Machka 

Ouch!

shyonelung

You're too kind. It is appreciated. :-)

GlennR

I wear my bibs also. My son suggested that put my spare saddle on the bike, but since i don't attend every class, i'm afraid of it walking away when i'm not there.

Stucky

All this talk of spin bike saddles raises an interesting point: I've seen many spin bikes equipped with big, thickly-padded Walmart-esque saddles (the kind that will rub you raw) since (I guess) they're not anticipating real cyclists using the spin bikes; and figure that the general public, at least initially, will *feel* that the craptacular saddle is more comfy, initially. I can only imagine how much worse such a saddle would be for those of us who are used to real saddles! Yikes!

MRT2

Way overstating the saddle issue. Yes, the saddles on spinning bikes are cheap, and not the best. But size wise, IMO most gym quality spinning bikes try to strike a balance between super narrow and super wide. The Keiser bikes my local gym uses are cheap and plasticky (though not padded at all) and wouldn't be my personal choice but size wise is about the same width and length as my Brooks Cambium or B17. Such a saddle would not be optimal for the aspiring triathlete and probably too wide for the roadie who likes to get low in the drops, but for a 45 minute to one hour class, 1/3 to 1/2 of that time spent out of the saddle, it is adequate.

Stucky

True. I just think of the saddle on the sdpin bike that I had. It looked to be a nice compromise between a real road bike saddle and an over-stuffed Walmart job- it didn't look bad- but it sure was uncomfortable! -and this,coming from a guy who isn't too fussy about saddles. I mean, after not being on a bike for 30 years, when I started riding a few years ago, I had no issues with the saddle that came on my bike; and never got any soreness or discomfort....but that spin bike saddle was the most uncomfortable thing I ever sat on (Including the time I accidentally sat on my dog's pointy dinosaur toy! )

digibud

One huge advantage of spin classes is your ability to work yourself to exhaustion. Doing a full HIIT (high intensity interval training) episode can be done on a spin bike till you are exhausted and blind with sweat. HIIT is great for aerobic conditioning and while it's doable on the road you do have to limit yourself to some degree. Plenty of spinning instructors are physiologically locked into a good solid hour of training. It's what they do. If you did an hour a day, five days a week your body would also "conform" to that and you'd be hard pressed to go out and do a 5 hour ride but for a cyclist that adds splnning to their training it can be great stuff and for winter aerobic maintenance it surely beats doing nothing. I spin all winter in addition to winter riding but cold weather riding and super hard efforts don't mix for me so spinning is a huge help and gives me a big leg up on the summer season. Without it I would take a few more weeks to get back to decent condition.

MRT2

Well said.

Yendor72

I do HIIT on out spin bike at home, I could not imagine doing that on the road. I'd end up in front of a car half dazed. I'm barely able to walk up the stairs when I'm done as it is.

Machka 

Regarding saddle width ... the saddles on the spin bikes at my gym are about as wide as my Brooks B17. Maybe just slightly narrower.

The saddles on the stationary bikes in another part of the gym are much larger, and generally not well padded.


Maybe there is some confusion here between spin bikes and stationary bikes.

Machka 

+1

CNC2204

Open road riding with heat/cold & gravity on hills isnt the same as sitting in a room in one spot IMO.

gregf83 

Not the same but there's no problem getting an equally intense workout indoors. Of course, if you want to ride for more than an hour it's much more enjoyable outdoors.

nkfrench 

My gym has Keiser spin bikes and 20 minutes on that saddle has me beyond discomfort.
The newer spin bikes have better saddles.
Everybody is built differently and if it works for you, great.
I guess my message is give the bikes a try before paying for classes.