Nothing like the real thing. I still try to get in about 20miles a week (just approaching 70th birthday) I agree about the state of the roads, I try to keep to bridal ways, canal towpaths and the like. It is amazing where you can get to on a bike that you can't by car and definitely not on an exercise bike. Of course one of the things you really notice on a bike are the hills ( you have to turn up the friction/magnet drag on the exercise bike) The other thing you notice is real weather last week started out blue sky and brilliant sunshine ended up cycling home in a blizzard

John

Kudos to Ady 1. Just got back from a 20 mile road ride, 'flippin cold! I'm still happy to mix it with other road traffic but would consider a static trainer in the future. I've recently had a go on a friends set up, a "real" bike connected to a loading device that replaces the back wheel and some computer wizardry called "Zwift". I found this really quite engaging. My real cycling passion is mountain biking, well away from the risk of other traffic.

John

Ady1:

I rode into your great city in a downpour at the end of the Scottish C2C cycle route; the route is partly off road and, no doubt, more enjoyable when it is dry! The sun came out in subsequent days and it was Festival time.

Please don't give up your real bike!

For £60, you aren't going to get much.

It probably feels horrible to pedal, won't be stable, and won't be good for you ergonomically.

This is probably one of the best half decent budget exercise bikes to go for, that isn't crap:

**LINK**

Four years ago after a period of what I now know was angina, I had a mild heart attack, was fitted with two stents, and subsequently encouraged to take up moderate exercise. Initially I devised a daily 2 mile walk – utterly boring and only acceptable if I can go on auto-pilot. But I didn't fancy inclement weather so I bought a JLL JF200 exercise bike for use on those bad weather days. Initially, 1/2 hour, 10km & 240 cals burnt, and that was hardish going. Difficulty level was initiallly a struggle on 3, but reasonably easy on 2.

Slowly, I discovered that my chest does not like cold – mild aches etc. So this winter I have more or less abandoned the walk and concentrated on the bike instead. Still doing 1/2 hour, but the distance travelled is now regularly over the 10km mark, and the calories burnt is generally in excess of 260. Still hardish going though, and boring, so I have taken to reading books. Difficulty level is still on 3 but I can now keep it up for longer and at a slightly higher speed. And best of all, no chest aches.

There is also a pulse rate monitor which only works if your hands are located correctly on the sonsor pads on the handlebars. Generally I don't bother, but on odd occasions I have noted that my pulse rate is around 60 resting and upto about 90 when peddling hard.

I should point out that when I attended the re-habilitation sessions following the stent installations, I was told that the objective was not to aim for olympic standards, but to exercise at a rate felt to be somewhere around moderately hard, eg around 12 -15 on the Borg scale.

I've turned the handlebars round so that I'm now sitting more or less upright. The seat is uncomfortable, but that could be a more general loss of "padding" material around the nether regions than anything else!

Was it worthwhile? Well, as long as it helps to defer anymore heart attacks, and staves off any angina then it probably was. Obviously I have no idea how accurate the so-called dials are so I only use them as a guide. But even so, I do seem to have improved.

Happy cycling,

Peter G. Shaw

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 28/01/2019 14:19:37

Ady, assuming you have a road-going bicycle of some kind already, I would opt not to buy an exercise-bike as such, but a turbo trainer.

Turbo trainers take up less space, allow you to use your own bike (that you are used to and comfortable with) on it and generally provide a much smoother ride with more realistic resistance than a lot of the dedicated exercise bikes at the lower end of the food chain.

I own this one: https://www.cyclestore.co.uk/kinetic_road_machine_2_0_smart_trainer-ID_73443

but less expensive and perfectly competent ones are available, e.g. https://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-tt-02-fluid-trainer/

In case you're wondering, I used to race competitively in a club, and had done for over thirty years, until an immune disorder (that developed a few years ago) confined me to slightly more sedate riding. But I still use my trainer quite a bit.

I saw a cycle simulator in Evans Glasgow shop.

There was a normal bike in a stand with an electrically controlled brake and a widescreen TV showing a cycle race.

I think the rest can be guessed, although I didn't have a go of it.

Neil