I switched from biking through the streets to a recumbent bike in my apartment a few years ago, thinking that the recumbent bike would be easier on my back, useable 365 days a year, and make me less inclined towards injury (as when I fell over on the bike, or got into a collision, or one of the mishaps that occured every few weeks out on the streets, sometime sidelining me for days or even weeks.)
But I wonder: Do you get a better workout on the regular bike? It seems to me that maybe a big part of the exercise on the street bike is the effort investing in maintaining my balance, which of course happens 100% of the time on the street bike but 0% of the the time on the indoors bike. It seems I’m a lot more tired out from an hour on the street than an hour on the indoors bike, though I seem to sweat more on the indoors bike.
What say you? Is the effort of balancing a significant part of the total exercise?
Sounds like neither of us a even a trace of actual evidence to back up our feelings, so you have certainly picked the right forum.
I believe the outdoor riding is tougher because of terrain and wind, and to some extent, stress. Indoors on a trainer is a much more uniform experience. And of course you don’t have to interact with traffic to avoid collisions.
I don’t think it’s possible to say in any meaningful way that one workout is harder or easier generally. Too many variables. You can crank up the resistance of indoor trainers for a harder workout, or change your outdoor route, rtc.
You probably aren’t expending a lot more energy just keeping balanced, but it does force to focus a lot more than you would on a stationary bike. It’s harder to stretch and adjust your position, and you can’t just veg out staring at the TV or a magazine. This may make road cycling more fatiguing, but I’d have no idea how to quantify it.
On the other hand, an outdoor bike gives you wind to pull away your body heat and evaporate your sweat, while on an indoor stationary you tend to just heat up the air around you. This may explain why you sweat so much more indoors.
(You know, you could get an outdoor real recumbent bike and have the best of both worlds. . . paging . . . oh, what’s the name of the resident recumbent evangelist. . . Scr1 or something. scr4?).
Hmm, maybe I should do a vanity search more often… In case you still care:
I’ve owned both bikes and trikes. If balancing was a significant excercise, you’d expect a trike to be faster, because you won’t be wasting energy on balancing and be able to use that energy for forward motion. But in reality, trikes are no faster than bikes with similar weight and quality. Usually slightly slower, in fact. And I don’t get any more tired on a bike than a trike after riding the same distance.
On the other hand, I find that riding outdoors is much better excercise than riding a trainer indoors. The biggest reason is motivation: on a real bike you actually get something (speed and distance) in return for your effort. Cooling is another reason, as already pointed out.
A recumbent trike may indeed give you the best of both worlds - at least, the benefits of outdoor riding and the comfort of a recumbent excercise bike. (Obviously you still have to deal with the weather and traffic.) Sun Bicycles (look under EZ-Series -> EZ3 and EZ3 USX) makes nice ones for reasonable prices (i.e. <$1000). There are more sporty models out there too (e.g. Catrike), but they cost a little more.
And back to the question at hand: Good one. I had trouble getting motivated to ride on my trainer this winter, whereas I have no compunction about commuting to work or just riding for the sheer hell of it right now. And that’s with temps in the high 90s low 100s. Part of it may be that I actually enjoy hot weather, but I also seem to feel better riding for an hour nowadays, as opposed to riding the trainer for an hour in the wintertime.
Yet I still prefer to ride a regular bike. Hell, even when the temp drops precipitously to the bone chilling 60s.
I know that falling hurts, and that I will fall/get brushed back and pile it in at least once this season, but it’s worth it.
And while getting flipped off can be emotionally taxing, flipping off an asshole driver can be emotionally exhilarating. Not exactly win-win, but it all evens out.
I’ve lost weight on a regular rider.
Watch whose helmet yer callin’ dorky lookin’. I refuse to speak for anyone else, but I make my helmet look damned sharp, and vice versa.
We’re talking about a recumbent on a trainer, not a stationary bike.
As to stationary bikes not being stolen as often, well, you got me there. They are a sight heavier.
I don’t think balance is the issue. In the drop position on a road bike something like 90% of effort is spent overcoming wind resistance after about 20 miles an hour or so. That’s why drafting works so well, and is outlawed in triathlons. You also use your upper body more when riding on the road.