Indoor cycling vs Winter cycling: Which costs more?

Keeping motivation throughout a season of indoor training can be a challenge

(Image credit: Rouvy)

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Riding outdoors over winter
Taking your cycling Indoors
So which is better value?

The summer is often a great time for people to get into cycling, with the nice weather, blue skies, big dose of sun and limited cause for punctures or bike cleaning. But for those riders who took up cycling in the summer, and are now faced with lower temperatures, wind, rain, and bike cleaning, there are two options. We can get properly kitted out to keep up cycling through the winter, or take up indoor cycling.

But with the price of everything seeming to go up and up, what are the costs of either option? Which should you choose? And how can you achieve the best results for lowest cost for each option?

The minimum needed for riding in temperatures down to about 10˚C are a solid pair of arm and leg warmers, plus a thicker base layer to ensure you stay warm enough. This is to keep your core temperature in the right range and also ensure ideal muscle function as cold legs are not as powerful. It’s normally a good shout to get a packable waterproof jacket as well, since it’s easy to take on rides as well as increasing the range of weather conditions you can comfortably ride in.

For temperatures between 0-10˚C, heavier duty thermal kit will likely be needed. This means thermal jerseys or a winter jacket, plus fleece backed bib tights, and likely an even thicker base layer with insulating gloves for your hands, plus overshoes for feet. You can even get winter specific shoes! With all of these items, prices can vary significantly, and more expensive does not necessarily mean better performance or function.

There are other considerations to take when riding outdoors, especially if riding before or after work. A good set of the best bike lights will be essential for safety, both for being able to see and being seen. One of the other most common issues with riding through the winter is the presence of more rain and dirt, which in turn can reduce the lifespan of components such as tires and drivetrain pieces. Cleaning your bike regularly is the best way to ensure that dirt and grime doesn’t build up and components last longer before they wear out. You can generally get away with a bike cleaning spray, degreaser, and a couple of brushes and a cloth.

On the topic of servicing, a lot of bikes nowadays come with integrated headset bearings. These look smart, clean, and have some aerodynamic gains, but they are also a mechanical headache. For this reason, it’s not uncommon for people to have a specific winter training bike. This will often include cheaper specification components, so replacements are cheaper, and easier servicing with non-integrated headsets, given that a headset service can cost upwards of £100 with the time required now. Winter tires with better puncture protection will also be worthwhile with fewer stops to fix punctures, as well as lasting longer than faster and more supple race tyres.

When it comes to smart trainers though, price can get higher and higher depending on accuracy, ride feel due to greater inertia, and features like lateral and fore/aft movement with the Wahoo KICKR Move and Tacx Neo 3M. It is worth considering though that using a standard carbon frame on a turbo can cause excessive stress on parts of the frame such as the bottom bracket, potentially causing damage.

Some bike brands suggest not using their carbon frames on turbo trainers, and won't offer warranties on frames used on direct drive turbos. Sweat also builds up indoors a lot and has the potential to corrode and damage both carbon and metal components. Options to avoid all this are to invest more money into a smart bike, of which there are plenty such as the Wattbike Proton, or to get a specific bike for using indoors. I used to use an old training bike with a hole in one of the chain stays which worked for 6 years, although I wouldn’t necessarily recommend using a broken bike. One of the latest options is the Zwift Ride indoor bike, however this is indoor use only, and limited both in the compatible trainers as well as software.

That brings us on to the other additions to indoor training. Indoor cycling has seen a huge boom over the last 10 years, driven in part to the popularity of apps such as Zwift, SYSTM, Rouvy and MyWhoosh. These are all subscription based with varying prices, and also require a phone, or for a larger screen a tablet, laptop or even a TV setup. From personal experience, and many others, these apps can make training indoors a lot more engaging, fun, and even social! You can also make it a far more enjoyable experience cycling indoors with a good fan. There are smart fan options available, but cheaper alternatives do work pretty much as well as them.

My recommendations for indoor cycling for the minimum are to use your current bike, but change out the tyres for heavier duty winter ones, and make sure you clean your drivetrain each time it gets dirty. Learning some basic bike maintenance and mechanical skills will also save a lot of money in the long run, and are free to do. As for kit, a thermal jersey, deep winter base layer, warm gloves and overshoes, a pair of thermal tights, and a packable waterproof will cover pretty much all weather eventualities. For riding in the dark, a powerful front and rear light will keep things safe.

For indoors, a cheaper direct drive smart trainer and a music stand to place a laptop will make for an effective and easy training base with entertainment centre. Add to that a pair of shorts and a towel and clothing is all sorted, plus a standard fan and sweat catcher to make things more comfortable and keep your bike protected. You can always add to these starting points in the future, but these initial setups should provide a good base for effective winter riding both outdoors and indoors.

Freelance cycling journalist Andy Turner is a fully qualified sports scientist, cycling coach at ATP Performance, and aerodynamics consultant at Venturi Dynamics. He also spent 3 years racing as a UCI Continental professional and held a British Cycling Elite Race Licence for 7 years. He now enjoys writing fitness and tech related articles, and putting cycling products through their paces for reviews. Predominantly road focussed, he is slowly venturing into the world of gravel too, as many ‘retired’ UCI riders do.

When it comes to cycling equipment, he looks for functionality, a little bit of bling, and ideally aero gains. Style and tradition are secondary, performance is key.

He has raced the Tour of Britain and Volta a Portugal, but nowadays spends his time on the other side of races in the convoy as a DS, coaching riders to race wins themselves, and limiting his riding to Strava hunting, big adventures, and café rides.