I have been a cyclist since the 80s and have tried most forms of indoor cycling over the years, bike trainer, rollers, stationary bike, spinning bike and track bike (that still counts as indoor cycling if the track has a roof!).
It always surprises me that a lot of “real cyclists” still feel that spinning classes or indoor cycling classes are not really proper cycling and can be quite dismissive about this form of training. I know other serious cyclists who regularly do these classes or even teach them and recognize that done the right way they are a great form of training.
Having spoken with Colin Irving the inventor of the RealRyder on this topic, I know this was something he wanted to address in the design of our stationary bike. To make it more like the real cycling experience and to win over more of the outdoor bike riders.
That was the intention, but it is always good to get recognition from cyclists, so when we heard this great story about a group of cyclists who had been won over by training on RealRyders we had to share it with you.
Ed Cashin is one of the owners and trainers of Hampton Tri and both Ed and his wife Caroline compete successfully in local, national and international bike races and multisport events.
This is what Ed told us:-
“Team Hops was created about six years ago for local mountain bike racers and triathletes to compete in local, regional, national and international races.
Typically, winters on Long Island, NY are long, cold and dark. Team Hops
usually took advantage of that time to gain weight and lose fitness. That changed after we were introduced to B-East RealRyder Indoor Cycling Studio in Amagansett. Most of the members were leery of “spinning classes” and thought it impossible to get a serious workout indoors.
I can attest that after the first class using the RealRyder stationary bike, the feeling was unanimous that not only did the ride kick our butts aerobically but our abdominal and other upper body muscles were screaming after just a few switchbacks!
We were all amazed and excited by the workout that we were able to get indoors and knew that the upcoming racing season was going to be a great one for us!
With the springtime here and the racing season starting, our team has agreed that we will continue to attend our RealRyder indoor cycling classes @ B-East to keep us strong and in racing condition all year long.”
So there you have it, competition cyclists are recognizing the value of RealRyder indoor cycling classes as part of their training programs. This is why we are relentless in hammering the message that you should ride our stationary bike, because everyone who does seems to come away impressed by the workout and how much fun it is to ride.
Ed and Caroline both now teach classes at B-East, as we said in the heading Real Indoor Cycling for Real Cyclists!
We have been getting some great stories from people who have lost weight using our stationary bike or used RealRyder indoor cycling classes to train for racing or charity events.
We love these stories as it shows the outside world that our version of indoor cycling is really helping people to get motivated and achieve their goals! We are getting addicted now, we want more stories!
So Tell Us Why YOU RealRyde!
Whether it’s for weight loss, heart health, a competitive 
cycling goal or to boost core strength, we want to hear why YOU RealRyde.
Send your story, plus any photos or videos, to:
Share a story that really moves us and we’ll send you official RealRyder® apparel!
You haven’t ridden our stationary bike yet? No problem, find your nearest RealRyder facility using the search link on the right, join one of our indoor cycling classes and write your own story!
In a recent post we had told you about people driving for 2 hours to get a 1 hour ride on the RealRyder Stationary Bike. Until today I thought that was a pretty impressive endorsement of the pulling power of our indoor bike. That was before I spoke with Jennifer Fleischer who has really raised the bar to whole new level!
Jennifer first read about RealRyder in the May 2009 edition of Triathlete Magazine and the seed was sown! Like most people who see this very cool looking tilting stationary bike for the first time Jennifer was excited by what she was seeing and reading, but also more than a little curious. Can you really get a good core workout from indoor cycling?
Jennifer and her husband Matt are both keen Triathletes and were keen to try out the RealRyder for themselves and by February of this year they could wait no longer. They flew the whole family from Mt Bethel, PA to RealRyder in Santa Monica, CA. Yes, 2,800 Miles, 4 time zones, coast to coast! We are pretty sure this is a new RealRyder record, but if you know of anyone who has travelled further for a test ride let us know and we will write it up on this blog!
Now if you are an indoor cycling studio or gym owner, wouldn’t you like to have fitness equipment that attracts people this far? Now here is the $64,000 question – what did they think of our indoor bike? Did it live up to expectations or was it all just hype? Was their journey worthwhile?
Let me answer all those questions this way – they bought 21! That is not a typo they bought twenty one stationary bikes and talking with Jennifer today she is clearly a huge fan and very happy they did!
Now here is the best part of this story, Jennifer told me she had been thinking about opening a studio, but it was the trip to Santa Monica, riding our stationary bike and meeting the RealRyder team that convinced her it was the right thing to do! Her new RealRyder Indoor Cycling Studio – MultiSport Fitness will be opening shortly in Mt Bethel so look out for a full review we will be doing shortly.
So if you want to find out what all the excitement is about, get on a RealRyder yourself, you won’t be disappointed. And if you are looking for a great place to try one in PA give Jennifer a call, they have a great new studio and very knowledgable and enthusiatic team. Oh, and please don’t tell us you are too far away, it will be worth the trip!
The whole indoor cycling industry puts out a huge amount of marketing material every year. All the manufacturers will tell you how their spinning bike or spin bike started the industry or how their indoor bike was designed (or at least endorsed!) by a top professional or their stationary bike has sold millions!
RealRyder is a relatively new entrant to this highly competitive sector and like everyone else we are pushing out our marketing messages too! Although, it occurred to me the other night when I was checking through some independent reviews that there is one major difference between us and the other manufacturers.
The most convincing marketing messages don’t come from any of the manufacturers; they come from consumers, from health club owners and from indoor cycling instructors. And when they are talking about RealRyder, the comments are nearly always positive! Let me make that a little clearer, everyone who rides our stationary bike seems to love it!
We have encouraged readers of this blog to “Google” RealRyder so you can read these 
reviews and comments for yourself, we have even “cut and pasted” some of these quotes into our blog posts to emphasize the point!
Our challenge is not to find positive things to say about RealRyder or our stationary bike, put simply it’s to encourage more of you to actually ride our stationary bike! We are happy from what we have heard already that you too will feel the difference. To experience the better workout and the fun of riding one!
So where can you ride our unique Stationary Bike?
Click on the “Facility Search” link on the right of this page or on the main RealRyder site and find the nearest location to you. Alternatively look out for us at future Trade Shows, again you can find details of upcoming shows under the “Trade Show” Category on the right of this page.
More and more gyms and specialist indoor cycling studios are ordering our indoor bike and we will keep you advised of these through a new “Club Focus” section as they open.
So please don’t just read what people are saying about our stationary bike try and schedule a ride! The people have spoken and the word is spreading fast – they look cool, they work better and they are more fun! At least that’s what people are telling us!
A stationary bike workout is a great way to get fit, but to get the most from it you need to establish some basics! A stationary bike is a great tool, providing you use it regularly and we wanted to set out some tips to help you get the best results from your indoor cycling training.
1) Make a Plan
Are you training for something specific or just to get fit or lose weight? Think about what you want to achieve and a timeframe, this will help to keep you motivated and give you some targets along the way so you can keep track of your progress.
2) Set up a Training Area for your Stationary Bike
Where are you going to train? On a stationary bike at home or indoor cycling or spin classes at your local gym? Set up a specific training area if you are training at home, so you don’t waste time getting everything set up each time you train. It helps if you have some music and maybe some videos to watch. Also don’t forget about drink bottle(s), ventilation, a good fan or being near a window will help you keep cool!
Indoor cycling classes are great, because you will have an instructor to coach you through the class, plus you don’t need to worry about ventilation, music etc that will all be taken care of.
3) Establish your Goals
For example:-
- Are you training for a charity ride? How long is it and do you have a target time?
- Do you want to lose weight? What is your target weight and how quickly do you want to get there?
Once you have established your goals write them down and then set yourself some interim goals. So if you want to drop 30 lbs over 6 months your monthly weight loss target is 5 lbs. Or for your charity ride your target time is 3 hours and the event is in three months time. So you gradually increase your longest ride each fortnight, so you build up to the target time 2 weeks before your event. Interim Targets are Wk 2 – 1hr, Wk 4 – 1.5hrs, Wk 6 – 2hrs, Wk 8 – 2.5hrs, Wk 10 – 3hrs
4) Aim for Consistency
Training regularly is the key to fitness! 20 or 30 minutes everyday on a stationary bike is better than doing an hour then nothing for several days! Ideally you want to train at least 4 days every week to make the best progress. Also think about alternating hard and easy days. As you get fitter, gradually start riding a little longer or push yourself harder (only on your hard days!). Always warm up and warm down, some spinning with light resistance on the bike is a good idea. Recovery is as important as the high intensity workouts so remember if your legs feel heavy or tired take it easy just spin easy for the whole session.
5) Start Now!
You can ride your stationary bike anytime. It doesn’t make any difference if it’s raining or dark outside you can start your indoor cycling workouts anytime, but start them now! You have planned everything out so there is no reason to delay!
6) Enjoy your Indoor Cycling!
A stationary bike is a great choice of fitness equipment that will help you keep fit all year round, you can still have fun while working hard and it is very satisfying as you start to see progress and hit your targets. See if you can find a buddy who will workout with you, this will really help your motivation especially if you have the same goals!
Some structure and planning is helpful, but we have avoided getting too serious as the most important thing when you are starting out is to get into a routine and to keep it enjoyable. You may find you really get the bug and as you see your fitness improve you want to start doing interval training, VO2 Max sessions and all that other fun stuff! You can do all this on a stationary bike, but that’s another chapter of the story for later on!
7) Choosing your Stationary Bike
I have just realized we haven’t mentioned RealRyder at all during this piece! One last point, pick a good quality stationary bike and if it is a RealRyder you will find your fitness improving faster, because you will be using more muscles and burning more calories! Everyone who rides one confirms they are also more fun than other stationary bikes, so you will probably ride it more as well!
