How Does A Magnetic Resistance Bike Work in 2023 ?
Are you a fan of bike riding? Do you prefer stationary bikes to regular bikes, and you have been asking, “How does a magnetic resistance bike work?” If your answer is yes, you are now reading the article that will satisfactorily give you all the answers you have been looking for.
Normal and stationary bikes like recumbent and spin bikes are all meant to help you exercise regardless of whether you are a newbie, amateur, or professional cyclist. Stationary bikes have no natural challenges like what topography and terrain pose to regular bikes that require you to sweat and put a lot of effort while pedaling.
The manufacturer had to develop an artificial resistance challenge that the rider pedals. Otherwise, riding a stationary bike that challenges you in no way would make it feel like just a waste of time. One of the modern ways of creating resistance is by using magnets, known as magnetic resistance.
Magnetic resistance makes pedaling a bit hard for the rider, and it requires them to use greater strength and pedal harder to beat the resistance. However, this resistance is adjustable, and you set it according to your strength. You either set the magnets close to the flywheel to create more excellent resistance or move them away from the flywheel to weaken the resistance.
You are given the freedom to choose the suitable resistance for you. For example, you can set the highest magnetic resistance when you want to pedal harder for a short – rapid-fire training session.
But that is when you are robust and power-packed with energy, having newly climbed on the stationary bike. As a result, you pedal hardest, sweat a lot, burn calories and fat, and build excellent cycling stamina.
The working mechanism of a magnetic resistance bike
Stationary bikes that use magnetic resistance incorporate magnetic power in their systems. The resistance is controlled by electricity flow and a flywheel to adjust the resistance level for an effective workout.
In physics, you learn that poles in a magnet repel while unlike poles attract. However, electricity affects magnetism, whereby, when an electric current passes through a magnet, it significantly increases or decreases the attraction.
The manufacturer installs the bike with magnets to make this materialize in your exercise bike. The primary purpose of the magnetic resistance is to resist the flywheel’s rotational velocity. You pedal the flywheel that runs against the magnetic resistance in simpler terms. That is how the magnets create resistance against you, hence challenging you.
When you are exercising by riding a stationary bike, you are the one who produces the force by pedaling the bike so that the flywheel can start rotating. The force comes from the energy generated by the movement of your leg muscles, hence burning calories and fat as you sweat profusely.
The flywheels in stationary bikes that use magnetic resistance are connected to magnets. Moreover, the resistance level in such bikes is controlled by the electric current that goes through the magnets. So when you press the button or turn the dial to increase resistance, the electric current flows in the magnet that increases.
This means that the higher the level of electric current in the magnets, the stronger the resistance, and vice versa. Consequently, you have to use more strength to pedal when the resistance is high and low strength when the resistance is minimal.
Virtual riding
Riding a stationary bike is even better than riding a real bike on the road. Virtual riding is one factor that enables highly qualified stationary spin and recumbent bikes to become much better than normal bikes. With virtual riding, you can set the resistance that is felt when riding on different terrains on a normal bike.
For instance, there is naughty resistance when riding downhill; when riding on flat ground, the resistance is low, and when riding on hilly ground, the resistance is at its peak. With virtual riding, you set different resistance levels to simulate the actual resistance felt in real bike riding on the road.
The bike changes the resistance automatically according to how you have keyed them in on the console. So there is no difference when riding outdoors if you are used to riding your bicycle on pre-programmed routes.
More info about magnetic resistance bikes
Magnetic resistance is also known as magnetic brakes that use modern technology that applies the electromagnetic brake. However, the bikes that use this technology are high-end bikes that incorporate recumbent and upright riding postures.
One of the reasons riders prefer these bikes is their extreme quietness when pedaling. Moreover, the electromagnetic resistance system feels very smooth when pedaling, responding fast to resistance changes. The settings are done electronically on the console, and the entire system is cheap to maintain because it has fewer parts that wear out.
There is also a manual magnetic brake that uses a tension knob. The manufacturer installs the knob between the handlebars, and its functionality is just like the electromagnetic one. You change the resistance by moving the magnets that cause eddy currents to bring about a braking effect. This effect opposes the direction of the rotation of the flywheel.
When the magnets get closer to the flywheel, the resistance is increased, and you feel it as you pedal. That requires you to pedal harder and use more energy. On the other hand, when you dial down the resistance, the magnets move away from the flywheel, decreasing the resistance for easier and more relaxed pedaling.
The magnets never wear out because they do not contact the flywheel. This translates to a low maintenance cost of magnetic resistance bikes. Since the ride is smooth, seamless, and quiet, you can confidently ride the bicycle while listening to music or watching videos. If the bike is in your house, it cannot disturb your family members.
What advantages do magnetic bikes have over the others?
The reliability of bikes with magnetic resistance is unparalleled; they offer consistent resistance compared to the rest. Furthermore, the adjustability of the resistance is also good. These bikes are very suitable and ideal for high-speed workouts, though you have to dig deeper into your pocket when purchasing them.
However, when you consider that they do not cost you anything more for maintenance, you do not feel the pinch of the buying price. You would rather have a high-quality and durable product that requires nothing at all to maintain it rather than buying a low-quality bike that costs you a lot for maintenance.
Eventually, you will find that the cheap bike is costlier than the expensive one: no wonder expensive is cheap and cheap is expensive.
The fact that there are no moving and touching parts means that there is no friction that is created in the magnetic resistance bike. When you exercise by riding a magnetic bike, you boost your cardio fitness, which is great for your heart’s health. As you burn calories and fat, you also lose weight to help you keep fit, and the workout has a low impact on your joints.
Your lower body and legs get strengthened as you build stamina and muscles. In addition, the bike’s magnetic resistance can be measured. For instance, you should make between 80-100 RPM on “flat ground” and 60-80 RPM on “hilly ground.” When you set the magnetic resistance bike like this, you feel the same resistance as when riding a regular bicycle on the road.
Magnetic resistance bike’s intensity is easily controlled with one simple dial. Furthermore, it has a wide range of resistance settings to challenge your workout more over time. Precisely, here are the main advantages of magnetic resistance bikes:-
- Increases and decreases resistance easily
- Accurate resistance level
- High resistance levels
- No wearing and tearing
- Lowest noise
- Little maintenance
Changing the resistance levels requires moving gears on the bike to adjust how the magnets interact with the flywheel. This is relatively easy as long as the bike does not have any faults. Since a magnetic resistance bike has a computerized system, it is accurate because you just have to set it to your desired level.
When you set the level of resistance that you want, you can monitor it on the console. It is like a vehicle’s dashboard, whereby a driver sees the gear they are driving the car on. The same case applies to magnetic resistance bikes. When training for a road race, magnetic resistance is the best, especially when considering presetting and virtual riding.
You can simulate and experience the same feeling that a road gives you.
If you are an experienced cyclist, you may want to test how strong you are. This is possible with a magnetic resistance bike because you will maximize the resistance level and use a lot of effort to make it rotate. Compared to other gym equipment that people use to keep fit and shed weight, exercise bikes that use magnetic resistance are the easiest.
You sweat a lot when you heighten the resistance level because you strain to pedal the bike. However, if you ride for long hours with a high resistance level, you not only burn your body fat but also start noticing that you shed weight significantly. In fact, the highest magnetic resistance level even causes the flywheel to stop running.
When it comes to the entire bike weight, magnetic resistance bikes are lighter than the others, making them portable. Therefore, if you want to carry the bike from one place to another, you should purchase a magnetic resistance one.
Final Thoughts
When you lay all the pros and cons of magnetic resistance bikes side by side, you will find them more advantageous than all the others. For instance, some would consider the price. But if you open your eyes wider and see beyond that, you will realize that the high buying price of magnetic bikes may actually make them cheaper at the end of the day.
This statement sounds invalid and paradoxical, but the writer will explain it to you. Magnetic resistance bikes are expensive to buy, but they do not require any significant maintenance because their quality is high, and they are also durable. Therefore, you do not spend any other amount of money on maintenance.
On the other hand, contact-based resistance bikes require maintenance from time to time. This is because many parts are involved in their entire system, and they move. The pads come into contact with the flywheel and wear out due to friction, and this requires them to be replaced from time to time, not to mention other parts of their system.
With this regular maintenance, you will find out that you incur maintenance costs that eventually outdo the “expensive” cost of the magnetic resistance bike. So you would instead buy an expensive product that will not cost you any other money to maintain your bike.
Also, consider other factors like noise, weight, and reliability. You can ride a magnetic resistance bike in your house without disturbing other people. Moreover, you can also read, watch, and listen when riding because these bikes are not noisy. Pedaling them is easy and feels very smooth and enjoyable.
The quality and reliability of magnetic resistance bikes are indisputably good, and you do not encounter any frequent faults and breakdowns. They are bikes that have value for your money, and you have nothing to regret about.
Magnetic resistance bikes have no wearing and tearing without any contact and friction. Resistance is created when an electric current passes through the magnets to increase or decrease resistance. The higher the electric current in the bike’s resistance is directly proportional to the amount of resistance that it creates, which you pedal.
Consider purchasing and riding magnetic resistance bikes for a more realistic bike riding experience that simulates what you experience on the road.
