How realistic are spin bikes?

markpotts147

I've just ordered my first road bike and in doing so have had to trade in my mountainbike as deposit. So I've been using the spin bike and have just done my best time for 10 miles. I want to know how realistic this time is?? Is it just pie in the sky ?? :oops: :oops:

Cheers,
Mark

synchronicity

Thought you were talking about this bike for a minute:

sungod

static bikes/turbos aren't realistic as far as speed goes

on a real bike, most of your energy is going into overcoming drag once you are going at speed on the flat

on a static bike or turbo there's no drag, so they report an unrealistically high speed

father_jack

I guess you could increase the mileage by a certain percentage for it to equal out, or course what is average amount of wind?

Pretre

Father Jack wrote:

I guess you could increase the mileage by a certain percentage for it to equal out, or course what is average amount of wind?

How long is a piece of string?

I can't think of any realistic way to compare gym bike speeds to riding on the road - in a gym there's no wind, no poor road surfaces, no traffic, no gradient changes all the time, etc.
I'm not saying gym bikes are useless but I am saying that even trying to compare speed to a raod ride is pointless IMHO.

father_jack

Twice as much maybe?

Scrumple

chalk and cheese

EddieHitler

Agree, spin bikes cannot in anyway compare to speeds and conditions etc of a road bike, just way to many variables on a road bike but used regularly with a few decent programes they are a brilliant training aid. I use one two or three times a week at the gym right through the winter (regular decent treadmill miles also) and find getting back into the bike miles early spring takes little or no more effort

daviesee

EddieHitler wrote:

Agree, spin bikes cannot in anyway compare to speeds and conditions etc of a road bike, just way to many variables on a road bike but used regularly with a few decent programes they are a brilliant training aid. I use one two or three times a week at the gym right through the winter (regular decent treadmill miles also) and find getting back into the bike miles early spring takes little or no more effort

+1

Good training but you are in for a big disappointment if you read too much into static stats....

danowat

Isn't wind resistance one of the biggest factors working against you?, especially at speeds above 20mph.

No wind resistance means an irrelevent time. (IMO)

markpotts147

Cheers for the replies guys. Bike should be built by Saturday, so I'll get out there and see what happens.

sungod

this page has some example figures...

http://www.analyticcycling.com/WheelsConcept_Page.html

...for a rider at 36 km/hr about 75% of the power is used overcoming drag (and that excludes drag on the wheels)

dennisn

synchronicity wrote:

Thought you were talking about this bike for a minute:

That bike seems fairly realistic.

balthazar

It's realistic – real – in the sense that it reflects your maximium cardiovascular effort. There's no translation between the confected figures that the indoor machine delivers, and the times you might achieve with the same effort on the road: there are too many unknown variables for that to be possible. Still, for most people, TT's are about competing with yourself, not others – so the challenge is comparable.

carl_p

markpotts147 wrote:

Cheers for the replies guys. Bike should be built by Saturday, so I'll get out there and see what happens.

It will rain, that's what will happen and you'll have to go to the gym to use the spin bike

Spin bikes have their place and I regularly do spin classes but you can't beat getting out in the fresh air on a real bike. Just enjoy yours and don't get concerned about time, distance and speed at this stage.

Bar Shaker

Flywheel bikes in the spin studio are good training, the computer bikes are rubbish.

Do some spin classes to pick up what sort of training you should do but always have a good amount of resistance on. Sitting there with blurred legs and no resistance is a waste of time.

BPM classes are taking over everywhere and are 45 minutes stretching with 15 minutes cycling. Why are gyms dumbing it all down so much. I lose 1kg in sweat in a serious spin class.

stronginthesun

why are computer bikes rubbish ? ok ignore the readouts as they are not usually reliable . but ive had some serious workouts on them and surely that must be good for your overall fitness ? yes i know its not as good as getting out on your bike in the fresh air ect .

fnegroni

I personally never got on with fake bikes.

ademort

Last week while working offshore i rode a BH hometrainer for 1 Hour. My average speed was 42.3Km/h. Total distance covered of course was also 42.3Km/h. My Calories burned was 660. I rode this hometrainer 4 times and got similar results each time. Today on my own hometrainer a Slazenger model, i rode at an average speed of 31.9 Km/h. My total distance covered was of course also 31.9 Km/h. My calories burned was 1082. When you compare the two there is an enormous difference. As other members have said you can hold little value on the results. Just for the record when i ride on the road i usually average 34Km/h on my own, flat terrain.
Ademort

Pretre

stronginthesun wrote:

why are computer bikes rubbish ? ok ignore the readouts as they are not usually reliable . but ive had some serious workouts on them and surely that must be good for your overall fitness ? yes i know its not as good as getting out on your bike in the fresh air ect .

Nothing wrong with them for fitness at all - just don't kid yourself they're comparable to road riding.

Bar Shaker

You can't use them with any decent resistance because the pedals stop when your foot reaches BDC. This means you can't properly load the next pedal stroke. The problem is much worse if you try to 'ride' out of the saddle.

No comparison with road or mtb riding and doesn't work the correct sections of quads and calves.

Flywheel bikes are much more like real riding.

stronginthesun

Pretre wrote:

stronginthesun wrote:

why are computer bikes rubbish ? ok ignore the readouts as they are not usually reliable . but ive had some serious workouts on them and surely that must be good for your overall fitness ? yes i know its not as good as getting out on your bike in the fresh air ect .

Nothing wrong with them for fitness at all - just don't kid yourself they're comparable to road riding.

i dont and would much prefer to be out on the road , but working shifts in the winter i find the gym bikes better than nothing !

markpotts147

Bar Shaker wrote:

Flywheel bikes are much more like real riding.

I think flywheel and spin bikes are the same thing arent they. I'm talking about the ones you see in the spin classes in gym's. Mine's at home however.

Bar Shaker

Yes but the thread moved on to my comment of...

Bar Shaker wrote:

Flywheel bikes in the spin studio are good training, the computer bikes are rubbish.

Not all gyms have spin studios and some people aren't aware of the massive difference in operation. People setting up home gyms also get talked into buying the computer resistance non flywheel bikes. In short - don't.

Radioactiveman

Just bought an ex gym reconditioned spinbike. Previously had a turbo trainer, granted a cheapish one. Spinbikes can be picked up relatively cheaply on ebay (compared to a turbo and extra wheel)


I prefer the spinbike and find it much easier too beast myself. Also means I dont need to have another bike or mess around swapping out wheels(fitted with a turbo tyre) Currently use it with HRM , going to set it up for cadence also.

Spinbike means the wife can use it without her destroying my road bike in some way.(she would manage it I am sure)