I’m traveling, and the best I’ve been able to do in the place of riding my bike has been to hop on spinning bikes at the gym. Not too terrible, actually, and they feel a lot closer to being on the road than my fluid trainer does. But they got me thinking - do any of you actually use a spinning bike at home instead of a trainer? And if so - are there any models that let you use your own pedals/handlebars/saddle so you can replicate your fit?
Just out of curiosity than anything else - all input welcome!
My wife and I have this one. I put some looks on it and a DeSoto seat pad. I don’t ride it much living in SoCal but my wife rides it a couple of times a week. Just walk into the next room and hammer away. It is boring so I do interval type training and listen to music, watch TV or both:.
I do have a KK trainer but I’ve never used it(still in the box). The spin bike is just too convenient.
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The Spinner® NXT has taken the indoor cycling world by storm. Now you can bring the latest indoor cycling technology to the safety and convenience of your own home. This all aluminum framed bike will never rust. The Spinner® NXT has no-slip handlebars and dual water bottle holders for non-stop hydration on those long rides when the music is turned up. It has dual-sided SPD® compatible platform pedals for clipless or regular shoes. The NXT’s micro-adjustable fore and aft seat slider means you can adjust the bike to a perfect fit on every ride. The NXT’s ergonomic saddle with flexible seat base, double density padding and anatomical cutout provides unparalleled riding comfort. If you’re searching for the very best indoor cycling bike for your home gym, the Spinner® NXT manufactured by Star Trac is your bike.
Features
Heavy-Duty Aluminum Frame offers corrosion and rust resistance. Plastic rim on inner radius to protect flywheel from rust and corrosion. Ergonomic Saddle with flexible seat base, double-density padding and anatomical cutout provides comfort for all riders. Push brake safety system brings flywheel to a fast stop with minimal effort. No-Slip Grip Handlebars offer dual water bottle holders for ultimate functionality and convenience during the ride. Oval-Shaped Handlebar and Seat Posts offer extra stability with easy-to-remember alphanumeric markings for the returning rider. Micro-Adjustable Seat Slider delivers maximum fore and aft adjustability with easy-to-remember numerical markings. Dual-Sided Pedals with larger platform and SPD™ compatibility provide enduring comfort and stability. Crank Assembly with increased strength provides dependable performance for every rider.Specifications
Model Number: 7090 Overall Dimensions: 53.9" l x 20.6" w x 40" h (136.9 x 52.3 x 101.6 cm) Overall Weight: 113.5 lbs (51.5 kg) Flywheel Weight: 43 lbs (19.5 kg) Color: Silver frame, black shrouding, black flywheel
I use one… quite often since I live in upstate NY. I have found it to be a better experience than a trainer. Of course it is much more expensive but its sturdier and easier, I find myself using it more often that I used my trainer set up. My bike doesn’t get abused and rusty from my sweat all over it and my wife can use the same piece of equipment that I am using. I have found the training videos from here http://www.thesufferfest.com/ to be awesome this winter it has really helped my indoor training and kept me on the bike more often.
I have used both. Nothing beats a trainer for feel. Last year before I got my computrainer I did most of my winter cycling on the NXT as shown in a post. I was grossly under-trained. It is much more convenient, but especially if you are doing long distance, it is hard to beat getting into the aerobars on your own bike and cranking out the mines.
I still use the spin cycle, but mainly when I am lazy or doing swim/bike bricks at my gym
I spend about 5 hours a week on one at the gym from Thanksgiving to Easter, give or take. Dark roads, sand, salt, crazy drivers, expensive bike, etc makes it not worth the risk to me to take my bike out.
I use my MTB shoes which have SPD clips, I wear full biking gear (save the helmet and glasses), I hand count my cadence every 6 minutes or so, and guess at the resistance, since the machine is entirely mechanical.
Works well enough that I lose very little over the winter. I can jump right back into the A group rides and keep up with little trouble. With in a few weeks I am right back to where I left off in November.
Of course, during that time I bounce my running mileage up to about 50 a week, and my swim time up to about 3 hours a week, so the increase in cardio probably offsets the lose in specific muscle training.
You can pick up a spin bike on ebay/craigslist/etc for about the same price as a trainer. It definitely wont give you the the same feel as being on your own bike, even if you can put on your own saddle or aerobars. That doesn’t mean though that you can’t get a great workout on a spin bike!
During the cold months (which is the majority of the time… I live in MN) I spin pretty frequently at the gym, and I also ride my own bike on a cycleops fluid. I chose spin over the trainer just because I like the company of other people, and out of respect for my housemate at 5:45 am. I’ve definitely thought about getting a spin bike to put in our little home gym (read: living room) though! I think my rationale is that I feel like I can ride harder on a spin bike…? It’s not going to tip over… I don’t care if I drip sweat all over it… you know what I mean?
I have not used a trainer for a long time, but own a Lemond revmaster I picked up used. I never liked the stability of the trainer, nor the mess or volume. Spin bikes feel very solid, beg you to get out of the saddle and ride them hard and have a much smoother feel to them while pedaling. The ones I’ve used all had very standard pedal axle sizes so you can put your favorite pedals on and hammer away. The Revmaster and others also use a standard steel clamp for the seat, so you can put your own seat on there as well. If you are meticulous, it is not that hard to duplicate your position.
Fortunately, I live in the desert, so I never have to use mine anymore, but I can’t sell it because no one else needs one around here either.
Chad
The challenge with most spin bikes is getting repeatable and consistent tension levels. How do you ensure the tension is the same ride after ride? Yes, you can get a good workout, but it needs to be HR based. The Cycleops units get around this, but they are pretty pricey.
I think you are better off buying both a set of rollers and a trainer for the amount of money you would spend on a spin bike.
For the last 3 years I have been traveling on 7 on 7off schedule and all I get on that week is not even spin bikes, but stationary bikes at various gyms. Spin bike is a treat on the road. That has not stopped me from putting several 2:27 HIM splits and few times under 60min 40k TTs. So no worries. The only thing I don’t do is recumbent bikes, otherwise, it has pedals, turn them as hard as you can, you will get better at cycling.
I’m in a similar boat - I travel a lot with work and spend most of my bike training on two bikes (electronic Lifefitness ones) and Spinner bikes (as shown above). I managed a 4:55 on my first IM and would have only ridden my TT bike 12-15x in the year (all long weekend rides). While boredom kills - the actual feel of the Spinner bikes is pretty good (IMO). The lifefitness bikes are great for building power - but I find the actual bike produces a lot of heat - so you end up dripping in sweat.
I have a johnny g schwinn spin bike that i used for a while. Once i got a computriner and set of rollers i stopped using the spin bike. I picked it up for around 150.00 of a local gym eqiupment refurbisher
If I go from lots of time on the spin bike to riding outside, I don’t feel like I have any bike fitness at all. If I go from riding on the trainer to outside, I feel better outside.
I just spent 3 hours on the spin bike at the gym. I really do believe I’ll have nightmares about that saddle for weeks to come… yeouch. On the plus side, the bottle holders on the front made a perfectly good shelf for my iPad (even with the bottles in!), so it was slightly more tolerable.
The saddle position wasn’t bad, all things considered, but I was really longing for aerobars. The stack/reach of the spin bike was all wrong for me. Looks like it wouldn’t be too hard to mount aerobars on that thing, though, so maybe not a bad option. The thing is super sturdy, especially out of the saddle, and the resistance dial isn’t too bad.
The killer, though, was that it’s a beautiful day around here - I would have loved to have my bike with me, but instead I was stuck indoors. Oh well…
The problem with your statement is the word “feel.” It provides no quantitative way to judge between the two. I will say this, the big flywheel on the spin bike provides a smooth pedaling motion and a lot of inertia. Once it is rolling it is pretty easy to keep rolling, so perhaps you are not doing the same amount of work on the spin bike.
3 things I hated about the spinning bike that will keep me from using it more than once a week.
The biggest problem is that the cranks are offset what seems like almost 1" wider than standard road cranks…maybe 1/2" or more wider than MTB cranks. I feel like I could do some knee damage riding this thing for long. (OK< not likely but it fees weird).
The seats are set-up for non riders. They are big, wide and tilted nose down like 15 degrees.
The bars don’t go low enough. I know, now I’m nitpicking. Even with my seat at a proper height, I think the lowest position still puts them 1" above the saddle. My road bike, they are almost 2" below and my TT bike something like 4" below the saddle.
I do realize the purpose is not to simulate an actual bicycle, but could they at least ad some adjust-ability so you can get close?
At least they have shorter cranks (feel like 170’s) and it has standard clipless pedals on the flip side of the pedal. I have an old pair of shoes I’ve set-up for using there.
Francisco, I am a long-time advocate/practitioner of indoor bike training - windtrainer in the 80s, computrainer in the 90s, and the CycleOps Indoor cycle for the past 5 years.
Controlled environment makes allows one to structure time efficient workouts that significantly improve performance. IMO, the CycleOps is far and away best in its class - measures watts for repeatable quantitative performance metric, both bike and stem positions are adjustable up/down and fore/aft for exact fit, and as cdw expressed the Indoor Cycle allows one to stand effectively as part of the workout - difficult to do with a bike/trainer set-up.
I have about 40 of the CycleOps at my performance cycling studio, including a dozen of the new 300Pro models. I also have a handful of used units that are in excellent shape for $600 if you happen to be in the neighborhood.
For those of you visiting San Francisco and are looking for a power-based cycling class, Alter G run session, Vasa ergometer session, or want to test leg turnover on our 16mph treadmill, please come by for a visit.
I’m sort of far from the neighborhood - I live in Colombia, and will be moving to Argentina in a few months!
Thanks for the advice, by the way - I checked out the CycleOps stuff and it looks really, really nice. I think in order for it to be worthwhile, I’d have to be able to replicate my bike as closely as possible (saddle, crank, pedals, aero bars, etc), and based on a little internet research it seems like these are the easiest to customize.
That said, I hope I spend a whole lot more time cycling outdoors than in!
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