Spinning bike's impact on riding
 

We are considering getting an entry level spinning bike for home exercise and I'm wondering if there are any major no-nos in relationship to the impact of posture, riding mechanics that have a negative affect on real riding that impact what to get (or what not to)?

your position could impact your muscle recruitment, and you may find your hamstrings, glutes, or quads more fatigued on one bike than the other. If you ride outdoors with cycling shoes, but ride the stationary bike with tennis shoes, that will also impact your body's reaction to pedaling. The stance or width between pedals could be different, the saddle could be different, the width, grip, shape of the handlebars could be different, and the list goes on. I think you need to ask this question in the context of specific stationary bikes, because there are so many, and the adjustability can vary widely, but you're unlikely to hurt yourself if you are approaching your fitness methodically.

Can't think of any. I will tell you that with the right instructor and format, spinning is far superior exercise to road cycling. Before the gyms locked down for classes in NYC I went to the gym twice a day four days a week and once three days a week. The days I went twice I did a killer spin class called Pursuit Build and Pursuit Burn, 60 mins each of computer controlled team competitions. They were intense.

If you do Spin right you will be far stronger on the road. One thing about spin is that you can work on your pull stroke whereas on a road bike you really can't as effectively.

I miss those classes. But again, it will depend on the format of the workout. If your are just winging it, do a Tabata format. Tabata is incredibley effective on a spin bike and very difficult if you are scaling resistance along the way.

Some cyclists go between road cycling and mountain biking. No problem.

Dan.

Why not get a Kickr or equivalent, and use your existing bikes?

To be clear on terms, spinning bikes are fixed gear bikes with quite heavy flywheels which carry a lot of inertia to keep the pedals moving, and usually ridden in class-type settings. Is that what we’re talking about here? I don’t follow the market— I’ve heard of Peloton, of course— but know there are lots of variants on stationary bikes generally, and they can be hard to categorize.

That said, there are no no-no’s which will mess up cycling, but I do think that there are real differences between working-out and training, and some stationaries cannot supply the feedback loop with data to make cycling training possible. Entry-level spinning bikes, I imagine, probably don’t offer any ride data analysis, so while one could get a good workout, and over time build certain strengths and fitness, they only go so far as they go for cycling because the data iisn’t there to train specificity. Once you start adding in data from heart rate, cadence, and power, the situation changes dramatically.

But no, when it comes to improving general fitness on a stationary, there are no no-no’s, particularly for untrained cyclists.