Any Recs for a home workout bike?

Don't know anything about the above referenced Schwinn exercise bike but at $499 retail, my guess is that's pretty much middle or the road home equipment.

In order to test the trustworthiness of the reviews, run the url for it thru Fakespot.com. if it doesn't get at least a B rating, look at something else.

As you already said, home equipment is "worth it" if you use it. You are most likely to continue to use those things that are well built & fully adjustable and those things that you have experience with and enjoyed using in the past.

People will usually recommend only those things that they like that they've bought and use at home. I am no different but I believe in the BEST equipment at a "reasonable" price which has a reputation for being 'good' and easily resalable if it turns out not to be "right" for you

Along these lines, I bought/own a LeMond RevMaster Pro (Google it), look 4 the black not yellow frame one) that I paid $900 for about 10 yrs sgo. Retail is around $1k, if you can find one new for sale anywhere, wc has been used in gyms for spin classes and general exercise extendively for years.

However, if you have access to Craigslist, you could find one used for about $700 (no tax or shipping if u can pick it up yourself locally), which is not much more than you'd pay for the Schwinn.

IMO, the LeMond RevMaster Pro is the absolutely BEST spin/exercise bike that you can buy for home use. It"s built like a tanks, weighs about 100#, can handle anyone weighing up to 300#, is fully adjustable for fit, uses a Kevlar belt (no a chain) wc is quiet and requires no lube or adjustment and can accept clipless pedsls and saddles.

If you have the chance to find and ride one, anything else will pale in comparison. The only thing lacking on the LeMond is the monitor wc is "dated" now but it will measure cadence, time and distance wc is all that I need and if you need more there are other apps that you can use.

BTW, I have a fullly equipped Olympic wt lifting gym in my garage and bought ALL of that gear at a fraction of the cost new off of Craigslist. I also have a Concept2 rower that I bought new direct from Concept2 because sellers were asking too much for used modelsand it made more sense to just just buy one new.

If you're not in a rush, just keep looking.

I've heard good things about the Sunny bikes since this pandemic started. I'm currently using a Lemond Pro by Hoist like @sgt1372 I'm only borrowing it but I really like it. And it came from a boutique gym so I know it gets consistent use.

ExistingFish wrote: »

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

We have a Rogue Echo bike. It's a beast, highly recommend. It's belt driven so minimal if any maintenance required.




https://www.roguefitness.com/rogue-echo-bike?gclid=CjwKCAjwk6P2BRAIEiwAfVJ0rCxFcCm5IIMPluDmwNn3KTp3SF87wzdL2_TrcWUKLjFC63-yPwTBSBoCtiwQAvD_BwE

This guy does a nice review on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvkoFargHaM

That is technically not a regular exercise bike, I've always heard that referred to as an "assault bike" - it's a little more hardcore than we are going for. I've used one at the gym for HIIT-style, but it isn't what I'm looking for.

Actually "Assault" bike is the brand name. Air or fan bike is more the generic. Good luck with your search. I'd say the air bike was used as hard core at your gym but to be honest these are used in anything from cardiac rehab centers to the Crossfit Games.

https://www.garagegymreviews.com/the-best-air-bike

sgt1372 wrote: »

FWIW, airbikes pretty noisy and, like the elliptical, I don"t really see a huge benefit in using the moving handle bars but to each his/her own.

Use whatever you like best and "floats your boat."

The Rogue and Airdyne Pro are belt drive so the chain noise is eliminated vs an Assault bike you do get the fan noise but not so loud that you can't watch TV etc when using it.

NorthCascades wrote: »

sgt1372 wrote: »

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

sgt1372 wrote: »

FWIW, airbikes are pretty noisy and, like the elliptical, I don"t really see a huge benefit in using the moving handle bars but to each his/her own.

Use whatever you like best and "floats your boat."

The Rogue and Airdyne Pro are belt drive so the chain noise is eliminated vs an Assault bike you do get the fan noise but not so loud that you can't watch TV etc when using it.

Yes, I was referring to the fan noise. Too noisy 4 me but, as I said, 2 each his/her own.

FWIW, everyone is different and I've heard people complain sbout the fan noise on a Concept2 rower wc IMO is about 1/2 as noisy as an airbike.

I've got a Concept 2 rower and was considering replacing my Lemond RevMaster Pro spin bike (which is about as quiet as it gets) but the noise on the airbike and the (to me) useless moving handlebars put me off.

Decided to get a Concept2 Skierg instead of an airbike to add to my collection of home exercise equipment that IMO will give me a far better upper (as well as lower) body workout than an airbike will.

This is not intended to "trash" airbikes which I know have a large "fan" (no pun intended) & user base but they are just not for me.

I'm not sure if you've ordered it and await delivery, or if you've had it a while, but I'm very interested in hearing your impressions.

Re: The SkiErg

I'm on the Waitlist to buy one directly from C2. Production was backed up/slowed down due to Covid-19. ETA around mid-Jun until i can order 1. Delivery should be w/in a week after that. So, my guess is that should receive one by Jul 1st.

I've already seen/used 1 at a gym and I have cross country (xc) skied b4. I've also looked at a lot of videos on its use and there is more "bad" info on the use of the SkiErg on the Net than there is for the ErgRower. So, I can offer you some detailed comments about the SkiErg now.

First, it is very easy to exhaust yourself quickly on the SkiErg if you just use the double pole technique, wc you would never do actually xc skiing, that the demos of the machine on the Net (including C2's) seem to emphasize.

When xc skiing, you only need to double pole in order to get up to speed so that you can switch to single poling OR when trying to get up a small hill so that you don't have to sidestep or herringbone up the hill OR to increase speed going downhill.

So, a SkiErg workout for "distance" and endurance should include both single and double poling; more the former than the latter.

Also, in order to properly simulate the "glide" of a ski on the snow (like you would adjust the glide of the imaginary skull or boat on the ErgRower), you need to properly adjust the fan setting based on the type of terrain and snow conditions that you would experience while xc sking, which will vary between an icy man-made track (fastest) to untracked fresh fallen snow (slowest) and/or going uphill (slower) or downhill (faster).

So, the only reason to vary the fan setting is to try to simulate the snow & terrain conditions that you are training for, which in my case would be "machine tracked snow on flat terrain" which would be firmly packed but not yet icy with some but not a lot of drag.

However, there are more than a few stupid people on the Net,who claim to be SkiErg "trainers," who are saying that you have to increase the fan setting on the SkiErg in order to "work harder," who demo the SkiErg only by double poling on a high fan lever setting

Not true and not right!

Like the ErgRower, you just pull harder to work harder. The fan setting is only used to control the drag factor that simulates the glide of the boat on the ErgRower (higher setting, bigger/heavier boat/less glide) or the glide of your skis on the SkiErg (higher setting, hilly terrain and/or fresh untracked snow/less glide).

This misunderstanding (or lack of knowledge) about how to set the drag factor properly is at least one reason why many people think that it's "too hard" to use the SkiErg (and/or an ErgRower) and quickly give it up.

The physical techique used on the SkiErg is the same you'd use xc skiing. You pull down on the ropes w/the handles to simulate the push off w/ski pole(s) that you'd plant in the snow as you weight and push off on your skis in order to propel yourself along a track or across the snow.

The leg movement involves slightly lifting the heel of your foot by transferring the wt to the ball/toes of your foot which raises your body up momentarily and places the load on your quads before then lowering the heel of your foot while bending your knee and transferring the power to your hamstrings while flattening your foot (the foot plant) snd while at the same time pulling down on the rope and finishing the pull when your foot is flat (simultaneous pole and foot plant) and then raise your arm to return the rope to the starting position as you straighten your leg to prepare for the movenent again.

You'd do this alternating left & rt in order to simulate single poling or w/both sides at the same time to simulate double poling. Sounds complicated but if you've ever done any x-country skiing, this is exactly what you do while xc skiing.

Using the SkiErg in this manner will give you a full body workout that is different than but supplementary to rowing on the ErgRower; just with more arm/shoulder, indvidual leg and quad/ham emphasis than the ErgRower which involves the hip/glutes and pecs/lats more than the SkiErg.

Of course, all of the muscles in the legs, arms, shoulders, back, hips, glutes and hams are being used in both machines. The difference is just in which muscles most need to be used in to order execute the different movements required by each machine.

Hope thst I didn't completely bore you (and everyone else) with this lenghty dissertation on the SkiErg but I believe it accurately describes how to use one properly and what happens when you do. So, I hope you've found it informative and eventually useful.

How would doing a core workout help with building endurance - other than flogging your channel on an old thread?

sgt1372 wrote: »

NorthCascades wrote: »

sgt1372 wrote: »

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

sgt1372 wrote: »

FWIW, airbikes are pretty noisy and, like the elliptical, I don"t really see a huge benefit in using the moving handle bars but to each his/her own.

Use whatever you like best and "floats your boat."

The Rogue and Airdyne Pro are belt drive so the chain noise is eliminated vs an Assault bike you do get the fan noise but not so loud that you can't watch TV etc when using it.

Yes, I was referring to the fan noise. Too noisy 4 me but, as I said, 2 each his/her own.

FWIW, everyone is different and I've heard people complain sbout the fan noise on a Concept2 rower wc IMO is about 1/2 as noisy as an airbike.

I've got a Concept 2 rower and was considering replacing my Lemond RevMaster Pro spin bike (which is about as quiet as it gets) but the noise on the airbike and the (to me) useless moving handlebars put me off.

Decided to get a Concept2 Skierg instead of an airbike to add to my collection of home exercise equipment that IMO will give me a far better upper (as well as lower) body workout than an airbike will.

This is not intended to "trash" airbikes which I know have a large "fan" (no pun intended) & user base but they are just not for me.

I'm not sure if you've ordered it and await delivery, or if you've had it a while, but I'm very interested in hearing your impressions.

Re: The SkiErg

I'm on the Waitlist to buy one directly from C2. Production was backed up/slowed down due to Covid-19. ETA around mid-Jun until i can order 1. Delivery should be w/in a week after that. So, my guess is that should receive one by Jul 1st.

I've already seen/used 1 at a gym and I have cross country (xc) skied b4. I've also looked at a lot of videos on its use and there is more "bad" info on the use of the SkiErg on the Net than there is for the ErgRower. So, I can offer you some detailed comments about the SkiErg now.

First, it is very easy to exhaust yourself quickly on the SkiErg if you just use the double pole technique, wc you would never do actually xc skiing, that the demos of the machine on the Net (including C2's) seem to emphasize.

When xc skiing, you only need to double pole in order to get up to speed so that you can switch to single poling OR when trying to get up a small hill so that you don't have to sidestep or herringbone up the hill OR to increase speed going downhill.

So, a SkiErg workout for "distance" and endurance should include both single and double poling; more the former than the latter.

Also, in order to properly simulate the "glide" of a ski on the snow (like you would adjust the glide of the imaginary skull or boat on the ErgRower), you need to properly adjust the fan setting based on the type of terrain and snow conditions that you would experience while xc sking, which will vary between an icy man-made track (fastest) to untracked fresh fallen snow (slowest) and/or going uphill (slower) or downhill (faster).

So, the only reason to vary the fan setting is to try to simulate the snow & terrain conditions that you are training for, which in my case would be "machine tracked snow on flat terrain" which would be firmly packed but not yet icy with some but not a lot of drag.

However, there are more than a few stupid people on the Net,who claim to be SkiErg "trainers," who are saying that you have to increase the fan setting on the SkiErg in order to "work harder," who demo the SkiErg only by double poling on a high fan lever setting

Not true and not right!

Like the ErgRower, you just pull harder to work harder. The fan setting is only used to control the drag factor that simulates the glide of the boat on the ErgRower (higher setting, bigger/heavier boat/less glide) or the glide of your skis on the SkiErg (higher setting, hilly terrain and/or fresh untracked snow/less glide).

This misunderstanding (or lack of knowledge) about how to set the drag factor properly is at least one reason why many people think that it's "too hard" to use the SkiErg (and/or an ErgRower) and quickly give it up.

The physical techique used on the SkiErg is the same you'd use xc skiing. You pull down on the ropes w/the handles to simulate the push off w/ski pole(s) that you'd plant in the snow as you weight and push off on your skis in order to propel yourself along a track or across the snow.

The leg movement involves slightly lifting the heel of your foot by transferring the wt to the ball/toes of your foot which raises your body up momentarily and places the load on your quads before then lowering the heel of your foot while bending your knee and transferring the power to your hamstrings while flattening your foot (the foot plant) snd while at the same time pulling down on the rope and finishing the pull when your foot is flat (simultaneous pole and foot plant) and then raise your arm to return the rope to the starting position as you straighten your leg to prepare for the movenent again.

You'd do this alternating left & rt in order to simulate single poling or w/both sides at the same time to simulate double poling. Sounds complicated but if you've ever done any x-country skiing, this is exactly what you do while xc skiing.

Using the SkiErg in this manner will give you a full body workout that is different than but supplementary to rowing on the ErgRower; just with more arm/shoulder, indvidual leg and quad/ham emphasis than the ErgRower which involves the hip/glutes and pecs/lats more than the SkiErg.

Of course, all of the muscles in the legs, arms, shoulders, back, hips, glutes and hams are being used in both machines. The difference is just in which muscles most need to be used in to order execute the different movements required by each machine.

Hope thst I didn't completely bore you (and everyone else) with this lenghty dissertation on the SkiErg but I believe it accurately describes how to use one properly and what happens when you do. So, I hope you've found it informative and eventually useful.

Thank you for this! Great detail, really good to hear. It sounds like it's very very similar. I love XC skiing, and our season is so short, this sounds like a good way to hit the ground running and enjoy it more from the first day. 🙂

Recommend reading this stationary bike guide. Should help you find the right bike.