Written by Peter Suciu on 29 March 2011
As we’ve noted previously, there is some irony in the way people use gyms. In many parts of the country people sit in traffic in their cars to drive to a gym to work out. And then at the gyms, these places aren’t exactly the greenest operated businesses. There are the treadmills, the music system, the air-conditioning and of course those walls of TVs. The irony is that people are burning a lot of calories, but we’ve already seen some gyms work up ways to recapture some of that effort and put it back into power.
We heard about Portland’s Green Microgym, which has the equipment capture and send some of the energy back into the electrical grid. Because the equipment needs power to operate, as well as those TVs, the lights and air conditioning it is currently impossible or any gym to actually generate more power than it needs to run, but some equipment could do more than it’s part.
According to reports some of the equipment can actually generate more power than it draws, notably a spin bike during an intensive class. This is of course because most spin bikes need practically no electricity, other than possible a speedometer or cycle computer. Thus with every pedal stroke the riders produce energy. Pedal power can make gyms greener.
[Via Voice of America: Exercisers Burn Energy While Creating it]
The Green Microgym
Tags: green, Portland, spin bike, The Green Microgym, treadmills
Posted in Equipment, Exercise, Sustainable | No Comments »
Written by Enid Burns on 22 February 2011
Spinning is great exercise, especially in the off-season. Yet it’s still a stationary bike. RealRyder International ABF8 stationary bike threatens to break the monotony of spinning. RealRyder tilts so you can steer some mock turns. It’s articulating frame allows you to steer and lean.
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Tags: RealRyder, spin bike, stationary bike
Posted in Cycling, Equipment | 1 Comment »
Written by Enid Burns on 30 July 2010
The Expresso Bike mounts a video screen on the handlebars, like dangling a carrot.
Sometimes weather dictates an indoor workout, even when you’re longing for the outdoors. A video screen mounted to the handlebars with scenery doesn’t replace the outdoor feel. Expresso Upright Bike makes claims to “fuse exertainment with Web-based personalization features in a commercial-quality system! Eye-catching and fully-integrated design.” The bike has over 30 Basic-to-Extreme rated interactive tours such as rides along the California coast and the Peruvian mountains.
If you look at this bike, about the only thing that’s advanced beyond other stationary bikes and spin bikes is that the handlebars move to simulate turns and steering around a course or those curvy coastline roads. It also changes the resistance with the terrain on the road or course you’re riding. The video screen provides the scenery, but we’re not certain if it speeds up or slows down to match your speed as you ride. The screen is too small to offer any kind of immersive experience the company claims to provide. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Cycling, Expresso Bike, spin bike, stationary bike, video workout
Posted in Cycling, Equipment | No Comments »
