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Velotron is the gold standard - benchmark setting - product in its class and finds application in many use categories. The following will give you an idea how it has, and can be, used.
Velotron follows in the tradition of its predecessor CompuTrainer, a portable electronic trainer to which you attach your own bicycle. However, the Velotron design differs significantly from the CompuTrainer design.
Velotron simulates riding on the road better than any previous ergometer/trainer. The largest and heaviest flywheel ever incorporated in a bicycle ergometer/trainer gives it the smoothest ride yet devised, and the flywheel freewheel adds downhill coasting to its list of authentic features. Equipped with 2000 Watts of lab-accurate power the system creates road (or off-road) grades up to 25% - more than enough to reproduce the toughest hills that humans can climb on a bicycle. And its electronic shifting system provides all the gears you need to climb those hills. The Velotron design is totally slip-free, regardless of the steepness of the grade, since it does not have the tire/roller interface characteristic of other bike trainers. Whether you’re an Ironman triathlete, road racer, mountain biker, ultra-marathoner, track racer, or recreational cyclist, the Velotron will create the exact training conditions needed to raise your performance to the maximum.
While Velotron’s advanced performance features satisfy the most stringent requirements of sport scientists and medical professionals, it’s also the most convenient of bike trainers for personal use. It comes fully assembled ready to plug in to your PC. It can accept any bike frame the user wishes to use, including tandem, MTB, or recumbent - or buy it with the Dynafit frame. Whatever your cycling passion, equipping a Velotron with a custom frame identical to your road bike is the sound approach. Improvements in bike fit, technique, and equipment accomplished on the Velotron can then be easily transferred to your road bike.
Velotron is the ONLY commercially available laboratory-accurate electronic bicycle ergometer which permits the use of the rider’s own bicycle frame. Since it is generally acknowledged that testing on a rider’s own bike provides the most meaningful test results, it follows that Velotron has an important advantage over other ergometers.
Velotron also has other important advantages for sports science applications. Its starting price below $7000 (Basic) is half the cost of the Lode Ergometer and only a third that of the SRM ergometer. This price advantage comes with no sacrifice in accuracy, durability, or serviceability. And its maximum load capability of 2000 watts exceeds the physical capabilities of all but a handful of track champions.
The accuracy of each Velotron is established by reference to RacerMate’s in-house laboratory bicycle dynamometer which can be read to an accuracy of 1%. Of perhaps greater importance is the fact that Velotron’s repeatability is in a class by itself – better than 0.01%! The system is permanently calibrated at the factory, and there is nothing inherent in the design which would lead to calibration drift in the field. The calibration can be checked before each use with Accuwatt, a proprietary calibration verification procedure (Patent Pending) which takes less than 10 seconds.
Velotron durability is expected to exceed that of CompuTrainer, which in commercial applications has reached 125,000 race cycles without failure with a service life of 10 years or more. Occasional cleaning and oiling of the drive chain is the only routine maintenance step required.
A modular design insures easy serviceability. The eddy current brake/electronics sub-assembly is housed in a single aluminum enclosure which can be easily removed and exchanged for a factory replacement so that downtime is essentially eliminated. The Velotron system software is Windows PC based and highly versatile. Testing and training protocols can be established either in terms of watts and time, or distance and grade. The results are displayed instantaneously as well as in averages and maximum values for each performance variable. Variables displayed and recorded include watts, heartrate, speed, cadence, distance, SpinScan number, left/right leg power split, and PulsePower number (watts per heartbeat per pound).
A need exists in the health/fitness clubs for higher level bicycle training programs for members who want something more than spinning classes or LifeCycle-like workouts. Velotron meets this need by supporting a range of popular and highly effective cycling and fitness activities. It is likely to become one of the most popular fitness systems in the club. Examples of the unique and varied activities made possible by the Velotron include:
∙ Indoor Recreational Cycling
∙ Advanced Spinning & Cycling Technique
∙ Cycling Conditioning and Training
∙ Weight/Fat Loss
∙ Indoor bike and triathlon competitions
Indoor Recreational Cycling
Velotron offers the most realistic and enjoyable indoor bike riding experience yet devised. It looks like a bike, feels like a bike, and performs like a bike, in perfect safety. The interactive software and 3D graphics provide an unlimited variety of real-life courses to fit all ability levels; any bike course in the world can be exactly duplicated and stored in the software. Psychological motivation to guarantee a high quality workout is provided by an on-screen training partner/pacer. All performances are recorded for future use as the ‘pacer’, and all performance data is displayed on the screen and can be recorded for later review.
Riding a Velotron is a compelling, challenging, interesting experience in its own right which captures the user’s complete attention so that time passes quickly. It’s NOT like lots of other exercise programs where you need to watch TV or read a book to make it tolerable. The competitive racing format of the interactive software alone rivets the rider’s attention. You can either compete alone against the computer pacer (who can be your own best previous performance or the recorded performance of somebody else) or compete head-to-head against the rider on a second Velotron—an exhilarating experience guaranteed to get the adrenaline pumping!
Advanced Spinning & Cycling Technique
Velotron can function as a highly advanced spinning bike. Its large diameter flywheel is 15 lbs., heavier than a spinning bike’s flywheel and giving it an even smoother feel. Its internal freewheel makes it safer because the rider can stop pedaling at any speed while the flywheel simply coasts. Most important of all, the Velotron has the ability to establish precise loads which can be varied electronically. For the first time the spinning instructor can establish the exact load profile for each individual in the class (or the class as a whole) which the Velotron then controls automatically.
Velotron is an excellent tool for teaching bicycling technique. It incorporates real, top quality bicycle components (frame, pedals, seats, crank arms, stems, etc.) which make it possible to duplicate the same bio-mechanics which are experienced in cycling outdoors. Secondly, it incorporates the renowned SpinScan electronic pedal stroke analysis feature which cycling coaches and champion cyclists and triathletes worldwide are using to improve s cycling performance.
One outside resource available to clubs wishing to establish a cycling program based on Velotron is the John Howard School of Champions, the longest running cycling school in the U.S. John is one of the most successful competitive cyclists in U.S. history. Now in his mid-fifties, John remains an active master’s racer on the U.S. Postal Team (winner of the Tour de France). He is an expert SpinScan analyst and developer of stretching programs to increase flexibility, range of motion and strength as they apply to cycling. John’s program is available under license and he is available on a fee basis to train health club personnel to administer it.
Cycling Conditioning and Training
Velotron supports one of the most advanced and successful bicycling conditioning programs available anywhere in the world-the program developed and run in Ottawa, Canada, by the Peak Centre for Human Performance. The Peak Centre exercise physiologists are renowned for their expertise in blood lactate measurement and interpretation applied to cycling performance improvement. The combination of Velotron and the Peak program yields truly spectacular improvements for all classes of cyclists from novice through to the national team/professional level. The Peak program is available to health and fitness clubs under license. Visit the Peak Centre website (www.peakcentre.ca) for more details on this state-of-the-art technology.
Weight/Fat Loss
Using the same basic technology on a less advanced level the Peak Centre also operates and licenses a Mission Possible fat/weight loss program that is equally remarkable in its ability to convert fat to muscle, reduce abdominal fat, and achieve permanent weight loss. The Velotron ergometer is the tool which enables the health club to run this highly effective, state-of-the-art fat loss and fitness program. The Mission Possible program is being run as a feeder program to the Advanced Cycling Conditioning program. Each program takes one year, so together they would keep a club member occupied for two years. At the end of this time he/she would be in superb physical condition ready for cycling competitions and advanced long distance touring.
Indoor bike and triathlon competitions
Velotron’s interactive software supports both single and tandem time trials, single and tandem races against the pacer (with or without drafting), and two-man and tandem head to head races (with or without drafting). The enthusiastic reaction to CompuTrainer race competitions during the last decade points to even greater popularity for Velotron racing. The validity of the race results are guaranteed by Velotron’s laboratory grade accuracy. Possibilities for intraclub races, performance rankings/ladders, and interclub competitions abound.
Clubs with swimming pools and running facilities can stage indoor triathlons using Velotron for the bike portion. Winter triathlons using a special format have been enthusiastically received in health clubs in northern Ohio for many years. The race promoter (a regional official of USA Triathlon and a summer triathlon race director) has instruction manuals explaining in detail how to run such events and is available on a fee basis to oversee the event and train club personnel on the details of running a successful event.
Applications in orthopedic, pulmonary and cardio rehabilitation can benefit from low starting load levels. Because of its negligible internal friction, the Velotron produces accurate loads down to 5 Watts, which is believed to be the lowest load level attainable by any electronic bicycle ergometer in existence. This capability should allow rehabilitation to begin at an earlier stage than previously possible.
It has been demonstrated that bike racers who have undergone arthroscopic knee surgery have been able to begin accelerated rehabilitation a few days after surgery using a CompuTrainer (which has a minimum load of 50 Watts). Professional cyclist Brian Walton underwent extensive knee surgery in May, 1996, and won an Olympic silver medal in August. It may be possible to replicate this approach with non-athletes by using the extremely low starting wattage of the Velotron.
Tests are underway at the Swedish Hospital Pulmonary Lab in Seattle to evaluate the functional effect of low wattage level Velotron exercise regimens for emphysema patients. If these tests are successful the Accuwatt feature of the Velotron (described below) guarantees that in a clinical setting the ultra-low wattage levels employed would be absolutely repeatable.
The Velotron is available in a variety of bike frame styles for different applications. For cycling sport-specific orthopedic rehabilitation a road bike frame is supplied, or the athlete’s own bike frame may be used. For cardio, pulmonary, and other rehabilitation applications there is an “easy-on/easy-off” style frame which is comfortable for non-athletic patients.
Another Velotron feature of special value in medical applications is Accuwatt (Patent Pending) accuracy verification. The Accuwatt procedure takes less than 10 seconds to verify that the original factory calibration is unchanged and that system repeatability is within the 0.01% performance specification. The original factory calibration test numbers are embedded in the system software, and the Accuwatt test indicates how close the field results are percentage-wise to the original factory test numbers. Competitive ergometers lack this feature which identifies any degradation in system accuracy. Velotron’s interactive software package is guaranteed to improve your performance and to provide the information and visual stimulation to keep you motivated.