Taking P1 pedals to a spin bike at a gym while traveling?

Larry Peters · November 27, 2017 12:20AM

Hi, I'm going to be traveling for 2 weeks over Christmas. I don't plan to bring a bike, but do plan to go to local gyms to spin. I just got P1 pedals. I was wondering if anyone ever tried taking their pedals to a gym & putting them on a spin bike to monitor and record the workout? I just called one gym in Truckee, CA and they didn't seem to have a problem with it.

Obviously, the pedal spindle would have to match the size of the hole in the crank arm (I don't know how much variation exists here, but I don't imagine their is much). I looked at a spin bike at a local gym Friday & it looked like they would swap in pretty easily.

Thanks!

Al Truscott · November 27, 2017 1:20AM

You may need both a pedal wrench (to remove the spin bike pedals), and an 8 mm Allen wrench (for the P1s).

Sheila Leard · November 27, 2017 2:59AM

@Larry Peters I teach spin classes on Keiser Bikes. It has power. Ask the gyms what bikes they use. Also, Stages is another indoor bike that's pretty cool. I'm 1.5 hours from Truckee

... I know too far to go for a class.

Larry Peters · November 27, 2017 3:07AM

Ok, thanks @Al Truscott and @Sheila Leard !! I'll be sure to pack both pedals. At the gym I called, he said "I think we have Keiser bikes," so that is great that they already have power measurements. But I'd also like the training data to be in my strava & stuff if possible. Do you know if the Keiser bikes can send the workout data to a profile like Strava? Thanks!

Sheila Leard · November 27, 2017 3:50AM

@Larry Peters If they have the updated Keiser Bikes download the Ap Keiser M Series. You can then save the data to a TCX file. I will then upload it to Training Peaks.

scott dinhofer · November 27, 2017 3:02PM

@Larry Peters - the "power" measurements on spin bikes, at least the one's I've used at Flywheel, are not the same index as what we use. They seem to use a current power output # that is very low, and measure how many watts you are outputting to come up with a cumulative number at the end of the wko.

if you want to record to a garmin, have true power that can be brought into WKO or TP, the P1s are the way to go..
note Al's comment on above. The threads should be the same, the other issue, is if the back side of the crank is hollow or solid. Never seen a solid one, but they are spin bikes. If they are solid behind the pedal spindel, you won't be able to mount P1s..

might be worth investigating gyms that have actual bikes on trainers. a friend of mine who is a casual cyclist at best, but big into Zwifting for his wkos did this over thanksgiving when travelling. if you bring your laptop with Zwift or TrainerRoad, you can just do your workouts that way with an interweb connection!

Shaughn Simmons · November 27, 2017 3:08PM

What @scott dinhofer said.....I usually bring the pedals with me to ensure I have a consistent reading.....

Scott Alexander · November 27, 2017 3:18PM

I was JUST thinking about this, as I don't have much luck keeping motivated on a normal trainer!

I've already set out my p1s, pedal wrench and 8mm to take with me the next time I go to the gym to see how to interchange them. Then I can just use my wrist-mounted 920 for recording!

Dave Tallo · November 27, 2017 3:20PM

Curious, Larry: where are you in your season/ATP at the time of your travels?

Larry Peters · November 27, 2017 7:28PM

Awesome, thanks a ton @Sheila Leard , @Scott Dinhofer and @Scott Alexander ! Let me know how it goes @Scott Alexander . That would be cool @Scott Dinhofer (gym w/ real bikes). We'll see what I find. But I'm glad to know I've got a nearby gym w/ nice spin bikes at least.

Good question @Dave Tallo , I am in the November bike focus OS. So I'll be in weeks 9 & 10 of that program. Week 10 is a testing week. ATP = Adenosine Triphosphate?

(I've never seen that abbreviation used for anything other than the ribonucleotide) or "at that point?" (my guess). Thanks for elaborating so I didn't have to guess.

Sheila Leard · November 27, 2017 8:34PM

@Larry Peters
@Dave Tallo

Mystery over ATP = Annual Training Plan. Yes?

Larry - are you a Scientist?

Larry Peters · November 27, 2017 8:58PM

Ahhh. Thanks Sheila Leard! I even googled that "abbrev." , but lots of options came up.

Kinda. I'm a biology professor. I would say I was a full time scientist while I was completing my PhD. Now I'm a part time scientist, part time teacher.

Dave Tallo · November 27, 2017 8:59PM

ATP as in Annual training plan. And the reason I asked was only to determine if you might instead just make some wild ass guesses on the bike work during that period and forgo power for RPE. But it sounds like you’ll be in the thick of it, so ignore my question.

Unless the molecular usage of atp offers an insight, that is!

Larry Peters · November 27, 2017 9:04PM

Sounds good! Thanks @Dave Tallo . I really appreciated your question, because I had not yet looked at those particular weeks, so I'm glad to have an idea of what is coming. Thanks!

scott dinhofer · November 28, 2017 2:13AM

@Larry Peters - any idea how long I googled "KMF" for? @Shaughn Simmons!!
Larry - you should be able to do a search for where you are going to find gyms with bike trainers... if nothing else, find the best bike shops in the area, if you can't find, I can connect you with some friends outside of Reno that will know.. connect to me on Facebook & I'll connect you to them!

Larry Peters · November 28, 2017 5:20AM

Ok, sweet. Thanks a ton @Scott Dinhofer !

scott dinhofer · November 28, 2017 11:03AM

btw, i am not sure i made it clear, but the LBSs should have a pulse on where you can zwift in a gym

Larry Peters · December 1, 2017 2:07AM

Ok, thanks, I'll call a LBS! @Scott Dinhofer

Scott Alexander · January 10, 2018 3:28PM

It only took me ~2 months to do this, but I finally took my P1 pedals to a LA fitness spin class last night.

I used a pedal wrench to remove the current flat pedals from the Keiser (m3 model, I believe) spin bike, but could've also used a size 6 allen wrench. Then it took my 8 allen wrench to attach my P1s.

NOTE: I'd suggest getting easier-to-use allen wrenches, the ones with the rounded ends, that enable use at a slight angle, because the access for those crank arms on the spin bike are TIGHT.

I used my wrist-mounted garmin 920 to record.

As you'd expect, no distance was recorded because GPS isn't usable inside. The bike-mounted computer said I went 28.8 miles in 70 minutes (yeah, right!).
I'll have to come up with some "multiplier" factor to more accurately account for mileage. Then I'll have to figure out how to alter my wko4 workout to add the more-accurate mileage.

Ideas for either the "multiplier" or the wko4 alteration?

Sheila Leard · January 10, 2018 4:09PM

@Scott Alexander I teach spin on the Keiser M3 series. There is an Ap, Keiser M Series that I synch with my bike and collect data. An average 60 minute class is usully around 16 miles. I know the watts are not accurate. It's a relative number for the bilke I'm on. The Ap might be worth a try.

Larry Peters · June 18, 2018 5:14PM

Thanks @Scott Alexander and @Sheila Leard , I tried this last night in Boulder CO. I had forgotten Scott's tip about the angled hex wrenches. I have those angle wrenches with me but didn't take them to the gym (D'oh!). On these "Stages" spin bikes there was absolutely no clearance to get a traditional hex multi-tool in, so I just rode the normal pedals & got the time at desired HR.

@Scott Alexander , I think a good way to estimate mileage would be to take a phone/device & log into Zwift. You don't have to watch the Zwift screen (I don't think), but your avatar will just ride around whatever course you select and Zwift's algorithms will estimate mileage and climbing.

Taking P1 pedals to a spin bike at a gym while traveling?

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