Trainer Question

Icerider said:

Hey I am looking to get a trainer this season so that I can do some indoor wattage training. What is involved in setting up a trainer so that I can manually adjust the wattage as I am riding on it? Any help is appreciated.

Only a few high end trainers like a Computrainer or dedicated ergometers(exercise bikes like you'd find in a good gym) actually allow you to dial in power in watts. Your best bet short of buying a power meter(a very good idea if it fits your budget) is to get a well characterized trainer like the Kurt Kinetics Road Machine or the pro version. They have watts vs. speed charts for their trainers and you can use a standard rear wheel speedometer to measure speed and translate it to watts. I'm sure there's error based on manufacturing tolerance and unit to unit variability but absolute power isn't really very important, consistent power readings from ride to ride are the most important thing for training benefit.

Good luck,
Dave
P.S. Rereading your original post it's not clear if you already have a PM. If you do and you're asking about dialing in specific power ranges the answer is similar. Only certain high end trainers allow you to run in erg mode where you work a constant power regardless of cadence and gear. On the rest you modulate power with gear choice and cadence and have to watch it to stay at your desired work level. Some have remote cables that allow you to increase or decrease the resistance while riding. I prefer the simpler units like the KK mentioned above that have fixed resistance and you just choose gears, cadence and monitor your work output.