Spin Bike or Trainer?

In preparation for those wet winter days I'm considering my options for inside cycling fitness. Last year I hired a treadmill which significantly improved my fitness but wasn't great on the knees. Having not used either before, any suggestions on whether I'm better off getting a spin bike or a trainer?

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Permalink Reply by easytiger on March 7, 2012 at 18:38

If you have the space, I would buy a stationary trainer. As Davidtcr said it is much more portable if you wanted to use it in different places. I don't have any experience with spin bikes, but I imagine they are quite heavy, and unwieldy to move, if that is an issue. Rollers are great for pedalling technique, but you need ones with resistance.

I will endeavour to ride as much as I can on my winter bike, but as I live in the Hills, there is a limit to what I will put up with in terms of filthy weather. And that is when I seek the warm dry security of my bike room, and working up a sweat with Salt N Pepa's "Push It!

I set up a group - Stationary Trainering - as a bit of a resource centre so you might want to look there for some info.

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Permalink Reply by Dstone on March 7, 2012 at 19:47

I will do what I always do - keep riding! Will be upping the singlespeed mountain biking get power and strength back in the legs. CX as well.

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Permalink Reply by Frank on March 7, 2012 at 20:27

Oh and I forgOt the rules of course! Riding in winter in the rain makes you a Badass-- rule no9
http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/

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Permalink Reply by Alasdair McLellan on March 8, 2012 at 10:36

Okay, here are the pros and cons of the 'big three' indoor training solutions;

A spin bike is sturdy, needs little maintenance, requires no set-up and can provide infinite resistance. this last point is important if you're lookng to build strength during the winter months. However, a spin bike doesn't deliver resistance exactly the same as your bike will, it'll be hard to get the set-up exactly the same and it won't work your core since it's so sturdy and stable.

A trainer has the advantage of using your own bike and can have pretty realistic road feel if you buy a good fluid trainer. However, a fluid trainer won't give you enough resistance for strength efforts - your training ability is really limited to aerobic power. Magnetic trainers can provide more resistance but feel weird.

Rollers are awesome for your core and stability. However, rollers traditionally provide even less resistance and so their usefulness tends to be limited to steady-state training or neuromuscular cadence work. Vendors are now releasing rollers with resistance units to overcome this but I bought a set and found the additional resistance lacking. Anyone want to buy a set or Elite Varions brand new, ridden once?

Disclaimer: I teach RPM and so I'm probably biased towards spin bikes for sheer effectiveness.