# Stationary spin bike: what are the best options?



## soulfly_nyc

hi,

I want to buy a spinbike to keep in a gym near my office. 

The most important features are:


Wattage readout, hopefully ant+
fully adjustable seating so i can mimic my road bike fit
durable to leave at the gym and not worry about other users breaking it

Recommendations? 

I had been looking at this one: 
http://www.cycle-ops.com/en/product...lypage_images.tpl&product_id=36&category_id=7


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## spade2you

In this forum, you'll mostly find folks that use a trainer and/or rollers for function, practicality, and price. Stationary bikes may allow other family members to use them, but that's about the only advantage. They're very bulky while most trainers and rollers can fold up nicely. If you're afraid you'll damage your precious frame, you're probably not strong enough for this to be the case.


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## soulfly_nyc

Spade, my situation is different.

I can only get a spin bike since this is for a gym near my office...trainer+bike was a non-starter for insurance purposes.

Can anyone talk about pros/cons of different spin bike models?


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## WeakSister

I've used several spin bikes. The best by far was a Lemond Revmaster. Micro-adjustable and very durable.


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## MJCBH

I currently have Giant's indoor spin bike (not sure of model name). It's been a great bike with easy brake shifting system (it has a bar end mounted shifter). The two features that it doesn't have that I would like would be a power meter and freewheel (so you can "coast" during the big efforts).

FWIW, I've got rollers and trainers and by far love training on the spin bike - just seems much more stable with the hard efforts and seems smoother and quieter to me. Plus it's nice to not have to worry about taking my bike on/off the trainer. My trainer is now just used to warm up before races.


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## cleansweep13

My gym uses a keiser m3 and I liked it so much I also bought one. Has power meter for training. Not sure about its acuracy but I think its a great trainer!


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## fedrusion

cleansweep13 said:


> My gym uses a keiser m3 and I liked it so much I also bought one. Has power meter for training. Not sure about its acuracy but I think its a great trainer!


I'll second the M3, The power is based of tension setting and RPM so its not a direct measurement but it is better than nothing.


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## nightfend

If you have to have a spin bike, maybe one of these two:
Proform Bike Trainer - 
Le Tour De France Indoor Cycling Bike at ProForm.com
Cycleops Indoor Trainer -
http://www.cycleops.com/en/products/indoor-cycles.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=172&category_id=7


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## multirider

I have the LeMond G-force UT and it sounds like a great fit for your needs. It is extremely adjustable - I can mimic my road, CX, and TT bike. The bars are very comfortable and I got the foam pad thing that makes it an exact fit for my TT bike. My wife is 5'5" and can make it into a comfort bike, I am 6'2" and it is 30 seconds to re-adjust it for me. They claim it is adjustable for up to 6'5" or something, and that is probably true for regular road bike adjustments, but I'm not sure a 6'5" person could get it into a TT position - not sure the bars would go far enough forward. It works well for me, but I'm near the limit of adjustability when putting it in the TT position. My retailer threw in the TT pad; they had it marked at $25 which was ridiculous for a chunk of styrofoam. But it works great and gives the TT feel.

It has watts and you can insert a USB drive, download data, and import it into WKO+. It came with WKO+ Lite software. I liked it so much that I upgraded to regular WKO. This was the key feature for me - train with power, track it in WKO, import LeMond and SRM to track total training and have ATL, CTL, TSB, Top 40 power efforts, PMC, etc.

The seat is replaceable and the pedals can be swapped out. My wife doesn't use clipless pedals, I do, takes 30 seconds to swap. I bought a knuckle thing to swap seats, but have never used it. I put on a seat my wife likes and it actually works fine for me, too. Not the same as the seats on my bikes, but not an issue for me.

The display is powered by the pedals, so you don't have to plug it in. It has a battery so you can step away briefly and it stays on. But it is pretty brief - step away to turn on a fan or something, but not go to the bathroom, it will be off when you get back. HR, power in watts, cadence, all the normal stuff, plus average power and some other data.

The timer only goes to 99 minutes, so if you want to go longer, you have to re-set the program and start again. Not a big deal, of course, but it annoys me when I have to do it. I don't go longer than 99 minutes very often, but sometimes during the winter when it is sub-zero outside. Basically, it takes a minute or two of very light pedaling to download the power file from the first 99 minutes, then another minute to get a new session started.

Check it out at LeMond Fitness | Training Bike | Excercise Bike | Lemond g-force UT Upright Training Bike

It was pretty expensive, but is a quality product. I've had it for about 3 years and it feels like brand new.


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## multirider

WeakSister said:


> I've used several spin bikes. The best by far was a Lemond Revmaster. Micro-adjustable and very durable.


Does the Revmaster display or track power? The OP specified power.


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## multirider

From the CycleOps web site:
What kind of maintenance is required on the CycleOps indoor cycles?

The CycleOps indoor cycles have items on them that will need to be maintained, just like an outdoor bike, things like: the brake pads, cables, chain, etc need to be maintained. Over time, the chain will stretch and need to be tightened in order to maximize the life of the cog as well as the chain. The chain will also need to be lubed monthly with a spray-type Teflon-based lubricant. CycleOps sells appropriate lubricant. Contact Customer Service for placing an order for part number 18087. The brake pads will wear down over time and will need to be replaced. Your local Authorized CycleOps Indoor Cycle Dealer can make all repairs.

Ugh. My LeMond doesn't require any maintenance. I ride it, get off, wipe it down, and walk away. No chain, no brakes, nothing to maintain. Very quiet. Extremely stable. Large wheels up front make it easy to move around, but it doesn't move when I'm on it. The watts feel like the watts reported by my SRM. After clicking on some the links above and looking around a bit more, I'm happier than ever with my LeMond G-Force.


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## stan321

I have the CycleOps training bike and all I do after a workout is wipe it down. I've had it for around 3 years. Maybe my power output is too low to stretch the chain.


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## pg12340

I have the Cycleops 400 pro. I love it but if I had to do over again I would get the 300 pro. Just my .02


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## bigjohnson54

*Just bought Proform Tour De France*

I just ordered the Proform Tour De France. It is supposed to be here in about 2 weeks. I will let you know what how it works, I also have a set of rollers, and a Kinetic trainer that works great, but the Proform is suposed to duplicate routes.


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## loudog

WeakSister said:


> I've used several spin bikes. The best by far was a Lemond Revmaster. Micro-adjustable and very durable.


wow. opposite of my experience. i found the lemond to a lemon. however the worst spin bike i've ridden was made by keiser. 


for stationary bikes the cycleops are the way to go right now. however, the one you listed doesnt do power, i think you have to go to the next step up....


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## JackDaniels

Personally I have an old Schwinn Spinner and some cheap nashbar rollers.

The local gym has a few bikes of the bikes from FreeMotionFitness (can't post links) with power meters and they ride pretty nice


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## dwgranda

pg12340 said:


> I have the Cycleops 400 pro. I love it but if I had to do over again I would get the 300 pro. Just my .02



I have the g-force the 400 pro and I had a 300 pro (pre-joule) I also have the powerbeam trainer. g-force is the most fun to ride, is VERY quiet and smooth. If you don't care about programable power workouts, I would get it. 400 pro is more serious, programable workouts and lots of data at once on the joule screen. Low cadence just feels weird compared to the lemond. 

I had my chain stretch and after adjusting the flywheel I couldn't get it quite as good as it come from the factory so my wattage might drift momentarily 5+ watts. Avg watts still comes out good (+/- 1 watt). When it came from the factory the wattage is usually +/- 3 watts and the final avg watts is dead on if you're doing steady state. No maintanence for my lemond so far. It's screen is kinda high if you like to position it in front of a TV. An ipad works really nice for this machine if you can keep sweat away.


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## Gatorback

soulfly_nyc said:


> hi,
> 
> I want to buy a spinbike to keep in a gym near my office.
> 
> The most important features are:
> 
> 
> Wattage readout, hopefully ant+
> fully adjustable seating so i can mimic my road bike fit
> durable to leave at the gym and not worry about other users breaking it
> 
> Recommendations?
> 
> I had been looking at this one:
> http://www.cycle-ops.com/en/product...lypage_images.tpl&product_id=36&category_id=7


I sit on the board of a large YMCA (25 branches) and am familiar with equipment problems and durability. One thing to be aware of is that if the spin bike gets lots of use, hours and hours per day by many users, it will not last. It will need lots of maintenance and getting a couple of years use out of it would mean it has been a very durable bike. Bikes, treadmills, elliptical trainers, and similar equipment just does not last long under constant use. Just think how much maintenance your own bike would need if you rode it 4 hours a day, always changing the seat position, handlebar height, etc. Most quality facilities lease their equipment, then get it replaced every couple of years at least. The equipment usually comes with maintenance contracts. 

We are currently trying the Keiser bikes. They are outstanding. We haven't had them long enough for me to say whether they are more durable. They are designed to be more durable.


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## spastook

I have a Schwinn Spinmaster. I got mine for only $300 in unused condition. These are unsophisticated and uncomplicated but built to last. I hate spinning but sometimes conditions and time permit nothing else so I'll suffer on it for and hour. I use a heart rate monitor to judge my effort. time on bike x heartrate is all I care about. If you need to judge wattage then I guess you should look elsewhere.


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## Murocflyer

Gatorback said:


> I sit on the board of a large YMCA (25 branches) and am familiar with equipment problems and durability. One thing to be aware of is that if the spin bike gets lots of use, hours and hours per day by many users, it will not last. It will need lots of maintenance and getting a couple of years use out of it would mean it has been a very durable bike. Bikes, treadmills, elliptical trainers, and similar equipment just does not last long under constant use. Just think how much maintenance your own bike would need if you rode it 4 hours a day, always changing the seat position, handlebar height, etc. Most quality facilities lease their equipment, then get it replaced every couple of years at least. The equipment usually comes with maintenance contracts.
> 
> We are currently trying the Keiser bikes. They are outstanding. We haven't had them long enough for me to say whether they are more durable. They are designed to be more durable.


Very interesting post! It's been 3 months since your last post. What are your impressions on the Keiser bikes now?

Thanks,

Frank


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## Murocflyer

I'm also pondering getting a spin bike and been reading up on all I can about spin bikes. I found that there are a lot of different barnds out there. Who knew there were so many? I'm sure I missed a few but here are some of the ones I found.

Schwinn

Proform

Keiser

Livestrong

Lemond

Kettler

Spinning

Nordic Track

Motus

What I am also wondering, is how important it is to have a bike that allows me to use my normal bike shoes. Some bikes have this option and some don't. Should that be a deal breaker? 

Reviews on Livestrong LS28IC Indoor Cycle look good. But reading reviews is is a lot different from folks giving their own personal experiences with them. Looking forward to hearing some more commnents about what you are riding when it's too nasty to go outside.

Thanks,

Frank


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## dcb

I like the Keiser spin bikes a lot. I think the power reading is off though; too high. I really like the ability to change gears 1-25 so you can quantify the resistance from ride to ride. Although the power meter is off I think, you could still use it to measure your effort from ride to ride as well. I think the flywheel has a nice somewhat "roadlike" feel to it compared to some other bikes I've been on. 

I've recently taken some spin classes that use Lemond spin bikes and they're one of the nicer ones as well. The computer, especially the cadence seems to go in and out of operation which is annoying though.


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## bigjohnson54

*Keiser Spin Bikes*

They use Keiser Bikes at the gym and they all have a different feel for the watts. The bike I rode this morning has over 78000 miles on it, other than the seats wearing out not many problems. I have the tour de france and I have had the service guy out once he was there the next day but it does a good job at making you work hard on the maps I downloaded, lots of hills


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## DJ Milw

*CycleOps*

After returning the piece of junk ProForm Tour de France indoor cycle bike, (see reviews here on ProForm for more details) I purchased the CycleOps 300 Pro & absolutely love this bike. I’ve owned it for about a month now and the workout I receive is awesome! My friend has owned one for 3 years, works out hard, 4 days a week on this bike for 60 strong minute and has never had an issue and it’s required no service at all! No adjustments, no belt tightening, no lube, nothing at all! 

CycleOps factory is based in Madison WI, so its USA made, and all customer service people are based in WI. So there is no foreign BS to deal with. 

I highly recommend this bike, but just note, the price tag for this awesome bike is not for the faint of heart!


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## archbikes

I know this is an old thread but since it's winter time weather for much of USA now I figured I'd lend my .2 here on this topic. I'm a cat 2 road/track cyclist who also teaches indoor cycling weekly. I've taught indoor for several years and have used various brands of indoor bikes at the gyms where I've taught. 

My favorite indoor bike for overall durability and functionality is the Spinner NXT and Spinner Blade. -They are chain drive so not as smooth as the belt drive/magnetic bikes but they are reliable and relatively easy to service. The Blade also has power meter. 

A word of caution on the Keiser M3 bikes. They do look cool and they're durable and have power via "fantasy watts" calculation, which is neat. But I see the biggest drawback being the wide Q Factor in the BB. For me, it felt like I was saddling a horse when I rode it at the club I taught. Some of my cyclist members who regularly ride outdoors complained of knee pain from the wide Q factor. I didn't get knee pain. 

It's probably not an issue for recreational riders who wear running shoes and baggy shorts, but if you're putting in the miles on a road bike, I would say just be aware. Q Factors for indoor bikes: 


Most road bikes = 156-160mm
Spinner® NXT = 170mm
Schwinn AC Performance = 170mm
Keiser M3 = 197mm
_ Spinner NXT and Blade = 158mm _


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## dcorn

^^ Thanks for your input man, good to hear from someone who races and teaches. Interesting that my gym has the spinner NXT for their spinning room. I did like how they felt, other than sometimes my knees would hit the bars when I stood up. Of course, that happens on my road bike as well, so maybe the fit is perfect haha.

So if you guys have these bikes at home, do you personalize them with actual bike seats and spd road pedals?


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## Alfonsina

I have a non fancy spin bike at home and I have just put an smp trk saddle on it (the cheaper ladies one) and it is totally worth it. I don't have clipless as I like to do casual bricks with the treadmill but if I had a spare set of pedals I probably would consider it. I use speed play on my main bike so I am not up for that $$ for the spin bike.


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## BruceBrown

multirider said:


> From the CycleOps web site:
> What kind of maintenance is required on the CycleOps indoor cycles?
> 
> The CycleOps indoor cycles have items on them that will need to be maintained, just like an outdoor bike, things like: the brake pads, cables, chain, etc need to be maintained. Over time, the chain will stretch and need to be tightened in order to maximize the life of the cog as well as the chain. The chain will also need to be lubed monthly with a spray-type Teflon-based lubricant. CycleOps sells appropriate lubricant. Contact Customer Service for placing an order for part number 18087. The brake pads will wear down over time and will need to be replaced. Your local Authorized CycleOps Indoor Cycle Dealer can make all repairs.
> 
> Ugh. My LeMond doesn't require any maintenance. I ride it, get off, wipe it down, and walk away. No chain, no brakes, nothing to maintain. Very quiet. Extremely stable. Large wheels up front make it easy to move around, but it doesn't move when I'm on it. The watts feel like the watts reported by my SRM. After clicking on some the links above and looking around a bit more, I'm happier than ever with my LeMond G-Force.


Are you still enjoying and using the G-Force (2 years after your post)?


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## multirider

I posted fairly extensively previously on the leMond G-Force. Mine is still working flawlessly and I'm still a big fan. I race road, mountain, cyclocross, and TT. I can set it up to match the position of any of my bikes in less than a minute. Training with power is much more effective than training by HR or RPE. If you're really going to ride indoors, the LeMond is an excellent investment and highly recommended.


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## tekken2

For my money the Keiser M3 is the best on the list. Second best are the Spinner bikes, but these seem to need more maintenance (although they are a lot cheaper!)


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## Robert1975

I have a Sunny Health & Fitness SF - BF1110 spin bike, it can easily adjust the resistance. The quality is very good!


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## mrkavin

I bought one at the end of last year for exactly the purpose and reasons you cite. I bought one of the belt-drive versions from the Precor Rally Spin line. I think it was a bit under $2K. I talked to a few folks in the know when I was shopping around and I heard great things about the Kaiser. I think you have to assemble on your own but they have videos to help. I put a few hundred miles on the Precor from Jan-Mar and my wife uses it from time to time. From early April till now I've hardly touched it but plan to use this winter. We have an older fitness cycle that is pretty clunky and noisy which has been collecting dust in our basement for years now. I purchased it many years before discovering e-bikes and I think retail on it was around $400. For keeping in shape for e-bike commuting, I wanted something more robust and pleasurable to use and an option that my petite wife could also use. The spin cycle is much quieter, smoother and with a greater range of adjustability vs our older general fitness stationary bike.


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