My job writing about RealRyder is relatively easy, for one simple reason. People are genuinely excited about our stationary bike! Not just the people who work for RealRyder, but the studio owners, the indoor cycling instructors and it seems, almost everybody who rides one!

In fact, it would be easy to get blasé about it, “sure everyone loves our stationary bike”! Then one of the team will come back with another example of just how excited or enthusiastic the response has been and the buzz keeps building, it really is infectious! There is certainly no complacency or taking anything for granted here at RealRyder!

As you know we have been at 2 trade shows recently and after the response we got at the SCW show Florida MANIA we may have to recalibrate the “RealRyder Excitement Gauge”, Spinal Tap style, so “it goes to eleven”!

We ran our Indoor Cycling Classes at SCW to show instructors and studio owners how to get the best out of our stationary bike and take their indoor cycling classes to the next level!

Our presence was a huge success and RealRyder was undoubtedly the most talked about product at the show. The cross section of people who complemented us on the bike and the classes was a real eye opener! Industry veterans, spin class instructors and even employees of other manufacturers, everyone loves our stationary bike!

Douglas and Adam led some truly stellar Indoor Cycling workshops. The energy and excitement was over the top! Teachers were literally running over to our booth after the classes to give us their email addresses, get pricing and pick up a t-shirt!

Instructors who rode the RealRyder desperately want to get our stationary bikes into their clubs and their club owners to invest in them.

We are putting the RealRyder “moving” stationary bike into more and more clubs and indoor cycling studios. A very clear pattern is emerging, the club owners see an upsurge in interest and instructors and clients don’t want to make the step back to old school spinning bikes. There is a real buzz and genuine excitement and yes our stationary bike really will attract new members!

What is only one thing worse than not having RealRyder stationary bikes in your club? Your rival down the road does and he is taking you clients away! The word is spreading fast and if the excitement gets any higher we may have to get a scale that goes to twelve!

Our recent blog post on cadence and the pro and cons of different pedaling speeds has generated a lot of discussion. There is a huge amount of information (and opinion!) available on how fast you should be spinning and we have already had some interesting views and comments!

I can see that this whole subject, probably warrants further examination!

One very interesting area is the “flywheel effect” of an indoor bike or spin bike and in particular how it changes the feel and maybe benefits of spinning at higher cadences versus outdoor cycling.

Another area we want to talk about further is to differentiate between spinning faster and training at higher intensities. They are different and the main difference is how much resistance is being used.

Next it has rightly been pointed out that to go faster you need to produce more watts regardless of how fast you are spinning.

And lastly we want to look at different cadences or spinning rates in different cycling disciplines (spin classes, road, mtb, triathlon, time trialling, track, etc) and how this might affect your training.

So look out for further posts on this subject and we would love your comments or thoughts on this whole subject of cadence and we will be bringing you further information on how fast we should be spinning, from coaches, intructors and research documents!

At RealRyder we like to keep a sense of perspective, a sense of balance, so if we write about how our stationary bike can benefit an elite cyclist or triathlete, we try to make sure that we don’t alienate any beginners who are looking to try our indoor bike for the first time.

The reality is that, although it was designed by a very good cyclist, who wanted to make a stationary bike which felt much more like a real bike than any of the existing stationary bikes or spinning bikes, you really don’t need to be an expert to ride one. In fact you don’t even need to be able to ride a real bike at all!

We regularly seek and get feedback from ALL our customers across ALL our different market sectors and the responses are actually surprisingly consistent. It doesn’t seem to matter whether we ask experienced spin class instructors, complete beginners or experienced cyclists; we normally get the same answer!

It takes a little time to get used to the movement, but usually something like 10 minutes for most people. By the end of the first class (45 minutes or an hour) most people will be comfortable leaning the bike from side to side, in or out of the saddle. After a few classes, confidence and familiarity have usually increased to such a level, that we often hear comments like there is no going back to a non moving stationary or spinning bike!

One of the reasons that a beginner may feel apprehensive about trying a RealRyder stationary bike is ironically the very thing that makes it unique, the ability to lean! This is where we come back to that great word balance.

Take a look at any picture of a RealRyder stationary bike without a rider and you will notice the bike naturally sits upright, completely vertical. So if you just push or pull the bike to either side it will automatically re-center itself if you let go of the handlebars and walk away! Now look at the base that the bike sits on; it is a very sturdy, steel unit which gives the bike a very stable platform.

The reason for emphasizing these two design features is that first of all the bike will not flop from side to side and secondly it won’t fall over! So if you sit with your weight centered and still, the stationary bike will be just that “a stationary bike”! It will only lean if you lean or turn the handlebars. It will only move if you move.

So, only the top half of the stationary bike moves, whereas the base will be completely stationary! These two features are like the “Yin and Yang”; they work in tandem and complement each other.

Our instructors, Douglas and Adam, who train the RealRyder Indoor Cycling Class instructors use an expression “having a conversation with the bike” or in other words let the bike move naturally with subtle inputs from the rider, feel what the bike is doing, but don’t fight it.

I hope that all made sense, but it is actually easier to experience “our ride”, rather than write or read about it. So get to a RealRyder Indoor Cycling Class soon and find out what everyone is so excited about!

The real message here is that although this is a ground breaking design, the appeal and the benefits are universal. Beginner or expert, chilling or hammering, everyone can enjoy the benefits of our unique moving stationary bike so have fun and work hard – the Yin and Yang!

How fast should you be spinning on an indoor bike or stationary bike? Go into any indoor cycling class or spin class and you will see different people pedaling at completely different speeds, but is there an ideal cadence?

Spinning faster on the road became popular during Lance Armstrong’s record breaking run of 7 consecutive Tour de France wins, but is a high cadence right for everyone and how does it translate from an outdoor bike to an indoor bike? Of course, just spinning faster won’t make any of us Tour winners, nor will wearing Oakleys or longer socks (because Lance does)!

Let’s look at riding a real bike first and how fast you go depends on leg speed and gearing. To travel faster you can spin faster or use a bigger gear, one takes more leg speed the other takes more strength. You could make the comparison with car engines, a high revving, small capacity motor versus a big capacity V8 that will do the same speed with much lower RPMs.

Some riders naturally spin smaller gears, while others are gear grinders or mashers! Leg speed and leg strength are both important to a cyclist and when you have both, you can ride faster by spinning faster AND pushing a bigger gear. It is also useful to alternate, if you are breathing too hard to maintain a high pace, go to a bigger gear and pedal slower or if your legs are fatiguing go to an easier gear and spin faster. In effect you are working one harder, to give the other some rest, depending on where you are feeling the stress most – legs or lungs! You can also normally accelerate faster by spinning a smaller gear before changing up to build the speed. So for a variety of reasons it is good to be able to spin your pedals at different speeds for different situations. Also it is good to know that leg speed and leg strength are both very trainable.

There is a lot of research that indicates 80 to 85 RPM is the most efficient cadence for hills and the flat, but for the reasons outlined you may need to vary this and spin faster.

Now how does all this translate to how fast you should be spinning on a stationary bike or spin bike? The short answer is an indoor bike doesn’t travel anywhere so speed is not a factor! You can pedal as fast or slow as you like  and you will still be next to the same riders at the end of the class!

From a training perspective indoor cycling and outdoor cycling are not really that different and where we talked about  “bigger gears” or “smaller gears”, this will become “more resistance” or “less resistance” on an indoor bike. Where we talked about training leg speed or leg strength this is really where cadence becomes important.

For leg speed you should be spinning at over 90 RPM with light resistance and the more you practice this the faster and smoother you will get! Focus on smooth pedaling  and it is possible to build up to 120. Remember to always have some resistance on and if you are starting to bounce in the saddle just slow it down slightly. Spinning faster will also help you burn more calories, than spinning slower; at any given resistance level. Useful to know if you are looking to shed some pounds!

For leg strength this will feel like a simulated climb so you will be using more resistance and dropping your cadence down to 60 RPM, it will actually feel more like weight training than spinning. This drill is tough on the legs, so no more than twice a week to make sure you are recovering.  Also whenever you are making your training harder or more specific, always make sure you have a good base of regular steady training, before increasing the volume or intensity. As with all training, recovery is important to keep improving and staying injury free, especially if you have had any knee issues. So keep it progressive and if you are not fully recovered don’t be afraid to use light spinning with an easy resistance as a recovery ride.

A quick tip for gauging your cadence, just count how fast you are spinning for 15 seconds and multiply by 4.

A good instructor will be giving you variety throughout your indoor cycling class anyway, but knowing how fast you are spinning and focusing on these drills in different classes can help you get more out of your workout especially if you are using a stationary bike to supplement your outdoor riding. For beginners to indoor cycling you don’t need to worry about this stuff at all unless you want to, just enjoy your class!

RealRyder Indoor Cycling Classes are a great workout anyway, as you will be working your upper body and abs, burning upto 20% more calories and having fun on our moving stationary bike!

A few days ago we wrote about Hammer House who have just opened a new RealRyder Indoor Cycling Studio in Colts Neck, New Jersey. 

Click on the logo on the right to go to their website.

They held an Open House on Friday and ran 10 minute demo rides every hour for the whole day, to give as many people as possible the chance to check out the new studio and to ride the RealRyder stationary bike. So we went back to Hammer House again to see how the day went.

As with our last visit they had a great response, the morning demos were packed with every one of the 40 stationary bikes being ridden. It was also obvious their instructors have been putting in the time on the new RealRyder bikes.

Their Indoor Cycling Classes were very well organised and they had complete beginners feeling confident on the bikes very quickly even though these were only short demo rides. The energy and enthusiasm of this group of instructors is infectious their classes really are fun! I sat in on the last 2 classes and even though the instructors had done 11 demos by the end of the day there was certainly no drop in the energy levels. In fact both these last demos went well over the scheduled time, because the clients and the instructors were having too much fun to stop!

Hammer House are open 6 days a week with 100+ classes a month at a variety of levels. For more information, you can email them at info@hammerhousestudio.com or call (732) 308-3030. No memberships are required and you can buy classes in 1, 4, 10, 25, 50 and 75 “ryde” discounted packages. All reservations may be booked online through their website (Click on the Hammer House Logo at the top of the page).

We think Hammer House will be a huge success! We know RealRyder stationary bike will attract clients and the instructors here hit that happy balance of getting everyone working hard, but still having great fun at the same time. So if you are looking to try our stationary bike and live in New Jersey check out Hammer House they will help you take your indoor cycling to another level!