Onto the tabletop itself, you’ve got the non-slip rubberized surface there, so things won’t slide off: Of course, as an adult, you’ve undoubtedly used a tripod in your life. And as a human with such life experiences you’d know that while you can make the leg floor surface area small, it makes the entire setup tipsy. Inversely, you can splay out like ‘that dude’ in the economy airline seat, but that’ll take up more room and make it easy to trip over. Okay, so a power meter isn’t an indoor training essential, but with one on your bike you can do proper FTP testing, train in specific power zones and use interactive apps on any kind of trainer (not just a smart trainer). Total DCR install time: 10 minutes including taking a pile of unnecessary photos and shooting video too. Normal person assembly time: 3 minutes tops. Daily Usage: But…that got me thinking. I was starting to fiddle with the Kinomap Trainer software, which is iPad driven – so how could I mount that? Well, turns out that there’s a nifty iPad mount designed for music and mic stands. A couple days later it arrived, and it simply snaps right onto the existing mic stand:

Are you wondering about how to build a laptop stand on the cheap? Here are some of my favorite do it yourself laptop stands you can make yourself on a budget. Each laptop table comes with tutorials and plans. Most of these are easy enough for beginners DIYers with a few projects geared towards those with basic woodworking skills. You can find tutorials on how to make a laptop stand below. Note that if you don’t have bar tape handy, you can probably just use a bunch of duct tape. It just won’t look as pretty. Or, you could really use anything else to act as a wedge depending on the device your mounting. Most ziptie mounts won’t need it, but some of the screw-based ones have limited range and thus the bar tape covers the gap. Again, in terms of tipsiness, no issues here in using it over the last month, including reaching for gear. From a strength perspective, it’s more than stable enough to hold anything reasonable on the desk itself. However, while I’ve sat on the other desks previously to show strength, this one will easily snap. So I’m not going to do that. I suspect you could technically get that weight distribution perfectly centered and it’d hold it just fine. But my ass is too large to fit perfectly atop the center, and would undoubtedly split the table-top in half when I tried to mount it. Laptops can be costly due to the convenience of their portability. Since there is limited space for components, laptops don’t have the extensive cooling capabilities that desktop computers do. Be sure to protect your investment by buying a quality laptop cooling pad. It’ll ensure the longevity of your computer. Chain reaction Cycles and CRC are trading names of Wiggle Ltd (In Administration) registered in the United Kingdom at 1000 Lakeside, Suite 310, Third Floor N E Wing, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO6 3EN,If you’re using a single fan, we’d recommend a diameter of at least 12 inches to ensure you get the coverage required. A small desktop fan simply won’t cut it in the heat of a tough session. If you had the desk completely in front of your bars it would work but then for me it would be a bit of a reach. As it is where I have it placed the farthest away edge can be a tough reach when on the trainer. Usually only an issue on long trainer rides when I’ve got the desk loaded with bottles and food. However, off to the side works great too – especially for some smart bikes. For example, on my Peloton bikes, the off to the side spot makes a great space to stash things, since the Peloton bike itself only has two water bottle holders and no other places for phones or small potted plants:

As I said, I’ve been using both side by side for quite a while now, and probably even use the RAD/Lifeline desk more since it’s in the position closest to the wall (which is what I consider my primary trainer spot).Combine that with the Wahoo ANT+ dongle and I’m ready to roll! Or, you can just pull up Netflix and watch movies instead. Or play Angry Bird HD. Your choice.

That’s so long as you have the right equipment, of course, and a few well-chosen accessories, you can make the experience almost as good as riding outside. Almost.However, at least for me, the wheels are necessary to achieve the required height. I have the front edge of the desk (edge closest to me) just over the brake hoods. There is approximately 1.5 inches of clearance between the hoods and the bottom edge of the desk. However, if I removed the wheels that would bring the desk down by just under 3 inches and thus it would not fit. The whole point of a trainer desk is simply a place to stash all your crap while you ride. That could be things like nutrition, but also stuff like a laptop, tablet, your phone, or Haribo. In my situation my primary use cases are: You’ll notice at the base of the grooves there’s cut-outs, so that you can wire a very slim cable up if you want. Or, they also act as drains if they fill with sweat or whatever, it’ll simply drain out and not become a swimming pool. And finally, there’s a tablet slot towards the front. This allows you to slide a tablet or phone in there, and it keeps it upright: