How many calories an I burning in a bike stand?
November 28, 2019 3:02 PM
I have a vintage Blackburn Magtrakstand. The bike is held upright by the rear axle with the 5 - magnetic resistance settings for/against the rear bike wheel. I'm trying to know how many calories I'm burning at each setting if I'm pedaling at a set speed in a specific chain ring and cogset. Does such a calculator or chart exist? Blackburn doesn't have one, but lots of people use these trainers. There must be something.
For example, if the Blackburn setting is at 1, and I'm in the center chain ring, and my rear cogset is set at, say 4 in a 7 setting gear shift, and I'm pedaling at 15 mph, how many calories am I burning? There are lots of bike calculators that work great if the bike is actually moving. But I'm guessing they're off when the bike is in a stand because bike weight, wind, temperature and all of that doesn't apply.
For example, if the Blackburn setting is at 1, and I'm in the center chain ring, and my rear cogset is set at, say 4 in a 7 setting gear shift, and I'm pedaling at 15 mph, how many calories am I burning? There are lots of bike calculators that work great if the bike is actually moving. But I'm guessing they're off when the bike is in a stand because bike weight, wind, temperature and all of that doesn't apply.
The current cycling tech all revolves around power output, which can be directly measured and takes into account resistance, gearing, slope, etc. Either with special pedals which are Bluetooth connected, or on "smart" trainers which know exactly how much resistance they provide and must be calibrated on a regular basis.
Your old trainer doesn't do any of this - it's not really simple to figure out what the actual resistance is at your setting, or how much energy is lost from tire slip to your trainer, to the gear you are using. Your trainer may have resistance similar to riding on a flat road, or up a 10% grade, or even a slight downhill. And it may not simulate resistance in a linear or even repeatable manner.
If you had a power meter you could do this calculation a bit easier: How to Convert Watts to Calories Burned While Cycling but there's still a possible range.
Calorie counting is still a pretty inexact science - those charts are nowhere near precise and make huge assumptions about you and your bike. Probably the best bang to buck option would be to measure your heart rate - it would tell you if you're pushing yourself to an anaerobic (sprinting) level or just a relaxed level, regardless of what setting the trainer is at and what gear you are in.
posted by meowzilla at 3:42 PM on November 28, 2019
Your old trainer doesn't do any of this - it's not really simple to figure out what the actual resistance is at your setting, or how much energy is lost from tire slip to your trainer, to the gear you are using. Your trainer may have resistance similar to riding on a flat road, or up a 10% grade, or even a slight downhill. And it may not simulate resistance in a linear or even repeatable manner.
If you had a power meter you could do this calculation a bit easier: How to Convert Watts to Calories Burned While Cycling but there's still a possible range.
Calorie counting is still a pretty inexact science - those charts are nowhere near precise and make huge assumptions about you and your bike. Probably the best bang to buck option would be to measure your heart rate - it would tell you if you're pushing yourself to an anaerobic (sprinting) level or just a relaxed level, regardless of what setting the trainer is at and what gear you are in.
posted by meowzilla at 3:42 PM on November 28, 2019
Yes, a basic or cheap way to do this would be to get a simple heart rate monitor, and run your heart rate through one of several heart rate to caloric expenditure calculators that are available on the internet.
There's no calculator for your stationary trainer because there's not a standard amount of resistance, and there are other variables outside of the trainer itself (like the efficiency of your drivetrain, and the amount of air in your tires).
posted by entropone at 4:31 PM on November 28, 2019
There's no calculator for your stationary trainer because there's not a standard amount of resistance, and there are other variables outside of the trainer itself (like the efficiency of your drivetrain, and the amount of air in your tires).
posted by entropone at 4:31 PM on November 28, 2019
You can get a rough approximation by looking at the speed vs. power curve for your trainer at Power Curve Sensor. The resistance of your trainer depends on the resistance setting and the wheel speed, your gearing does not matter much. I use a Kinetic trainer that has a little computer that calculates power the same way. I also use an apple wach and Garmin 510 that calculate calories used based on heart rate. The three of them usually agree within ~10 %, but not always. For example tonight the trainer said 640 cal, the garmin said 540 cal and the apple watch said 448 cal.
posted by FungusCassetteBicker at 8:25 PM on November 28, 2019
posted by FungusCassetteBicker at 8:25 PM on November 28, 2019
The trick with trainers like that how you have it setup against your wheel and how much tire pressure you have make a big difference in how hard you work. You can measure tire pressure, so you can keep the setting relatively consistent, but not to some known quantifiable measurements. I agree that a heart rate monitor is your easiest path forward.
posted by advicepig at 7:21 AM on November 30, 2019
posted by advicepig at 7:21 AM on November 30, 2019
As others are noting, the only way to get a number at all is to add either a heart-rate monitor (for a very inexact figure) or a power meter (for a VERY exact figure). The former is super cheap. The latter is, uh, very much not.
posted by uberchet at 7:09 AM on December 2, 2019
posted by uberchet at 7:09 AM on December 2, 2019
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posted by trialex at 3:36 PM on November 28, 2019