how to work out distance on an exercise bike

[hardpressed]

Got me an Pro-fitness exercise bike from ebay, has a gismo that tells you speed, distance, calories, time etc but I don't know if the distance is in miles or kilometres, is there anyway of telling? If I use it for 15 minutes I 'travel' 3 but 3 what? It says my average speed is 10.8. I'd feel happier if I knew I was doing 3 miles rather than 1 and a bit kilometres!!

[missyg]

Hi there - well it could be either... many of them let you select whether you want imperial or metric measurements :) I'm guessing it didn't come with a manual?

I will go and time myself now doing 3km and 4.8km (3 miles) - not very scientific but it might give us a clue ;)

[missyg]

OK, on a low resistance at 70rpm approx:

3km = 6 mins 50 seconds
3mile = 10 mins 50 seconds

I'd therefore suggest your machine is in miles unless you're pushing a seriously high gear :) Hope this helps.

[hardpressed]

Thanks for that,I'm going with the miles then, makes me feel as if I've done more! I've starting off by doing 15mins once a day for the last couple of weeks, I'm going to try and do two 15mins each day and gradually build it up.

[missyg]

Great :) Have fun with it! Hope it was a bargain too ;)