Spin Bike or Cross Trainer?

[wecanbeatem]

I've recently taken up cycling and am very keen to start making better use of the beautiful scenery we have here in Ireland. I am however still a little overweight and out of shape, even though I've come a long way. I basically want to set something up at home that's going to help me lose that last bit of weight, tone-up and prepare myself for hitting the tarmac. Swimming has helped me a lot but I find jogging was putting a bit of strain on my knees. I've thought abut getting a spin bike but thought that maybe a cross trainer would be better to help me get toned. Whatever I buy, I could really do with making sure that it is going to help towards my riding as at the moment, when I get on a bike, I'm done in far too quickly and start to cramp up. Any suggestions on what might be best for my situation? Suppose I could just get one of those stands that I can fit my bike to so I can practice riding indoors under more controlled conditions. Would be easier to take a rest then and build-up my fitness gradually. Think I definitely need to incorporate some kind of regime though that gets me working the whole body.

[north woods gal]

The stand you put your bike on for the sake of exercising and/or working out, indoors, is called a trainer and that's the way I would go. There are several types, but even the simplest will get you the closest to working those same muscles you will be using when you take your bike out on the road. Nothing duplicates, exactly, the real thing as far as biking, but some of these trainers come very close. In some ways, a trainer is even a better than the real thing for a workout because you have no option to coast - you have to keep pedaling to rack up your miles. Also a great way to work on your cadence and pedaling technique and you can even switch gears.

Spin bikes and cross trainers put you in a different posture than what you use when on your bicycle. Always good to exercise, so better than not exercising, but you need to be very careful on those things with your knees. A trainer for your bike is money well spent. With our long cold winters, I use mine a lot.

[wecanbeatem]

I've recently taken up cycling and am very keen to start making better use of the beautiful scenery we have here in Ireland. I am however still a little overweight and out of shape, even though I've come a long way. I basically want to set something up at home that's going to help me lose that last bit of weight, tone-up and prepare myself for hitting the tarmac. Swimming has helped me a lot but I find jogging was putting a bit of strain on my knees. I've thought about getting a spin bike but thought that maybe a cross trainer would be better to help me get toned. Found several cross trainers for sale online, not badly priced. Whatever I buy, I could really do with making sure that it is going to help towards my riding as at the moment, when I get on a bike, I'm done in far too quickly and start to cramp up. Any suggestions on what might be best for my situation? Suppose I could just get one of those stands that I can fit my bike to so I can practice riding indoors under more controlled conditions. Would be easier to take a rest then and build-up my fitness gradually. Think I definitely need to incorporate some kind of regime though that gets me working the whole body.

I think I was just thinking that getting something like a cross-trainer would give me a full work-out and would surely help in some way but when you breakdown the way you use a cross-trainer and a bike, they are very different so its not going to necessarily help me a great deal with my weaknesses when riding.

[wecanbeatem]

The stand you put your bike on for the sake of exercising and/or working out, indoors, is called a trainer and that's the way I would go. There are several types, but even the simplest will get you the closest to working those same muscles you will be using when you take your bike out on the road. Nothing duplicates, exactly, the real thing as far as biking, but some of these trainers come very close. In some ways, a trainer is even a better than the real thing for a workout because you have no option to coast - you have to keep pedaling to rack up your miles. Also a great way to work on your cadence and pedaling technique and you can even switch gears.

Spin bikes and cross trainers put you in a different posture than what you use when on your bicycle. Always good to exercise, so better than not exercising, but you need to be very careful on those things with your knees. A trainer for your bike is money well spent. With our long cold winters, I use mine a lot.

That's very sensible advice, thanks for the response. It would make a hell of a lot of sense to buy one of the indoors trainers. I think the biggest problem I have besides general fitness, is getting the right posture so that I don't get unwanted aches and pains. Practicing indoors and being able to spend time focusing on that, will surely help with my riding. Being able to practice gear changing and getting use to the feel of the gears would also help a great deal. I'm often guilty of moving up and down the gears erratically when I'm under pressure. Thanks again.

[north woods gal]

You are very welcome. Glad to help. Best of luck in your fitness program.

[broopelub]

So heres the deal,

I am getting shoulder surgery a Bankart repair for a labrum tear. The only exercise I will be able to do is pretty much stationary biking... After 3 months I will be able to run, so that will switch things up a bit.

I searched for the topic, and couldnt find much there was a topic about spin bikes vs regular exercise bikes that fit.

In everyones experience, what is better? To get a decent spin bike or a decent trainer. I would probably be looking for a used spin bike around 200 bucks, or a trainer which would amount to a bit less than that.

There are some considerations though. For a trainer it would seem like I would be wearing out my road bike a good bit and im not sure if its worth it, since i am gonna be putting a ton of "miles" on whatever bike a choose. On the other hand, a spin bike is a bit more expensive potentially a lot more expensive and i guess takes up some extra space, which doesnt really matter to me.

Also, as far as a workout, I was wondering which one in general has the potential to get higher resistance. From what i have read it seems like spin bikes take the cake, but I have no idea in reality.


Any help would be much appreciated. And I apologize in advance if the topic has been raised before, I couldnt find anything though.

TRF

[Trek420]

Sorry about the surgery but getting a spin bike or trainer is a good idea.

I think we've covered this before and I may be able to find and bump this but let's start anew. In my view you're not wearing out the bike per se with a trainer but ... since you'll be putting in a lot of miles on it, you are wearing out your rear wheel. I keep a spare QR for the purpose and many go so far as to use a different rear wheel or spare QR and different tires. You don't want to take a tumble on your brand new shoulder because the tire wore out.

I personally like having the trainer vs just another piece of equipment. I have a Cyclops fluid trainer, works well. It's solid enough (with the optional stand for the front wheel) to stand and climb.

[eathan]

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