Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The Basement

Here's a shot taken just before this morning's ride. Note the cup of hot coffee on the left edge of the screen and full bottle of Gatorade on the bike. Also note the laptop sitting in front of the bike. Gotta have the little comforts to make riding a trainer tolerable. It was 52 degrees in the basement, but I still needed the fan after about 5 minutes.

3 comments:

spokejunky said...

Where's the yellow tank? I can't believe you still have that Cateye. I've gone through 2 trainers and a set of rollers since I saw your setup. I have the 1up trainer now. Lifetime guarantee so I don't think that one's going anywhere.

Jay said...

I killed the old 8 speed components on the yellow beast. It still exists, but only as a frame. I made the rather short-sighted decision to ride the Kane with Sram Force 10 spd instead.

I got this trainer used and I've ridden it A LOT since 2002, and the only signs of wear are the rust from the many years of sweating on it.

I have a 1UP, but don't like it too much. My power is 10 to 20 watts lower on the 1UP compared to the Cateye or real road riding. The resistance on the 1UP doesn't stay constant, so it effective simulates riding up and down hills whether you like it or not. It has no road-like feel. Mine hasn't been very durable either. It has been back to the factory for repair once, and I never rode it that much. It is super quiet though, and allowed me to train in hotel rooms when I was stuck traveling to Kentucky for work back in 2006.

spokejunky said...

I had the same issue with the 1up and was about to return it when he sent me a new brake which had new sealed bearings. I'm not sure if it was the bearings or the brake disc, but it runs flawlessly now. I also changed the bearings to the outer setting for more resistance.