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[Cyclist2]

I haven't posted for a while, been out rowing on the water, until...

Shoulder surgery #2 last week. Went fine, just another long recovery.

I wanted to stay in better shape this time so I bought a BikeErg. I've ridden it twice since the surgery and am getting it dialed in. Having been a pretty active bicycle racer in the past, I noticed some things on this machine that I think could use some further thought:
1) Seat tilt, there is no adjustment for that, so I put a small board under the front of the erg to tilt it back a little - sitting up most of the time I was sliding forward. It might be fine if I was in a normal riding position but that is one adjustment I really fine tune on my bicycles.
2) Shifting gears. When I had my bike in a trainer, I could shift the gears to simulate climbs (i.e. big gear/low cadence or high drag) or high cadence sprints (low gear or low drag). Now I just reach down with my toe and move the damper but it would be cool if they somehow made it so you could move it without having to reach down or stop pedaling (see the numerous discussions about comparing the Erg DF with bicycle gearing on other threads).

Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with it. It's easy to get on and off (as opposed to a bike in a trainer), is stable, and has the typical C2 quality and durability. When I'm back to full physical function, I'll probably put clipless pedals on it, and maybe a seat that I'm more used to. Nice machine!

[jackarabit]

Hi Mark:
Still riding rollers with magnetic resistance rotor here. Has gotten progressively harder to mount and downright risky to get off in the last decade so I built bolt-together plywood risers about 7” in hgt. around sides and front of the roller frame. Top skins of boxes overhang and snug right up to roller ends so I can put down a foot either side without a top tube encounter. Could prolly ride off end of rollers and survive if I hit the rear brake. And I retain seat angle, setback from crank center, lovely Campy Chorus integrated shifting, operational cyclometer, and an old friend that toured northeastern, midatlantic, midwestern US, Maritime Canada, and Tuscany. Not saying don’t buy a stationary bike; just saying I don’t feel the need.

[Carl Watts]

Have move to a bit of cycling myself due to a foot injury.

I was given a WattBike Pro and it kinds of suits my riding style and I use it with Zwift which is simply awesome.

Similar issue, its not designed to change the air or magnetic resistance while riding as the controls are out of reach. What I ended up doing is 220W = 90 cadence. You have to vary the cadence over a wide range to stay with the pace rider and with no brakes it goes from zero to 157.

Don't think I would go for a BikeErg if I had to buy something.

[Dutch]

2) Shifting gears. When I had my bike in a trainer, I could shift the gears to simulate climbs (i.e. big gear/low cadence or high drag) or high cadence sprints (low gear or low drag). Now I just reach down with my toe and move the damper but it would be cool if they somehow made it so you could move it without having to reach down or stop pedaling (see the numerous discussions about comparing the Erg DF with bicycle gearing on other threads).

Someone on here ages ago posted saying that they taped long stick to the handle and adjusted it that way. I think there was a picture of it.

[c2jonw]

Seat angle is adjustable-16 degrees. Loosen the 9/18" fastener at the top of the seat post (under the seat).

[Emm]

Great, just did it - wasn't obvious, I had tried different things without understanding which part was supposed to move to get the saddle/seat to tilt. I watched the video on https://www.concept2.com/bikeerg/traini ... ng-bikeerg to get an idea of what to do & I had to persuade the whole thing with a bit of "not to brute" force to get the piece moving. Much more satisfying than elevating the font of the bike...

[gvcormac]

Great, just did it - wasn't obvious, I had tried different things without understanding which part was supposed to move to get the saddle/seat to tilt. I watched the video on https://www.concept2.com/bikeerg/traini ... ng-bikeerg to get an idea of what to do & I had to persuade the whole thing with a bit of "not to brute" force to get the piece moving. Much more satisfying than elevating the font of the bike...

Thank you! This was not obvious to me, and isn't mentioned in the package instructions. However, after 8M+ meters I'm probably stuck on how it is. For cruising, I wish the handlebars could be higher/closer. I thought about putting the drops upside down, but that involves mangling a pin and arguing with my wife.

Regarding adjusting the drag factor: Clamping a Vice Grip on the damper handle makes is more reachable. But I don't do that. I just vary my cadence (between 50-90 or so). Higher drag simply turns my legs to rubber, at the same pace.

[William H]

Seat angle is adjustable-16 degrees. Loosen the 9/18" fastener at the top of the seat post (under the seat).

Now I feel like a dummy! After 21 Million Meters of being unhappy about the seat angle, after a simple adjustment, my world is a happier place.

Thanks for the tip!

[YamR1Rider]

I've been bike-erging over the rower for the last 4 months or so while I'm trying to get past a nasty case of tennis elbow. Think it is a great piece of kit, a very good alternative. Like the rower, till now I have just set and forget the drag factor (130), although must admit it would be nice if the 'gear lever' was more accessible to simulate hills and make it better to use with zwift etc.

[Cyclist2]

lthough must admit it would be nice if the 'gear lever' was more accessible to simulate hills

Update since I started this thread. Shoulder is pretty much recovered. I'm back on the rowerg for most of my workouts now, will be back on the water in about a month.

However, I also commented on the "gear shift" lever, and I still think some sort of "derailleur" would be nice. I no longer have to use my toe to "shift gears". Reaching down to move the damper lever now reminds me of my old Schwinn Le Tour with the down tube shifters. I loved that bike, sorry I crashed it years ago.

[Carl Watts]

The Wattbike has both air and magnetic resistance and I have mine dialled in to make 250W at 90rpm.

What I did with the Wattbike and I'm sure you can do the same with the BikeErg is make a long aluminium lever that is simply taped to the air resistance lever.

The lever comes all the way up to just under the bars, crude I know but you can just chuck it forward for the sprints.

By changing it from about 4.5 to 8 it gives you the ability to sprint without doing crazy rpms like when I peaked out at 156 without it to get over 1000W.

Most of the time during a pace partner ride on Zwift, I simply don't touch it at all.