UKC

OK, a bit of advice from the UKC collective please on indoor stationary bikes.

My wife has just injured herself running, and on the advice of her physio has been told to lay off the running for a while and had cycling recommended to her.

Its not practical to cycle outside at the moment, so we're thinking of buying an exercise bike. Now most exercise bikes I've ever used (the odd time in gyms) are nothing like riding a bike - they have a weird geometry, the saddle is big and uncomfortable and they seem like a waste of time.

I've got a road bike which I don't use much - I thought about maybe getting a turbo trainer and hooking it up to that. However I've heard they're noisy, wear out your rear tyre and obviously there is the faff factor whenever you want to take the road bike out (not very often admittedly).

Alternatively I wondered if you could get a home 'spinning' style bike - set up more like a traditional road bike so you can get up and power out of the saddle - the one or two times I've ever done spinning it seemed like a good workout.

Any advice from people who've got experience of some or all of the above? I'd probably use it myself (I'm mainly a runner) but not too often. Looking in the €500 maximum price bracket (strong GBP/weak Euro doesn't help - so about £400) but willing to entertain other thoughts if it saves me buying a lemon.

Obviously I've done my own research but finding it difficult to come to a decision.

Cheers
YM

In reply to yorkshireman:

The direct drive trainers seem to be the quietist and they don't damage your tire. They are also the most expensive, but Elite do one that is sub £300.

Most exercise bikes are as you describe, awful. I do a fair bit on my turbo, which is a mag one with a digital monitor. Moderately noisy, but I just shut the door and turn up the TV. You can certainly get a good session off one.

In reply to yorkshireman:

You just buy a separate turbo rear tyre for indoors. They're somewhat noisy, but no more than most other things.

Gives you an excuse to pump your own orrible music on top of a sufferfest video.

In reply to yorkshireman:

Why don't you get a training roller? They are cheaper (the Tacx ones are OK for 150 Euros), hone your technique, and much quieter.

CB

In reply to cb294:


I thought of this but not really looking to hone technique. I'll ride my road bike in the summer in the mountains if I want that fix, and my wife just wants a non-impact alternative to running. Rollers seem like a bit too much faff and effort with the learning curve to be honest.

In reply to yorkshireman:

I'd go for a turbo trainer, and some training videos. I use sufferfest, as the videos are quite good fun, I'd avoid the hard ones and go with something like ' to get to the other side' at a mellow pace. I got a 100 quid turbo for a well known bike shop, used my road bike and the odd tyre every few months isn't the end of the world. If your missus want to progress you can get cadence meters heart rate and train 'seriously'.

In reply to yorkshireman:

Elite turbomuin has seen me thru this winter. 280 quid well spent. As mentioned, the direct drive does save your tyre but you would need to shell out on a second cassette.