I am struggling with skin issues relating to riding the turbo in hot and sweaty conditions, and exploring other options instead of expanding my fan collection further (I already have 2|). A lot of brands have released turbo specific kit over the last year with a lot of them claiming to improve temperature regulation and sweat evaporation, which is what I’m really after.
Does anyone have any experience using any indoor specific kit? or have any they would recommend? Just wondering if it lives up to the hype or another marketing gimmick.
Never seen the indoor specific kits before. I generally ride indoors with only bibs on (or shorts sometimes) and haven’t had any issues staying cool with 2 Lasko fans. Like for like temps indoors vs outdoors my HR has been similar for any given power.
Never heard of indoor specific kit either, though the properties you describe sound similar to the really high end, very lightweight race kit for hot conditions, in which presumably also very expensive?
Am also in the UK, indoor setup is 3 carpet blowers - one on each side at the front and one on a chair just behind the saddle angled up to blow air over my butt and back. The one at the back is a real help in terms of air flow over the parts that might otherwise suffer! I just wear bibs (unless it’s winter and freezing cold in my garage in which case I’ll chuck on a technical t-shirt until I’m warmed up), if anything they tend to be older bibs that are getting a bit shabby to be wearing outside in public. Works fine unless it’s a hot day, but if it’s a hot day I’m unlikely to be training indoors.
I think adequate cooling probably makes a bigger difference than indoor specific clothing (not to mention the other benefits), but if you’re curious and have the $$ I don’t see why not.
Now, if they could release some bibs that stopped the turbo being the ass equivalent of a trash compactor, that’d be a different story…
Have you tried running a dehumidifier? I’m really into home automation so have all kinds of sensors in my house, including a temp/humidity sensor in my pain cave. About 30min into even a mild workout the humidity can spike pretty good making a workout pretty brutal. Thus when my basement humidity is > 65% and there is motion in there (I’m biking) I have the dehumidifier turn on. Works really well.
I don’t think a kit will make any difference. I’m used to indoor training hot and humid conditions (Brazil), there is not much to be done other than moving everything to a room with air conditioning. Sure, a good fan helps but it’s still hard when it’s 30degC (85degF) at night.
Agree will all regarding, ensuring you have fans/cooling but you can buy indoor training kit…https://lecol.cc/pages/le-col-x-wahoo - Looks nice and all but i just train in Bib shorts…
Yes I got tired of wearing bibs on the trainer and I don’t wear a jersey. So I started buying these which are more breathable than regular bibs and a lot cheaper:
I wouldn’t wear them outside, so I supposed this is my indoor specific kit for riding the trainer
Before purchasing one of the vacmaster airmover fans I’d been using a floor standing type, albeit a pretty decent one. I’d always had this pointing diagonally so it hit not only my face but also my torso and bibshort area.
When I bought the vacmaster I had it basically hitting my face and upper body, first thing i noticed was how soaked my bib shorts were so have now adjusted it to hit more surface area, I also use the old fan on my legs when I’m doing longer sessions or when it’s really warm.
Point I’m making is that a decent fan (or 2) pointed at the right parts will likely make more difference than indoor kit.
I like these too but not too many points for these in the modesty department as they are pretty much see through:
My main objective was to spare my expensive Assos etc. bibs from the wear and tear of riding indoors, wash, repeat week after week. The shorts are much cheaper and being a guy I can wear an undershirt or no shirt on top and I’m good.
These are just cycling shorts but I use these too and if you catch them on sale $35 and you are good to go. I would wear these if I was expecting company
I have just purchased a pair of shorts from dhb without the ‘bib’ element. Main reason being my old Worn shorts were causing issues by the fact they were old and worn and didn’t want to use my best bibs. These were their Aeron range and pretty cheap and seem to work well.
I used old jerseys as need a jersey pocket for phone and music until I buy a wireless seat of headphone. However I did buy the Le Col turbo jersey with one of their many Strava offers, so got it for £70 free postage rather than £120. It’s great but would say it really just a very lightweight Top end summer jersey.
I do generally agree that fans are probably the answer. I struggle with just 1 and will buy a second soon.
The problem is that I have eczema and very sensitive skin which is becoming an increasing issue, and I want to try and optimise every part of my set-up to improve my skin health
OK, I have no experience with that. Not sure how the kit will really change much?
As with others, I ride in pure shorts most of the time and have 3 blower fans. I get cooling to the point that that I prevent even a single drop of sweat from me hitting the floor. If you are getting pools of sweat, I think cooling via fans, AC or other methods could be improved with better end results compared to a different kit. But again, pure guess on my part with no experience on skin conditions like yours.
I take it you are using a head band like the castelli sweat gutr ? It was suggested to me here and it’s a good piece of indoor specific kit, anything else I think is indeed a marketing gimmick. I only tend to wear bib shorts when training and I can’t imagine any other fabric making a difference to me.
