Exercise bike vs Road training

Mike_on_his_Bike

I'm at a level where I want to step up my fitness on the bike, I have been doing around 60 miles a week but haven't really noticed much improvement in my endurance or power. I was considering joining a gym near me in Manchester that has the Lance Armstrong spin bikes and combining that with some strength training and see if that is more effective.

Just wondering how everyone else trains i.e. just on the road or do some gym time as well?

jonomc4

any time on a bike is going to help but I think there are some things to bear in mind

1) a gym bike is not going to be a perfect fit and you could get an injury over a long time
2) on a gym bike it is far to easy to stop and take a breather or give up - you really have to be dedicated

I tried doing this and and that to get fitter and better on a bike - I commute about 120 miles a week (12 miles each way) and that got me to a plateau were I was stuck - not a bad place to be and far better than nothing but still I knew there was much more in the tank, since I have started to do a 35 - 60 mile single ride at the weekend (with far too many hills for my liking) my fitness has leaped up to a whole new level and now the commute (even when I push hard) just doesn't register as exercise any more. My endurance and power have increased a lot.

So really all I can say is once you build a basic fitness level - get out on the bike and do one long ride a week - if you have time - start at 15 miles and build it up by 5 miles each week.

Mike_on_his_Bike

Thanks for the advice, I think I have a reasonable basic fitness level but I was wondering if it was worth joining a gym as well as cycling, if not for exercise bike then for doing some weights a friend of mine suggested it might help me on the hills which I find particularly hard, I can manage 40 mile single ride if its flat with no problem.

jgsi

Road all the time - spin or turbo as 'back up' or for winter/foul weather...
You really need to think about extending that mileage whilst you can at this time of the year.
When you get to the stage of treating a 20 or 30 miler as a warmup ride and anything close to 50 or 60miles does not 'daunt' you in a way shape or form (apart from the time expenditure and unless it is a race), then you are probably gotten your fitness up to that level you seek.
It won't happen overnight and it certainly wont happen if you just stick to a gym routine in the false hope it will make you a 'stronger' rider.

Tom Butcher

I think you need to be looking at upping the time on the bike and/or the intensity if you want to improve.

The weights are fine but at your relatively low mileage I wouldn't think they are a good use of your time if the aim is to cycle faster. Spin bikes are a bit different - that's cycling - maybe not quite as good as using your real bike but if you are more motivated to do high intensity cycling in a gym environment that may be a good way to go for you. I'd have thought spin classes would be better than solo sessions if you don't already have a history of training hard and doing interval sessions.

Mike_on_his_Bike

I think Toms got what I was trying to ask, the type of training on a spin bike may be a higher intensity than when I'm on the road, and being a solo rider means I'm probably not pushing myself that hard. I have only been cycling for about 8 months and only just started to increase my mileage from around 20 miles to the odd 40 miler at the weekend. I will be trying to increase this over the summer as just getting out in the sun is a pretty big motivation.

styxd

I think you just need to spend time on the bike. Weights can help your cycling in some respects (not on the hills though, being piss thin helps here!) but I dont think theres really any point in doing weights and whatever else if the furthest you can ride is 40miles!

If you want to increase endurance or power you could always try some interval training. Or just go out and ride as hard as you can for as long as you can and do some steep hills out of the saddle.

Also, how much do you weigh?

Mike_on_his_Bike

61kg at 5'10" so fairly weedy

cougie

If you have the time for the gym, then a few spin classes per week will help you.

The Armstrong spin bikes that I've seen in the gym aren't as good as some - there's no reach adjustment on the bars so if you don't want your knees to bang on them - you have to have the bars pretty high. But other spin bikes are very adjustable and you can get a decent replica of your riding position.

Do the endurance rides on the road, and when you've only an hour to spare = bang in a spin class. I'd not bother with weights either.

jgsi

Mike_on_his_Bike wrote:

61kg at 5'10" so fairly weedy

Sounds like excellent material to build a cyclist out of you..

it was local triathlon the other day.. some of 'em had such beefed up shoulders so yea wide that it was no wonder they couldnt ride in a straight line.......

Mike_on_his_Bike

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement guys, going to try and increase my mileage with a few more hills and see how that goes the interval training also sounds like a good idea.

Cyclist999

I think, firstly you should reach miles which are up to 60 miles. After you get into these long miles, you should start interval tranings.

P_Tucker

Cyclist999 wrote:

I think, firstly you should reach miles which are up to 60 miles. After you get into these long miles, you should start interval tranings.

Herbsman

Have you tried pedaling harder?