Elliptical Trainers or Trainer or Spin Class?

[surgtech1956]

Thank you. Any suggestions on a trainer?

[marni]

I love my cycle ops trainer. If I didn't have it, between the surgery and the heat, I would not have gotten on the bike at all this summer. Maybe because I ride long distances solo, I simply plug into the I tunes ( which I don't do outside) and zone into it for an hour. I have a bunch of itunes at different tempos and some interval training for running and treadmill training music that work very well for fake hill workouts as I can up the gearing and make the intervals tougher. If , when, we ever drop out of the triple digit extreme heat advisories I might be able to get back on the road and start easing myself back into some distances. In the meantime, I figure I am at least getting maintenance TITS time in. Personally I find the trainer very soothing, good time for mental house cleaning and contemplation.

Personally, my feeling about spin classes, at least around here based on the studly do rights who lead them, is that when I die and go to .... I will have to do spin classes." To me they have little or not connection with what I do out on the road. I can't think of a single ride I have ever done that requires standing for a minute at a high gear and then sitting for a minute, still in a high gear, for a full half hour, or other similar silliness all at and incredibly loud ridiculously deafening and pounding volume.

but that's just my personal feelings. My husband who does 4 spin classes a week, just plugs in his ear plugs, and does his own thing, so I guess that is always an option.

[Enduro_Rider]

I have a blackburn fluid trainer. You have options of mag vs. fluid, remote or no remote... Just make sure it will fit your bike and has enough resistance settings. They hold their value so if you buy one and decide to upgrade it should be reasonably easy to sell.

Re spin classes. I wear a HRM and I find the classes are a great way to work on the higher thresholds. The benefits of training you heart will carry over to cycling even if the moves do not. There is one instructor who has been tough enough to get my HR into the 190s!

[kaybee]

[QUOTE=marni;596834]Personally, my feeling about spin classes, at least around here based on the studly do rights who lead them, is that when I die and go to .... I will have to do spin classes." To me they have little or not connection with what I do out on the road. I can't think of a single ride I have ever done that requires standing for a minute at a high gear and then sitting for a minute, still in a high gear, for a full half hour, or other similar silliness all at and incredibly loud ridiculously deafening and pounding volume.
QUOTE]

I agree with you 1000%, Marni!

KB

[tytbody]

If you do spin at home or a trainer.. is that like making your bike a spin bike? There is a Mindy Milrea spinning dvd. She has more then one. They are on Collage video dot com. You can view them before you buy.

you can always do home exercise DVDs, again look at the clips at Collage or Total Fitness DVDS.


or you have to do the old fashioned way and go for a walk in the cool breeze..

[surgtech1956]

Thanks everyone. I'm not sure if I'm going to take a spin class or get a trainer. The trainer is probably cheaper in the long run and more convenient, then going to a 530am or 630pm spin class 3 days a week. Whats the difference between a fluid and mag trainer?

[Enduro_Rider]

A mag trainer uses a magnet for resistance. There is a limit on how much resistance you can get out of a mag set up. Fluid uses some combination of fluid and magnets (usually). The addition of the fluid gives you more range of resistance. Over the long term and heavy repeated use, fluid can leak and would likely be repairable. Though I'm not sure how often this happens. May want to check out REI online and your LBS to see what is carried and see if they have tips too.

Trainers are noisy too. And you may want to consider trainer specific tires since regular tires do not hold up well to the heat and friction.