Indoor cycling seems to be very popular. Almost all gyms feature spinning lessons prominently in their adverts, and many feature power meter enabled bicycles from Stages and similar. But I have yet to find a single one who has proper cooling, which makes getting a solid workout almost impossible.
Does anyone knows why? Is this due to ignorance? They don’t think is worth it to market towards consumers that are willing to spend thousands of dollars on specialized equipment? Do you know of a gym that has proper cooling for a one hour threshold workout?
Sorry for the rant, but I likely will need to temporary relocate cities due to job and I’m dreading having to take my bicycle and trainer across the ocean. At times like this I regret taking cycling instead of running or body building. Gyms seem to have no qualms of accommodating these two activities.
There’s probably loads of reasons but I would only be guessing. One guess would be, a good sweaty workout is probably an easy sell… If you’re sweating, then you must have been working hard.
Ridgid, Milwaukee, Dewalt, et al sell 18v portable jobsite fans that run off their cordless tool batteries.
My local spin gym allowed me to bring mine. Yours may or may not.
To answer your question directly, most spin participants aren’t cyclists, and aren’t aware of the RPE reduction when properly cooled. We TR/Zwift users are pretty spoiled.
our gyms have indoor spin rooms with temp usually at 60F / 16C and basic fans. Its actually pretty good, I’ve used the room between classes and grabbed two fans and completed some really hard workouts.
Since July the classes and entire gym has been moved outside. Right now the classes are pretty chilly - I think today’s class was 45F / 7C so no problems with cooling
Not necessarily. Many spin instructors are very fit and competent on the spin bike, but don’t ride outside of the spin studio.
Some will go for power PRs and such (when riding, not instructing), but since all of their riding is done in the same environment, they’re not aware of the difference cooling will make on performance vs mere comfort.
Not necessarily. Many spin instructors are very fit and competent on the spin bike, but don’t ride outside of the spin studio.
Some will go for power PRs and such (when riding, not instructing), but since all of their riding is done in the same environment, they’re not aware of the difference cooling will make on performance vs mere comfort.
I guess this is the difference of riding for general fitness and training to get faster, then.
Because gyms think that most of the people who are looking to take a “spin class” are not cyclist who are looking to get faster on a bike or ride a bike outdoors. Odds are these people are looking for “workout” on the bike in a class that’s engaging (music, weird “dancing” moves on the bike, HITT, etc.) and feels like they worked out out hard.
Note - I know this doesn’t apply to all gyms. I know of two gyms in my area where the spin classes are taught by cycling coaches. There are also some LBS that offer indoor training during the winter/off-season. As for proper cooling, one of the cycling studios literally had big-ass fans (Powerfoil D - Direct-Drive Fan - Big Ass Fans®)
Where overseas are you going? If you’re heading to Europe, where cycling is big, I don’t think getting another bike or trainer if you needed one would be a problem.
So my suggestion would be to look for a cycling studio that focuses on cyclists and not a gym. Though if this move is a longer term commitment, I would assume you would want to bike to ride at some point.
