If you’re planning to start riding on ROUVY, you might be wondering what your best option is when it comes to your indoor cycling set up. Should you invest in a dedicated smart bike for clocking up the indoor miles? Or keep getting more time in the saddle on your trusty outdoor steed, with the help of a smart turbo trainer?
We’ll talk you through the pros and cons of a smart bike vs a smart turbo trainer to help you decide which indoor cycling set up will work best for you.
What is a smart bike?
A smart bike is designed specifically for riding indoors. An evolution of the spin bikes or gym bikes you might have seen at your local fitness centre, a smart bike uses technology to give a realistic riding sensation. Typically a smart bike uses electromagnet systems to provide realistic and responsive resistance. Power meters are integrated into the pedals to give you accurate riding data, and a seamless integration with platforms such as ROUVY. And they tend to be created with drop handlebars to mimic an outdoor road bike.
Riding on ROUVY with a smart bike – the pros
If you’ve already got an outdoor bike, investing in an indoor-only smart bike might seem like a stretch too far. But here’s why it could be worth considering.
Always ready to ride
A major benefit of choosing a smart bike for your ROUVY set up is that it’s always going to be ready to ride. There’s no taking the back wheel off your road bike and putting it on the trainer hassle. No need to make sure you’ve got the right cassette on your bike to fit the trainer. And if you’re sharing the smart bike with someone else in your household, it’s easy to just adjust the saddle height rather than switching bikes completely.
Quieter and takes up less space
Compared to a turbo trainer and bike set up, a smart bike takes up less space. It also tends to be quieter than a turbo trainer, as most smart bikes use magnetic resistance. So while you’ll need to negotiate having a dedicated space at home where you can have it always set up. At least it’ll be slightly less impactful on the rest of your household (or your neighbours if you’re out in the garage) once you get riding.
Designed specifically to cope with the demands of indoor riding
A major upside of using a smart bike is that it’s been designed with a sole focus on indoor riding. Unlike adapting your outdoor bike for indoor use, a smart bike offers greater stability (perfect for smashing out those high power intervals) and can also be more resilient to sweat. Plus the integrated power meters offer super responsive virtual gear/resistance changes, ideal for making the most of the immersive feel of riding on ROUVY.
The cons of using a smart bike
Before you ditch your turbo trainer, what are the drawbacks of opting for a smart bike? Here are some of the key considerations to be aware of.
It’s always ready to ride
One of the biggest upsides of choosing a smart bike is also one of the biggest drawbacks. It’s always ready to ride. Which is great, if you’ve got a dedicated space in your house where you can leave it set up without it being in the way. But not so great if space is at a premium. It’s fairly easy to pack your turbo trainer away when you need the extra space. But tucking a smart bike in the closet when the in-laws need to use the guest bedroom isn’t such an easy job.
Pricey
A smart bike can feel like a pretty expensive investment given it’s a bike you’ll only ever be able to ride indoors in your own home. If you’ve already got a “real” bike, it might be hard to justify the cost – especially given that you can get smart turbo trainers at a really affordable price point these days.
Different riding position to your race bike
Even with the drop handlebar design, riding on a smart bike is inevitably going to put you in a different riding position compared to your outdoor bike. This is especially true if you’re a triathlete and you tend to race on a TT bike. Training your body to be able to hold your aero position – and push power while down on the aero bars – is key. And doing all your indoor training on a smart bike takes away a great opportunity to spend time really dialling into your position. It’s no good being able to push big watts sat up on your smart bike if you can’t replicate it down in your TT position!
What is a turbo trainer?
A turbo trainer is a static device that you mount your bike to in order to cycle indoors. The trainer provides resistance, replicating the feeling of riding outdoors. There are two types of turbo trainer. A ‘wheel-on’ turbo trainer, where your back wheel stays on and is attached to the trainer (typically an A frame shape) via the rear skewer. These are lightweight and easy to set up, but can wear out your tyres and don’t offer the most realistic riding experience.
The most popular type of turbo trainer is a ‘direct drive’ turbo trainer, where you remove your back wheel and attach your bike to the trainer’s rear cassette. A direct drive turbo is a more expensive option, but offers the best indoor riding experience.
A smart trainer is the next evolution of a direct drive turbo trainer. Equipped with built in power sensors, a smart trainer connects with apps such as ROUVY via Bluetooth or ANT+. This means ROUVY can then control the resistance of your turbo trainer – so if you’re riding up a climb on ROUVY, the turbo will make it just as hard to turn the pedals as it would be if you were riding it in real life. A direct drive, smart trainer is the best turbo trainer if you want a realistic, interactive indoor riding experience.
Benefits of using a turbo trainer to ride on ROUVY
If you’re just getting into indoor cycling for the first time, or if you’re upgrading your pain cave, and you’re trying to decide whether to go for a smart bike or a smart turbo trainer. Here are some of the upsides of opting for a turbo.
Train with specificity on the bike you’ll race on
A huge upside of choosing a turbo over a smart bike is you can put in the hours on the bike you’re going to race on. This is particularly key for triathletes where dialling into your aero position and ensuring you can push power down on the aero bars is essential. You can use workouts on ROUVY to develop your race pace. And if you’re racing a Challenge Family event, you can even recce many of the bike courses on ROUVY and dial in precisely where you’ll want to be moving through your gears to tackle any climbs. Being able to put in as many hours as possible come rain or shine on the bike you’ll race on is a big advantage.
Cost effective
A turbo trainer can be the most cost effective option for getting set up to ride indoors. You already own a bike. And these days there are direct drive smart trainers that come in at a really affordable price point, especially compared to the cost of a smart bike.
Pack it away, or take it away with you
Another benefit of choosing a turbo trainer over a smart bike is that you can pack it away if you need to. It’s far easier to pop your bike in the garage and fold up your turbo than it is to haul a smart bike across the house. Plus, if you’re going away some place you can drive to – you could even take your turbo trainer and bike with you!
The cons of riding indoors on a turbo trainer
While a turbo trainer is a cost-effective solution for your indoor cycling. There are a few compromises to be aware of when choosing between a turbo and a smart bike.
It’s not always going to be set up and ready to ride
In the winter months, if you’re not riding outside at all, it’ll be fairly easy to leave your turbo trainer set up and ready to ride. But over the warmer months, when you might want to complete your specific workouts on ROUVY but head outdoors for your long rides. You’re going to have to spend a bit of time putting your bike on and taking it off the turbo trainer. It’s not hugely time consuming, but it is something to consider compared to a smart bike which will always be ready to ride. And if you’re sharing the turbo with someone else in your household, unless you happen to both have the same size bike and exact same bike fit… you’re going to need to switch your bikes out each time.
It can put extra wear and tear on your bike
We’ve already mentioned that if you’re using a wheel-on turbo trainer, you’ll probably need to have a specific indoor tyre as the rollers can damage your tyres over time. And while a direct-drive turbo solves this issue. It’s also worth knowing that because you tend to sweat significantly more while training indoors, that sweat dripping all over your headset can cause damage to your bike. This can easily be resolved by making sure you’ve always got a towel over your handlebars and you clean up any sweat after each ride. But it’s something to be aware of when weighing up a turbo vs a smart bike.
A turbo trainer can be noisier and feel less stable than a smart bike
Smart bikes have been developed specifically for indoor riding, so they are pretty robust and they’re designed to be as quiet as possible. A turbo trainer usually has legs to stabilise it while you ride, but you can experience some rocking and rolling if you’re out of the saddle putting in big efforts. The cassette can be a little bit noisy, so keep that in mind if you’re worried about annoying your neighbours.
The verdict: Is a turbo trainer or a smart bike better for riding on ROUVY?
With the way the technology for indoor cycling has progressed, a turbo trainer or a smart bike are both going to offer up a great experience when you’re riding on ROUVY. So ultimately, the best option for you comes down to two things: personal preference, and budget.
If you want the convenience of always having a bike set up and ready to ride for your indoor training sessions, and you’re not too concerned about doing as much of your training as possible on your specific race bike. Adding an indoor smart bike to your velo collection might be your best move.
But if your budget doesn’t allow for yet another N+1 bike purchase. Or if you want to use your indoor cycling miles to get as dialled in as possible to the riding position on your race bike. A smart turbo trainer will be just what you need.
