by John | Aug 7, 2017 | Engage Your Students, Freemotion - Foundation Fitness
I want to share this email exchange I had with ICI/PRO member Julie Zweck-Bronner.
Hi John,
You have said you teach at a facility that has the Freemotion bikes. I was wondering if that facility uses the pedals that came with the bikes or different pedals. We will get 40 Freemotion bikes in May and are wondering how to accommodate our riders that have LOOK cleats. Should we spend the money to switch out to all Schwinn Triple Link pedals like on our Star Trac bikes we currently have? There was some talk about using the Triple Link Pedals off the old bikes to save money, but I worry they are too worn to put on brand new bikes. Do you also find that many riders wearing bike shoes do not like the basket/cage staying on the underside of the pedal as they ride?? Thanks for your insight.
You're going to have so much fun Julie.
If you are getting the S11.9 I think they come with a good two sided pedal with SPD/shoe basket. Where I'm teaching they switch out everything for triple links as that's just what they do.
If it was my studio I would work toward getting everyone to switch to SPD. Look doesn't make the traditional “LOOK pedal” anymore. Now they have the KEO which looks like it should work – but it doesn't.
I would swap the best 10 triplelinks onto the new bikes and leave the rest.
Unless of course you normally have 30 cyclists with LOOK cleats every class, then you already know what to do 🙂
Sportsmith has the best pricing on Schwinn Triple Link Pedals I've found and I want to say that Jeff Wimmer at StudioCycles.com has refurbished Triple Links.
Can I have your permission to create a post about your question?
Thanks John, yes you can post and thanks for your insight. Do you think avid bikers who wear bike shoes prefer the triple link because the can remove the cage/basket on the flip side of the pedal unlike the pedal that comes with the FreeMotion bike? That has the spd on one side and the fixed/permanent cage on the flip side. Sounds kind of anal but want to address all concerns. Thanks again, Julie ZB
Julie LOOK pedals were the most popular for years (but are no longer) and cyclists wanted to use their shoes – I don't think they care if the basket is there or not.
SPD is rarely used by road cyclists (they were first used by mountain bikers) but are best for indoor because they work on a recessed shoe = easy to walk in and safer – road shoes were never meant to walk in and are very slippery on any polished surface.
Rather than speculate, I suggest you ask your students and act accordingly.
Thanks John we will take a poll!
I haven't heard the results of Julie's poll, but I have conducted one myself at the two clubs where I teach that use the Triple Link pedal with some interesting (yet very unscientific) results:
- About half of the riders using LOOKs had purchased their shoes/cleats specifically for indoor use.
- Another 25% originally had LOOK cleats on their road bike = their shoes just happened to fit the pedals we used indoors.
- Almost no one was using the original LOOKs on their road bikes anymore.
- Almost everyone had multiple pairs of shoes.
I feel it's very important to be as accommodating to cyclists, but times are changing. If you're looking at an equipment upgrade a simple email poll using Survey Monkey will tell you a lot + identify those few participants you will need to accommodate if/when you make a change.
Originally posted 2012-03-14 08:36:34.
by John | Aug 4, 2017 | Class DVDS & Videos, Instructor Training
Last weekend Amy and I were in a Spinning class at a Life Time Fitness in Scottsdale. The instructor's playlist was a series of YouTube videos she played off her iPhone. The class was very cool… and all I could think about was how much my class would love this…
Is this legal?
I've been looking online and I'm reading a number of different opinions that go either way.
What's your take on this?
Originally posted 2011-03-03 19:08:14.
by John | Jun 28, 2017 | Indoor Cycling Bikes
I just found this, but it may be old news to you. I'm not sure if it's club quality but it's sure nice looking. Here is what Lance says about Livestrong fitness equipment:
I'm excited to introduce a new line of LIVESTRONGâ„¢ fitness equipment where every piece sold raises money for the fight against cancer. Our team has put countless hours of development into making these products worthy of the LIVESTRONGâ„¢ name, and I am proud of this partnership. Staying fit has always been an important part of my life and leading an active lifestyle is one of the best ways to stay healthy.
Lance Armstrong
Update: I have ridden this Indoor Cycle and it is indeed club quality! I love the belt drive – very smooth and nearly maintenance free.
Here's more information about the LIVESTRONG Limited Edition LS28IC Indoor Cycle
Originally posted 2009-10-25 17:02:58.
by John | Jun 11, 2017 | Indoor Cycling Bikes
You will be hearing more about “Q Factor” from Spinning® / Star Trac so I thought you may appreciate knowing what it is, in case it comes up in conversation.
Q Factor (also know as Tread) is simply the separation/distance between the two pedal cranks of a bicycle or Indoor Cycle. Here are two articles here and here that discuss this measurement and this picture illustrates how it is measured.
What prompted this post was a conversation I had last week with Josh Taylor from Spinning® about the changes to the latest version of the Spinner® NXT and the new Spinner® Blade. Josh explained to me that one of their design criteria for both cycles was to reduce the Q factor, without reducing the reliability of the Bottom Bracket Wikipedia article. The purpose of the change was to make the new Spinners more Bio-Mechanically efficient. You've no doubt heard about “knee over pedal” that can be adjusted by seat position and shoe cleat alignment. Alignment between Hip Joint > Knee > Feet is also important. For some people bringing your feet closer to their natural spacing will maximize the muscular forces applied to the pedals. Notice I didn't say all people. According to the company who manufactures the KneeSaver there are people (specifically those with wider hips) who benefit from a wider Q-Factor.
You can read more from Josh at his own blog jtcycle.blogspot.com and it includes his descriptions of the new Spinner® NXT and Blade.
I wanted to get a point of comparison so I pulled out my trusty vernier caliper and measured a few Indoor Cycles + two of my road bikes to see how they compared:
- Amy's Trek Women Specific Road bike = 156mm
- Our Trek Tandem Road bike = 165mm
- Spinner® NXT = 170mm
- Schwinn AC Performance = 170mm
- Keiser M3 = 197mm
- New Spinner NXT and Blade will be 158mm per Josh Taylor, which is very narrow.
There are a number of design factors that determine Q Factor on an Indoor Cycling bike:
- Interference from the frame, guarding or other component requires the pedal crank arms be spaced further apart. This is especially obvious on the Keiser M3 and what causes their 197mm Q Factor. The carrier assemble for the Magnetic Resistance on the M3 sticks out on the RH side requiring a special pedal crank assembly.
- Are the pedal cranks off the shelf, or custom made?
- The width of the Bottom Bracket used.
Josh explained to me that once they set a target Q Factor for the new Spinners they realized that they would need to focus their engineering creativity on reducing the width of the Bottom Bracket. Not an easy task. The Bottom Bracket is the most highly stressed part on any pedal driven machine. Think about all the forces that need applied here; the rider's body weight + the twisting force (torque) that's applied to a machine that doesn't move. The Bottom Bracket is made up of an axle that's supported by two roller bearings, one one each end. How far the bearings are apart effects the amount force applied. The wider you space the bearings (and the frame that supports them) = better, which is OK unless you are trying to reduce the Bottom Bracket's width.
Star Trac's solution to this problem was to design a narrow Bottom Bracket with larger bearings and strengthening the frame that supports these bearings. To ensure the crank arms stay securely attached they are using a Morris Taper, instead of the typical interference fit and bolt used in the past. Based on the dimensions Josh is reporting they now have the Indoor Cycles with the narrowest Q Factor on the market.
Why should you care?
I know from experience that the narrower the Q Factor, the closer my feet are to each other, the more comfortable I feel riding a bicycle. This is especially true on a long ride and some cyclists will go to great lengths to reduce their total Q Factor by adjusting shoe cleat position, effectively moving their feet as close together as possible.
But we aren't talking about your personal bicycle here, where changes and adjustments can be made to fine tune the fit of the owner. These are Indoor Cycles. They're designed to ridden by every conceivable variation of human adult; short, tall, wide hips, narrow hips, leg length disparities, etc… Will some in your class notice or appreciate the difference? Maybe. But I personally don't see how a narrower Q-Factor will help our typical students in any measurable way.
I would love your thoughts…
Originally posted 2011-04-24 07:47:55.
by John | May 18, 2017 | Date Specific, Spinning Class
New Spinner NXT for 2011
Here are pictures from IHRSA of the new Spinner NXT and the all new Spinner Blade. I'm going to guess that Spinning still sees a large market for conventional Indoor Cycles that would cause them to redesign the NXT.
4/15 update: I had a very informative discussion with Josh Taylor today about all the changes they have made to the NXT. I hope to have a separate post about it early next week.
The only significant change I can see is the addition of fore/aft adjustment of the handle bars.
Adjustable Handle Bar
My understanding is that the crank arms on these new cycles us a proprietary (as in unique) pedal spindle thread size that will prevent using any other types of pedals 🙁 That would mean that Schwinn Triple Link pedals (a common upgrade for indoor cycles) will not be an option and studios will have a very limited choice of replacement pedals. What's up with that?
Spinner Blade
Although it looks very stylish, from a technological perspective the new Spinner Blade is a bit disappointing to me. This will be Spinning's cycle with power – and they're using the old friction system for the resistance? That's so 1990's, especially when Keiser, Schwinn and FreeMotion are all using vastly superior Magnetic Resistance. No clue as to how they are measuring the amount of force applied to compute a riders power output. This display cycle doesn't show any computer/console . They must not have it completed yet. Will the Spinner Blade be ready by WSSC?
Spinner Blade
All opinions expressed here are mine 🙂
Originally posted 2011-04-14 05:00:00.
by John | May 9, 2017 | Class DVDS & Videos, Product Reviews
Does you club offer a Indoor Cycling Movie Night? Mine does as a way to get people in for long rides minus the boredom 🙂 Working on that concept would this work? Have an “Indoor Cycling Endurance Learning Class” where you play instructional DVDs on different topics. I got the idea over at EnduranceFilms.com I have a few of their Indoor Cycling DVDs and as I'm training for my first triathlon I was intrigued by this 5 DVD Triathlon Training Series.
Originally posted 2010-02-28 06:44:13.
