Cyclebeat....

rick_chasey

Just signed up to a few classes at cyclebeat in support of a colleague who wants to do some lunchtime exercise

http://www.cyclebeat.co.uk/

Anyone been?

says they use SPDs on the bikes - anyone know if they're the MTB SPD's or road SPD SLs?

Reception not picking up.

Also, how awful is it?

rick_chasey

OK ignore that. They picked up.

Its MTB SPDs.

Should have guessed really.

bigmat

Girl in the office does it, sounds quite good.

daniel_b

BigMat wrote:

Girl in the office does it, sounds quite good.

Fnaaar, Fnaaar etc etc

Wheelspinner

First thought... "interesting" name choice.. sounds like a pickup place for gay bike riders..

Second thought.. their logo and typeface is very very similar to the CycleOps (trademark) one. Either they have a sponsorship deal or a lazy graphic designer.

First.Aspect

Rick Chasey wrote:

Just signed up to a few classes at cyclebeat in support of a colleague who wants to do some lunchtime exercise

http://www.cyclebeat.co.uk/

Anyone been?

says they use SPDs on the bikes - anyone know if they're the MTB SPD's or road SPD SLs?

Reception not picking up.

Also, how awful is it?

Have you tried riding a bike? Once you get the balance sorted its like a spin class only interesting.

elbowloh

My friend is a regular and I've been a handful of times.

Yes, SPDs. They lend you shoes if you need them.

It gets pretty hot in there, you will sweat buckets.

As for the classes, depends on the instructor, some are really good. I went to a couple of the "etape du tour" prep classes and they were pretty good. Last time I went I got free beer and food after, so that was a bonus!

TheStone

I signed up for 10 classes, but didn't even go to them all.
Not really for me. It's like paying for gym that only has spin classes and I generally avoid anything cycling related in the gym anyway.

rick_chasey

Well I went for a 35 minute session, and my numbers, in short, are rubbish.

AVG RPM 88
HIGH RPM 137
AVG POWER 130
HIGH POWER 375


I'm 55kg, so all in all, pretty pants.

I've got a few excuses, but yeah...

elbowloh

Rick Chasey wrote:

Well I went for a 35 minute session, and my numbers, in short, are rubbish.

AVG RPM 88
HIGH RPM 137
AVG POWER 130
HIGH POWER 375


I'm 55kg, so all in all, pretty pants.

I've got a few excuses, but yeah...

First time I went, june last year, my numbers were:

AVG RPM 82
HIGH RPM 129
AVG POWER 220
HIGH POWER 834

My average scores (been 4 times) are:

AVG RPM 78
HIGH RPM 118
AVG POWER 220
HIGH POWER 591

I'm 95 kilos though!

dhope

And it's Chasey by half a wheel!

Chasey 2.36 W/Kg
Elbowloh 2.32 W/Kg

(okay, maybe he gets mullered in a sprint, and drops Elbow on the hills)

Is that the Cyclebeat just off monument? Office backs onto that, a few in the office have been and quite liked it. There's always Athlete Lab 2mins away for a more cycling (vs spin) workout

rick_chasey

dhope wrote:

And it's Chasey by half a wheel!

Chasey 2.36 W/Kg
Elbowloh 2.32 W/Kg

(okay, maybe he gets mullered in a sprint, and drops Elbow on the hills)

Is that the Cyclebeat just off monument? Office backs onto that, a few in the office have been and quite liked it. There's always Athlete Lab 2mins away for a more cycling (vs spin) workout

Yeah. It's £20 unlimited for 2 weeks new starter offer.

I'll stop once that offer is over.

elbowloh

dhope wrote:

And it's Chasey by half a wheel!

Chasey 2.36 W/Kg
Elbowloh 2.32 W/Kg

(okay, maybe he gets mullered in a sprint, and drops Elbow on the hills)

Is that the Cyclebeat just off monument? Office backs onto that, a few in the office have been and quite liked it. There's always Athlete Lab 2mins away for a more cycling (vs spin) workout

To be honest, I have no idea what the numbers mean. I always look good on the leaderboard (top 2) that's shown during the class, as it doesn't take account of weight, but when I look at the table after, i'm halfway down the list!

rick_chasey

elbowloh wrote:

dhope wrote:

And it's Chasey by half a wheel!

Chasey 2.36 W/Kg
Elbowloh 2.32 W/Kg

(okay, maybe he gets mullered in a sprint, and drops Elbow on the hills)

Is that the Cyclebeat just off monument? Office backs onto that, a few in the office have been and quite liked it. There's always Athlete Lab 2mins away for a more cycling (vs spin) workout

To be honest, I have no idea what the numbers mean. I always look good on the leaderboard (top 2) that's shown during the class, as it doesn't take account of weight, but when I look at the table after, i'm halfway down the list!

Table after is weight adjusted.

elbowloh

Rick Chasey wrote:

elbowloh wrote:

dhope wrote:

And it's Chasey by half a wheel!

Chasey 2.36 W/Kg
Elbowloh 2.32 W/Kg

(okay, maybe he gets mullered in a sprint, and drops Elbow on the hills)

Is that the Cyclebeat just off monument? Office backs onto that, a few in the office have been and quite liked it. There's always Athlete Lab 2mins away for a more cycling (vs spin) workout

To be honest, I have no idea what the numbers mean. I always look good on the leaderboard (top 2) that's shown during the class, as it doesn't take account of weight, but when I look at the table after, i'm halfway down the list!

Table after is weight adjusted.

Yes, I know.

MonkeyMonster

Rick Chasey wrote:

Well I went for a 35 minute session, and my numbers, in short, are rubbish.

AVG RPM 88
HIGH RPM 137
AVG POWER 130
HIGH POWER 375


I'm 55kg, so all in all, pretty pants.

I've got a few excuses, but yeah...

Wait a second... 55kg. Are you an oompa loompa?

rick_chasey

No. You're just fat.

rick_chasey

AVG RPM 73
HIGH RPM 128
AVG POWER 170
HIGH POWER 439
TOTAL ENERGY 416.3
DISTANCE 14.9
ESTIMATED CALORIES 567
DURATION 45 min

So on average 40 watts more for 10 more minutes.

A better power-to-weight number of 3.09watts/kg

The cycle home immediately afterwards wasn't my most competitive mind...

bigmat

Is this on Wattbikes?

dhope

BigMat wrote:

Is this on Wattbikes?

Keiser M3+

I'm not sure how it being a spin bike (and the inertia that goes with them when you're up to speed) affects the power readings. I guess it smooths the output slightly (can't stamp on the pedals and go as much as you might a normal bike, similarly can't just stop?)

bigmat

dhope wrote:

BigMat wrote:

Is this on Wattbikes?

Keiser M3+

I'm not sure how it being a spin bike (and the inertia that goes with them when you're up to speed) affects the power readings. I guess it smooths the output slightly (can't stamp on the pedals and go as much as you might a normal bike, similarly can't just stop?)

Probably a smoother curve. Cadence should be higher as well - at least I'm pretty sure I'm a few RPM faster on a fixed wheel. Quite tempted to give it a go.

The Rookie

MonkeyMonster wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Well I went for a 35 minute session, and my numbers, in short, are rubbish.

AVG RPM 88
HIGH RPM 137
AVG POWER 130
HIGH POWER 375


I'm 55kg, so all in all, pretty pants.

I've got a few excuses, but yeah...

Wait a second... 55kg. Are you an oompa loompa?

Cripes my daughter is 5'2" and weighs more than that - not at all fat either!

rick_chasey

BigMat wrote:

dhope wrote:

BigMat wrote:

Is this on Wattbikes?

Keiser M3+

I'm not sure how it being a spin bike (and the inertia that goes with them when you're up to speed) affects the power readings. I guess it smooths the output slightly (can't stamp on the pedals and go as much as you might a normal bike, similarly can't just stop?)

Probably a smoother curve. Cadence should be higher as well - at least I'm pretty sure I'm a few RPM faster on a fixed wheel. Quite tempted to give it a go.

Crank length is definitely bigger than I'm used to on bikes, so I am finding the high RPM stuff more difficult.

elbowloh

This inertia thing, t definitely took me by surprise the first couple of times I went, when I just stopped pedalling and was almost thrown off the bike!

bigmat

elbowloh wrote:

This inertia thing, t definitely took me by surprise the first couple of times I went, when I just stopped pedalling and was almost thrown off the bike!

Happened to me at about 30mph at Herne Hill - went down like a sack of ****. Fortunately I bounce.

Crab22

Had a go at Athlete Lab today. The site is offering one off free sessions at the minute - overall I was pretty impressed. I don't tend to ride indoors much and living in a one bed makes using a turbo a little difficult etc. etc. but since it was free I thought I'd give it a go and potentially buy some sessions for days when the weather is really 'un-rideable'.

Anyhow... I thought I'd book onto the 6.30am threshold session to punish myself a bit - nothing like a bit of pain on a Friday morning - format is 14 mins @ 95% FTP, 12 mins @100% FTP and 10 mins at 100% FTP - 3 mins rest in between and the standard warm up/down.

I would recommend it to anyone. One thing to note, apparently the bikes chuck out numbers that are a little lower than what you'd get on a crank-based powermeter (approx 3%) - Jack the instructor has an SRM and said that this is what he finds anyway. Doesn't sound that big a deal, but when you're working threshold - 3% can be a fairly chunky number, so take note.

Only negative was the rubbish music, but this was more than made up for by the fact that Tommy Voeckler was in the background behind the data gurning like a champ.