While I was at Club Industry last month Josh Taylor walked me through a number of the improvements Star Trac has made to the new Spinner bikes/cycles. I'm never sure which word to use… they only have one wheel so technically they are “cycles” but I'm guessing you understand either way.
Providing a stable, secure platform for the riders in our classes is part of them actually enjoying the class. So if the cycle feels a bit tipsy because the floor isn't perfectly level, most manufactures offer adjustable “feet” on the bottom of each corner where you can make adjustments for an uneven surface. It sounds good in theory; put a rubber “foot” on a steel bolt, which is then screwed into the frame rail. Turning the “foot” changes it's length/height and you can easily adjust the bike to set flat on the floor.
But in real life that steel bolt tends to be corroded from sweat and nearly impossible to turn after a few years of use.
Enter Star Trac's very elegant solution; don't use steel, manufacture the bolt/foot adjuster from high-strength plastic. As you can see in this picture of Josh holding their new adjuster bolt/foot. Looking at the diameter of this thing makes me think it will support any giant who shows up at your studio.
One other thing: I'm aware of a club here in Minneapolis where they use the adjusters to tilt the cycle upwards slightly. I'm aware that cyclists on trainers will do something similar and the Tour de France bike you've seen advertised on Versus touts how their cycle tilts for and aft. Does it make sense to do this [wlm_firstname]?
Click the title to see a video of the new New Keiser M3 Fore-Aft Adjustable Handlebars.
The video shows how they tested this new design to insure that they will be as reliable as the current M3. No pricing yet, but I was told that there will be a retro-fit kit for studio owners to upgrade their existing cycles. Keiser is predicting that they will have these available to ship Nov/Dec this year.
Last month Amy and I had the privilege to work with producer Allen Jones on an upcoming EpicPlanet.tv Indoor Cycling DVD. This was Allen's first video to feature Tandem bikes. We were joined by our friends Tony and Jean for what was an awesome day of riding along the bluffs of the Mississippi river valley.
Our tandem team at the look out after the "big climb" finish
Am I alone in being conscience of my form on the bike, when teaching a class?
In any given time there maybe 20 – 40 people in front of me and a few, I'm convinced, are continuously critiquing my form. So I always want to demonstrate a nice smooth pedal stroke, head up, relaxed upper-body and a nice flat back indicative of someone with more than just a few miles on a bike. “In here you are a cyclist.” I'll tell my class while I encourage them to “look” the part.
I haven't shared this with Amy, but about 5 miles into filming Epic Red Wing, a future Epic Ride Indoor Cycling DVD this past weekend it hit me; there will be thousands of cyclists, instructors and students who will be watching this video.
That was all it took for me to stay singularly focused on my form, for most of the entire 50 mile ride.
Except for when we crashed… OK, it wasn't really a crash, we tipped over. Well actually just Amy fell off when I couldn't make a very tight turn, on a very steep hill. I got my foot down but unfortunately by the time she realized we weren't going to make it, it was too late. I'm not sure if Allen Jones caught it on film… hopefully he doesn't plan to make a “Funny Epic Rides Bloopers” DVD 🙁
Getting beyond my personal insecurities, being part of the filming was very fun. I need to thank our Tandem friends Jean and Tony for riding with us.
As he spend most of his time behind the camera, I thought it would be fun for you to meet the producer of Epic Rides, Allen Jones.
Do you have an idea for an Epic Ride location? Allen welcomes your suggestions and you can contact him at his websiteepicplanet.tv
Did you see this new Indoor Cycle from Pro-Form during the tour this year? I'm not sure if it will qualify as a potential replacement for the bikes cycles in your club, but it is fascinating… at least it is to me. So I called the company and we are planning a future interview to learn more about it.
The Pro Form Le Tour de France Indoor Cycling Bike uses the same Magnetic resistance found on the Keiser M3, Schwinn AC and the new FreeMotion s11.9. As I've stated here on multiple occasions, I see Magnetic Resistance as superior in every respect as compared to a friction system; quieter, zero maintenance and most importantly the amount of resistance increases with cadence… just like a real bicycle on the road.
So how about adding pitch into our classes? Realryder has students rocking from side to side, but wouldn't it be cool if we could replicate the up and down of a real road as part of our class profiles?
The Pro-Form TDF can adjust the amount of Incline or Decline so you feel like you are actually climbing or descending.
I can envision having a control knob where I could control everyone's cycle; “going up!”
I'm guessing that with a selling price of only $1,300, the Pro Form uses calculated power to arrive at the wattage displayed. That may not be optimal for the hard core Power fanatic, but for the 99% of us who just need a consistant indication of the work we create it's perfect.
Here's the link to the Pro-Form TDF information page.
Allen Jones from EpicPlanet.tv Indoor Cycling DVDs is in town this weekend to film Amy and me on an Epic Ride! This will be the first Epic Tandem ride and will feature us riding “The Bus” – our Trek Tandem. We will be riding with our friends Tony and Jean who are a very accomplished Tandem pair.
Our ride begins in the historic Mississippi river town of Red Wing, MN. We will be riding east across the river and then follow the river south on the Wisconsin side with great views of the river bluffs and Lake Pepin.
For you music history buffs, our route takes us through the little town of Bay City, WI which (at least by my understanding) was where the dart landed on the map, thrown by a member of Scottish Pop Band The Saxons, giving them their new name – The Bay City Rollers.
The ride ends with a particularly nasty climb up the side of the bluff to a fantastic location looking out over the river valley. This Map shows our journey.
