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Building a $400 at-home DIY spin bike for Peloton and Apple Fitness+

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Re: Building a $400 at-home DIY spin bike for Peloton and Apple Fitness+

#81

Post by enduser »

postpawl wrote: post #74
multjoy wrote: post #5

He stuck a cadence sensor on a spin bike... If you want a trainer hack, this is a trainer hack: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/how-you-can-u...

All you really need to know is whether you’re keeping the pace up with your current resistance settings. The cadence sensor shows you that. A speed sensor wouldn’t be accurate unless you could also figure out resistance (requires a $500 power meter...).

The Schwinn bike (same hardware as Bowflex C6) has a power meter built in too, not just cadence, so it can calculate speed and works with apps like Zwift.

Re: Building a $400 at-home DIY spin bike for Peloton and Apple Fitness+

#82

Post by freedmand »

I ride on Zwift using an old Schwinn Airdyne bike I got for $25 on Craigslist. It works great!

I connected a bike computer magnetic pickup to the fan wheel, spliced it into a headphone cable, and plugged the headphone into a USB sound card connected to my laptop. On my laptop, I can monitor the microphone input and see each revolution of the fan wheel as a pulse. I wrote a program to convert these pulses to power (using Airdyne conversion formulas I found online) and then broadcast a Bluetooth power meter compatible with Zwift.

Re: Building a $400 at-home DIY spin bike for Peloton and Apple Fitness+

#83

Post by mupuff1234 »

clintboxe wrote: post #52

A huge problem with spending $400 is the build quality of the bike. I went down this exact same route last December. I bought the same Sunny bike in the link, an Apple Watch, a Wahoo cadence sensor, and an entry-level iPad. The Sunny bike broke after 3.5 months of regular usage, right at the start of Covid quarantine. I ended up replacing it with a high quality ~$2k Keiser M3i. The Keiser has been great the last 7 mo…

I've had the same sunny bike from begining of March and after -250 rides I have to encounter an issue.

Re: Building a $400 at-home DIY spin bike for Peloton and Apple Fitness+

#84

Post by chaostheory »

loeg wrote: post #47
chaostheory wrote: post #45

Alternatively, you could buy an Oculus Quest 2 for $299 and a Magene Cadence Sensor for $20 https://www.amazon.com/Magene-Cycling-Cadence-Buletooth-Wire... Then download this game for Oculus Quest https://www.virzoom.com/ video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyJU0vRtug4&feature=emb_logo

My head sweats a lot cycling; I wouldn't want to try and wear a VR headset while exercising.

Mine does as well. There are plenty of VR headset cover options depending on what you want. I would try it before dismissing it, because it doesn't sound like you've even tried VR.

I use silicone covers and I have a small towel on my neck. It works fine. There are other options as well.

Re: Building a $400 at-home DIY spin bike for Peloton and Apple Fitness+

#85

Post by multjoy »

postpawl wrote: post #74
multjoy wrote: post #5

He stuck a cadence sensor on a spin bike... If you want a trainer hack, this is a trainer hack: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/how-you-can-u...

All you really need to know is whether you’re keeping the pace up with your current resistance settings. The cadence sensor shows you that. A speed sensor wouldn’t be accurate unless you could also figure out resistance (requires a $500 power meter...).

Putting a cadence sensor on a bike is not a hack. It is literally the task for which it is designed.

Re: Building a $400 at-home DIY spin bike for Peloton and Apple Fitness+

#86

Post by beloch »

wj wrote: post #56
beloch wrote: post #31

It's interesting how exercise machines are starting to become game input devices and online class portals. Peloton obviously deserves a lot of credit for popularizing the idea, but the hardware required to do similar things outdates Peloton. e.g. Pretty much any Concept2 rower you see in a gym or home that has been made in the last couple decades has a monitor that can provide realtime data to a computer via USB. I h…

How do you like the Concept2 and rowing machines in general? I would prefer a treadmill but I don't have a good space for one. Do you get a decent cardio workout with it?

Folded out, a rower is probably a little longer and skinnier than most treadmills. Concept2's do come apart in the middle for storage and they're light enough that moving them around isn't a big chore.

There's a reason why Concept2's are used by gyms, for training by Olympic rowers, and also for indoor rowing competitions. They're indestructible. I've had one for about 15 years and all I've done is oil the chain and clean the rail. Every treadmill I've had gave up the ghost after a year or two of regular use.

The quality of workout you get with a rower is fantastic. It's great cardio and works a lot more muscle groups than a treadmill. Doing HIIT workouts on a rower is highly effective.

Two caveats:

1. It is possible to hurt yourself if you row with poor form. Take the time to learn how to row properly.

2. When you start, you will get blisters. Then you will develop calluses. If you don't want calluses on your hands, stick to running.

Re: Building a $400 at-home DIY spin bike for Peloton and Apple Fitness+

#87

Post by OJFord »

nradov wrote: post #43
OJFord wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a) My bike on a trainer is really loud. Not that it's going to make (b) any better, but do you have purpose-made tyres on it? I've never tried with my road one, I heard it was loud and wore down extremely fast if you did so, so I just bought a smooth (and I think harder?) one designed for use on a trainer off the bat. Could just be marketing and I fell for it, but seemed reasonable. Re (b), and especially if you ch…

Modern smart trainers have an attached sprocket and are used with the rear wheel off the bike. Some models are fairly quiet.

As I said:

> or better a 'direct drive' trainer (instead of running the bicycle wheel against another wheel, it comes off and you put the chain directly around a sprocket attached to the trainer).

Re: Building a $400 at-home DIY spin bike for Peloton and Apple Fitness+

#88

Post by [deleted] »

enduser wrote: post #81
postpawl wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All you really need to know is whether you’re keeping the pace up with your current resistance settings. The cadence sensor shows you that. A speed sensor wouldn’t be accurate unless you could also figure out resistance (requires a $500 power meter...).

The Schwinn bike (same hardware as Bowflex C6) has a power meter built in too, not just cadence, so it can calculate speed and works with apps like Zwift.

[deleted]

Re: Building a $400 at-home DIY spin bike for Peloton and Apple Fitness+

#89

Post by chaostheory »

mleonhard wrote: post #79
chaostheory wrote: post #45

Alternatively, you could buy an Oculus Quest 2 for $299 and a Magene Cadence Sensor for $20 https://www.amazon.com/Magene-Cycling-Cadence-Buletooth-Wire... Then download this game for Oculus Quest https://www.virzoom.com/ video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyJU0vRtug4&feature=emb_logo

Is there one that doesn't require logging with Facebook?

For general VR yes, but a decent system costs approximately $600 more not including the cost of a VR capable PC. Not many people want to or have the means to make that kind of investment vs giving up some privacy temporarily.

Re: Building a $400 at-home DIY spin bike for Peloton and Apple Fitness+

#90

Post by clintboxe »

postpawl wrote: post #73
clintboxe wrote: post #52

A huge problem with spending $400 is the build quality of the bike. I went down this exact same route last December. I bought the same Sunny bike in the link, an Apple Watch, a Wahoo cadence sensor, and an entry-level iPad. The Sunny bike broke after 3.5 months of regular usage, right at the start of Covid quarantine. I ended up replacing it with a high quality ~$2k Keiser M3i. The Keiser has been great the last 7 mo…

I’ve got the belt drive one with the leather pad for resistance (SF-B1002) and haven’t had any issues. I’ve been impressed that it feels like an average spin bike you’d find at a gym (for $400!). Did you have the magnetic version?

This is the same bike I had. The drive belt eventually frayed/snapped. Sunny customer support was terrible and I got way more help trying to fix it on a Sunny owners Facebook group.
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