Trainer question

Hell and High Water said:

When I put my bike on the trainer, I always wonder if I'm putting the
quick release lugs into the trainer receptacles (cups?) correctly.

On the side with the quick release lever, there's a small slot, and a
wide gap on the trainer 'cup'. I always put the lever into the small
slot. That side is not the problem.

On the OTHER side, there's also a small slot and a larger gap, but I'm
never sure how to line that side up with the lug and the derailleur.

It seems like I shouldn't have anything touching the derailleur, but if
I line that up with the large gap, the bike seems to be hanging there
without much support from below.

Of course, I'm also hoping that most of the weight is sitting on the
main trainer 'wheel', so the mounting cups of the trainer are
(hopefully) more for stability than pure-weight-support.

I just don't want to snap off the derailleur.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Get a set of rollers...far better than any other inside trainer
'system'...makes you ride smoothly, in circles, straight and makes the
time pass MUCH more quickly-easy to learn, just start in a doorway.

Quoted message said:

-Bob

Do you get any resistance with rollers? And if so, how come the bike
doesn't just ride away? If I want to get really tired I can do that
with my trainer, and if I want to just spin easily I can do that too.
Just interested,

Ted.

Ted said:

Do you get any resistance with rollers? And if so, how come the bike
doesn't just ride away? If I want to get really tired I can do that
with my trainer, and if I want to just spin easily I can do that too.
Just interested,

Ted.

Resistence via gearing of the bike..higher gears with the natural
resistence of 3 rollers and a big rubber band is all you will need.
Lower gears, and you can just 'spin'...it doesn't ride away cuz the
rollers are turning, along with the wheels...

Hell and High Water said:

When I put my bike on the trainer, I always wonder if I'm putting the
quick release lugs into the trainer receptacles (cups?) correctly.

On the side with the quick release lever, there's a small slot, and a
wide gap on the trainer 'cup'. I always put the lever into the small
slot. That side is not the problem.

On the OTHER side, there's also a small slot and a larger gap, but I'm
never sure how to line that side up with the lug and the derailleur.

It seems like I shouldn't have anything touching the derailleur, but if
I line that up with the large gap, the bike seems to be hanging there
without much support from below.

Of course, I'm also hoping that most of the weight is sitting on the
main trainer 'wheel', so the mounting cups of the trainer are
(hopefully) more for stability than pure-weight-support.

I just don't want to snap off the derailleur.

Thanks for any suggestions.

-Bob

not clear to me if you're clamping the derailleur or the quick release skewer? The slots on the drive side "cup" are there for certain skewers that have a D-ring in them to provide a fingerhold/leverage for screwing the QR nut onto the QR "axle". you should not be clamping the derailleur. and the cups should support all the weight of the bike + rider. cups also have to prevent bike from falling to the side.

using a cheap steel skewer is best (vs plastic topped Shimano skewers with un-trainerable skewer levers or pretty aluminum skewers that get chewed up by the trainer). most "superlight" skewers are not clampable in a trainer.

trainers are not a bad thing. they develop power, are stable, and allow more distractions (tv, fiddle with fan, music, etc).

rollers with regular diameter rollers (4" or so) provide little resistance but will hone pedaling form if you focus on doing that. small diameter rollers (2" or so) provide a lot of resistance but it seems the form-honing is not as effective for most riders. there are fan/mag units for rollers as well.

on my standard rollers, I can ride for a long time in a 53x11 at some relatively normal rpm's. I can maintain 120 rpms for a while (maybe 20-45 minutes) on the trainer in lower gears (53x16 or so). not the case on the trainer.

cdr

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Quoted message said:

Hell and High Water said:

When I put my bike on the trainer, I always wonder if I'm putting the
quick release lugs into the trainer receptacles (cups?) correctly.

On the side with the quick release lever, there's a small slot, and a
wide gap on the trainer 'cup'. I always put the lever into the small
slot. That side is not the problem.

On the OTHER side, there's also a small slot and a larger gap, but
I'm
never sure how to line that side up with the lug and the derailleur.

It seems like I shouldn't have anything touching the derailleur, but
if
I line that up with the large gap, the bike seems to be hanging there
without much support from below.

Of course, I'm also hoping that most of the weight is sitting on the
main trainer 'wheel', so the mounting cups of the trainer are
(hopefully) more for stability than pure-weight-support.

I just don't want to snap off the derailleur.

Thanks for any suggestions.

-Bob

Quoted message said:

not clear to me if you're clamping the derailleur or the quick release
skewer?

Skewer.

I'm not sure what the little 'key' thing is that you flip down to
tighten the QR skewer, but I'm trying to line that up in the small slot
on the cup.

It's the other side of the skewer that I have trouble with. There's a
small slot on the trainer cup, then there's a bigger space on the
trainer cup.

What I usually do is put the skewer nut into the trainer cup so that the
bigger space on the trainer cup is 'near' the derailleur. That way
there's no pressure on the derailleur.

My concern is that, when I align it like that, the bigger space on the
trainer cup is generally facing downwards. I'm concerned that that's
not giving me much support. (I mean, if the weight of the bike is over
a 'bigger space' that doesn't strike me as being the ideal.)

However, if I align the trainer cup any other way, I'm concerned that
metal from the trainer cup is touching the derailleur. That leads me to
believe there is some (if not a LOT OF) weight transfered onto the
derailleur.

See what I'm saying?

-Bob