Zahner looked at the average energy transfer for the final 10-minute periods of each test. Ok, this one is obvious, but still effective. This is where the remote control proved most useful. Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled. The fan has no visible or external moving blades or parts. Fan #1wasnot as effective in aiding cooling as the other fans and recorded the lowest heat dissipation(+36% compared to using no fan), Zahner said. While the first three features may seem obvious, heating actually isnt the worst thing to have at the start of a chilly garage-bound workout. Beyond that, we plan to conduct follow-up Core testing at higher intensities or longer test durations on the top three fans to clarify the cooling potential during these harder efforts. This is a good choice if youre able to still be outside or in an environment that you can get wet, but wont work at all for something like your living room. Ive got 2 fans, one Lasko like (the UK one) and one 20 floor fan, both at the floor level and pointed at me on each side of the front wheel. The small remote clips directly to the handlebars or trainer desk for quick and easy on/off and speed setting adjustment. In combination with the right fan, these ambient conditions can make a world of difference to your indoor training comfort and effectiveness. The rate at which you pour water into the sink corresponds to the waste heat you generate within the body during exercise. I also have a 20" box fan on one side that it aimed at my hips and legs. I like air moving over my face but not at full on Lasko force. The safest option by far is to get a bladeless fan, but be sure it pumps out enough air to properly cool you. Ask A Gear Guru: Should I Buy Supershoes. I used to have one of the Lasko on my back but I felt like it wasnt doing much and competing with the one in front. As such, it is not designed to generate high wind speeds. The Air Mover is a very powerful fan and the addition of remote speed adjustment makes for easy adjustment of the airflow as required. We decided to explore whether calculating each fans heat transfer coefficient could quantify its heat transfer capability. The higher the average energy transfer bar the better the cooling. While it was fine for short easy rides in cooler conditions, it simply cant offer the airspeed or channelled airflow to create any real cooling effect when the hammer goes down. For instance, if youre looking for the best fan for Peloton, Echelon, or home SoulCycle, youll likely be dealing with a big screen right in front of your face/body. If youve been fortunate enough to ride outside this summer and fall, the cold, hard reality of wintertime is slowly approaching, and as the days get shorter, the wind gets windier, and the weather gets gnarly, its time to head back inside for some self-induced trainer quarantining. To collect the data I used six core temperature sensors provided by Core for the purposes of this analysis. I have Lasko type only and find it works best for me pointing at torso. As Zahner explained, heat transfer coefficient is used in mechanical engineering to quantify how well a surface can transfer heat. The advantage of using this coefficient is that it incorporates both differences in skin temperature as well as differences in heat transfer. Yeah, my best experience has been with a blower-style fan situated right next to my front wheel, angled up. Bear in mind, this fan is LOUDeven at a lower settingso crank up the headphones while youre in this tornado of air. In this analogy, heat transfer coefficient would correspond to the diameter of the drain pipe. Longer tests and/or higher intensities could have created the accumulated heat build-up required to further show each fans cooling potential but we had decided pre-test to opt for lower intensities to prevent excess fatigue from influencing the test. I will again recommend that anyone whos buying on a budget but considering a top-end trainer, might benefit by opting for a mid-range trainer and putting the saved cash into a top-end fan. Also, bladeless fans tend to be quieter than bladed fans, but not always. Second place for me goes to the Wahoo Headwind. For this, youll need a good fan. Fans #2, #3 and #4 exhibited a similar effect on cooling (+57%, +55% and +57% respectively) compared to no fan and as a result are fairly comparable.. The airspeed and cooling effects were much less than you might anticipate given the sheer size of the fan. Unlike many cycling components and accessories, fans are a popular product in high demand across different markets. The relatively restricted three-position setup is the only negative I could point to in the Cardio54. Given the heat transfer coefficient shows not how much heat I have built up but rather how well I am dissipating heat, it should provide a more indicative quantity to estimate the cooling potential of each fan/test. Many triathletes will train inside because theyve got little ones at home that need to be monitored while they crank out a gnarly threshold workout. I have a Lasko directly in front aimed at my chest and such that my face/head gets hit at the edge of the blast where the speed is lower. Again, longer or more intense tests might have produced further separation or closer alignment between any of the fans. This battery-powered fan is not only portable (battery not included, though), but it cools you a claimed 28 times more than air alone by channeling water up into the fan either via a hose or a 5-gallon bucket. However, the bodys capacity to lose heat is not unlimited and at a certain point these processes are unable to match the accumulation of heat during exercise which can ultimately lead to mild hyperthermia or even severe heat exhaustion. The Black & Decker (Fan #2) is still performing much better than my subjective conclusions conveyed, but it has notably dropped behind the Vacmaster and the Wahoo. Headband for sweat and gloves for comfort. Additional fans dont add anything for me, and I dont want full blast in my face. The much larger blades and power do create an uplift in airspeed compared to the basic fan. I first noted and measured each fans price, speed settings, wattage use, ease of use, noise level, size, wind speed, and measured CFM to determine the easily distinguishable characteristics of each fan. The latest and greatest in indoor training tech from Eurobike 2022, Elite's new Aria is the smartest and most adjustable fan we have seen. The Black & Decker fans intended use is for air circulation purposes. I positioned the six, specially calibrated Core sensors on specific parts of my body: the side of my torso, back of my torso, my head, upper arm, and thigh. Before delving into the results, it is worth remembering my testing was over a single, 30-minute period of steady state efforts for each fan. Looking then at the heat transfer coefficient we can see the no fan and Fan #1 tests are still rooted to the bottom of the results. Given the desk fan is the smallest on the test, with the lowest wind speed, this is hardly surprising. The box fan is aimed at my legs not because they necessarily need special cooling but because it gives me a great way to modulate the amount of cooling in combo with the Lasko by turning them on or off. Honeywell right is in the face and above the streams of both Laskos. A small, quiet fan, cheap to buy and easy to store. Dont expect a ton of power from this fan (~600CFM), but thats not the point. The Headwind also integrates neatly into the Wahoo ecosystem with the feet specifically designed to sit on the Wahoo trainer desk. I assessed each fan across a series of tests and measures. The Core testing results suggested the Wahoo provides an overall better airflow distribution in the riding position, suggesting if you only have space for one fan, the Headwind might be the answer. Honeywell left, well is just doing whatever. I keep one of the fans pointed a little higher to hit my face a bit but mainly they point at my torso. Dont need it at my face as I usually wear a headband to soak up the sweat there. Adjusting fan speed with sweaty fingers on a locked touchscreen device just complicates the process. Somewhat more interestingly though, Zahner found almost identical results between the Black & Decker, the Vacmaster Cardio54, and the Wahoo Headwind. So important is keeping cool that I put fans as thenumber one essential accessoryin myperfect pain cave series. Keep the wind in your sails, at whatever speed you want, by getting a fan with a remote. While there are a million shapes and sizes, weve listed a few common types below to help you find your best fan for cycling indoors: This style is a good choice for athletes looking to ride inside as its shape matches the profile of a cyclist. Get access to more than 30 brands, premium video, exclusive content, events, mapping, and more. Much like the Vacmaster, the Headwind is powerful enough to be uncomfortable for all but the hardest efforts in average room temperature environments. However, as we know all too well in cycling, an athletes feedback is often as important as any science-based numbers. Humans are great at thermoregulation compared to other species. With that in mind, the decision not to include a remote is a major shortcoming for the Headwind in my opinion. Indoors we lack that natural cooling airflow, and thats where problems arise. Small one bottom left I dont even feel, but since I have it I put it on anyways. The body has a natural ability to dissipate this heat through conduction, convection, radiation, and evaporation through sweating. In first and second place were the Vacmaster Cardio54 and the Wahoo Headwind. As such, we wanted to determine the variation, if any, in key response metrics from fan to fan and the benefit of any fan versus no fan at all. Again, like the Vacmaster, the limited standing positions are less versatile than angle adjustable fans. As many of us have experienced, the bodys ability to dissipate heat is limited. Mounting pegs on the side make the Cardio54 stackable for those after the ultimate wind tunnel-esque environment. For those with kids, bear in mind that you might enter the grey zone at some point during the workoutmaking it tougher to ensure your charges dont play with the fan (if its within reach) or knock it over (if its on a pedestal). I personally like the Laskos at 10 and 2 oclock pointing up mostly at my torso. Zahner likened the heat transfer coefficient to pouring water into a sink and the rate at which the water can drain. One thing I think would be great would be some way to get a focused beam of air right on my seat/chamois that would keep things down there dry. I say workout-specific, but the Cardio54 is effectively Vacmasters standard Air Mover fan with the inclusion of remote control speed adjustment. Dysons purification filter is unmatched and this fan is WiFi compatible, so you can change settings via your smartphone and even monitor your training areas air quality with a handy LCD screen on the fan or in the app. For this reason, I included a large circulator fan from Black & Decker. While there arent a ton of bladeless fans out there, the best indoor cycling fan for your home situation may be ones with safety in mind. Better yet, if the airflow distribution is a concern, I dare suggest setting up two Cardio54s in front and to the side of the trainer could provide even better airflow and still only match the price of the Wahoo. Figuring out a fan is loud or not isnt a simple science, as there are tons of factors that go into how much sound theyll create, but there are a few fans that are made for those who seek silenceor . When training indoors, we want, as much as possible, to replicate the same cooling airflow we get over the body when riding outdoors. But Im still interested in other responses. I wanted to include a circulator fan in our test to determine if the underwhelming airspeed of this circulator fan could be offset by an increased CFM (think weight versus aero in a road bike). We had planned to conduct follow-up testing and will do so in future, but that has been significantly delayed by my current injury. Of course, a remote wall plug can get the standard Air Mover halfway there, but such a setup is limited to on or off. In third place in my list is the Black & Decker fan, representing the circulator fan family. More often, though, and especially when mismanaged, this heat build-up is detrimental to training at best and even quite dangerous, causing severe heat exhaustion, among other harmful side effects. Small one top right points at face. Before we take a look at the best indoor cycling fans the home appliance kind, not the ones who cheer for youlets get educated. However, if you increase the water input, jamming will occur at some point even for the larger diameters. Better yet, the best fans for cycling indoors keep things super simple with WiFi connectivity, so you can use your always-nearby smartphone to keep in controla fan remote doesnt do much good if its lost behind a workbench. However, being designed for cyclists means any oversights another fan may be forgiven for are harder to look past on the Headwind. The Cardio54 Gym Floor Fan is a workout-specific offering from the vacuum cleaner and fan specialists, Vacmaster. I conducted the testing at home in Ireland on December 8. However, taking the first step in front of the Black & Decker at full power I was somewhat underwhelmed. I used this fan, along with at least two others, for much of my indoor training during our first COVID lockdown. Or to go back to our analogy, I wasnt pouring enough water into the sink. The Wahoos heart rate and speed link are neat features, and the speed setting helps boost the immersive feeling of Zwift. For subsequent testing we can reduce the number of fans and thereby increase the physical demand. Second best is a 20" floor fan, but mounted on the wall and angled down. Its not so long ago a blank wall was the most common form of trainer entertainment. You might actually find you are better off relocating the left hand LASKO to the floor and positioning it similiar to the right, and have both smaller Honeywell fans (love those little guys) pointed at your face. We didnt need testing to tell us that any fan is better than no fan. The Headwind is the first fan specifically designed for indoor cycling. A good fan is essential for indoor riding, but what makes a fan good? As such, it would be impossible to review and rate every fan on the market. I found myself most often using the middle two-speed settings in my relatively chilly garage. In third place in my perceived testing scores was the Black & Decker, leaving me feeling hot and thus scoring a five. That is the question, Wahoo acquires RGT virtual cycling platform, folds into new Wahoo X subscription, Wahoo releases Powrlink Zero pedals and Rollr trainer. If the sink is not capable of draining all the water you put in, the water level (= body temperature) will rise. Sometimes tower fans arent as powerful, but they do have excellent coverage and often good noise levels. Lasko type / Cleva at torso only. I generally do the first 5 minutes with no fan, then add in the box fan, then turn on the Lasko at around 10 minutes or so. We combined the findings to recommend the best fan(s) for indoor training. Depending on the setup of your room, this could mean a fan with a stand or a smaller fan that can be placed on a shelf (or a combination of fans). Indeed, it is significantly better than the fans I have previously used for an entire winter of indoor training. We put several through a series of tests to find out which one is right for you. With a claimed 35dB output, this pedestal fan is super quiet, but still puts out nearly 2,500CFM at the highest setting (35dB is at low). Much like wind speed, we can subjectively measure weight quite easily. The max speed could have me almost shivering at low ride intensity or when just getting warmed up, so the potential for improved cooling during the hardest efforts is there. Not only is the sweaty mess quite nasty, but the increased body temperature can be detrimental to training and even downright dangerous. Even fans with a targeted blast might not be ideal for indoor cycling if the angle and direction of the fan is blocked by your riding accoutrements. With that said, you may find yourself setting it on high more than anything else, making the high price tag feel a bit tough to swallow. Gallery: What data screens do Tour de France riders have on their head units? The narrow rectangular opening channels the gale-force-seven wind speed directly at the rider. And for longer/harder efforts I have a tall fan without much power that I setup to the side of me to get my side/back. Based on my subjective rating for each fan during the testing and over a longer period of indoor riding, I believe follow-up testing with longer or more intense riding might further separate the fans, but more on this later. Both fans were vast improvements over the 9 and the Black & Decker. Bonus: The mister is great for outdoor events, and the battery works with the Ryobi tool ecosystem.