Spin bike questions and help

[carrottopper]

I've only ever had a cross trainer before. I'm thinking of getting a spin bike and the peloton app. I can't afford the peloton bike.

Any recommendations please?

Also, in terms of exercise and my Apple Watch, am I right in thinking my exercise ring would close quicker with a cross trainer than spin bike?

We are favouring a spin bike as we think it would be kinder on joints.

Any help welcome please.

Having conducted far too much research into this (and still not bought a bike!) you need one that has a flywheel over 15kg and (ideally) magnetic resistance. This one has a good rep www.powerhouse-fitness.co.uk/bodymax-b15-black-indoor-cycle-exercise-bike-with-free-lcd-monitor

There is a FB group for Peloton digital app users and almost every post is about bike recommendations. Worth taking a look.

We've got a Life Fitness Life Cycle spin bike that we bought secondhand about 5 years ago. I use the Peloton app with it - you will need to be able to track your resistance and cadence/rpm. My bike's cadence seems to track the same as that recommended by Peloton, but whereas the Peloton resistance goes up 1-100, mine is 1-20, so I just assume 5 Peloton resistance points = 1 of mine and work from that.

Not sure what you mean about your rings closing faster with a cross trainer - do you mean your exertion level is higher so you'd be burning more calories? I think that depends on how hard you work cycling, but I'd say half an hour in a decent Peloton class will burn similar to a 30 min HIIT session for me, maybe a little less.

Peloton also offers more than just spinning, as well, so that's brilliant for trying out other workouts (tread, outdoor, strength, cardio, yoga etc). Another alternative is Apple Fitness which connects directly to your Watch (we have Apple TV's so stream in them). DH seems to quite like it, I'm slightly hooked on Peloton (and currently get it for free from my health insurance, so don't need to choose!).