Indoor cycling: Everything you need to know

(Image credit: Torwai)

Quick menu

1. How to get started
2. Turbo trainers explained
3. Indoor cycling apps
4. What do I need?
5. Indoor cycling: why?
6. Training structure

It's safe to say at this point that indoor cycling is well and truly here to stay. The days of basic turbo trainers and flogging yourself through an interval session whilst staring at the garage wall are long gone. (for most of us). Indoor training provides a fun, engaging structured and safe way of training inside during the winter months or all year round for fun and if you are perhaps a little time-crunched.

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Smart turbo trainers have electronics built-in, as well as Bluetooth and ANT+ connectivity, meaning they can connect to your smartphone, tablet or computer. Your smart turbo trainer will monitor your power output and share this data with the training app on your device. The app can then send commands in order to increase or decrease the resistance of your trainer, which in turn can replicate climbs, descents, or structured interval sessions.

Wheel-on trainers use a roller pressed against your bike's rear tyre and are often cheaper, but they're also generally noisier and can often feel like you're pedalling through treacle. They can also chew through tyres, although many brands do manufacture turbo-trainer-specific tyres, which are made up of a denser rubber compound to combat this. Don't be tempted to use these on the road, by the way, as they grip like a Teflon-coated frying pan.

The alternative option to a turbo trainer for indoor riding is a set of rollers. These don't fix your bike in place, instead, your bike simply balances on the rollers in the same way it stays upright on the road. This means they require more mental focus and learning to balance to ensure you don't simply ride off the side. You need a good amount of practice before you can put out big power on them. It's harder still to ride out of the saddle, so rollers are probably limited to longer endurance efforts, rather than maximum power sprints.

At the premium end of the spectrum exists the smart bike, which is often likened to an exercise bike. Our guide to the best exercise bikes will help you work out if one of these is right for you and also help you distinguish between which of the two works best for your needs. Essentially, opting for an exercise bike or smart bike means getting an all-in-one solution, not requiring a separate bike to be mounted to the turbo trainer.

Some offer a social aspect, while others focus more on performance enhancement. TrainerRoad, for example, is an all-in-one training platform in which you can build your own training plan based on your goals, and then follow structured sessions to help you get there. Or, if you want a ready-made plan to follow so you can get started straight away, check out our eight-week indoor cycling training plan.

Most riders tend to use their road bike on the trainer indoors, it's comfortable and familiar and it stays clean. Just make sure you clean it regularly if it's getting sweaty. If you have a winter bike or training bike, this is ideal to use on the turbo trainer too. We don't know many riders who buy a new bike for indoor duties only but it's always an option. One important point to make note of is whether your bike has carbon fibre frame dropouts, some manufacturers don't recommend mounting bikes with these to trainers so if in doubt check with the manufacturer first.

While a fan is technically a non-essential accessory, after an hour of intervals, we promise you'll be looking for one. Without the cool breeze that comes from moving through the air, your body will quickly begin to overheat, and the subsequent downpour of sweat is far from pretty, it's not enjoyable, and the corrosion from the salt will get into your headset, stem, and handlebar tape, and wreak havoc.

Using such a tyre outdoors is not recommended – they tend not to be very grippy in the 'real world' – so to save the effort of swapping tyres every time you want to ride outside, it's a good idea to pick up a spare rear wheel for indoor training, mounted with your turbo-trainer tyre. Someone in your local cycling club will no doubt have an old wheel, or you can usually pick up something on eBay quite cheaply.

While your 'outside' cycling shoes will probably work fine, a dedicated pair of indoor shoes can help keep your best cycling shoes in race-ready condition. They are generally made to be more breathable, which helps with the overheating element of indoor cycling, and, depending on your preferences, you can opt for something with a less-stiff sole for greater long-ride comfort, or something hyper-stiff for greater Zwift-race power transfer.

Rocker plates are best described as platforms upon which you place your bike and trainer setup (or smart bike). The essential point is that they rock from side to side in response to your pedalling motion to increase that 'road feel' and reduce fatigue over longer rides. It can also help reduce the lateral stresses on your bike's frame that can occur when your bike is bolted to a heavy turbo trainer.

Danger doesn't just come at the hands of other road users, though. Wet roads, black ice and even just plain inattentiveness on your own part can be causes of your downfall and result in injury, along with expensive damage, which in turn can lead to enforced time off the bike. Racers, in particular, run the ever-real risk of a crash-induced injury that could spell expensive hospital bills, time off work and, well, pain.

If you're training for an event, the structure that a turbo trainer provides can be invaluable. When indoors, especially when using ERG mode, every pedal stroke can be spent at the desired wattage for your chosen session. When training outside, on the other hand, as much as 30-to-40 per cent of the session can be spent producing little if any power at all, due to downhill sections, stop lights, traffic and other road furniture.

Training doesn't limit itself to improving your physical fitness, though. It is a highly controlled environment that can be used to test equipment and strategy. If you have a goal event that you're training for, you can effectively use indoor cycling time to practise your fuelling and hydration strategies ahead of your all-important race. Our guide to cycling nutrition and eRacing nutrition will explain everything you need to know.

Josh is Associate Editor of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton. He has been with us since the summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to the latest tech news and reviews.

On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years. He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based Team Tor 2000. These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitness, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.

With contributions from