
providing a direct connection to the resistance unit.
They’re typically the most expensive but also the most accurate, with the highest levels of resistance.
With this design style, they are bigger and heavier units which is great for doing all out sprints, but makes storage a bit harder as they can’t be folded up and put away. Therefore, they’re best for people who have a dedicated space for training, like a proper pain cave!
A couple of the top models on the market are Wahoo KICKR Core and the Tacx NEO 2 Smart Indoor Trainer.
Pros and Cons
Below is an all-in-one pros and cons guide to the 4 different types of indoor cycling unit on the market.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully that gives you a clearer idea of what an indoor trainer is and the different types.
As I mentioned earlier, I have a Wahoo Kickr Snap which I bought from Supersports for around $550 and I’m hooked up to Zwift.
Whatever option you go for, I wish you the best of luck with your indoor training and hope you have as much fun and performance improvement as I’m having (at the time of writing!)
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