A. decide where I'm going to set it up, and
B. figure out how to set it up.
My initial idea of in the living room so I can watch the tv at the same time didn't go down well with the missus. "You'll hardly know I was in the room, the bloke in the shop said its practically silent running, and it means we'll be doing something together - you watching Corra, me having a coronary"
The bedroom was out of the question, so there was one option left - the music room/library. Now that sounds a bit grandiose, but the room has only been called a library since I built a book shelf in there and has only been called a music room since I came back drunk from the pub with a complete set of drums (and £100 lighter). The drum set takes pride of place in the library accompanied by a rack of guitars and amplifiers. In fact the appearance of the first of the guitars was a result of alcohol at a charity auction! On a more positive note, it did inspire both daughters to play guitar and drums respectively.
So back to the turbo - like any self respecting bloke I cast aside the instructions, dumped everything on the floor and manually attempted the assemble. Something clicked into place, and then flicked back out while one of the legs snapped up and whacked me in the chin. Not a great start, and after half an hour I was calling the Little Bear out of desperation (Our resident CCCP cycling mechanic). He popped round to see what was the problem.
Well the problem was I had got bits left over - one of which I had recognised - a spindle out of the middle of a wheel, (something that the Halfords bloke assured me I wouldn't need to mess with, it was just going to be a plug and play affair, NO TAKING THE BIKE APART! he said) and a couple of non identifiable metal parts with thread on, 1 inch wide metal discs and a couple of sponge type washers.
"Well you're gonna have to change the spindle on your bike to this one so you don't get your existing one damaged, but the good news it that only takes about a minute and its dead easy. That calmed me down.
As for these other bits,... that's a bit more serious..." I looked at him concerned that I had knackered my new purchase by not assembling it correctly "These parts my friend, are from the main symbol and stand of your daughters drum kit"
Well you look at em, they look as though they should have been part of it! - spot the spindle!
In fairness to YJ, he doesn't know what bits go on a drum kit any way and should have consulted his far more knowledgeable 13 year old daughter who after a fit of laughter would have put him right. Slightly more disturbing was the apparent comment from the Halfords bike fella that YJ wouldn't need to worry about using the skewer provided. Believe me, you don't want to fit the bike using the original skewer that came with the £750 wheels if you don't want it mashed by the clamp on the trainer!
ReplyDeleteIn all the time I was there in my consultant's guise, YJ never once attempted to retrieve his bike from storage and mount it on the trainer. Newby nerves I guess. As for 'practically silent', anyone who uses a turbo trainer knows you can hardly hear yourself think over the whirring noise that even the quietest ones generate. Trust me my friend, you will be mentioned in despatches by the long suffering lady of the house and probably get a visit from the man from the council with his noise measuring equipment. Be prepared for a noise abatement warning! At the very least, you'll need to turn the sound up on the telly 'til it distorts to get over the whooshing and whirring when you're at full tilt on resistance setting 2, in top gear and dripping like a blanket in a wringer! Oh, don't forget to put a mat beneath the bike or the carpet will be rotting in a week! ENJOY!