As cyclists, we like the idea of actually riding all year long, and the rise in fat bikes is great for that, but sometimes your schedule doesn’t allow to get outside and the short winter days can be a challenge for cyclists. For this reason, trainers, rollers and indoor cycles are often a must for riders in the Upper Midwest.
What’s your goal?
We often talk about what your goal is with a trainer – whether you just want to log some virtual miles, stay loose and active, or work on a specific skill such as strength or power in cycling. All of the available options Erik’s carries can meet these needs, and in unique ways. There’s a newer technology, however, that you may not be aware of: direct drive trainers. In an effort to squeeze every bit of performance out of a trainer and make it incredibly easy to use, this is the result.
The Wahoo Kickr is Erik’s most popular direct drive trainer and offers distinct advantages over traditional rear wheel trainers.
The Basics
At the heart of any direct drive trainer is the frame and resistance unit, but how it connects to your bike is the first thing you will likely notice. Direct Drive Trainers effectively replace your rear wheel. By removing the stock wheel on your bike, and placing your bike on the unit, all that’s needed is to make sure the chain is in place on the gears and tighten the quick release skewer. There is no rubber tire and as a result, switching back and forth between training and riding outdoors is easier than with any other option. This makes direct drive trainers a great way for mountain bikers to utilize a trainer without investing in a trainer tire or second wheel.
What Makes Them Unique?
Aside from the attachment method, what makes a direct drive trainer unique will depend a lot on the model, but we’ve found in general that the FEEL is unlike anything else we have ridden. When pedaling, especially at start-up, the feeling in the legs is almost indistinguishable from riding on real pavement. The units Erik’s stocks start with a similar frame and a heavy fly wheel inside of a housing – this is where much of the realism comes from, but each unit takes a different approach to resistance units. All of these units are fairly heavy, making them super stable, especially under hard efforts. If you are a rider who like to go to the point of blackout on your intervals, then there really is no better option than direct drive.
Direct Drive vs. Indoor Cycles
Indoor cycles such as the Pro Form and models from CycleOps have traditionally been the most feature rich options for riding indoors, but some people don’t have the space to dedicate to them, making it an impractical option. With heavy flywheels and a ton of adjustment options, they do provide great flexibility for multiple riders and a great workout. With all of the options including power measurement, the ability to virtually ride courses and vary intensity is great for your workout, but they come at a cost. Direct Drive trainers offer a lot of options and realism over standard rear wheel trainers, but at a fraction of the cost of an Indoor Cycle. The most full featured option of direct drive trainers (Wahoo Kickr) costs half of what a similarly featured indoor cycle does.
The Models
The Cycleops Silencer is a magnetic resistance, and super quiet meaning you won’t disturb the rest of the house with your killer workouts.
The Silencer from CycleOps features a magnetic resistance unit starts at $659 and is built with the same rugged reliability and life time warranty that CycleOps products are known for.
Resistance is adjustable with an included remote and offers 5 different resistance levels in addition to the normal gear shifting on your bike.
Compatibility is limited to SRAM and Shimano drive-trains and will accept 9/10/11 speed cassettes. The $729 version includes a 10-speed Shimano cassette.
Weight of the Silencer is 39 lbs, and is optimized for 700c wheels without the need to add a riser block. Mountain bikers will want to add one to level the bike.
The Elite Turbo Muin is a favorite among Erik’s staff who really like to push hard in their workouts.
The Turbo Muin by Elite has a fluid resistance unit, and is a great option for riders who like to get the absolute most from their trainer workouts. It’s max wattage is the highest of these three at a leg-crushing 2500 watts at 90 RPM, making it ideal for strong riders looking for high-intensity workouts.
Resistance on a fluid unit such as the Turbo Muin is what we refer to as progressive, meaning it gradually increases with speed. The result is that by working through your gears and increasing wheel speed, the resistance gets harder. This resistance curve is designed to copy the feel of riding on the road.
Compatibility like the CycleOps comes out of the box as SRAM/Shimano 9/10/11-speed but an option is available for Campagnolo freehub bodies as an aftermarket piece.
Weight is similar to the Silencer at 39 lbs as well, though one thing that differentiates the Turbo Muin is the ability to fold the frame for storage.
The Kickr from Wahoo offers a great deal of options to get the most out of your training this winter.
Wahoo Kickr lists for $1098.99, making it the most expensive option Erik’s offers in this category, but with good reason. The Kickr measures power and can be connected with a Bluetooth 4.0 or ANT+ connection meaning you can control the unit with an iPad, iPhone or other device as well as track power data with compatible computers like the Garmin Edge line.
Resistance is variable through the app, Bluetooth compatible computers or even a connected PC computer by using an ANT+ dongle. It is also compatible with a whole host of third party options such as Strava, Trainer Road and more, as well as Wahoo’s own app.
Compatibility like the previous models is optimized for Shimano and SRAM 9-11 speed cassetes and comes with a 10 speed cassette. Like the Turbo Muin, it can be adapted to fit Campagnolo 11 speed. Like all direct drive trainers, it does well with mountain or road bikes in a variety of wheel sizes.
The weight is an impressive 45 lbs for the Kickr, but since the legs also fold away and it includes a carrying handle, moving it is not difficult.
One of these three options are a great way to up your trainer game this winter and be ready to ride outside at a moment’s notice. The major benefits aside from realism are ease in setting up the trainer and the ability to easily keep your bike ready to ride outdoors, making it not only a good option for the off-season, but also great for conditions early and late in the year that making getting out on the road or trail tough.
Tagged: cycleops, direct drive trainer, indoor cycle, indoor cycling, mountain biking, road bicycling, wahoo kickr, winter cycling
