Bike Computer for Bike

The Garmin Edge 850 ($599.99) is the main “reasonable” choice. Then there’s the Garmin Edge 1050 ($699.99), which has enough features over the 850, and bigger screen to justify the cost.

Power Meter Pedals for the Bike

So while I have a trainer for indoor rides and training, training outdoors still requires a power meter. On my bike, that means power meter pedals, which are more expensive than power meter cranks, but to use cranks, you have to have a far more expensive gear system then I have, and the cost to upgrade that, while would be great, is far more than the pedals below. Also, note that to race on MyWhoosh, and have it count for anything, you need a separate power meter from your trainer, so it can cross verify. Even serious races on Zwift require uploading a power meter’s data.

First and main choice, Favero Assioma Pro MX ($795 for dual sensing, and $499 for single, prices on the Power Meter city below) is the new and by far best choice. Check out DC Rainmaker’s review of the Favero Assioma Pro MX. Power Meter City has them in stock, and they are on the Amazon wish list. I’d prefer dual sided, as it’s far more accurate, and useful.

I’d need shoes to go with those pedals, as regular shoes won’t work on them, as they have special SPD cleats. These are a couple hundred to a few hundred for a pair, plus the peddles, which itself is going to be $150 to a couple hundred. The main aim here is Shimano SPD (gravel and mountain bike) compatible system. The advantage to these is that you can be far more efficient, with far more power getting delivered to the peddle stroke, and a bit of lift on the back side. I’d probably want more mountain bike shoe, as you can get commuter, road, and other style shoes with Shimano SPD. I’m a size 8 on shoes normally, but one really needs to try shoes on, and not just go on size. I’d realistically have to get these in person, say at Pro Bike Run or some other location.

New Cassette for Trainer

So the trainer I have has a generic 11 speed cassette, however, my bike is indexed to the microSHIFT Advent X ($64.99, on sale for $52.50 as of writing), which has an 11-48 tooth spacing. It’s not a simple process of changing the indexing, made even worse as one would have to do it every time one takes it on and off the trainer. Also, sort of hard to index it while it’s on the trainer, you normally index it while it’s in a bike bench tool holding it off the ground. In order to change the cassette, one needs specialized tools, a cassette removal tool and chain whip, like this Oumers Bike Cassette Removal Tool with Chain Whip ($17.29).

In theory, as Zwift (by far the king of the space, and tons of riders, it is $19.99 a month, or $199.99 a year, but you can get 30 days of Zwift free with this referral link), Rouvy ($19.99 a month, or $15/month if paid up front for a year… Rouvy is cool as it uses actual videos of rides, so you aren’t riding a virtual world, but real world locations, using videos of those locations), and MyWhoosh (free to use) both support virtual shifting, a matching cassette isn’t 100% needed, except while training out of Erg mode in Simulation Mode, and you want to match what your bike’s gearing is. But not all the training platforms support virtual shifting yet. Biketerra, WattGames (on Steam for $24.99 during this early access period) don’t yet. I’m not sure about TrainingPeaks Virtual (comes with a TrainingPeaks Premium subscription of $134.99 a year, or $19.95 a month… TrainingPeaks is great if you have a personal coach giving things to you via their platform, or need their performance metrics). Trainer Road (one of the best premium training plan system out there, but it is $21.99 a month, or $209.99 a year, worth it only if you really intend to get into serious racing, especially for money), and Xert ($14.99 a month, or $99.95 a year, Xert becomes more worth it if one has a Garmin bike computer like below, because one of their coolest features is Magic Buckets, which currently only works on Garmin bike computers) mostly uses Erg mode, at least indoors, and gearing doesn’t matter in Erg mode. There are other platforms out there, but those are all the currently big ones.

Bike Radar

Bike radars detect if a vehicle is approaching you from behind, it alerts you via the bike computer, or app on your phone. They also can be setup to flash a warning to the driver to be careful. They are a very helpful thing while being on the road.

There is a Wahoo Trackr radar ($199.99) coming out May 6th, and that might be my primary choice for radar.

The Garmin Varia RTL515 ($199.99) is a bike radar that helps alert you to cars approaching from behind on your bike computer.

Cleaning Supplies and Chain Wax

Cleaning the bike. One needs a disc brake cover ($29.67), because the degreaser can mess up the disc brakes. There’s a few degreasers, Muc Off Bio Drivetrain Cleaner ($20), or Silca’s Bio Degreaser ($25), a good chain cleaner like Pedro’s Chainpig ($28.79), which is more if one is not going to wax. The other stuff is somewhat required anyhow. That doesn’t include good quality micro fiber towels and the like.

Before waxing, one can use this Silca Chain Stripper ($36), put it in a Mason Jar, and deep clean the chain. One can also use mineral spirits in one jar, acetone in another, then rinse in another… a bit messier, and a bit more costly at least initially.

For the Waxing of the chain, there’s the Silca Chain Waxing System ($99.99), which is probably the best way to wax the chain easily. To use that, one needs Hot Melt Wax ($40.00). To maintain the wax one uses the Super Secret Chain Lube ($16-$45 depending on size), which tops of the wax and maintains it every few rides.

The advantage of wax is it is much more power efficient (requires less power produced by the legs to get the same result), and more importantly for indoor use, no grease on the chain… though if grease gets bad enough to drip off or spray, you have other issues going on…

A Fan

EDIT: As of mid August 2025, I got myself a Honewell TurboForce fan, which is far better than my old fan. Still not great, but better than nothing.

Okay, so every video you watch, and article you read, about setting up a indoor riding setup mentions that the first thing you need, after the trainer and bike, is a fan. They all stress how important the fan is… And yeah, my tower fan is no where near enough.

There’s a number of reasons why a good fan is important. When out in the wild, even if it’s hot and muggy, you are at least moving through the air, which creates some evaporative action. With no fan, or even with a crappy fan like the tower fan I’m using now, the sweat just pools up and drips down. And you overheat far quicker than you would otherwise. Also, sweat is extremely corrosive, so it can be very damaging to the bike and trainer.

At the insane end is the Wahoo Kickr Headwind, which is over $300 (of course that’s cheap compared to the Elite Aria at over $350, though it is a much better fan)! The Amazon Wish List has a Vacmaster AM201R Portable Air Mover with Remote Control ($79.06) which would be okay, and is basically a carpet drying fan, and is the cheapest option for a good fan to keep cool while on a trainer. The JetBlack Trainer Fan ($149.00) is an exercise specific fan, though missing some of the Kickr Headwind features, but is basically the same shape and design. Both the Vamaster and Jetblack have a remote. Neither can be controlled by the bike’s speed, or your heart rate like the Headwind, but those features aren’t enough to justify the extra cost… not that I’d say no if I was given one, lol.

Here’s a review of the Vacmaster:

Multi Tool for Bike Maintenance

So I lack the tools for a lot of the bike maintenance, so there’s Crankbrothers Multi-Tool ($33). And for a proper torque wrench, I’m thinking the Pro Bike Tool 1/4 Torque Wrench Set ($53.99) which does 2 to 20 nm, which is plenty of range for most stuff I’d ever use it for.

A Rocker Plate

So when you use a trainer, unless you get one that includes movement like the Garmin Tacx Neo 3M Smart Trainer ($1499.99), you do get a bit more sore, it gets harder to do longer rides, and it puts more strain on the bike frame, compared to outdoor rides, because outside, you get side to side, tilt, and fore and aft movement. To solve this, there are rocker plates.

Rocker plates come in a few varieties.

Simple

• Simple 3D printed feet that attach to the trainer, to which you add tennis balls. (About $100 or so, like this on Etsy). This gives one, some minor side to side rocking, which helps some. These however are specific to one trainer, and if you change trainers, you have to replace the feet, though obviously the tennis balls can be swapped.
• Split rocker plates, which also just add tilt, but have far more control than tennis ball based feet. A prime example is the Mini Rocker Plate ($450.56, when it’s in stock, and not sure they are bringing it back). This has one plate for the back, and the trainer, then another one for the front wheel.
• Tilt plates. Larger rocker plates, that tilt. Again, far more control than the tennis balls, and one can change the pressure in the balls to have better control. The Realplate Rocker Plate ($546.42) is a great one. Maybe good if you already get forward and backwards motion from the trainer.
• Full motion rocker plates. These not only give tilt, but add the forward and back motion that something like the 3M Smart Trainer above has. So it makes for a far more comfortable, and realistic ride. The Realplate React ($751.84) is probably the best example, and one of the best rocker plates out there.

HOWEVER, especially with anything but the 3D printed ones using tennis balls, I currently don’t have the space for a rocker plate at our current location, as that basically requires a permanent full-time setup.

iPad, Warmer Gear, Inflatable SUP, Etc.

Most of the rest of the secondary and on items from my older General Wish List, still applies. Rather than copy and past all those over, one can still refer to that list, just ignore most of the first section’s bike stuff.