So not only does this indicate the speed of the air coming out of the fan, but it also tells you how much air is being moved. The fan has no visible or external moving blades or parts. CFM stands for Cubic Feet per Minute and measures the volume of airflow a fan pushes over time. Use a ceiling fan in combination with one of the previously mentioned models for better results. Lastly, I took numerous subjective measures of each fans performance during the testing and over longer-term general trainer use. The first 10 minutes of the Cardio54 and Headwind tests were actually uncomfortably cold as I tried to warm up with the top two fans on full power. Both fans were vast improvements over the 9 and the Black & Decker. Both are on remote switches. In third place in my perceived testing scores was the Black & Decker, leaving me feeling hot and thus scoring a five. That high power is a blessing and a curse and on-the-go adjustment is essential as ride intensity changes. In combination with the right fan, these ambient conditions can make a world of difference to your indoor training comfort and effectiveness. The airspeed and cooling effects were much less than you might anticipate given the sheer size of the fan. Ok, this one is obvious, but still effective. Indeed, it is significantly better than the fans I have previously used for an entire winter of indoor training. These findings are particularly interesting given how they relate to my subjective scoring during the testing. As such, it would be impossible to review and rate every fan on the market. the temperature difference, T) or in our case, heat flux (heat transfer) divided by skin temperature minus air temperature, expressed in watts per squared meter kelvin: W/(m2K). When we exercise, we accumulate heat within our body. Its not that the Black & Decker is a bad fan or of no use for indoor training. Think ahead on this one. And while it may cool your back, dont expect your core temperature to get as low as you would with a tower, pedestal, or floor fan. On average, the use of a fan led to 52% higher heat dissipation from the body than not using a fan. So strong is the airflow, I most often kept the fan off, or on the lowest setting, until well into my spin when I had completely warmed up. For this, youll need a good fan. 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. The much larger blades and power do create an uplift in airspeed compared to the basic fan. Unfortunately, not all fans come with a decibel rating, but unless youre comfortable wearing headphones while you train or (God forbid!) Adjusting fan speed with sweaty fingers on a locked touchscreen device just complicates the process. However, moving to the top fans from the initial results, we can now see a clear separation between the three. However, taking the first step in front of the Black & Decker at full power I was somewhat underwhelmed. Sometimes tower fans arent as powerful, but they do have excellent coverage and often good noise levels. Upon completing all tests I exported all the sensor data and training files, including power and heart rate data, to Core for analysis. A good fan is essential for indoor riding, but what makes a fan good? This is because the Black & Decker is a circulator fan, designed to calmly circulate large volumes of air around a room, rather than channel high-speed air directly at a rider. This is great for slightly cooling a big room or circulating air for another reasonlike drying out a wet areabut it might not be the best fan for indoor cycling as it probably wont make much of an impact on your core temperature. In this case, the same principles were applied to evaluate and comparedifferent fans as a source of external cooling. Floor fans are also a good choice if you have a temporary setup, as they take up way less space than other fans. 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. Unless youre hardcore enough to put your trainer or stationary bike out in the snow, theres a good chance that youll be heating up in the first ten minutes and doused in sweat until you stop. Dont need it at my face as I usually wear a headband to soak up the sweat there. Furthermore, used as an air circulator as intended, in combination with any of the top two fans on this list, it can ensure the room will stay fresher, while the fans we are about to look at can focus on keeping you cooler. To collect the data I used six core temperature sensors provided by Core for the purposes of this analysis. I used this fan, along with at least two others, for much of my indoor training during our first COVID lockdown. Or maybe youre one of the millions of Peloton, Echelon, or home SoulCycle converts finding the challenge of an inside ride at home. The rate at which you pour water into the sink corresponds to the waste heat you generate within the body during exercise. We decided to put some fans to the test to find the best one for indoor training. My perceived thermal stress rating is closely linked to each fans wind speed. Given the desk fan is the smallest on the test, with the lowest wind speed, this is hardly surprising. I also have a 20" box fan on one side that it aimed at my hips and legs. The Cardio54 on full power delivers an almighty wind speed. Core regularly conducts similar tests with some of the most elite athletes in the world such as the Olympic gold medal-winning Norwegian triathlon team and sports clothing brands to assess the cooling capabilities of their fabrics. Indoor training has changed radically over the past decade. Ryobi also makes a non-mister model, the 18V ONE+ Hybrid Fan that also puts out a hearty 2,400 CFM, and is just as portable and adjustable as its wet cousin. In this analogy, heat transfer coefficient would correspond to the diameter of the drain pipe. As previously mentioned, some of the fans on test are representations of countless other very similar, sometimes identical, fans on the market. 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.. We had planned to conduct follow-up testing and will do so in future, but that has been significantly delayed by my current injury. I wanted to test if its sheer size still makes it useful for indoor training. However, as we know all too well in cycling, an athletes feedback is often as important as any science-based numbers. Many of the details in this section are included for reference and comparison to other fans you may be considering. The Cardio54 narrowly defeated the Headwind thanks mainly to its increased wind speed which left me feeling even colder. Zahner likened the heat transfer coefficient to pouring water into a sink and the rate at which the water can drain. But Im still interested in other responses. Indoor training gets hot, quickly! 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. For indoor cycling fans, the speed is slightly more important than the volumeas were not moving around at all, a focused airflow works well. Lasko type / Cleva at torso only. Also, bladeless fans tend to be quieter than bladed fans, but not always. For subsequent testing we can reduce the number of fans and thereby increase the physical demand. 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. The Headwind is the first fan specifically designed for indoor cycling. 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). 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. One word of caution though, double the fans means double the power usage, and no one is a fan of higher electricity bills. 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. Its the kind of fan you might find in many homes or offices. Search floor fan, desk fan, or table fan online, and you could be scrolling through the results for a week. As mentioned in our perfect pain cave series, a fan is essential when riding indoors and both my subjective ratings and the Core testing have confirmed this. Mounting pegs on the side make the Cardio54 stackable for those after the ultimate wind tunnel-esque environment. Its far from cheap, but I guess connectivity and dedicated design dont come cheap. I used six individual but identical pairs of Pactimo Ascent Vector bib shorts and Pactimo summer socks, and rode topless throughout to ensure consistency throughout the tests. Though indoor training has become decidedly more fun in the last few years, its still really really hard and really really sweaty. We hypothesised that, under our test conditions, the stronger fans assisted the body in maxing out at the same energy transfer level simply because I had reached a steady-state where the body was capable of dissipating 100% of the waste heat it generated for the short duration of our tests. Designed for cyclists, so to speak, means the fan gets features such as the speed and heart rate link and the seriously cooling high-speed airflow. 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 safest option by far is to get a bladeless fan, but be sure it pumps out enough air to properly cool you. Somewhat more interestingly though, Zahner found almost identical results between the Black & Decker, the Vacmaster Cardio54, and the Wahoo Headwind. 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. Honeywell left, well is just doing whatever. The Headwind is a centrifugal type fan, with all the wind-generating parts hidden inside. Dont expect a ton of power from this fan (~600CFM), but thats not the point. Much like the Vacmaster, the Headwind is powerful enough to be uncomfortable for all but the hardest efforts in average room temperature environments. 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). If the sink is not capable of draining all the water you put in, the water level (= body temperature) will rise. As previously mentioned, Cores research and development engineer, Michele Zahner, could only identify the fans by the numbers one, two, three, and four. Installation (if you dont already have one) is super tough, and while they move a lot of air, oftentimes the sheer speed of a standard ceiling fan isnt enough for indoor cycling. Repeats of old races were about as interactive as indoor riding got. I have it at handlebars level, about 1.5m away (bit cramped space unfortunately). I have one powerful guy infront of my front wheel blasting up at my chest. 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. Though its as old-school looking as it gets, the Rowenta is a great choice for triathletes because the adjustable pedestal allows you to customize where the air goes and it includes a remote. Looking into airflow distribution, the various sensors around the body threw up one further interesting result. Additional fans dont add anything for me, and I dont want full blast in my face. I opted for exercise-specific options to fill the final two spots in the test. 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. The goal of our testing was to compare the benefit of riding with a fan versus no fan and the individual performance of the various fans. One thing that hasnt changed is the sweating. Nerd Alert podcast: To lug or not to lug? The Vacmaster Cardio54, with its higher wind speeds, won out in my perceived thermal stress rating and also tested with the lowest average skin temperature and average core body temperature. This is a popular option as it can be aimed in any direction, is often very powerful, and offers some very quiet models. Maybe its focusing on cooling the body parts that need it the most?. Outdoors, the cooling effect of air moving over the body compliments this natural ability. The Headwind also integrates neatly into the Wahoo ecosystem with the feet specifically designed to sit on the Wahoo trainer desk. The small remote clips directly to the handlebars or trainer desk for quick and easy on/off and speed setting adjustment. While further testing is required to find a true answer for this, my personal belief is that the body was capable of dissipating heat at the same rate across all three high-performing fans for the 30-minute steady effort test. it would be interesting to have someone who understands fluid dynamics (paging @Jonathan 's brother) to critique these types of asymmetric setups. While pedestal fans work well, they can be slightly limiting if you want your airflow to hit your core and the stand is too high and unadjustable. Specifically shaped to a cyclists body, this Bluetooth- and ANT+-enabled smartfan can be controlled by the factors mentioned above or manually via a smartphone. Moving on to the tests from the Core sensor data and the results are not quite so clear-cut. 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. The narrow rectangular opening channels the gale-force-seven wind speed directly at the rider. 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 arent a ton of bladeless fans out there, the best indoor cycling fan for your home situation may be ones with safety in mind. Also bear in mind that a fan with more CFM might do more than simply cool your face or torso, it might also move enough air to get your legs, your back, any papers you have lying around, or whatever. Top tip: set your max heart rate lower to get the most of the Headwinds heart rate link and max speed at intensities you most often need it. 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. 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. Headband for sweat and gloves for comfort. Its not so long ago a blank wall was the most common form of trainer entertainment. Drum fans are quickly becoming more popular and affordable, and are a good option for a place without kids (as they can be very dangerous) and a lot of extra space. RELATED: Triathletes Guide to Indoor Training. The Cardio54 Gym Floor Fan is a workout-specific offering from the vacuum cleaner and fan specialists, Vacmaster. Bear in mind, this fan is LOUDeven at a lower settingso crank up the headphones while youre in this tornado of air. The average energy transfer (flux) is the measure of how much energy is leaving the body in each test. The Headwind is not the loudest fan on test, but it is loud enough to relegate the almost-silent Wahoo Kickrs low noise level to a moot point. However, the Black & Decker had me feeling noticeably less chilled and also scores higher in both skin and core temperature. 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. I keep one of the fans pointed a little higher to hit my face a bit but mainly they point at my torso. Instead, I decided to take four different fans with various designs and price points to recommend the best fan type for indoor training. Get access to more than 30 brands, premium video, exclusive content, events, mapping, and more. When the intensity ramps up, the high-speed airflow of the max setting is like a godsend. That said, I felt noticeably hotter for the same effort in the same environment when using the circulator. With that setup Im not usually dripping sweat so I think thats working pretty good for me. 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). 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 was wondering if raising one of them would be better for cooling or if I should point one to the legs as they are both now targetting the face+torso. The body has a natural ability to dissipate this heat through conduction, convection, radiation, and evaporation through sweating. Ive already mentioned the lack of remote, but I would also like to see Wahoo include fan speed control in its Elemnt head units. If you have an awkward space or crowded trainer desk you might find it a little challenging to get the right angle for airflow onto your body. While not the biggest fan on our test, the shape and weight of the Headwind mean it will require a dedicated storage place; something to keep in mind if you are working out in a confined space. Each test was numbered 1-6 (four with fans, two without) to ensure Cores research and development engineer Michele Zahner didnt know the identity of each fan when analysing the data. We didnt need testing to tell us that any fan is better than no fan. Youll need something that you can position in the best possible spot to cover the areas that heat up the most (your head, your core, your back). All that said, the Vacmaster, at half the price of the Wahoo and, crucially, with its push-button remote control, edges it into first place for me. This is a fan. 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. This keeps the air on me, and only me, whether Im up on the bullhorns or down in aero position. This fan puts out a staggering amount of air (3,100-3,400CFM) and comes in at under $100. 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. We put several through a series of tests to find out which one is right for you. If youre someone who trains indoors a lot, you know that it can take forever to set up your workout space properly and little interruptions during your ride can really take the wind out of your sails (literally). Nowadays we can enjoy smart trainers, virtual worlds, and even artificially intelligent training plans. In first and second place were the Vacmaster Cardio54 and the Wahoo Headwind. Delving deeper into the data we decided to further explore the reasoning for almost identical results from three of the four fans, despite the very different sensations I had. 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. Aerodynamics, much like CFM, are much harder to subjectively quantify but can have a bigger impact on performance. Nor does it seem fair to pit the big friendly giant-like circulator fan against the wind tunnel-like workout-specific centrifugal fans. Zahner looked at the average energy transfer for the final 10-minute periods of each test. Though its sold as a floor fan, this monster can also be mounted on a wall and has a wide range of manual rotation. Create a personalized feed and bookmark your favorites. In terms of tech factor, the Headwind definitely wins: By connecting to a virtual training environment like Zwift, a speed sensor, or even your heart-rate monitor, the Headwind will adjust the fans speed accordingly, up to 30mph. I have tried running both at the same time and the fan mounted on the wall doesnt seem to add much. For this reason, I included a large circulator fan from Black & Decker. Ask A Gear Guru: Should I Buy Supershoes. 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. 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). Not only is the sweaty mess quite nasty, but the increased body temperature can be detrimental to training and even downright dangerous. That said, Wahoo has included two foot positions for placing the fan on the floor or desk and the Headwind channels the air nicely onto the body from both positions.