Hi, I’m Steve,
As a person with an indoor training preference, I know from experience that choosing the right bike trainer type can make or break your training sessions. When it comes to the sheer amount of bike trainer types and variants within the already broad category of indoor bike trainers, we could go on for hours on end, comparing the minute differences. The content you’re about to read was made specifically to alleviate the stress of thinking you’ve wasted your time on the wrong indoor bike trainer or, worse yet, making an expensive mistake when building your home gym.
If you’re new to this topic, here’s a quick rundown about what a bike trainer is.
What Is A Bike Trainer?
A bike trainer is a workout device that allows you to mount a bike on it and simulate riding the outdoor bicycle indoors or in a specific unmoving spot. It used to be more of a professional use tool for cyclers who wanted to experience their bike’s drivetrain indoors, but with the rise of useful apps such as Zwift, TrainerRoad, Ruby, RGT cycling etc. bike trainers are becoming a great accessory for training even for the casual rider, looking to stay fit during downtime. There are many variants when it comes to bike trainer types.
Smart bike trainers are turbo trainers able to connect to indoor bike training apps. You can use indoor training apps to control the trainers’ resistance, replicate hills, headwinds and drafting effects inside a virtual world.
List of the currently most popular training apps:
- Zwift
- RGT Cycling
- TrainerRoad
- Ruby
- Wahoo SYSTM
- Rouvy
- Bkool
- FulGaz
These apps applied to a smart trainer can guide you through intensive workouts while adjusting resistance automatically to keep you in the training zone. This adjustment is known as ERG.
Another thing that a non-smart trainer can’t use are bike simulators and ANT + fe c. A bike simulator is like an interactive video game involving quite a workout, sort of reminiscent of the Nintendo power pad or a Wii FIt, but for smart trainers. Ant + Fe c is a two-way communication between the trainer displays and the smart trainers. This allows for detailed user workout data as well as an ability to simulate a workout in real time using smart devices or the trainer display.
With the incredible advancements made in wireless technology, connecting a smart trainer is so easy that even the least tech-savvy people will have the ability to use it to its full potential. It could make for a realistic ride feel depending on what smart indoor trainer you pick and how well you set your training area.