The Best Magnetic Resistance Spin Bikes – 2017

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Building resistance is a crucial part of any workout. The more resistance you experience the harder you’re gonna have to work at overcoming it, and this process of constantly going harder strengthens you and increases your stamina. For example, for those who regularly workout, it is recommended that you keep increasing the weight on your irons and dumbbells in regular intervals.

This is done so that your muscles are always working harder than they were before. If you get used to a particular level of resistance and don’t increase then you’re body is not going to experience any change. Similarly, resistance is a crucial part of Spin Bikes be it magnetic resistance spin bikes or friction resistance spin bikes.

They can be increased to make spinning harder and give the effect of riding uphill, or they can be decreased to make it seem as if you were going downhill.

Types Of Resistance

There are two means by which you can apply this type of resistance to the flywheel of your bike – Magnetic Resistance or Friction Resistance.

Magnetic Resistance

As the flywheel rotates, it has to pass through an area of two magnets, and this causes the resistance. The degree of resistance is monitored based on how close the magnets are to the flywheel. The closer they are, higher the resistance and as they move further away, the resistance decreases.

Friction Resistance

This makes use of wool pads resting on the flywheel. A knob is used to tighten or loosen the pad. The closer and harder they are against the flywheel, stronger the resistance. And vice versa.

Comparison

Friction Resistance Bike is the more commonly used bike in gyms and such, and amongst people. Magnetic resistance has an edge over Friction resistance in a lot of different aspects. It’s quiet, there is no dust, it doesn’t require much maintenance, and you don’t have to worry about the replacement of pads. However, it is also far more expensive that Friction Resistance, which also offers tougher resistance than the magnets. So, if cost is a consideration, or if you don’t use the spin bike too often, then go with the Friction.

Best Magnetic Resistance Spin Bikes

If you still wanted to go ahead with a Magnetic Resistance Spin Bikes, these two are the best you could go for:

Keiser M3i Indoor Cycle

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This is the top of the M3 range of the Keiser bikes. The great thing about this is that you can sync it with an iOS app called GoInd, and as such track your workout by uploading the details and having your progress analyzed.

As for the degrees of resistance, it offers 24 different levels with ultra smooth transition from one to the other, which can easily be altered with a simple lever before the handlebar.

Finally, it has a really light flywheel and as such you can easily take advantage of the resistance afforded by the magnets. It produces an effect akin to that when you’re riding an outdoor bike.

Bodycraft SPR Indoor Group Cycle

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Unlike the M3i, bodycraft SPR  Indoor Group Cycle has 16 degrees of resistance, but similar to M3i that can be varied with the help of a lever attached before the handlebar which also works in accordance with the console.

Alongside the resistance, it provides all kinds of other necessary information to track your progress such as watts, calories, speed, distance, time, RPM, and heart rate (the latter only if you also have a compatible heart rate strap on.) However, you cannot sync it to your phone and run analytics on your phone like with M3i.

Furthermore, this bike is perfect for heavy duty cardio because it is one of the few bakes that doesn’t wobble or shake at all. This is because it is made from heavy duty steel. It is also fully adjustable, you can move the handlebars around, as well as the seat.

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