Originally Posted by
chaadster
Yeah, the flywheel doesn’t provide resistance, the brake on the flywheel does that. Which bike is it that doesn’t provide infinitely adjustable resistance? I mean, the resistance knob should provide continuously increasing resistance throughout its range; most are just pressing or squeezing brake pads against a flywheel insofar as I am aware, so I’d counsel to look at pad condition first.
So tell us the model bike and whether it’s new or used and maybe we can help more.
Resistance is there, that is not the problem. Based on resistance alone one might think as long as the brakes work to apply required resistance, flywheel size is immaterial. For example a 1 kg flywheel vs a 20 kg makes no difference. But what is not much talked about is the relative stresses on the cardiorespiratory vs muscle strength. With a smaller flywheel relying on brake power alone, I'm suspecting it stresses the muscle more than the cardiorespiratory system, not allowing for an optimal workout. My thigh muscles are very strong but even I find my muscles tiring first before reaching optimal levels of cardio.
I don't have permission to post links, the cycle I'm complaining about is the Reach inctiva cycle on amazon.in.