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Yeah, I know it’s nowhere near winter yet, but I have to start budgeting ahead. What will I do in the winter when the roads get bad, the nights draw in, and it’s just too darn soggy and windy to enjoy going out road bike cycling?  And could the Tunturi exercise bike have the answer?

A friend of mine has some rollers, and he says that they are great in the winter months.  Thing is, I am scared to death of them, what if I fall off? It’s all quite complicated.

So, I have embarked on doing some research to find out which is the best option between rollers, spinners, and exercise bikes, in particular Tunturi  have caught my eye.  But I want to fully explore my options, and once you look at the prices you will know why.

One thing that I have wondered about is getting a spinning machine.  And if you have hit this page because you were looking for something about wool, sorry.  We talk bikes here!

I got interested in spinners when I read in an article in cycling weekly, I think it was, who had a friend who was coming up to visit her in Scotland.  She cycled there regularly, but apparently this guy was something of a hill guru, and she was really worried about getting left like luggage on the rises, only to have him grinning at her from the top.  And being a woman she couldn’t have that. (nuff said, I am a bloke and I would have the same problem!)

So she decided to take a look at some spinning classes.

When I read the article I was prepared for her to come back and say how rubbish it was, boring etc..  I have had the pleasure of borrowing my dead granny’s exercise bike, and all I could see from these modern ‘tech’ versions was that it wasn’t much different, just a few more bells and whistles.  Oh, and granny’s bike bored me stupid.

So it was somewhat of a surprise when the lass in the article wrote that she got a load out of the spinning class (apparently threw up after the first class it was so tough!) and after a few weeks training when her friend arrived she left HIM standing on the hills.

I took a look at spinning classes, or maybe spinning cycles (washing machines beware!) for me to keep moving forward with my fitness.  And if I start saving now, I might just get there by Christmas.  That’s if I don’t decide to go and spend it all on developing my core and just go and buy one of those Ab Tone Belts which I keep reading about… actually, they aren’t that expensive!  Back to the subject…

First up, lets start with my local virgin active to see if that is going to be a good place.

There are a range of gym membership, too many to go into right now, which run in around the £40 mark, but it really depends on the type of membership you want!  It’s not actually listed on the Virgin active website, which is a shame, and they say to just call your local Virgin active.  There is some good advice though: to reduce costs it appears that the one time sign-up fee is more expensive at the beginning of the month than at the end!  Watch that one as it goes through and see if it is the case near you.  Secondly, check out something like PruHealth (part of Prudential insurance) which will give you a really decent discount of 25% on the monthly membership,

and a one time activation fee – as they call it – of £25 to ‘join a partner gym.’  That’s a big discount!

Make sure that your local has a V-cycle studio, and that the use of it is included in your membership.

I will use this figure of about £300 (a year’s membership) to compare with the cost of my opinion of the best comparison bike in the next article.

1)      Spinning bikes

Spinners work on a flywheel principle, which on the whole feels a lot more like a normal fixed wheel bike (track bike) and the quality of your workout depends on how much effort you put in.  The studios have spinners generally because the instructor is the one that drives you to work harder.  On some models you can alter the resistance, but not many.

A number of people recommend a spinner if you are a keen cyclist as it works the muscles in a similar way to a normal bike.  However, quite a few of those same people also suggest that rather than a spinner if you ARE  a cyclist already then you should get some rollers.  I won’t cover it here, but there are a few rollers on the market that will plug into your PC and alter your resistance according to the video playing through the PC!

A spinning bike, as said, won’t allow you to change the resistance as you go through too easy, but if you are on rollers looking to improve your road bike cycling proficiency by using your actual machine, then you can flip up and down the gears.

There are lots of different models, Star Trac seems to be the best manufacturer with a reputation for making cardio machines for athletes.  A wide choice, and you might be able to pick up refurbished model from (my research suggests) under £500.  However, a new model will set you back over a grand.

Rollers beat a spinner in the value department – rollers come in under £150 -  and being unable to change the resistance I think is a bit of a pain on something you want to help you build power as well as endurance.  I think that if you combine an hour’s work of squats along with a spinner that would be a great combination, though you have to watch interference effect.   So if you have room for multi gym equipment, or free weights then it’s worth a thought.  Actually if you have both the room and the budget for your own studio, then you probably have the budget to throw in a spinner too!

So an all-in membership down Virgin active could actually work out pretty well.  Especially as I could take advantage of the pool too.

2)      Exercise bikes

Some argue that an exercise bike doesn’t give you the same kind of feedback as a spinner.  Others say that the options that you get on the top of the range Tunturi exercise cycles actually make that irrelevant since it alters the resistance for you as you ride.

There are some crucial benefits, especially if you are looking to train on your own without the instructor side of a spinning class.  First the resistance is easier to change, but when you get up to the high enders, like the tunturi exercise bike E80, you get this little video (thanks to T-road) and on board trainer (which according to the manufacturer makes sure you don’t over or under exercise after giving you a fitness test!), and the bike program actually changes the resistance as you train.  So it gets harder on the hills!  Oh, and easier on the downhills too…

And the cream on the cake, though not if you are dieting of course, ahem, is that the faster you are peddling, the speedier the video footage moves.  Incredible.

Of the tunturi bikes which  should I go for?

• All link to a PC for additional information
• The wireless heart rate monitor only appears on the models that are on the Tunturi e60 and above.  A good display too. T-ride provides data like speed and power.
• The e80 Tunturi bike adds T-road, plus an mp3 player, though I am not too fussed about that latter item.
• For a competitive edge, the e85 is better designed for road bike cycling training and virtually the same as the e80 which is a more upright model.

And the price? About £1.5k.  Hmmm, don’t think I will be able to afford it.

Bottom line is this.  It’s affordability.  And right now, neither a spinning bike or exercise bike is within budget.  Would I like one?  Yes, but incredibly although the exercise bike has many more features than a spinner, something draws me to the spinner.  I think I would be able to complement the spinning with weights and with road running to make it a valid option, and there seem to be enough ex-display models and refurbs. as well as cheaper models (the Reebok for example) around to make it a better value option.

In the meantime though I am going to look at rollers.

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