[wittyreference]

I don't know about what the Peloton experience is like, but:

My bike is on a trainer, and I see the following down-sides:

a) My bike on a trainer is really loud. Can't do it early; can't do it when the baby is sleeping, etc.

b) It's a moderate pain in the ass to hook and unhook. Not a huge pain in the ass, but I certainly didn't do it any time of the year it was feasible for me to bike to work.

c) It's dirty. I mean, the bike. I dislike washing the tires so I can bring it indoors even a couple of times a year, never mind if it's coming in and out constantly. And never mind the fact that even washed, my wife sure as hell isn't letting me bring that into a corner of the bedroom.

d) My bike has exposed chains and gearing that, if I'm not mistaken, the Peloton and similar bikes do not. I've got a toddler.

e) Indoor exercise bikes are usually reasonably set up to let you have somewhere to put your phone, or ipad, or kindle, etc. Bikes on a trainer do not. When I'm working out indoors, that makes a big difference for me.

This hasn't been enough to convince me to buy a Peloton, but I can certainly see why someone with more disposable income (or square footage) would.

[mikestew]

Additionally, I think folks are assuming that you're the only cycling nut in the house. If there are two or more, then an easy-to-adjust bike is essential. If you think your non-mechanically-inclined partner is going to grab a hex wrench every time he wants to hit the "trainer", you will be sadly disappointed. Hell, if you think I, who used to be a bike mechanic in his misspent youth, am going to grab that hex wrench you'd be sadly mistaken. You stick a road bike on a trainer, and there will be exactly one person that ever uses it.

Summary: a dedicated indoor bike immensely reduces the friction of getting a ride in.

[nightski]

My wife & I swap our real bikes on a Wahoo Kickr. It takes less than 60 seconds to swap a bike. Then we get to use the same bikes we ride all summer as well - no adjustments necessary.

[boringg]

Same here - wife and I do the same thing. I will say that I would prefer not to but it *normally isn’t enough friction to stop it. To the commentators point it does add friction though.

[JamesMontemagno]

That is a good point as well. My wife also uses the bike and this is a big benefit.

[OJFord]

> a) My bike on a trainer is really loud.

Not that it's going to make (b) any better, but do you have purpose-made tyres on it? I've never tried with my road one, I heard it was loud and wore down extremely fast if you did so, so I just bought a smooth (and I think harder?) one designed for use on a trainer off the bat.

Could just be marketing and I fell for it, but seemed reasonable.

Re (b), and especially if you changed tyre, I suppose if you wanted to do that regularly you'd soon get a second quick-release rear wheel, so you didn't have to faff about switching skewers (and tyres!) - or better a 'direct drive' trainer (instead of running the bicycle wheel against another wheel, it comes off and you put the chain directly around a sprocket attached to the trainer).

[nradov]

Modern smart trainers have an attached sprocket and are used with the rear wheel off the bike. Some models are fairly quiet.

[OJFord]

As I said:

> or better a 'direct drive' trainer (instead of running the bicycle wheel against another wheel, it comes off and you put the chain directly around a sprocket attached to the trainer).

[debbiedowner]

The tacx flux and wahoo kickr are the quietest trainers available and are incredibly quiet, especially when placed on the shock absorbing pads wahoo sells. These direct drive trainers are easy to take your bike on and off too. IMO the pad takes care of the dirt factor too. Still dangerous for your toddler tho.

These days you can buy $200 hd tvs and a mini desktop to run zwift, which is much nicer than using on a mobile device.

[pmontra]

f) The super sweating because there is no wind. I bought a fan to throw some air to me.

About your point e, I exercise close to a table. I put a bottle of water on there, with the phone (also for the app of the cardio) and the tablet to watch something while I pedal.