Do Spin Classes Help Improve Bike Speed? (Page 3)

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2008-11-25 12:35 PM
in reply to: #1820763

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Subject: RE: Do Spin Classes Help Improve Bike Speed?
Here is my 2 cents

 

By far the worst part of my triathlon is the bike. I am out of the water in the top 20 and the only people I pass on the bike are ones with flat tires or the occasional old lady going to the grocery store on her three wheeler.

 

I have not put in a ton of time on the bike to improve it until this year and I took spinning classed 2-3 times a week. My instructor does Triathlons so that may have helped as well. For me it helped a ton, from reading what everyone is saying once my cycling gets better I will not see as much improvement or help from spinning classes.

 

So I guess it all depends on the instructor and where you starting point is from

 

 

2008-11-25 3:38 PM
in reply to: #1825687

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Subject: RE: Do Spin Classes Help Improve Bike Speed?
rwsads - 2008-11-25 12:35 PM

Here is my 2 cents

 

By far the worst part of my triathlon is the bike. I am out of the water in the top 20 and the only people I pass on the bike are ones with flat tires or the occasional old lady going to the grocery store on her three wheeler.

 

I have not put in a ton of time on the bike to improve it until this year and I took spinning classed 2-3 times a week. My instructor does Triathlons so that may have helped as well. For me it helped a ton, from reading what everyone is saying once my cycling gets better I will not see as much improvement or help from spinning classes.

 

So I guess it all depends on the instructor and where you starting point is from

 

 




I had a couple of good spin instructors, both happened to be triathletes, and the classes helped a lot. I used to sit through one 45 minute class, spin for 15 minutes in between, then do the other 45 minute class. The bikes we used had HUGE 30 pound flywheels, which felt more road-like than any trainer I've ever been on, plus it had SPD clips so I could use my bike shoes. The bike was also completely configurable: seat height, fore-aft, handlebar height & fore-aft. Plus, at that point in time there was no way I was going to sit that long on my trainer. The social aspect helped A LOT.
2008-11-25 3:46 PM
in reply to: #1820763

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Subject: RE: Do Spin Classes Help Improve Bike Speed?
re: "anaerobic" --

I guess I've missed out on all of these crazy spin class instructors out there, so maybe I don't understand....

But even a crit, which contains many opportunities to stand up and "go anaerobic" is still predominately an aerobic event with the vast, vast, vast majority of energy supplied by the oxygen system.
2008-11-26 7:34 AM
in reply to: #1820763

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Subject: RE: Do Spin Classes Help Improve Bike Speed?

Here is the bike used in the spin class that I attend.

 http://www.keiser.com/m3/

I assume some bikes are better than others.

2008-11-26 8:32 AM
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Subject: RE: Do Spin Classes Help Improve Bike Speed?

There are a LOT of good comments in this thread.  Yanti, Jorge, Daremo, and others have all made a lot of really good points.

I'll add a couple more.  There are a couple of big differernces between a spin bike and a road bike. 

1) the spin bikes are typically fixed-gear bikes.  A road bike has maybe 20-30 gears.  The fixed gear aspect of the spin bike makes tension adjustment paramount to finding the training zone or other training goal you desire.  The road bike, in contrast, can be geared to keep cadence/effort close to steady on most terrains.

2) The spin bike (as well as a road bike on a trainer) have supports to keep it upright.  Outside, you need to balance your road bike.  You will engage different muscles and some muscles differently when balance becomes an issue. 

Both of these issues reduce the specificity aspect of spin biking to outdoor riding.  You can still significantly improve your outdoor riding with spinning.  But as Daremo indicated on the first page, your best bet to improve your outdoor riding is to ride outdoors.

2008-11-26 12:11 PM
in reply to: #1827188

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Subject: RE: Do Spin Classes Help Improve Bike Speed?
Ridgelake - 2008-11-26 7:32 AM

1) the spin bikes are typically fixed-gear bikes.  A road bike has maybe 20-30 gears.  The fixed gear aspect of the spin bike makes tension adjustment paramount to finding the training zone or other training goal you desire.  The road bike, in contrast, can be geared to keep cadence/effort close to steady on most terrains.

The Expresso bikes mentioned in the OP, have 30 gears that must be constantly shifted just like outdoors.

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