Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Any calorie calculators out there for a fixed gear ride?

An hour long ride in rolling hills with an average heart rate of 140 with a max of 160 from a resting heart rate of 58 with a a rider that weighs 255 lbs - any way to figure out calorie burns? Wouldn't a fixed gear have a higher calorie burn due to the impossibility of resting?

Thanks for thoughts.

An hour long ride in rolling hills with an average heart rate of 140 with a max of 160 from a resting heart rate of 58 with a a rider that weighs 255 lbs - any way to figure out calorie burns? Wouldn't a fixed gear have a higher calorie burn due to the impossibility of resting?

Thanks for thoughts.

For the most part, you'll be burning the same amount of calories. However, chances are you will burn more calories from carbohydrates on a fixed gear than on a geared or other such freewheeled bike.

Although.. At the same time, you may find that you will ride purely in an aerobic stage... It really depends on how you choose to ride your fixed gear. Your intensity will often times make up for the fact that you will be pedaling the whole time. I can speak for myself and myself only when I say this, I ride my fixed gear a lot slower than I ride my geared bike, but this is in part because I fix for commute and without brakes.

I sprint as long as I can until my legs feel like they're gonna give out, then I slow down, then back to sprinting, repeat. You'll burn off way more and train yourself to ride faster at the same time. :)

An hour long ride in rolling hills with an average heart rate of 140 with a max of 160 from a resting heart rate of 58 with a a rider that weighs 255 lbs - any way to figure out calorie burns? Wouldn't a fixed gear have a higher calorie burn due to the impossibility of resting?

Thanks for thoughts.

I think the calories burned would be calcualted based on your HR regardless of whether you were riding fixed or not. So, any standard cycling calorie calculator should be fine.


For the most part, you'll be burning the same amount of calories.

Yup.


I sprint as long as I can until my legs feel like they're gonna give out, then I slow down, then back to sprinting, repeat. You'll burn off way more and train yourself to ride faster at the same time. :)

This is called Interval Training. There are several ways to do this...none of them are fun :)

What are some other ways?

What are some other ways?

Use a power meter. But these can obviously get expensive.

Try using this calculator which uses your average heart rate: http://www.triathlontrainingblog.com/post/calories-burned-calculator-based-on-average-heart-rate/

Here's the formula he uses. Weight is in kg not lbs.


Using VO2max
Men: C/min = (-59.3954 + (-36.3781 + 0.271 x age + 0.394 x weight + 0.404 x VO2max + 0.634 x HR))/4.184

Women: C/min = (-59.3954 + (0.274 x age + 0.103 x weight + 0.380 x VO2max + 0.450 x HR)) / 4.184


Without VO2max
Men: C/min = (-55.0969 + 0.6309 x HR + 0.1988 x weight + 0.2017 x age) / 4.184

Women: C/min = (-20.4022 + 0.4472 x HR + 0.1263 x weight + 0.074 x age) / 4.184

Disclaimer: I work for Polar..

I'd suggest buying one of our base "FT" models, like the FT4 or FT7. Both can be had for less than $100 and give you EKG accurate heart rate, target zone and calorie expenditure. Will help tremendously

Disclaimer: I work for Polar..

I'd suggest buying one of our base "FT" models, like the FT4 or FT7. Both can be had for less than $100 and give you EKG accurate heart rate, target zone and calorie expenditure. Will help tremendously

Sweet! Thanks for contributing to the discussion.

How do the FT4 and FT7 compare to the Powertap ANT+ HRM? That's what I have.

The main concept stays the same in terms of heart rate measurement. Chest transmitter reads electrical impulse from your heart, sends signal wirelessly to receiver. The receiver(in this case a wrist unit) displays the data real time and holds other features that provide guidance to maximize your workout.

A good example of an advanced HR training feature would be our Star Training Program - take a look at this vid for more info. http://www.youtube.com/polarusa#p/u/19/u2GdU1XgGR8 (http://www.youtube.com/polarusa#p/u/19/u2GdU1XgGR8)


We are all about heart rate based training, our FT line is used for general fitness. We also make running and cycling computers as well as a power meter. In the spring we are launching in collaboration with Look a new power meter which should be real sweet.

I heard about that pedal based power meter. Awesome! Plus it would be cool to see what each leg is contributing.

Please, please, please make the sampling rate configurable to 0.5" or faster. This is important to track racers who sometimes train in short bursts of less than 10 seconds. The SRM is good in such situations but has a 3" lag from a standing start. The PowerTap system only samples as fast as 1" which is too slow sometimes.

If it's under $1,000 you will sweep the market!

Oh and ad Mac software!! PLEASE!

Not really that helpful right now, but...

My school has a class that is working on design of a power meter, I'd take it but no architects allowed :(

http://ipro.iit.edu/project-listings/future-projects#Spring2011_324

Description:
The IPRO team is working to develop a system that measures the torque that a bicyclist applies at the crankset of the bicycle and transmits the data to a commercially available bicycle computer. Our goal is to have a design that is suitable for retrofitting existing cranksets for high-end racing bicycles. In contrast to existing solutions we want to be able to retrofit our system to existing cranksets, obviating the need to abandon parts that the bicyclist already owns. According to tests we have done during previous incarnations of this IPRO, this can be done, in principle, using sets of quite inexpensive strain gauges. However, being able to get accurate torque measurements will require some advanced processing of the signals from the strain gauges. These signals can then be transmitted wirelessly to a bicycle computer like the Edge~705 sold by Garmin. There is a defined wireless protocol (ANT+Sport) that has been developed specifically for the purpose of transmitting exercise data (including cadence, power output, heart rate, etc.) to small computers. Chipsets and development kits for this protocol are also available commercially. Our task will therefore be to find an optimal configuration of strain gauges that will be attached to the crankset, to develop an algorithm to process the strain gauge data in order to isolate a signal that is proportional to the applied torque, and finally to demonstrate that the system we are envisioning can provide sufficiently accurate power data to a commercial bicycle computer.