How long does a turbo last?

[sonofsammo]

Drag?

Nope. Cycle shorts and a T-shirt normally....

sent from my brain

[Jack Hughes]

Not even a bit of make up? I have seen the video.

[Ewan]

I'm struggling to see what was wrong with the old one... I've only ever had one turbo and it's been 100% fine for about 4 years or more.

A couple of weeks ago I used the bike on the turbo without cleaning the road grit off the rear tyre and now the roller has hundreds of little pits in it, presumably from some small embedded stone.

Still works fine.

[CCS]

I'm struggling to see what was wrong with the old one...

Big groove in the roller (which had been developing for some time - not too worried about that in itself) - and had suddenly started to eat tyres - so assume it had worn beyone a certain point.
New one feels very smooth and solid. Not 100% convinced about its alleged accuracy in conjunction with Trainer Road - as FTP from yesterday's test definitely seems OTT (but good for the ego)

[Bopomofo]

I have the same turbo arriving next week. Apparently they are VERY consistent from one to another and the Trainer Road virtual power readings are very close to a decent power meter if you set it up as advised on the Trainer Road website.

For this reason, I will NOT be publishing my 'new' FTP, as I STILL can't ride like a girl*.

I did also consider the 'Pro' flywheel you can bolt on, but it seems a lot (£70) for a metal plate - albeit a very well balanced one. Apparently the heavy flywheel is very accurate at representing real-world acceleration and coast down - one minute from 20mph or something.

Of course, for a true representation of ME accelerating on the road they'd need a much bigger flywheel. They apparently also considered a special-edition 'Tritanium' model but it simply wasn't commercially viable.

*Lady, woman, female, fellow cyclist, oh I forget...

[kfjatek]

Are you sure you can get yourself to 20mph without an engine-powered vehicle, Bopo?

[Bopomofo]

Are you sure you can get yourself to 20mph without an engine-powered vehicle, Bopo?

It's all a matter of degrees, Kfjkomedian.

[CCS]

Too late now, but I had a problem with my Cycleops turbo, which I'd bought off eBay, but I emailed the British distributor and they offered to replace the unit (not the stand just the spinny turbo bit) well impressed with the service.

Good idea - contacted them, and they said it should be under warranty - but that I need to preferably go through my original dealer. Have contacted Wiggle, who the BAT bought the turbo from as my birthday present back in 2009 (!) - and hoping that it may get fixed so that I can eBay it off & offset the cash against my new one (which is really nice and much smoother...)

[CCS]

I have the same turbo arriving next week.

Good choice - though waiting a whole week? Mine arrived almost instantaneously: ordered it; walked across town to collect car which was having a MOT; bought a pint of milk; got e-mail from Evans to say it was ready to collect; picked it up on my way home; and the whole thing was set up in the man shed less than 2 hours after ordering.
That's instant gratification for you!

[Jack Hughes]

Excellent.

One minor question. Who spends most time in the "man shed" now? And should it not be renamed?