- Fitting a bike onto an indoor trainer is really simple
when you know how.
So in this video I'm going to quickly
run you through the process for both types of trainers.
Those like this where you leave your back wheel in place
and those direct drive trainers where you remove
your back wheel from your bike first.
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Firstly wheel-on trainers,
where fetch you the bike in clamped in place
in between these two A frames here
and then held securely with your rear wheel skewer.
Now firstly we need to move the roller that
ultimately is going to rest on your back wheel backwards
and that's to give you a little bit of space
to actually maneuver the bike into place.
So on this gauge we've just got a dial
that we need to twist,
it might be that you physically need to push the roller back
against a sprint.
But either way once that's there
you can then maneuver the bike into place,
locating one side of your quick release into
one of the sockets on the trainer
and then clamping the other side down.
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Now as you can see,
to get the bike to sit securely
you're going to have to adjust the width of the clamps
on the trainer itself
and this is generally a trial and error thing
so I know I need to tighten them a little bit
in order to get my bike held nice and firm.
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And what you're aiming for is to get the bike held
securely in a completely upright position.
Now I wouldn't worry about it so much
that I got a spirit-level out but just eyeballing
it from the back should tell you.
If you are struggling then I would look at your
quick release as possibly the reason for your problem
because some will not sit securely in any trainer
and that's because they might be sort of too flat
and so the clamp can't actually get any purchase
under your body weight it's going to move around
or like in this one that just come off the bike,
you'll see actually that your clamping,
instead of under anything secure,
just wants the delict alloy of the quick release.
So if that is you,
then I would spend a bit of loose change
on a vary hefty traditional-style quick release
that will actually give the trainer something really solid
to clamp on to.
If however you're using a bike with disc brakes
and through axle lever,
you're going to need a special adapter because
there's nothing for the trainer to clamp on to
unless you have one.
So this is the Wahoo equivalent.
As you can see,
it replaces your current through axle,
it protrudes on the non-drive side,
just like a quick release would,
but then it extends past the thread on the drive side
and it will fit very neatly into this custom dock
that then sits on the trainer.
Then get your roller in contact with the rear tire
and you're nearly ready to roll.
One quick tip here is to make sure that your tire
is correctly inflated because its in contact with that
roller so it will of course be susceptible to wear.
But if you stick a lot of pressure in,
it should guard against that.
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Lastly before you get riding,
just remember that because your back wheel
is lifted off the ground,
you need to do the same to your front wheel.
You can get dedicated trainer block
or a stack of books will work
and in this case a friendly brick.
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Next lets go over wheel-off or direct drive trainers.
And firstly, I don't want to state the obvious but
do just double check to make sure you got the same
number of sprockets on the trainer here
as you do over on your bike.
Put your bike in the smallest cog at the back
then undo the quick release level,
pull the derailleur body back slightly
and then lift the frame clear of your back wheel.
Take the bike over to the trainer,
hold in with one hand,
and with the other loop the chain over the cassette
and onto the smallest cog again.
Pull the derailleur body back again
and place the bike down gently.
Give it a little wiggle and just spend an extra
five seconds making sure that it sat completely
squarely on the quick release
'cause it is actually quite easy
to mistakenly clamp the bike on a bit of an angle
which would not be good for you riding it
and definitely would not be good for the bike.
Securely fasten the quick release.
It should be firm enough that it leaves a little
white imprint on the palm of your hand
but not so tight that you're really straining
to do it up.
If once again you have a through axle,
this time all you have to do is swap out the axle adapters
in the trainer for the through axle correct ones.
Now the advantages of a through axle in this case
is that firstly, its going to be held super securely,
but secondly, you can be guaranteed that the bike
is going to be sitting straight
because you literally can't fit it so its wonky.
Lastly, some direct-drive trainers
require that you put a block under your front wheel
to level the bike,
others like this Wahoo Kickr don't.
Now the simplest way probably of working out which one
you have, if you have any doubt,
is to look at the manufacturer's website
and check out any images on there.
But if you did happen to have a ruler handy
you could always just make sure that the height
of your front axle match the height of your rear axle.
But I said it was straightforward,
hopefully you can see that it is now.
Please give this video a big thumbs up
and if you would like to watch another one,
why not check out one of our real time training sessions
where once your bike is set up,
you can then ride along to it and get fit.