Are you wondering whether you should buy an indoor bike trainer this winter?
Struggling to justify the cost of a bike trainer? The reasons that you should make this move are many and probably obvious to everyone but at the end of the day, the decision lies on you to make the move.
The benefit of an indoor bike trainer is obvious to most cyclists but in case you don’t think you need it then consider how much time, effort and energy you may have invested in becoming a better rider during the summer months. Very few gym machines can properly simulate the ride feel and the muscle requirements that cycling requires, unless you use an indoor bike trainer.
A good quality indoor cycling trainer will allow you to maintain fitness or get in shape if you are just starting out. You can ride for hours on end if you have the stamina and can watch TV or listen to the radio while you ride. Heck, depending on the intensity you could even play video games or something like that if you are just logging base miles. If you are an experienced cyclist then this is probably intuitive to you but someone just starting out may not know what an indoor bike trainer can do or what the best indoor bike trainers might be, so let’s discuss.
What’s an Indoor Bicycle Trainer?
An indoor bike trainer have two main varieties with the most common being a small trainer stand that you mount an actual bicycle into and ride against a resistance wheel. The other variety is more like an exercise bike that you might see at a gym, it doesn’t require a bicycle but rather has a seat and handlebars, pedals etc and is freestanding already. You mount it and ride it like you would a bicycle but it isn’t an actual bicycle.
Most avid cyclists prefer to ride their actual bicycle as it more closely simulates the feel of riding a bike. This style is also portable and can be taken with you as the bike trainers fold up and be taken with you quite easily. If you are just looking to lose weight and don’t really care about true cycling then an indoor exercise bike might be more your thing. Either will work for its intended use but you want to make sure you think about what your expectations are before you make a purchase.
The Benefits of an Indoor Bike Trainer
Fitness Training – Avid cyclists cannot afford to lose their fitness levels over the winter months when riding outdoors may not be possible. It is much easier to log miles on an indoor bike trainer through the winter months than it is to regain the fitness levels you lost if you take the winter off.
Technique – Bike trainers are great for cyclists to practice one leg drills or master a nice tight circle of pedaling. A bit of practice can greatly improve your pedaling efficiency when you are back on the bike outside and this can make a tremendous difference in your power output, speed and endurance. It can also help you correct annoying pains in your knees or joints if your pedaling circle is out of whack.
General Fitness – An indoor cycling trainer is a great way to simply improve your overall fitness levels. You may not aspire to be a competitive cyclist or even care about cycling at all, but it is still a great form of exercise and might present a nice alternative or supplement to a treadmill.
Weight Loss – If you are looking to lose weight then cycling is great for this for many reasons. The cardio benefit of cycling is obvious but another benefit is that cycling is low impact. You aren’t running and coming down on your feet and knees and placing stress on your joints. High impact exercise (running, jumping, etc) is hard enough on a thin person but add the additional pounds that heavier people carry around and it can really damage your joints, this is not the case with cycling. The bike bears the load, you simply provide the engine.
Indoor Bike Trainer Considerations
If you elect to go with the type of indoor cycling trainer that utilizes your actual bicycle then understand that their are two different main types of trainers to consider. These are a Magnetic bike trainer and a Fluid bike trainer. The difference is the way the trainer provides resistance to the rider with one using magnets and one using a heavy, viscous fluid.
Magnetic bike trainers are typically cheaper than fluid bike trainers but there are pros and cons to both. The biggest con to a magnetic bike trainer is that they are LOUD and this can be extremely annoying to your housemates or neighbors if you live in an apartment or condo. Fluid trainers are still moderately loud but they are much quieter than a magnetic trainer so if noise is a consideration then definitely look to buy an indoor fluid bike trainer.