Two choices for @leahnp… 
The short version
The debate on here & the Smart Turbo thread, got me thinking about an alternative to my turbo.
Then, while ‘just looking’ on Ebay for something like a Wattbike Atom, I found this…
Listed under ‘Exercise Bike’ for £90 (buy it now) and just over 6 miles/20 odd minutes away.
Erm…. Sold. 
Anyway, I figured it was a low-risk option to see what this type of exercise bike is like.
Or…
The long and winding road version here
This all started when cycling standing up on the turbo…
Chain slipped & I ‘kneed’ the tri-bars, not once, but twice in the space of a few minutes. 
The problem was easy to spot and a replacement chain ring was ordered and fitted.
But this simply drew my attention to just what a state my road bike was now in.
Here is just one example of the bubbling paintwork.
Bought in 2005 (via TT1.0 ‘on sale’ link), it cost either £599 or £699 (can’t remember which).
So, it owes me nothing and I’ve been on TT long enough to know the answer to any problem is…
Buy a new bike!
But there was no point in buying a new bike if it is just going to live on the turbo and slowly rot.
Which brings me back to the short version above and buying an exercise bike.
Once I got it home, my first job was to re-connect the head unit.
As the seller removed the bars to make it easier to carry by mistake and a wire popped out.
Obviously, this turned into one of those jobs where everything had to come apart first.
Next the power cable supplied was clearly wrong, as it fouled the pedal…
So, a temporary swap with my wife’s treadmill lead, until a new cable arrived.
With a now working bike in the kitchen, my wife helped me carry it to the summer house.
For now, the bike and turbo were shoved in the shed until I can sort out some space in there.
Next job was to cut some alloy strips to shims the handle bars to reduce the wobble.
I also had to take a jigsaw to one corner of the plywood base I had under the turbo.
This allowed me to push the base to the back wall of the Summer House.
Mistake #1 - I’d ordered a spare set of SPD pedals, rather than remove the ones on my bike.
Unfortunately, I may have only used toe straps for a few days in the last 20 years…
So, obviously, my feet slipped out and I slammed the metal pedal into my shin HARD.
Again, not once, but twice.
A literal blood, sweat and tears session.
(My shin was a light shade of green for a few days after this.)
Switching from cycling shoes to trainers seems to have resolved that problem for now.
Mistake #2 – I did not check the seat was tight & I didn’t notice it slowly slipping downwards.
(So many other things were different, I just thought my legs were struggling. )
First Impressions
There was no way to match my previous bike set up exactly, as most adjustments are ‘chunky’.
So, I was using the same muscles slightly differently, especially my arms, and aching more.
(I’d forgotten just how much time I spend down on the tri-bars on the turbo.)
I’ve been using the bike on the ‘level’ setting as the ‘gearing’ is obviously different too.
(Although my time and distance numbers are similar enough to the turbo, just harder work.)
The instructions for calibrating the incline were not very clear, but I did it sitting on the bike.
Whilst going ‘up’ was interesting, feeling the bike pointing ‘down’ was very odd indeed. 
For now, I am going to stick with this and swap over the pedals and a spare saddle I have.
Next Steps
To paraphrase @Hammerer on the swimming thread…
The 3 secrets for really improving my cycling:
- Take my bike off the turbo
- Ride my bike outside
- Enjoy my cycling
Later this year, I will scour Ebay for both a new (to me) road bike and the latest version of this bike.
Which has a better range of adjustment and the option of fitting some tri-bars.
So, my £90 ‘bargain’ will end up costing me a lot more than I thought.
Cheers, Paul. 