Where I live there is no obvious hating on indoor training.
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I donāt ride outdoors enough to know if anyone hates me for cycling indoors loads! 
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Yeah I donāt understand the need to defend. Its like the dumb Mac vs PC, or iOS vs Android debates.
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It shouldnāt be a thing, thatās for sure. Who cares if someone rides indoors all the time?
On a personal note, since Summer started weāve had two fatalities in my area due to inattentive/distracted driving. Iāve been training indoors and riding outdoors on the weekend with large groups, I just donāt find it safe to be on the road by myself anymore.
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Some people just canāt get along with any indoor training, and thatās fine, to be honest I donāt get āshadeā from those people, more wonderment.
I think it is a bit of the āyouāre not really ridingā mentality. Complete hogwash we know, but people are entitled to find their motivation to ride outside however they like, just keep the negativity in lol.
Personally, I have ZERO interest in riding on any roads these days. Waiting for trails to be dry enough, combined with my circumstances, and having spent enough time riding through all sorts of inclement weather in my triathlon days means Iām very much a fair weather rider. I get a lot of work done on the trainer I canāt otherwise.
There are a few in my first club that ride exclusively outside, and are jerks to others that ride exclusively outside 
Iām like @Bbt67 and see better results from training outside. If I have to train inside, from experience Iāve learned that for me, its more productive to do the workout in sim (or slope/level/standard) mode on Zwift or RGT or ā¦ Which is not a particularly popular opinion on the forum. If I was sensitive, some forum posts would come across as people throwing shade. But I only care about what works for me, and sharing that in case it helps someone else.
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In the old days, using a stationary trainer was pretty grim. But all of the apps that go along with smart trainers these days actually make the experience WAY better than it used to be. My 2 cents is that these people just arenāt up to date.
And who cares what other people think anyway? I donāt know your age, but Iām guessing you arenāt old like me yet. Thatās one of the primary benefits of aging, in my experience. 
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You should choose your riding buddies more carefully.
As in many other aspects in life, if you are a good person (pay your taxes, respect your neighbours, help old ladies crossing the roadā¦)ā¦ who da f**** gives a 
to what other people think?
By option, my riding buddy is a pack of stroopwaffles. Yes itās a short relationshipā¦ but I enjoy every moment!
And the quietenessā¦ OMG!!!
Edit: sorry for the rant and sarcastic post
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Thatās like hating on someone for studying before the test
or practicing their musical instrument instead of jamming all the time
or rehearsing for their big presentation
or ā¦
Doesnāt make much sense to me. The only person in this world who can give me hate for being on the trainer is my wife, because it literally takes time away from the family. And she might think itās pretty lame that Iām pedaling in place instead of fixing the house or taking care of the kids. Luckily my wife is great!
I do maintain the house and yell at my kids plenty FYI
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Rename the rides to āgps wouldnāt work againā
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I couldnāt think of anything worse than hours and hours on the bike indoors personally - but itās different strokes for different folks. Couple of people in the triathlon club seem to have done 6 hour turbo sessions on the odd occasion. Fair play!
Turbo training for me is just to make me fitter and faster on my mtb. I do ride in bad weather / mud / rain / snow / sleet / cold etc - but only once a week am I up for that. Plus time restraints mean I can often fit in an hour here and there and the turbo is a much better option than trying to pop out for that short a time with all the faffing that goes with getting kitted up / cleaning up afterwards etc.
Iām far fitter than Iāve ever been now Iām following a focused training plan on tr. Iād never been able to catch up with a few of the guys when outdoor training only as they have so much more time to go out on long rides where Iām time restricted. Yet with 2 or 3 turbo sessions a week Iāve now caught them and on the shorter / faster / power rides Iāve got the edge. I think on longer day rides where thereās a lot of zone 2 theyād probably be in a slightly better place though.
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I like the process, the progress, and the feeling of having done a proper workoutā¦ Nowt wrong with that!
I find if I want to be really fast outside I need to be doing a bit of indoor training regardless of the time of year. Thatās structure and consistency related. Some people in my club think itās weird when I will do a trainer ride in summer when the weather is nice (almost never at the weekend mind!), but it works for me and is usually just more time economical. Itās often a choice between an hour on the turbo or not riding at all - Iāve got ~10 miles of rubbish to get through each way before I get to any decent roads, so itās often the only way to get a meaningful workout in.
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I donāt love indoor training but Iāve learned to make it more tolerable. Itās efficient use of my time during the week and more effective for interval workouts. After work, just hop on the trainer and done in an hour. On the weekends, i ride outside unless the weathers awful.
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Training is training. Racing is racing. Riding is riding
2/3 of my training is indoor w a smart trainer
1/3 outside on some type of bike depending on conditions. Bc on weekends I donāt often have access to my trainer. Often that means a fat bike on snow covered roads and -20 conditions. Badge of honour - no. Necessity yes
Bc I ride RPE only outside, Iām never as confident about hitting my marks.
Recovery weeks - almost always outside bc I get to noodle along and ride.
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I have convinced a number of my club mates to train inside some. All of them admit now that they were missing out on the benefits. Each of them took a few weeks to adapt to the trainer and get their cooling sorted out, but many have come around. Most of them do Zwift, one does TR. Quite a few do TrainingPeaks workouts on Zwift, the rest do mostly easy stuff or free form workouts on Z.
A few of the old school guys just wonāt, but thatās OK. I donāt try to convince them that 3 group rides a week isnāt great training. Theyāre happy so to each their own.
3 years later, I do way less training inside these days. Where I was 100% indoors for 5-7 hrs per week in 2019, work life has changed substantially and now Iām riding 6 days a week most weeks, probably 50/50 by sessions but 70/30 outside by volume.
Still do my intervals inside almost exclusively with some exceptions (sprints, non-repeating short power intervals) and I do cadence work inside and a lot of recovery rides too. Almost all of my long rides have moved outdoors.
Iāve found that mix is good for training and my mental health now that time efficient training is no longer a chief concern of mine.
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Trainer is the best thing I have bought. Last year I purchased a rocker plate. I now have little need to ride outside. Just way too easy to ride inside and hit my power targets. I dont get flack from others for riding inside. I get complaints for posting on Strava that I did an Easy Ride day outsideā¦in essence a Z2 ride where I consciously tried to be consistent on the power. Comments were how can that be an easy ride if you went that fast. I have no desire anymore to explain power vs speed or have these discussions. Getting old and Grumpy.
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I submit the unpopular postā¦
I do a lot of indoor training, particularly during winter. I enjoy it. It is incredibly convenient.
I do however, feel in two minds about seeing riders still training indoors 90% of the time during great weather. I very much understand the time efficiency and supposed structured training benefit.
I maintain that you absolutely can continue to can do structured training outdoors, provided you have the terrain etc.
I think a component many are missing is the social aspect of cycling. Indoors training has brutalized that aspect of cycling. If you think youāre socializing by chatting in a text box on Zwift, Iām afraid youāre mistaken.
Itās possible that your friends are simply upset that you are choosing not to be with them in the real world. The resulted ribbing is just them being uncomfortable and struggling to simply tell you, they miss your company.
The volume of people equating this to others being upset at them because they are stronger etc demonstrates everything wrong with staying in your garage for that supposed 2% benefit.
Most of us are not professional athleteās, we have very limited time on Earth. Cycling is a beautiful activity. Choosing to ride indoors when one could be on a gravel adventure, hurtling down a hill on a MTB or just enjoying quality time with friends, is, in my opinion. Not entirely wise, long term. This has nothing to do with performance.
I get that this is probably the least popular post a human could write on this forum. However, I stand by it. After seeing multitudes of people training the literal fun out of cycling. Many of these riders are no longer in the sport.
Remember, you are allowed to enjoy cycling, you donāt have to train. That last 20w in FTP means almost nothing.
Cycling can be a life time activity, particularly if we focus on the fun aspects.
Unpopular opinion finished 
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Counterpoint: for some people, the training process is fun. I love it, but I do balance outdoor long rides, occasional group rides with my structure so I have balance. That said, Iām not sacrificing the last 20W of FTPā¦ you can fit it all in and still train exceptionally well.
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Fixed that to align with the original post. Because I somehow got faster doing less āstructureā and I know Iām not the only oneā¦.
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