Spin Bike Smart Resistance Mechanism

SirLouen

I was thinking lately if it could be possible to incorporate some type of "smart" resistance mechanism to fixed wheel spin bikes.

I have not found any commercial solution. Has anyone been able to figure out something?
The idea is that I don't want to use my outdoor bike for indoor purposes, and I don't want to spend +$1500 in a smart spin bike, so the alternatives are null with this strings

What I've been able to do, it's to use my Garmin Vector pedals for Power meter, and my Wahoo for cadence sensing, so the only element that I'm missing is the "auto" resistance mechanism to have a full-featured smart spin bike (single geared, but I don't mind).

Currently, I'm adjusting resistance manually according to the situation, but it would be great to integrate somehow with 3rd party apps like Bkool or Zwift :-)

I would like to see your opinion about this.

bsharp77

This is exactly what I wanted with my Keiser M3 - I thought it was an amazing spin bike and would have loved to have used it as an interactive trainer.

I was going to buy a pair of power pedals and connect to Zwift that way, but I really wanted ERG mode too.
As soon as the Wattbike Atom was announced I ordered it and put my M3 up for sale.

Granted, its not cheap, but when you compare it to the original wattbike, or even something like the Tacx Neo, I think its well worth the investment.

DC Rainmaker has looked into making spin bikes "smart" by adding various gadgets over the years, but nothing regarding smart controlled resistance that I can recall - if you could devise a retrofit gadget that fitted spin bikes....you'd be rich!

StillGoing

Why do you need auto resistance? I understand it can apply resistance to try replicating gradients when using virtual reality programs, but why not just use any gears or the spin bikes own resistance adjustment to make things harder. Zwift would auto calculate your speed from your weight and power. Alternatively, buy a smart trainer with direct mount making using your bike as a training tool a doddle.

SirLouen

DC Rainmaker has looked into making spin bikes "smart" by adding various gadgets over the years, but nothing regarding smart controlled resistance that I can recall - if you could devise a retrofit gadget that fitted spin bikes....you'd be rich!

I thought so... I was thinking if someone had the brilliant idea to make it possible at an affordable price Most spin bike wheels are really similar, so a gadget similar to a trainer, that just could be regulated to execute pressure in the wheel (most spin wheels are metallic so even an electromagnetic magnet could be a good option). It would be a nice project to do a prototype of this.

Why do you need auto resistance?

One of the interesting things of current software like Zwift, it's the sensation of being outdoors, while cycling in the virtual land. So for example, if you start climbing a hill in game, some smart trainers, put some pressure in the pedaling, on the spin bike this can be achieved in the resistance.

Alternatively, buy a smart trainer with direct mount making using your bike as a training tool a doddle.

Yes, I think that spending $1500+ in a Wattbike Atom it's extremely expensive. I would prefer, to buy a cheap road bike and some smart trainer like Bkool Smart Pro 2. I could switch the Garmin Vector to this bike, and the total cost will be no more than $1000 ($500 the bike and $500 the smart trainer). And only using this bike for indoor training purposes.

But definitely I would have preferred a solution based on a Spin bike for less than $1K... to far away, yet Maybe I should think on a Kickstarter for this idea of retrofit-spin-bike-smart-trainer-adapter?

I don't know how much I will pay for it... $500 at most maybe. Like the Bkool Smart Pro 2 cost

StillGoing

SirLouen wrote:

Why do you need auto resistance?

One of the interesting things of current software like Zwift, it's the sensation of being outdoors, while cycling in the virtual land. So for example, if you start climbing a hill in game, some smart trainers, put some pressure in the pedaling, on the spin bike this can be achieved in the resistance.

Alternatively, buy a smart trainer with direct mount making using your bike as a training tool a doddle.

Yes, I think that spending $1500+ in a Wattbike Atom it's extremely expensive. I would prefer, to buy a cheap road bike and some smart trainer like Bkool Smart Pro 2. I could switch the Garmin Vector to this bike, and the total cost will be no more than $1000 ($500 the bike and $500 the smart trainer). And only using this bike for indoor training purposes.

But definitely I would have preferred a solution based on a Spin bike for less than $1K... to far away, yet Maybe I should think on a Kickstarter for this idea of retrofit-spin-bike-smart-trainer-adapter?

I don't know how much I will pay for it... $500 at most maybe. Like the Bkool Smart Pro 2 cost

Zwift auto resistance doesn't feel like the real world at all. Even the best trainers have a delay or lag with ramps/hills when encountered. But, if you're incapable of changing gear on the bike to make resistance harder when hills are on screen, then you'll have no choice but to fork out the extra costs for auto resistance/ERG mode.

An Elite Turbo Muin can be had for around £250. That's a direct mount turbo that can be made into a smart trainer with the addition of the B+ adapter. It won't do ERG mode though.

No turbo feels like the real world. The need for balance for one thing is lacking with a turbo trainer. If you want to feel more like the real world, buy some rollers.

SirLouen

Yes, @philthy3 this is my last alternative. An Elite Turbo Muin or equivalent

But, if you're incapable of changing gear on the bike to make resistance harder when hills are on screen

I'm manually capable of doing this since I'm talking from the beginning about a Spin bike (all have a manual adjustment).

I'm not yet into Zwift kinda software to know exactly how they work but considering my assumptions If the autoresistance program is well done, technically when the slope increases the resistance may increase accordingly

I'm not talking about ERG training. I'm saying that if the slope goes from 1% to 4%, the system automatically shall introduce extra resistance, as if you were rolling at 50RPM to develop 350W in ERG mode (for example), but with the thing that with the same resistance you could be rolling at 70RPM and developing lets say 450W (because the resistance does not change, since you are technically climbing a virtual slope)

I understand there could be an input lag to the resistance adjustment, that I don't know how these types of software manage.

But I'm not talking about ERG, I'm just talking about auto-resistance mode (according to the % virtual slope ingame).

I thinking of ideas to make this possible with the spin bike, but if I cannot see something viable, as you suggest, I would end buying a turbo trainer and a road bike not too expensive, specifically for this purpose. The problem for me at least and it's the drawback that has been holding me back, it's that I don't have much space in house, and the spin bike is easy to move (with the little wheels); but the training sets (especially the turbo ones with fixed trainer to wheel), are not an option to mount and dismount each time we are doing a training. They are meant to be perma-mounted. And they are a lot more cumbersome and difficult to move on demand.

wongataa

philthy3 wrote:

Why do you need auto resistance? I understand it can apply resistance to try replicating gradients when using virtual reality programs, but why not just use any gears or the spin bikes own resistance adjustment to make things harder.

Auto resistance is not required as you say but it is nice as you don't have to faff about finding a suitable gear and resistance combination when the virtual gradient changes or the output power required on your training plan changes. You can just concentrate on pedalling.

nacho

Hi,
just read this thread. Interesting.
I will share with you my DIY when finished.
I am trying to mount the main unit of a smart tacx bushido trainer into a spin bike.
Still need to figure if the braking mechanism will be ok with the flywheel+antislipping tape around it, or i will have to use an alternative wheel to avoid the effect of the flywheel weight...

will keep you posted

SirLouen

or i will have to use an alternative wheel to avoid the effect of the flywheel weight

If you change the flywheel then you break the main purpose of a Spinbike.
You can create a full stationary bike (without wheels just the frame) with the Wahoo equipment much more efficiently

JohnPoole66GkCL

Hmm .. This is really a very interesting idea. This will help to change the load, which will transform the workout. I recently saw a similar idea from the guys at https://cyclehealthinfo.com/nordictrack-s15i-vs-s22i/ . They implemented it very cool. If you are really interested, you can visit their site. There are also many other interesting articles that can help you with your exercise bike. I hope you find a lot for yourself on this site.

thistle_

The spam post bumped this thread into view...

Yes it is possible and I'm working on something like this at the moment for a dumb trainer, but it would work for a spin bike if the resistance is cable actuated.
If it's done another way it might still be possible, you just need a way to connect a stepper motor to the resistance controller.

I don't expect it to ever feel realistic, but I wanted a way to make the climbs feel harder so my cadence would be more realistic rather than spending the whole ride blasting at a constant cadence in one gear.

Something I've found while connecting to Zwift using the FTMS service is that the gradient is transmitted a second or two before it changes on the game screen, maybe to give the turbo time to react and sometimes the on screen gradient is different to what is transmitted e.g. on one of the Yorkshire routes Zwift sends a short 7% bump to the trainer but you don't see this on the screen.

I'll write up an instructable at some point when it's done. There's currently very little information out there on how to do this DIY.
I think ultimately though, I'll still get a smart trainer one day.