Stationary Bike Questions

LilacDreamer
LilacDreamer Posts: 1,364 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
We ordered the Proform Hybrid Stationary Bike/Elliptical and it's due to arrive in a few days.

As far as I am aware, the display will show RPM and I think possibly MPH. What it will not show is distance.

I know I'm obviously not going anywhere, since it's stationary but I want to know my "trip distance". I've seen some bikes that tell you the miles you've gone, treadmills tell you that (even though you're not really going anywhere on a treadmill)

Is there some sort of formula or trick to figure out the Miles someone has biked based on RPM and possibly MPH?

Replies

  • blackcoffeeandcherrypie
    blackcoffeeandcherrypie Posts: 486 Member
    MPH x number of hours.

    So if you go at 10 miles per hour, for half an hour, that would be 10mph x 0.5 hours = 5 miles
  • EEfromJersey
    EEfromJersey Posts: 219 Member
    That formula would be correct.
  • LilacDreamer
    LilacDreamer Posts: 1,364 Member
    MPH x number of hours.

    So if you go at 10 miles per hour, for half an hour, that would be 10mph x 0.5 hours = 5 miles

    really, that's all? Okay I feel fairly incompetent right about now.

    But that would also mean I would have to maintain the exact same speed the whole time...I usually start off at one speed and then keep progressing until I've reached my maximum.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    http://www.hsn.com/products/proform-hybrid-trainer-elliptical-and-recumbent-bike/6933725


    "Built-in RPM meter
    Helps pace workout intensity for sustained training
    Displays revolutions per minute on the screen
    Helps user know when to pick up the pace or slow it down

    LCD window
    Display monitors speed, time, distance, calories burned, resistance level and pulse during workout"
  • LilacDreamer
    LilacDreamer Posts: 1,364 Member
    http://www.hsn.com/products/proform-hybrid-trainer-elliptical-and-recumbent-bike/6933725


    "Built-in RPM meter
    Helps pace workout intensity for sustained training
    Displays revolutions per minute on the screen
    Helps user know when to pick up the pace or slow it down

    LCD window
    Display monitors speed, time, distance, calories burned, resistance level and pulse during workout"


    If it only displays revolutions (which I guess is what they mean by distance) that does not help me at all.


    here is someone's review:

    Bad form, Proform. Distance in revolutions?!!
    ★ ★ ★
    " But the worst: the distance is measured in revolutions. Proform needs to add a conversion to their manual so I can do the math on how many revolutions equals a mile. Revolutions?!! Why bother!? "
  • LilacDreamer
    LilacDreamer Posts: 1,364 Member
    bump :flowerforyou:
  • EEfromJersey
    EEfromJersey Posts: 219 Member
    I just checked the product on the HSN site, like IronSmasher posted your equipment has a display for distance, calories burned and other things you'll be find it has everything you need.
  • LilacDreamer
    LilacDreamer Posts: 1,364 Member
    I just checked the product on the HSN site, like IronSmasher posted your equipment has a display for distance, calories burned and other things you'll be find it has everything you need.

    The distance will be in revolutions...I need the actual miles.
  • EEfromJersey
    EEfromJersey Posts: 219 Member
    pretty sure it's in miles, rpm is also there and just part of another feature.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    I just checked the product on the HSN site, like IronSmasher posted your equipment has a display for distance, calories burned and other things you'll be find it has everything you need.

    The distance will be in revolutions...I need the actual miles.

    Why?

    Ellipticals don't usually display miles, and if they did it wouldn't be accurate.
  • LilacDreamer
    LilacDreamer Posts: 1,364 Member
    I just checked the product on the HSN site, like IronSmasher posted your equipment has a display for distance, calories burned and other things you'll be find it has everything you need.

    The distance will be in revolutions...I need the actual miles.

    Why?

    Ellipticals don't usually display miles, and if they did it wouldn't be accurate.

    Because I'm going to be doing a mileage challenge......so I need to know how far I've gone each time I use it, that way I can figure out when I've reached my goal.
  • LilacDreamer
    LilacDreamer Posts: 1,364 Member
    :brokenheart:
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    Assuming the review is true, but it does in fact show mph;
    then you could to a timed run of say 15mins (0.25hrs) where you deliberately keep the speed as constant as you can.
    You could then use this to figure out how far you have gone in miles as an earlier poster said.
    You'd then take your calculated distance and compare that to the revolution count. Dividing the miles by the revolutions will give you the miles per revolution (which will obviously be a tiny number, like 0.00296).
    Now take your target mileage, divide it by this tiny number (miles per rev) and it will give you how many revolutions you need to cover that mileage.

    However, I doubt someone would make a machine that shows speed in mph but not distance in miles. You may have to just make a new program and set new goals in revolutions.
  • LilacDreamer
    LilacDreamer Posts: 1,364 Member
    Assuming the review is true, but it does in fact show mph;
    then you could to a timed run of say 15mins (0.25hrs) where you deliberately keep the speed as constant as you can.
    You could then use this to figure out how far you have gone in miles as an earlier poster said.
    You'd then take your calculated distance and compare that to the revolution count. Dividing the miles by the revolutions will give you the miles per revolution (which will obviously be a tiny number, like 0.00296).
    Now take your target mileage, divide it by this tiny number (miles per rev) and it will give you how many revolutions you need to cover that mileage.

    However, I doubt someone would make a machine that shows speed in mph but not distance in miles. You may have to just make a new program and set new goals in revolutions.

    By make a new program, do you mean change the challenge? it's not my challenge, so I wouldn't be able to change it...it was started by someone else, but my goal is 1000 miles...and that's what i'd like to do.

    So you're saying...if I went 10mph for 30 minutes....and did 10,000 revolutions....i would do 5/10,000 and then my goal which is 1,000/0.0005 which comes out to be 2,000,000?
  • LilacDreamer
    LilacDreamer Posts: 1,364 Member
    :indifferent:
  • LilacDreamer
    LilacDreamer Posts: 1,364 Member
    bump.. :blushing:
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    Seems right.
  • jehavin
    jehavin Posts: 316 Member
    Well, any good workout will follow a set pattern/goal instead of just "winging" whatever rpm you happen to hit, so start there. For example, I stationary bike about 4x a week. For 3 of those rides, I begin with a 10 minute warmup in which I try to stay at 10mph. Then I do a 5 minute "speed cycle" where I try to hit 12 mph on a low gear. Then I do a 5 minute slow cycle on heavy resistance, which is usually 14 mph. (The higher the gear, the more mph you will achieve, much like the strides on a "real bike.") I repeat this pattern of fast and slow until I hit the end of 40 minutes and then I do a 5 minute cooldown on 10mph again. So, in that case, you can vary the speed/resistance (which is HIIT training and good for your cardiovascular health and maximum calorie burn,) and just do a little math to figure out the distance. For me, when I do this workout, I average 10 miles.

    On other days, I will just do 60 minutes cycling at 11mph on a low resistance, (this is called LISS and is primarily aimed at endurance and fat-burning,) which gives me, you guessed it, 11 miles total.

    Do your first workout and see what speeds feel "right" to you, then map out (on paper) what you want your routine ride to look like. That way, there's no guessing at how much ground you've covered and you are able to be consistent in your effort.

    Welcome to biking---I hope you love this great form of exercise as much as I do!
  • egomolchak6466
    egomolchak6466 Posts: 1 Member
    We’ve got the same, preform hybrid trainer (elliptical/recumbent bike). I’d like to use the bike portion more, but like OP mentioned, the speed and distance is in revolution per minutes. I am not consistent with my speed using either form nor do I have a footpod.

    Where can I find the math I need to turn RPM’S into distance? Would it be the same using as an elliptical and the bike?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited August 2021
    @egomolchak6466

    Bearing in mind this thread is from 2013....

    Very important to realise for stationary bikes (and any ellipticals in a gym) you aren't doing any speed or covering any distance. The things that matter for you are time and effort.

    The RPM is the speed at which your legs are going round and round, normally called your cadence. Even outdoors there isn't a universal correlation from your leg speed to how far you move due to gearing. I can spin along at the same road speed with my legs going 100rpm or 60rpm.
    It's the same for ellipticals in that the sense the speed your legs move doesn't mean anything about miles covered with added variable that the arc ellipticals cover isn't standard. The big difference is one is a weight bearing exercise and one isn't.

    For calorie estimates, if that is your aim, do not use MyFitnessPal cycling speed ranges which are only for outdoor rides (and they tend to be badly inflated anyway).

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