Spin Bike Thoughts/Suggestions?

Have you looked at assault bikes?

S

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Yeah, the name does invite some justified ridicule, haha.

They have buttons for tabata, custom intervals, etc. You’re also not limited by your legs, since the arms are helping. A couple 4-minute 8-rounders of tabata and you’ve got yourself an awesome conditioning workout, plus they’re pretty compact. If I was in the market for a bike, I’d look there second, right after making sure I couldn’t buy Chuck’s bike there first.

Ohh. :grin:

That’s like the bigger badder version of mine.

I was fortunate enough to be given an Airdyne AD2 by my mum who had bought one a few years ago and fell down the well worn route of using it as a clothes horse

I’ve been doing a combination of LSS and HIIT sessions on it with great results

Have managed to crack out a sub 30 minute 10 miler

I can safely say that I am probably the fittest I’ve ever been thanks to this thing

Pair it up with a HR monitor and the magic will happen

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That’s pretty good! I average about 4 minute miles, and will do that for usually about 30 minutes or so.

High intensity intervals really stack up the miles quickly. I forget exactly what my t/d stats were for those, but I was kinda flabbergasted at the difference.

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Cheers @SkyzykS mate

It took a while to get there. The hard work is laid down through LISS training. 80% of LISS work will, pardon my language, turn you into a fucking machine

I did assault bike intervals this morning and cursed your black heart the entire way

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Those aerodyne bikes look to take up a bit of room. One thing I’ve been Noticing with the spin bikes is the range of space the occupy.

S

Was in the market about a year ago and ultimately went with the Concept2 BikeErg.

Very very happy with that choice. IMO much more versatile than the Assault Bike/Echo/Airdyne type airbikes, and a lot better for long/slow cardio. That said, the think works very well for interval work, and with the damper open all the way the resistance is very high.

Also just a really well-built, well-designed piece. Unless the arm involvement is critical for you, I can’t recomment the BikeErg highly enough.

You love it mate

I know it’s your opinion but how can the Bikerg be ‘better’ for long slow cardio?

‘Better’ for me personally would because cycling outside, experiencing the adrenaline rush of dodging traffic, seeing the countryside and navigating your way home when you’re verging on complete depletion of fuel sources.

As long as your HR is in the proper zones then you’re going to elicit the same cardiac response regardless of what you use to get there.

In saying that, the Bikerg does look like a great piece of kit.

Yeah. I have the schwinn “evolution comp” and it’s 48" long x 25.5" wide, but then there’s the necessity of space around it for getting on and off.

And my kiddo had to learn the hard way that those arms don’t just stop by getting bonked a couple times. There are also shear points between the linkage bars and the cranks, just in case that’s a consideration.

Me and my neighbor took our kids out for a ride on the local rail trails this spring, and just moseying along got waaaay out before realizing had to ride back too.

The kids (even on little kid bikes) had no idea or problem doing like a 15 mile ride. They get a lot of mileage out of a hand full of jelly beans and some water!

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Better than the assault bike/echo, etc. The arm action causes local muscle fatigue which becomes the limiting factor in how much work you can get done. Just not ideal for longer duration cardio. Like you said, my opinion.

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I can easily crank out 60 minutes on the Airdyne and boredom becomes the limiting factor. I’ve never felt my arms fatigue.

I get where you’re coming from @Ramo mate but I think you’re splitting hairs.

Kids can cycle all day @SkyzykS mate. In fact, it’s that youth fuelled memory that tricks most folk into getting onto a bike thinking it will be a squeeze.

Next minute you know they’re blowing out of their arsehole as they hit that 0.01% gradient, wondering what the fuck just hit them.

I remember doing my first 50 miler and having to tackle two fierce climbs, The Top of the World and The Crow Road. As I hit the top of the Crow, I ‘bonked’ hard. I had to stop at a wee shop at the bottom, fuelling up on Dr Pepper and chocolate. Even then it took about 15 minutes to hit my system. The pain further compounded by the fact that you’re navigating traffic while in a semi delirious state.

Cycling is crazy. I take my hat off to anyone who’ll hit the road. Even the ones who hold me up when they’re riding 5 abreast while I’m driving in my car

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I get a real kick out of it though. We have some pretty good local terrain.

Allegedly, the steepest street in the US.

I’m a bit subdued when it comes to these things anymore, but it’s like skiing. One places blue square is another’s black diamond.

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No. These are the sinners that forced God to punish us with 2020

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The arm action causes arm fatigue, so your legs take over, which causes leg fatigue, so your arms take over, etc. doesn’t take much effort to move any part of an assault bike, so you can push to oblivion. Rowing is brutal, yet Olympic crew athletes have some of the most insane conditioning of any athletes in the world. Of course, I know you said it’s just your opinion, I’m just disagreeing here. Local fatigue doesn’t have to detract from cardio - it can directly benefit it.

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I believe there are studies done on this and they found it almost impossible to get a decent cardio benefit from arms only training, legs alone could get the heart rate up pretty easily but arms and legs were most effective. Source: a half remembered answer from a podcast.

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