The cycling purist

A thwarted former elite triathlete from Scotland, I have spent the last five years on the grind in the Big Smoke and am now itching to regain my former fitness. The trouble is, I no longer have legions of Cairngorms to climb, or quiet country roads that stretch out for miles. I tried popular spin classes in boutique studios, furnished with all those Aesop products and Dyson hairdryers, but while the disco lights, exaggerated cadences and added dance moves motivated others, they felt silly to me.

I just wanted to enjoy real cycling again. With a one-hour hustle required to pedal out of the crazy city roads, the shortage of winter light and the added nightmare of a global pandemic limiting outdoor hours, I turned to indoor innovations. At worst, I thought, they’d help me get my weekday workouts in - and at best, they might even enhance them. In search of road-worthy simplicity, I tested out the new Wahoo Kickr Bike and the Watt bike. Eilidh Hargreaves

The spin class addict

Some people, like Eilidh, live for the challenge of ever-more-demanding physical feats. Others have to trick themselves into getting up off the sofa and breaking a sweat at all. I’m from the latter camp, and I’ve found that the thing - the only thing - that works for me is indoor cycling. The high-energy music, the competitive vibes from riding with a group, the candles, the activewear trend-spotting - I eat it all up. So much so that when I moved back to London after four years in New York, never with more than seven blocks between my apartment and a Flywheel and/or SoulCycle location, I emailed both companies begging them to open in London.

I like to think SoulCycle listened, because it opened two London studios in 2019. I quickly became a weekly rider at its Great Marlborough Street studio. Until lockdowns and the onset of months of working from home made riding in a studio either impossible or unattractive. I needed a proxy - a way to keep fit (maybe even shift a little sourdough weight) and release stress/tension/aggression (homeschooling! aaaargh!) - without leaving home. The Peloton Bike and CAROL sounded like the answers. But would I actually ride, or would they become glorified coat hangers in my lounge? Emily Cronin

Tried and tested

Wahoo Kickr Bike

What they say: The market's most advanced indoor cycling smart bike.

Why it’s worth it: A road bike in your home rather than an ‘exercise bike’, the Kickr Bike is the latest in Wahoo’s range of cult cycling trainers. Sought after by cycling enthusiasts and loved by pros including World Ironman Championship silver medallist Lucy Charles Barclay, it features advanced instant data feedback, such as wattage and accurate speed (not as easy to find as you might think).

Smart gears which you click through on the drop bars, just as you would on a road bike, and a climbing function make it all the more believable. The Kickr is compatible with the Zwift app, where you can enter virtual cycling worlds, and its smart technology means when you’re going up a hill on Zwift, the bike will tilt up and the resistance automatically becomes harder.

As close to real-life riding as it gets, the Kickr is described by Wahoo CEO Mike Saturnia as, “the ultimate product for discerning, data-driven athletes who are ready for a feature-rich, top-quality, responsive, dedicated indoor bike as the new cornerstone of their fitness”.

Rider verdict: The best cycling gizmo I have ever tried and an unbelievable progression from the turbo trainers I used to use as an athlete, with only the garage wall for company.

My biggest gripe with indoor bikes is that they feel so different from my road bike - I often wonder how much benefit I’m getting if I’m training in such a different position - but the Kickr just felt right. It’s very adjustable (with a little virtual reality help), and you instantly forget you’re not really going anywhere. This is something I’d constantly use well beyond the pandemic.

Who it’s for: Road cyclists and athletes trying to supplement their outdoor rides with lifelike indoor bike training that will keep your interest up through long and short sessions. EH

£2,999; wahoo.com

CAROL

What they say: The world’s first AI-powered exercise bike.

Why it’s worth it: While most home exercise bikes aim to replicate the group-fitness experience, CAROL is the bike for techy types keen to optimise their regimes. The bike takes users through short workouts - or “protocols” - that promise to deliver the same benefits of a 45-minute run in less than nine minutes of cycling.

That’s two maximum-effort 20-second sprints, wrapped in a warm-up, recovery time, and cool-down. They say it works because a sudden demand for energy pushes the body into glycogen-depletion mode (read: burning sugar stores) within 5-10 seconds. It’s brief enough that you won’t break a sweat - CAROL videos even show people riding in suits and workwear.

Rider verdict: The soundtracks to the ride protocols can be a little cheesy (“imagine you’re running from a sabre-toothed tiger”), but who cares when the workout is so efficient? With less than nine minutes for a full workout, there’s no excuse to miss a single day.

Who it’s for: Time-pressed execs and midlife fitness fanatics drawn to the idea of an intense, personally calibrated workout. EC

£2,995, carolfitai.com

Wattbike Atom

What they say: The updated version of the classic Wattbike, a data-rich resistance bike that mimics road riding.

Why it’s worth it: First released in the year 2000, the Wattbike did the impossible and bridged the gap across disciplines and abilities, becoming an icon to serious cyclists, elite athletes and HIIT-focused gym goers alike. The Atom is its newer, better version, with a faster, more powerful resistance system and enhanced data.

The updated electromagnetic resistance system replaces motors to move the resistance magnets up and down, meaning you can change the breaking force instantly. Like the Kickr, it’s easy to pair with Zwift for the full virtual reality experience, and the enhanced data (such as a cadence sensor and a crank angle sensor, allowing it to translate virtual gradient to real-life resistance) makes the experience all the sweeter.

Rider verdict: I love this classic brand for one reason - simplicity. Once it’s set up, all you have to do is pedal and flick the resistance. For me, it’s at its best during interval sessions, because of the instant resistance adjustment that is foolproof even to an exerted, sweaty rider.

Who it’s for: Though it has mass appeal, this bike is best for building power - whether it be for cyclists who love interval training, or HIIT junkies. EH

£1,899; wattbike.com

Peloton Bike

What they say: “Unlimited motivation, delivered daily” from a bike that inspires cultish devotion.

Why it’s worth it: Peloton has been a Covid-era success story, doubling sales of its almost-£2,000 bikes over the course of the pandemic. I can see why. From the first moment I clipped into my Peloton Bike in October, I knew I'd found a way to recreate the buzz and energy of my favourite indoor cycling classes at home. But better, because (A) this workout is quantified, with trackable metrics for pedal speed and resistance; and (B) no one’s there to see how much you sweat.

Classes are live or on-demand, and as interactive as you want them to be - you can race friends, give high-fives or just go at your own speed. The world-class instructors are bright-eyed, always upbeat and extremely attractive - surprisingly motivating when they’re urging you up that last hill.

Rider verdict: How you’ll feel about Peloton will depend on your tolerance for American-style cheerleading and constant motivational chatter from the instructors. But I found that having the bike right there, in the corner of my lounge, and knowing that just tapping the screen would summon thousands of workouts ranging in format, duration and intensity, erased all excuses not to exercise most days. Hand on heart: I’m hooked.

Who it’s for: Type-A fitness enthusiasts, locked-down extroverts and anyone into the idea of a quantified workout. EC

From £1,750; onepeloton.com

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