riding stationary bike question

CincyNeid · June 2016

Arrabindi wrote: »

Does it even make sense to make about mileage on a stationary bike? 1) When you're on a real bike the mileage depends on so many factors, 2) that are probably not accounted for on a stationary bike, like air resistance, gear, wheel diameter, weight of the bike and yourself, etc.
I think it's difficult to compare a stationary bike to a real one, so I think you should just compete against on yourself on the stationary bike and aim to do better than you did last week and not worry about how it compares to real biking.

1) A mile is a mile, regardless of if you're a Time Trial machine, an Aero Bike, A Mountain Bike, BMX, or Commuter bike. A mile is a mile is a mile. You cannot change that fact that 5,280 feet are one mile.

2) The manufacturer accounted for the size of the flywheel into the logarithm that the computer uses to figure out how far a mile is. Just like a 700c tire/wheel combo has a different circumference that a 650b tire/wheel combo has.

I will overall agree with you on the Air Resistance, Gearing and weight [esp when it comes to climbing], but the distance thing... a mile is a mile is a mile.

kcjchang · June 2016

Distances traved or speed doesn't mean much when the resistance cannot be quantified. There's a big difference between punching the air and a brick wall.

Natalierae886 · June 2016

Are you sure your bike isn't measuring in kilometres? I do 11 kilometres in 30 mins... works out at 6 miles

Riley1511riley · August 2016

Just hit my 8 month record of 14.41 miles in 35 min with 621 cal burned do yes really possible in think that's around 24.7 mph average maybe little higher

Machka9 · August 2016

Riley1511riley wrote: »

Just hit my 8 month record of 14.41 miles in 35 min with 621 cal burned do yes really possible in think that's around 24.7 mph average maybe little higher

On a stationary bike or on a real bicycle?

Machka9 · August 2016

Natalierae886 wrote: »

Are you sure your bike isn't measuring in kilometres? I do 11 kilometres in 30 mins... works out at 6 miles

I expect a lot of people make this mistake ... assume the stat bikes are in miles when they are actually in kilometres.

sijomial · August 2016

To state the obvious - stationary bikes don't move!

Some purely count the pedal revolutions so if you have minimal resistance you can spin the crank in a blur of legs doing very little real work and burning not a lot of energy but register a good distance.
If they are taking the sensor from the flywheel speed then resistance (gearing effectively) will be taken into account then they have a better chance of being proportionate to your effort (power).
You can test that yourself by keeping cadence steady and varying the resistance and seeing what difference it makes to the "speed".

More sophisticated bikes are better and measure power and then can give a reasonable but still rough estimate of speed.
Last night I saw 22.8 virtual miles on a WattbikePro (with an accurate power meter) doing effectively a one hour time trial to exhaustion.
I couldn't do that speed outside on my local roads but perhaps if I was in a velodrome or found a 20+ mile stretch of perfect road......

CincyNeid · August 2016

You guys are making me want to go out for an hour straight and see how many miles I can crank out on my bike .....

Looking at THIS report from my Ride Cincinnati for Breast Cancer it looks like I rode 23.9 miles in an hour

MalkinMagic71 · August 2016

I hit 20 miles or so in 50 to 55 minutes on the stationary bike at the gym. It changes the resistance at various times throughout the time I'm doing it. I know I probably wouldn't go that fast on a real bike but I do go hard at the gym to keep a good pace.

sgt1372 · August 2016

I routinely ride my LeMond RevMaster Pro at 22 mph at 90-100 rpm for 30 mins/11 miles at a rate of 500-600 cal/hr with a max HR of around 130-135 (80% of my max) which is indicative of only a moderate rate of activity because I do not raise the resistance setting that high.

However, I'm pretty sure that I could not ride a real bike on a real road that fast.

Riley1511riley · October 2016

That was stationary bike and it was miles

canadianlbs · October 2016

brendaj39 wrote: »

I know riding a stationary bike compared to riding outside is alot different. I'm just happy with my self that I am able to ride for 30-45 mintues without stopping and taking breaks..

good for you. the last time i got on a stationary bike i was doing a 20km round-trip commute in the 'real' world every day. hills and bridges and all.

but for some reason 5 minutes on the stationary bike had me deciding i'd rather eat styrofoam. i wouldn't be so quick to assume stationary bikes are 'less' than the 'real' kind. sure wasn't true in my case.

Michael190lbs · October 2016

I ride 60 min every morning somnetimes its 18 miles sometimes it 22 miles (stationary in my living room) Level 13

sgt1372 · October 2016

I ride my spin bike at relatively low resistance consistently at 20-22mph for 30 mins at 90-100 rpm covering 10-11miles on the computer, which works out to 3 min or less per mile and maxes my HR at around 120-130 bpm, which is my target zone.

BrianSharpe · October 2016

GillOrmsby1 wrote: »

Hi guys, I wonder if you can help me. I have been working out on a stationary bike and have seen a lot of stuff online (including upwards in this thread) about people routinely managing 10 miles in 30 mins. I can manage 4 miles in 33 minutes, and that's if i'm really gunning for it. Could someone let me know how many rpms they are reaching? I am going at around 80rpm which feels quite fast, but I have only begun fairly recently - last few months - so maybe I will be able to attain this further down the line.

Thanks for reading!
Gill

Cadence is an individual thing but in very general terms you want to be somewhere in the neighbourhood of 90 rpm. You probably have the resistance set too high (useful if you're training for hills)

NorthCascades · October 2016

theconnertys wrote: »

GillOrmsby1 wrote: »

Hi guys, I wonder if you can help me. I have been working out on a stationary bike and have seen a lot of stuff online (including upwards in this thread) about people routinely managing 10 miles in 30 mins. I can manage 4 miles in 33 minutes, and that's if i'm really gunning for it. Could someone let me know how many rpms they are reaching? I am going at around 80rpm which feels quite fast, but I have only begun fairly recently - last few months - so maybe I will be able to attain this further down the line.

Thanks for reading!
Gill

It comes down to cadence. To hit 10 miles in 30 minutes, you need a cadence in the mid 90's....so somewhere around 95 revolutions per minute.

Cadence doesn't matter. Come visit me, I'll show you a lot of roads that go downhill for more than 10 miles without stopping, you can cover those 10 miles in 15 minutes and not pedal once.

It call comes down to power. Speed = power * all opposing forces. Opposing forces are air resistance, gravity, etc. In general, 20 mph requires about 160 watts on flat ground on a windless day if you're riding a road bike on the hoods.

kcjchang · October 2016

What weight (rider and bike) and CdA are you using? I'm pushing around 190 watts at 20 mph, 240 watts at 22 mph, and 270 watts at 23 mph. Rider and bike ~85.7 kg and semi tucked (hands on hoods but lower arm near perpendicular to the ground, 0.31 < CdA < 0.35; don't have the right PM to calculate it). See http://www.cyclingpowerlab.com/PowerSpeedScenarios.aspx for quick and dirty calc.

I'll be very surprised if one can generate that kind of wattage on a spin bike. It's the same BS proponents of rollers been pushing for decades.

theconnertys wrote: »

It comes down to cadence. To hit 10 miles in 30 minutes, you need a cadence in the mid 90's....so somewhere around 95 revolutions per minute.

You forgot to indicate what gear ratio. Here is except from http://www.bikecalc.com/speed_at_cadence, reflecting current popular chain ring/gear combination. This is just the speed generated based on the gear inch and does not take into account resistance (wind & friction). Actual speed on a bicycle is lower.

How fast (mph) will I be going at 90-100 rpm in these gears?
Gear | 90rpm | 95rpm | 100rpm
34x12 | 20.05 | 21.16 | 22.27
34x13 | 18.56 | 19.59 | 20.62
42x15 | 19.83 | 20.94 | 22.04
42x16 | 18.63 | 19.67 | 20.70
46x16 | 20.40 | 21.53 | 22.67
46x17 | 19.20 | 20.26 | 21.33
50x18 | 19.69 | 20.79 | 21.88
50x19 | 18.63 | 19.67 | 20.70
52x18 | 20.47 | 21.61 | 22.75
52x19 | 19.41 | 20.49 | 21.57
53x19 | 19.76 | 20.86 | 21.96

GillOrmsby1 wrote: »

Could someone let me know how many rpms they are reaching?

The cadence does not matter. The same speed can be maintained either with high cadence and low power or low cadence and high power. Only the power output matters. The reason for the advocacy for high cadence (endurance) is to shift the workload from the skeletal muscles to the cardiovascular system. Skeletal muscles fatigue quickly and take a longer time to recover. In contrast, your cardiovascular system is much much more resilient and by capitalizing a small potion of the skeletal muscles' capability, you can hum all day.

kcjchang · October 2016

Meant to say
* high cadence (angular velocity) and low force (torque) or low cadence and high force

Force is this cause is how hard you push on the pedals.

BeeerRunner · October 2016

I typically do about 15 to 16 mph, but I have the resistance up and I'm doing hills. My RPMs are in the upper 90s in the flats but much lower on the hills.

dean091088 · July 2017

Speed is irrelavant depends on lots of factors , best way is most likely training with power or a heart rate monitor set ur zones and stick to them.

spiriteagle99 · July 2017

I have a recumbent stationary bike. I'll usually start at 0 resistance and build up to 8 or 10. My average speed is 24 mph. A mile takes about 2 1/2 minutes. What I have seen is that it doesn't burn many calories. I read somewhere that riding outside, 5 miles equals 1 mile on foot, but with the stationary bike, it takes about 7 - 8 miles to burn 100 calories.

NorthCascades · July 2017

How do you go a mile on a stationary bike?

GregHenderson2 · April 2018

Absolutely. 11 miles in 30 minutes is obviously 22 mph. I reasonably fit this would be attainable. This is about pace that I keep on a commercial grade well calibrated "life fitness" stationary. Anywhere between 18 and 24 mph is what I do. However, for me to keep 24 mph pace for an entire hour is once in a blue moon when fresh legs, fitnessand nutrition all line up. At 22 mph you would be "feeling a burn" and sweating. I dont belive 30 mph would be possible by a mortal on a calibrated stationary bike, however.

kcjchang · April 2018

You should race. Lower division amateur road racers (Cat 3-5) average around 20-23 mph. If you can hold above 18 mph solo, you should finish and at 24, place.

NerdyFlex · April 2018

That’s a reasonable time for sure. I usually run, but I am recovering from an overdue injury in my knee and have switched to biking. I’m usually around that same pace!