3 fans in front (two for legs/body and 1 for face)
1 fan in rear to cool backside
Lights Change colors and fans turn on with Siri
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Had a recovery week this week, and decided the garage needed to be rearranged. So I have a new location that gave me about two more feet to work with, facilitating the Lifeline trainer desk on which my laptop resides which has let me do a ton of work so far just this week. A massive upgrade from my music stand.
Added some shelving to make things way cleaner and got my AppleTV setup back because of it. I can run Zwift there or watch TV and run Zwift on phone or in the background on my laptop. (I use my Bolt to control the trainer anymore.)
I love the new spot because I’m beside the back access doors to the garage which we have never had clear before anyway, so now I can get some cross breeze and sunlight if I want it.
I might try and add some fun lighting like some of you have, but I think this is pretty legit for a garage pain cave/“home office”. 
Super excited by the new setup.
The kit:
Saris Hammer H3
Saris rocker plate
Slowest Venge Ever
Lifeline trainer desk
2x Lasko blowers
1x Stanley blower (back fan, a hair smaller)
24” LG TV/AppleTV 4K
MacBook Air
Cooler for quick drink access if I need it, otherwise it’s a fan stand. 
My favorite race photo of soloing the field at a local crit as motivation above the TV.
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I love the shelving you put in for this, I might have to do the same. I’ve been toying with mounting a fan to the wall. Looks like you have more space between the wall and bike than I do though–my Kickr is right against the wall.
The Lifeline desk is a life saver! I get so much busy work done while pushing the pedals.
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Yeah no idea why it took me so long to invest in a proper trainer desk, especially the last year when I could’ve been doing coaching work while spinning.
I had the back fan on an old barstool where I cut one side of supports to fit over the trainer. The issue was when I got the rocker plate, I had no room for it behind the trainer in my old spot, so it lived on the rocker plate… where it would move around sometimes, especially when I stand up.
My old spot was 6’6” fore/aft.
This spot is 8’4” fore/aft, and the shelving lets me use all of that floor space now so I’ve got room to move the desk around and it is a lot easier to get the bike on and off the trainer.
So if you want a setup like this with the shelving, I would recommend an 8ft spot (2.5m? For you metric peeps)
I have a question about fans in the rear…
I have 2 Lasko’s in the front, and 1 Lasko in the rear. The rear one is on the floor, but angled up to basically hit my ‘mid back’. BUT, that placement only works when I’m upright on the bike, rather than in the drops.
For folks who have the rear fan ‘up high on the wall’ (@kurt.braeckel ) did you previously have it on the floor? It would be a lot of work for me to mount on the wall… but if it’s a huge difference in cooling, then I’d invest the energy. Thoughts?
I have my rear fan on a bar stool, so it’s easy to move if needed. The height just seems to work well for me too.
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@Jack_Russell_Racing The barstool idea like Chad has is what I had too. The fan was essentially at saddle height and I angled it up to get airflow across my back.
The shelf I installed I have three feet vertically to play with and adjustment is easy, so I’m starting with it here where the fan will be much more directly on my back, but I can lower it down to where it was before.
I think a barstool is perfect if you have space but it wasn’t convenient with my particular rocker plate and space limitation.
I felt a pretty big difference elevating all of my fans, as you can see in the photos. The one in the back being elevated makes the most sense since it’s the farthest from the cooling target. I like all three being within reach for max airflow and adjustment during the ride.
Especially this time of year, I adjust the fan speed often. I had everything on 2 or 3 during threshold work yesterday, then backed them all to 1 and eventually turned one off completely during endurance time. Never left the saddle.
I would absolutely recommend elevating the back fan in some way - box, barstool, shelf…
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Gonna try the barstool tomorrow! I feel like a dork for having not really considered this over 6+ years.
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That old piece of junk is what I was using. Just removed the supports from one side and it fit well over Kickr and Hammer both.
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Old piece of junk 
… my wife would probably pay $100s for that “antique” because it’s weathered and shabby chic.
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@MI-XC …we have this “antique” shop near us that’s all about “unique finds”, but I swear they find old junk from yard sales and giveaway piles, then claim it’s “a special, one of a kind item that can’t be found anymore” 
. It’s old junk, not a well-crafted antique…just junk.
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Coach Kurt, please rate my setup. Apologies for the mess in the garage, spring cleaning can’t come too soon!
I have to take the wheels off the ceiling hook, and then move the small Vornado to the top of the red tool chest.
I’ve tried putting the front fans up:
but it doesn’t make much difference. Plus I store the height adjustable folding table in the shed.
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Current setup, I just replaced a cheap yoga mat with one from target this weekend. I wall mounted tv and removed a bulky dresser I was using for that and I put in a floating shelf to hold my laptop and roku. Def not much more I could do to improve the experience
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I’ve got a couple inside rugs sitting upright in the first pic, if you want to cozy up the paincave!
As long as they tie the room together
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My wife picked them out and she is all about that! Hope you are ready for a red bike
I see the front fans are head on. My personal preference is off to the side and on the torso.
Here’s something I’ve noticed with my current back fan position for @Jack_Russell_Racing and @mcneese.chad too - with the shelf back there and the fan above my saddle height, I can aim the fan pretty much straight my back. When I’m on the hoods/tops/drops I get airflow on my head from behind which keeps your face and head cool, making a big RPE difference without the discomfort of a fan blowing directly in my face.
This further has allowed me to keep the two front fans focused on my torso entirely, and my cooling experience feels pretty damn nice right now.
So something to consider, @WindWarrior when it comes to fan positioning… I prefer front fans off to the side some, and then I would elevate ALL of your fans close to your body as much as possible, regardless of where you put them.
Over the years I’ve used a yoga mat, then I used a proper trainer mat like the one from Kurt Kinetic, and there was a noticeable difference in comfort and silence on the trainer with the trainer mat. It’s thicker, so there’s a bit more give and wiggle for the trainer. There might even be some out there that are thicker than this one. I’d suggest too the rubber floor “puzzle” pieces, could be a nice upgrade to allow a little bit of motion.
I actually just added a comfort post to my blog today because I have a few of my athletes who are finally investing in indoor training and asked me some questions. If you guys have any more ideas on making the experience more comfortable (NOT less boring, yet!), let me know. I’m trying to stay away from “Buy a better saddle” and just talk about things that are specific to an indoor setup. Obviously some opinions on there (like about rollers), but happy for feedback, too!
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That was a pic from last month, when I “experimented” with the full frontal fans (not off to the side) in order to allow my wife to get access to the cupboard behind me.
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Yeah I like @dcrainmaker comment about the Kickr headwind in his video on the Lifeline desk and how it’s just a fan on his taint. 
So he moves it to the side.
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I get a similar flow from my stool with the fan opening just at my hip level, and a slight uphill angle. Air flows along my back to my neck and back of my head. A funny thing from the winter is that I let my hair grow longer than summer (wife likes it better) so the fan and sweat end up giving my a bit of a ducktail hairdo at the back from the flow. It is super effective at hitting lots of my body that is missed with front-only setups.
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If I had to pick a single fan location, I think I would choose that rear one. I do love my front fan that just catches my face and upper chest. It gives a refreshing flow, particularly with my window ducting, but the rear is the one that likely does the most actual cooling. I only use my front-side fan in the hardest workouts or when the outside air is not super cold. In those situations, I kick that on to hit my mid chest and pull the max cool air into the room.
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