NEBD.....

[Philly Q]

New Exercise Bike Day!

After a very long time, 15 years or more I think, my trusty old exercise bike had been starting to squeak and creak alarmingly in recent weeks.  I took it apart to try to identify the problem, but last weekend it finally gave up the ghost.  It might be fixable, but it's beyond me....  :(

So, after a couple of days' hasty but intense research, today I took delivery of a glossy new Reebok machine (obtained for a remarkable £500 less than RRP, although I'm sure no-one ever pays full price).

It took all afternoon to set up, when it was finally done my dodgy back was killing me and my hands were sore from screwing (ahem) and spannering.  I got all the saddle heights, handlebar angles etc set up as close as possible to my old bike.  It looks good, doesn't take up much more space than the old one, and it's incredibly quiet.

So, time to give it a go...... and I hate it!  The bloody display is in km instead of miles, the manual's useless, and it just feels..... all wrong.  I dare say I'll get used to it, and a new challenge is probably a good thing.  But I have an overwhelming feeling of disappointment.  :|   

[blue]

if you've been using the same one for 15 years, i'd imagine a new one would be hard to get used to!  in a slightly similar vein, i drove the same car for almost 9 years, and my back and the seat were pretty much moulded to each other.  since i got my new one, i've had pains in my knee and back from adjusting to the change.  so i hope my bike doesn't pack in too!

good luck with the new one, i'm sure you'll get used to it in no time.  i agree with the km thing being annoying though, and the manuals seem to have been translated from chinese by a dyslexic spaniard :(

[MrBump]

Pics or it didn't happen.

The bike, not your bad back.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

That's why I've given up on exercise!

 :lol:

[richard]

Exercise Bike ! I was thinking e-bow.

[Philly Q]

Exercise Bike ! I was thinking e-bow.

I have considered it, but it'd be (yet) another gadget I'd never take out of the box!

I will actually use this bike.

good luck with the new one, i'm sure you'll get used to it in no time.  i agree with the km thing being annoying though, and the manuals seem to have been translated from chinese by a dyslexic spaniard :(

Yeah, it makes you realise that the people who make guitar equipment actually care about what they're doing - most of their manuals are very good, and some things like Line 6 actually go into the realms of being enjoyable to read!

Yeah, I'm sure I'll adapt soon enough.  Like you said about your car, it was hurting my back last night even though on the face of it nothing much was very different.

I had considered getting a "spinning" style bike because they have mechanical tension adjustment like my old bike, but I thought the seating position really would $%&# up my back.

[juansolo]

What is this exercise thing of which you speak?  :?

[Philly Q]

What is this exercise thing of which you speak?  :?

I would've said the same a couple of years ago.

(Not entirely true, I've gone through phases of being extremely fit and extremely unfit since I was about 13 years old.  But in the last 2 years I've barely missed a day's exercise.)

[blue]

i'm a bit like that too, a couple of years ago i was toned and muscular, now i'm... not :)  been back at the bike the last couple of weeks though, doing about 20 miles a day now, and plan to ease back into the weights next week after doing body weight exercises so far.   it can seem like hard work at times, but a good workout gives a feeling of real achievement.  and when you lose your fitness, you realise how much better you felt when you were fit.  unfortunately, my fitness has tended to be interrupted by various illnesses and injuries over the years. 

i'm trying to encourage my lady friend to exercise some.  she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes last year, and while she's coping quite well with the injections, she's pretty much refusing to make any real lifestyle changes.  and she does not live a healthy life!  i know you were diagnosed with the same a while back, Philly.  so you seem to be a good example for her :)

[Philly Q]

I'm type 2 diabetic, but yeah, that's what spurs me on!  I don't do any really heavy-duty intense exercise, but I put in about an hour a day in total, and on top of that I walk a lot.  It all helps.

Conditions like high blood pressure and high cholesterol tend to go hand in hand with diabetes, and I was determined not to be put on statins or blood pressure tablets.  So, how do you fight all those conditions?  Keeping your weight down, exercising and changing your diet (I won't say eating a "healthy" diet, because people have so many different versions of what that means!). 

Some people are happy to let the medication carry the burden, and of course that's up to them.  A friend of mine has always used her diabetes as an excuse for being massively overweight..... I think she's wrong, but who am I to criticise, if I'd eaten less sugary junk in my life I might not be where I am now.  Anyway, now I want to keep things under control myself, as much as I possibly can - that's what works for me personally.

[gwEm]

Keen to see some kind of image.

Your health drive is to be lauded!

[Philly Q]

OK, here we go (hoping no-one pays much attention to the background in these photos....)

The new one:



The old one:

[Philly Q]

So, I'm riding the bike this evening..... supremely uncomfortable, my lower back is killing me..... 15 minutes in...... and the left pedal falls off.  :oops:

I don't think I'd ever tightened it properly.  There'd been a slight but persistent clunking noise for the last three days, but I thought it was just an annoying "feature" of the bike.  Now it's completely silent.  Hopefully it partly explains why the bloody thing has felt so awkward and uncomfortable!

I do need some better pedals, though, with proper adjustable straps.  I hate the stupid thick plastic straps it has at the moment, and I know they won't last very long anyway, based on past experience.

[gwEm]

The new bike looks *much* cooler than the old one. Too bad about the pedals, but I assume widely available pedals from a normal bicycle will work.

[Philly Q]

The new bike looks *much* cooler than the old one. Too bad about the pedals, but I assume widely available pedals from a normal bicycle will work.

The old one was the epitome of cool in 1998 (possibly)!  :lol:

Re the pedals, yes, I guess so, assuming it's not like guitars and you have the metric vs. imperial thread issue!

You're a cyclist, aren't you gwEm?  Any pedal advice?  I'm not going to get the type which needs special shoes, but presumably if I get some with an open/hollow construction I can easily fit some strong nylon adjustable straps (which is what I did on my old bike).