Spinning versus Indoor Trainer

General consensus seems to be is that a trainer is better than a spin bike because yuo cannot get the spin bike set up exactly like your roadie/tri bike..

However - spin classes will help some. Anecdotally I have had quite a lot of luck with them in the past in terms of working on both cadence and my strength for riding and certainly if you cannot ride your own bike they are definatley a better option than say pottering along on one of those horrid exercise bikes.  I am friends with a couple of cyclists who tell me that they always include a couple a week to supplement their training and swear by them so its a matter of what you think personally too...

If your friend has a good level of fitness then Spin will definatley help maintain it and possible even improve some generaly fitness... they will definatley have no trouble finishing a Sprint but should definatley try and get some actual bike time closer to the race... especially as some skills such as balance/bike handling etc cannot be practiced on a spin bike (or a trainer).

The one caveat i would add is this... the quality of the spin class is 100% down to the instructor and how they approach classes. Some classes are very much an 'aerobics' class that happens to involve bikes and do not replicate real life riding or training very well... other classes are taught by cyclists or triathletes or even just people who have actually ridden a bike... these are often closer to a real world experience so I would suggest if yuor friend does go this route that they try out different cycle classes/different instructors and finds options that they like and will stick with! (an instructor with a taste in music you appreciate can help too!)

As an aside - many tri clubs/cycle stores etc will have 'turbo' sessions in colder months and often they will lend out the odd trainer to beginners who are just starting. Not sure if you have anything like this in your area but would be worth looking into for your friend as either a workout option OR a loan for a few weeks... if he wanted to go that way

Hope this helps

There was an article in one of the last few Bicycling magazines by Chris Carmichael on this very subject.

And here it is...  They were nice enough to post it online.


http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-4-403-21407-1,00.html

Thanks for the information and informative article.