Echo vs. Assault Bike // Which is Harder?

[naoiwi]

@shinejesusshine Doh! You're totally right.

But I guess if you wanted to test how different the two bikes measured power you could do a couple rides legs only.

 

[chloejm]

@naoiwi Now this I'd love to see!

 

[st333333]

@chloejm For short sprints echo is harder. It doesn’t start counting ANY cals until 7 seconds in

 

[caleb_m]

@chloejm Wouldn’t it make sense to do a constant work rate test and see what the other parameters look like?

Maybe 10:00 at a constant work rate of 350W and see what RPM and calories looked like. Throw in HR as well for some internal loading measures.

With this design, there is nothing similar to compare aside from 10:00.

 

[gourmetcandy]

@chloejm Best summation I’ve heard is from the HWPO resources “on the assault bike the relationship between rpm and cals in exponential, on the echo it’s linear”

Meaning your cals at 50rpm will be x for both. At 100rpm the echo will be 2x, but the assault bike will be more like 4x or x[sup]2.[/sup] Also the echo bike doesn’t start counting cals right away.

That seems to match my experience. Holding steady I get similar results. But then sprinting 10-20 cals feels way tougher on the echo.

So what I’ve found is sprints I prefer the AB. Anything over 30cal or .5k I’ll take the echo. But i almost exclusively use the echo bike in training. It makes AB feel easier, and I’m pretty sure it’ll be the standard across the board soon

 

[lipglasshoney]

@chloejm Hate to be that person, but only one attempt per bike can’t be used to get an “objective take”.

 

[watgrad]

@lipglasshoney Plus were they done on the same day and which one did he do first.

 

[chloejm]

@watgrad They were most definitely not done on the same day

 

[tokkite]

@chloejm I would have bet money this was the other way around.

 

[chloejm]

@tokkite Same!

 

[danieldebruijn]

@chloejm Personally I can rack up cals faster on the echo bike than the assault bike. my hypothesis is that the assault has more of a bell curve - if you're at a certain RPM, it's accurate. Below that RPM it underestimates calories above that RPM it overestimates calories. Vs. the echo bike which has more of a consistent, straight line (more effort = more calories).

Since I'm slow AF the echo is more accurate. i could be totally wrong though lol

 

[yobdas]

@chloejm For me a sustained pace is harder on thr assault bike and sprints harder on thr echo bike.

Also, assault bikes get easier over time as they get worn down. If you get an easy assault bike than everything is easier for the assault bike.

 

[kevott]

@chloejm The good ole question..

 

[chantelle1989g]

@chloejm I think the way to test this is use a motor with known output to spin the pedal crank and see what it reads on each bike.

The problem is that the monitors make assumptions, and they’re not intended to be compared. If you bend the blade on the assault bike it’ll count calories like crazy - there’s no calibration from machine to machine like concept2 products do.

 

[chloejm]

@chantelle1989g Exactly...and this is the whole issues with airbikes and why CrossFit can't use them for something like the Open.