Gym bikes

[stoneyloon]

Does anyone use or recommend the training bikes in the gym?
I don't think I'm up to a spin class yet but 45 mins on a bike should be ok...

Worthwhile on a cold winter night?

Cheers,
Adam.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Does anyone use or recommend the training bikes in the gym?
I don't think I'm up to a spin class yet but 45 mins on a bike should be ok...

Worthwhile on a cold winter night?

Cheers,
Adam.

I've seen people talk positively about spin classes on here but being seen in a gym would do serious damage to my image. I've got a turbo trainer that gives me an excuse to get a bit of exercise when it's too cold or wet to enjoy myself outside. Probably cheaper than a gym membership too....

 

[vickster]

Does anyone use or recommend the training bikes in the gym?
I don't think I'm up to a spin class yet but 45 mins on a bike should be ok...

Worthwhile on a cold winter night?

Cheers,
Adam.

An exercise bike is really nothing much like riding a bike outside, but better than nothing. I use my exercise bike in front of the tv

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

An exercise bike is really nothing much like riding a bike outside, but better than nothing. I use my exercise bike in front of the tv

Do you tuck the TV remote into your shorts too? It surprises me that I never feel the remote

 

[vickster]

No, I now have a handy holder for it, courtesy of @jefmcg

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

No, I now have a handy holder for it, courtesy of @jefmcg

Oh, I stick it round the back and only notice it when I get too hot for whatever I'm wearing on top and find that it might be caught somewhere between upper and lower garments. (I hope this doesn't reflect too badly on the inherent boringness of being on a bike and going nowhere for the OP.)

 

[Rob3rt]

Does anyone use or recommend the training bikes in the gym?
I don't think I'm up to a spin class yet but 45 mins on a bike should be ok...

Worthwhile on a cold winter night?

Cheers,
Adam.

The intensity of a spin class is dictated by you, the participant, therefore the only thing limiting you from being "up to" it, is your own attitude.

Would I recommend the gym bikes in the gym? Only if there was no other alternative. They have big fat saddles anatomically designed with absolutely nothing resembling a human in mind, stupid Q-factors, usually shite pedals with straps, limited adjustability and are generally not at all "roadlike".

 

[pclay]

Exercise bikes are pants IMO. However spinning is 10x better than an exercise bike. Also remember that if you go to a spinning class, you can go as fast or as slow as you want. You can change the resistance / gear to an easier one and no-one would know.

 

[Diggs]

I loved my spin classes. For me stuck in an office and with a train commute, it was a no-brainer for a lunchtime option (and it's up to you how hard you go at it).

 

[ColinJ]

Oh, I stick it round the back and only notice it when I get too hot for whatever I'm wearing on top and find that it might be caught somewhere between upper and lower garments. (I hope this doesn't reflect too badly on the inherent boringness of being on a bike and going nowhere for the OP.)

I think it actually shows that you are not trying very hard when you are on the turbo! I would kill a remote in about 1 minute by doing that. It would be the equivalent of chucking it in a bucket of sea water.

As for upper garments ... what upper garments? I get so hot on a turbo/gym bike that I end up stripped to the waist with a fan blowing on me, even in an unheated, uninsulated room in mid-winter!

And boredom or watching TV ...? When concentrating on the effort of what I am doing, I do not have spare energy for either.

Loud, fast music is the secret! The only problem for me is that my headphones get soaked by sweat ...

 

[MarkF]

An exercise bike is really nothing much like riding a bike outside, but better than nothing. I use my exercise bike in front of the tv

I agree, I do use a gym bike, Jan-March on most wet/cold days and it is far more pleasurable than riding a "real" bike outside. I don't mind cold, but wet+cold, forget it.

 

[Pikey]

I bought me a spin bike on finance for less than it would cost for 1 spin class a week at the local gym.

Use it most days now it's getting a bit parky, along with the sufferfest.
I think it's doing me some good, feeling a bit quicker out on the real bike and my legs are getting hench like when I used to squat weights.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Spin bikes OK, 'exercise' bikes awful. My local sports centre gym has a couple of spin bikes set up for general gym use. As Rob3rt pointed out the 'exerrcise' bikes are horrible fat saddled devices which have very little in common with road going bikes.

 

[JtB]

I have friends 18 years my junior who spend lots of hours spinning in the gym and I can still leave them standing on a bike hill climb.

Like Colin, loud fast music is my motivator on a Turbo Trainer, although I use speakers and not headphones.

Also, I prefer the geometry of my own bike to a gym or spinning bike which is why I went for a Turbo Trainer.

 

[ColinJ]

I have friends 18 years my junior who spend lots of hours spinning in the gym and I can still leave them standing on a bike hill climb.

Like Colin, loud fast music is my motivator on a Turbo Trainer, although I use speakers and not headphones.

Also, I prefer the geometry of my own bike to a gym or spinning bike which is why I went for a Turbo Trainer.

I would prefer to use speakers but I am being considerate to my neighbours! (I live in a house in a narrow terraced street and the front doors open out directly onto the pavement so the houses are very close together and noise travels. There is a small boy in the house next door and most of my sessions are after he goes to bed.)