Tension/resistance on stationary bike broken :(

cherdan

I have an old stationary bike that was sitting in my yard forever, and I brought it in, WD-40'd it, and it worked great and I loved it. It was very loud (air fan-type bike), but I could feel the resistance and knew it was working. After a week of using it now every day, I have noticed the noise cut in and out and it seemed like the resistance was starting to give. Tonight, it has seemed to fail altogether. The noise/rumbling completely stopped and I feel no resistance.. it's like a bike without a chain. I am really saddened and frustrated. I finished my workout anyway, at the exact same level of intensity, but I worry if I even burned half the amount of calories I normally did. Does it even have effectiveness anymore?? The monitor said I still biked 25 miles, and I was covered in sweat, heart pounding, but it felt much.. easier. I tried to research this online and found some repair instructions, but it's much too daunting/am out of my depth when it comes to that stuff. I am calling a bike shop Monday to see if I can bring it down for repairs, but my dad says he's not sure if the bike even had a tensioner to begin with. I see a steel rod on the right inside, attached to the chain thing, and it moves.

cherdan

..nothing?

randyv99

I think no one wrote anything because it sounds like you have it figured out. It's probably a band or chain that has loosened or popped and you'll probably have to have someone come fix it if you don't want to tackle it yourself. Although you might be able to find another excercise bike on craigslist or something for free. Just a thought.

cherdan

Thanks. You confirmed my inner dialogue

randyv99

That's what I'm here for: to get in your head and turn that monologue into a dialogue.

MzBug

You can always tie a 10lb bag of flour to each thigh and peddle like crazy!

cherdan

Word!! I have some velcro weights in my room. May be a temporary fix..