Reverence: LeMond Revolution
I read recently that a number of Pros like to ride the turbo for an hour or so before having breakfast in the morning to jump start the old metabolic system. Which means that now I ride the trainer for an hour in the morning before breakfast. I think the Pros probably do it to lose weight, and I do it partly for that reason but also to burn off the hangover which comes as a result of my status as a semi-professional drinker.
I used to ride an old Tacx trainer, but I found riding the device only slightly preferable to shoving bamboo shoots under my fingernails. Then I got a LeMond Revolution and now I actually look forward to my morning sessions. I’d been interested in the LeMond Revolution trainers for some time, but it wasn’t until I discovered that the device is based on a direct-drive trainer that Greg’s coach built for him in the 80’s that I decided to embark on my new morning ritual at the mercy of one. After all, if it was good enough to help LeMan become a Tour de France winner, then surly it was good enough to help me get less fat and become less of a weakling.
The first thing you notice about these little numbers that you remove the rear wheel from your bike and mount the Revolution in its place. This means no wheel slippage on the mag and what amounts to a remarkably pleasant ride feel. The second thing you notice about the trainer is that its bloody hard to spin up; I start crossed in a 53×26 and can hardly turn the pedals at first, but there is no way I’m shifting into my little ring on a trainer on account of my not being a giant sissy. The third thing you notice is that it’s actually fun to ride; I turn on some old Cycling movies and before I know it, I find my buzzer going off indicating the hour has already passed. I had no idea riding a trainer didn’t have to suck.
But lets be clear: we are road cyclists, and we ride on the road. A long ride in the cold wind and rain is preferable to even an hour on an indoor trainer. But trainers do represent an important training tool and as such should be a part of every Cyclist’s arsenal. I’m on it every morning, and as the season looms I’m looking to it more and more for intervals and power work. Not to mention that as I prepare for my Hour ride on Festum Prophetae, I’m training Obree Style on my Revolution.
Before we get too carried away with this indoor riding business, let’s review some examples of acceptable reasons to ride a trainer:
- Strength and/or interval training.
- Pedaling technique work.
- Hour Record simulation training.
- Pre-breakfast rides to help lose weight, assuming you still hit the road after breakfast.
- Recovery from injury.
Examples of unacceptable reasons to ride a trainer:
- Its raining outside and you don’t want to get wet.
- Its cold outside and you don’t want to get cold.
- Its windy outside and you don’t want to get blown around.
- Its cold and wet outside and you don’t want to get cold and wet.
- Its cold and wet and windy out and you don’t want to get blown around while getting cold and wet.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/[email protected]/Revolution/”/]
@Chris
Turbo from 5am-6am; then breakfast, off to work, rides on the road in the afternoon before it gets too dark. Or on the CX bike in the park.
@Deakus
Your narrow vision continues to limit your progress along the Path. Also note bullet 4 in the article.
@ChrissyOne
Not at all; the sidetracks are the best part!
I used to ride rollers indoors during the winter months. Then I got lucky and met a VMH who lived 615 miles to the south. My rollers still live back north, with the Olds. I don’t miss them. I live a few minutes from trails so now I just jump on the cross bike when I want to get out.
I just decided yesterday that no matter what the weather or temperatures, I’m heading out in the morning. I always plan on riding in the early afternoon, then it arrives and I don’t think I’ve gotten enough work done, can’t justify a ride, and then miss it. Screw it, I’m waking up and heading out the door. Great way to start the day by turning the cranks.
ChrissyOne – argh! Isn’t that the worst? You either have great, courteous drivers or total lunatics when you are on the nice, open country roads. Same here in NC. They either move to the opposite lane, slow, and wave. Or, they pass within centimeters in a shitty pickup with Cujo in the back. I dream of a middle ground!
In the saddle at 5? Damn, I thought I was tough getting up at 5:51 and taking the dog for a walk…
@Ruud
Indoor trainers or kids?
@ChrissyOne
Got ya. I live close to my job (about 18km round trip) and want to start commuting soon – just a little hesitant about the idiot drivers in town. However, there’s a park on the way home with gravel trails (going to put CX tires on my commuter bike and take advantage of them) (and then more back roads from there to our apartment), so that might minimize some of the risk from drivers.
What’s up with this Wahoo Kickr?
@ChrissyOne
Wow, I looked away for a second… Awesome, awesome description of turning a sportbike. I never made it to the track, but your narrative resonated enough to get my blood up. And, of course, you’re on an R1. Of course.
I guess the reason I posted that question, aside from hoping for the vicarious sportbike thrill that I got, was that I changed my cornering style on the road bike last year–started turning it more like I turn my mountain bike, staying more over the leaned bike and actually consciously doing a bit of counter-steering on the inside of the bar the way one does on a sportbike. I’m just back on the road bike after a long time off it, but I don’t remember doing it this way in the deeps of time, and I immediately started feeling a little better and cornering a little faster.
Wanted to get the perspective of someone who was heavily invested in a variety of tw0-wheeled turns.
@PeakInTwoYears
It’s funny, because I’ve started to turn my road bike more like I turn my sportbike – pushing my knee out more and pulling my chin toward my inside hand. It feels better, but I don’t have it zero’d yet.
I know Frank said he didn’t mind, but feel free to hit me up on my blog or Facebook if you want to talk more sport bike talk. They’re listed in my profile.
@Nof Landrien
That’s quite a few mentions for Sufferfest. I’m going to have to check that out.
@Mike_P
Seriously? Seriously?
Taking the wheel out and mounting it on the trainer is a fuckton easier than messing about with clumsy trainer mounts and trying to get the tension on the turbo set consistently. Not to mention swapping tires and skewers.
If you lack the skills to be able to easily remove your back wheel, however, I think you might be due for an entirely different discussion before you start worrying about riding the turbo.
@Chris
Beautiful.
@Ruud
The point is that the trainer is an excellent training tool in addition to riding on the road. It is not meant to replace it under any circumstances.
Reading all the way through to the end of the article would be a lot to expect; I’ll start condensing everything down to one paragraph to make sure you lot don’t nod off before you get round to hoping onto your Jump To Conclusions Mat.
@cyclebrarian
I feel very safe with my lights and – wait for it – reflective tape on my rain bike here in Seattle. But the other side of being bike-friendly is that we are also an IT hub which means drivers here often feel they have more important things to do while driving than watch the road.
You can put a Campy/Campag cassette on one, I presume?
@razmaspaz
Proof that someone read through to the end! Amazing!
@The Oracle
+1 badge to you matey!
@unversio
Looks like a cool product as well; one design advantage of this one over the LeMond is the collapsing legs, but one thing I love about the LeMond is how bloody stable the thing is. I wonder if the swivel legs compromise that somewhat?
@frank
Perhaps, if you actually do that. I leave the trainer skewer on (I know, I know, it’s hideous and sits at the wrong angle. it’s only there in the winter) and just use my road tire. The tension on the CycleOps fluid is a quick-release lever, so once you set it, you just open and close it and the setting stays the same. It takes a few seconds for me to put in on and off the trainer. Even if I do change the skewer, that only takes a few more seconds.
@frank
Like I said, the city isn’t so bad. But I have to ride through mostly the *not* city to get to it. And in addition to those texting idiots, we have raccoons, deer, coyotes and meth fiends crossing the road at alarming angles.
But really, reflective tape? Yeah, maybe when I have a second bike I don’t mind uglying up. ;P
@Chris
Agree, two young children and a busy wife makes a good trainer invaluable !
A laptop with some paris roubaix or Giro downloads also helps, dont get me started on “The Sufferfest ” ….. ouch
@Harminator
Nothing quite says “get the fuck out of my way !” like that picture – awesome.
@Barracuda
and his socks are perfect. Good on ya, Harminator.
Indoor trainers…the horror. But a necessary one if you want to do the other things that keep you sane in the winter, like drinking and donut stuffing in face-ing. I took mine to sea with me. Working up a sweat in a passageway as the ship rolls, that will earn some strange looks. When I moved to Hawaii I think I gave my Cyclops fluid trainer to a friend, or threw it in a swamp, I can’t remember. But I do remember thinking, I’ll never need one of those shitty machines again. Of course now I have a green Kinetic fluid trainer sitting out in the breezeway. Bastards.
I thought about the LeMan machine before I bought the green machine but it was too much money for how little time I wanted to spend riding on it.
@frank
I concede. “Crank it up” duhzuhnt inspire one either. The LeMond is a beautiful machine.
@Angling Saxon
Campa incorporated.
@sthilzy
Now THATs what I call cadence training! It was so fast the bloody film had trouble keeping up with it!
Tonight’s program: The kids in bed, my wife on the trainer and me on the rollers, in front of some crap TV. Who says romance is dead?
@Ron
0500? Pft! Weak! Out of bed a 0400, in the saddle at 0430, breakfast at 0700-0730, back in the saddle for the commute (easy) 0800, in the office at 0830.
@roadslave
Did you really just post a bunch of jibberish that I had to delete for you before posting a screenshot of bankrupt power data, all while talking about Looking Fantastic?
If anyone is struggling to define irony, I think that’s a great place to start.
@frank
Oh I’ve taken the ice bike out for kicks in temps as low as that, but I don’t count that as a real ride. My cap is off to Gord for having the frozen balls to commute in it.
@unversio
Mentioned in my post above. Electronically variable resistance. Can allow you to ride virtual routes, or aid your intervals by forcing you to produce set watts for a set duration. Easily progammable or controlled on the fly. I believe DCRainmaker has an excellent review (despite being a Triathelete).
@Gianni
Harmy, you make a fucking excellent point, one for another article altogether. Maybe even a Rule. We all know we kit up immaculately for our one pleasure, not to please others. To look good, in the immortal words of my literary idol Paul Fournel, is already to go fast.
The trainer is no exception and I kit up in full V-Kit, cycling cap, white ladies, and white socks for every session. Have some fucking self respect people; you’re not watching the Super Bowl for fucks sake so there’s not excuse to wear sweat pants and a dirty t-shirt.
(If you live in Seattle or Denver and are watching the super bowl in a few weeks while riding the trainer, you are granted an exception to wearing sweat pants and a dirty t-shirt provided you get puking drunk and spill guacamole all over your already-dirt t-shirt.)
@Angling Saxon
I wouldn’t ride one if it meant I had to ride Shimano, and Greg wouldn’t make one if it meant the same.
(All new LeMond bikes are built Campa-only, BTW.)
Where does “It is dark and unsafe to ride outside when I do have free time at this time of year” fit in to your lists?
@Jay
Lights. Also, the lists are stated to be examples, and as such are not categorically complete.
I think a cursory glance will get you a solid idea of what types of situations are deemed appropriate and which are not.
I just put new tires on my bike, so I’m going to go have a dark, unsafe ride. Wish me luck!
@frank
Who are these heathen’s who dont read the full article ? We need names , and now !
@Puffy No data on my rides. Can’t imagine letting the data take me for a ride. “Programmable or controlled” — something has gone awry.
All this discussion brrought into sharp relief today how much fun it is to ride in the morning on the fixed and rigid trainer and in the evening on the freedom of the road.
@ErikdR
I’ve thought the same. At least having the fan mounted toward my butt instead of the side would really help me cool down.
Man, even the wind from the wheel helps a bit.
@frank There have been discussions in the past on this site about The Things That Are So Obvious That They Don’t Need To Be Set Out In The Rules; surely kit that fits would be one of them? Those sleeves/arm warmers are as baggy as @ChrisO’s granny tights.
@Puffy
You’d hope it’s amazing at twice the price of the Lemond trainer.
@Chris
Mate, can we help it if manufacturers seem to think there are a bunch of fat bastards out there buying cycling kit.
Oh, wait…
@ChrisO It might be understandable (if not forgiveable) when buying from the mass produced market but to be pictured wearing ill fitting kit from your own range…
Re: rollers skillz. Got the one handed thing mostly dialled, although kinda depends which bike I’m riding, the twitchy Ti one needs a bit more care and attention than the more relaxed C one. Can sometimes steel myself to do no handed. Standing up is hard, am still getting it dialled – can’t get far off the saddle. Although on a long session, I find standing up very helpful (to get blood back into my c#ck – undercarriage goes a bit numb). Not at level where I can really bury myself on rollers, can get cadence up or power up but not both in same way that I can when I don’t have to worry about balance.
Rollers good for mechanically inept – no need to remove any wheels!
@Nof Landrien
If wheel removal really is a problem for anyone on here, can I suggest that you close your browser now, proceed straight to your garage, basement or wherever it is that you keep your bike and practice taking your wheels on and putting them back on until it is no longer a problem, until it becomes second nature.
I’m going to hazard a guess that if you’re afraid of removing wheels, you are probably in massive contravention of Rule #65. It’s basic and absolutely fundamental skill, ffs.
@frank
In my defence, being space poor, I have to assemble and disassemble and store my whole fucking training rig each time I train on it, which right now is 3 times per week and a right royal pain in the arse but a routine I’ve got down to a couple of minutes [pauses for breath]. I’m saying my personal preference is not to swap the wheel out, not that I’m incapable. What the fuck do you think I am? I’m wounded.
Whats the side to side motion feel like. Lemond should create a trainer that combines his design with a Kurt Kinetic. That would be dope.
@frank
Do you have a picture of said rain bike, Frank?
+1 on the sufferfest vids. ‘Blender’ and ‘It seemed like a good idea at the time’ are the ones I use the most.
The music is a bit rubbish but this is explained by the fact that they are made by Australians.
@Chris
Its a long sleeve jersey, you fucking git.
@cyclebrarian
Its my resurrected R3.
@frank
Whatever, it’s still too baggy, you lanky great poof.
And while we’re on the subject of LS jerseys; given that it’s been established that there no place for bib tights as regular bibs and knee warmers do the job perfectly well, should LS jerseys not also be redundant?
@ChrissyOne
I’ve driven from Bainbridge Island to Port Townsend, and just the thought of riding some of those narrow roads with those drivers in the wet is enough to bring on vicarious testicle retraction. Respect.
I live in the officially least-bicycle-friendly city in Germany, by the by, but I’m out into the surrounding countryside quickly and the roads are primo.