Utterly Bonkers, But Is It Any Good? Elliptical Cycling Challenge

We’ve been able to ride all sorts of bikes here at GCN, from penny farthings to recumbents and the Drycycle, but now there’s a new one to add to the list… the elliptical bike. Conor went to meet stand up cycling enthusiast Idai Makaya to find out about the ElliptiGO, give standing cycling a go and even test the bikes in a few challenges!

00:00 Intro
01:36 About Elliptical Bikes
03:27 Learning the Basics
05:09 Out Riding
07:13 Race 1 – Hill Climb
09:57 Race 2 – The Sprint
11:40 Race 3 – ElliptiGO vs Bike
13:05 Summary

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We here at gcn have been lucky enough to ride various forms of bikes and modes of human power transport over the years and today is no different i’m here to meet aida mccarran the children hills in the south of england and he’s a stand-up cycling fanatic

What is stand-up cycling i hear you ask i’m currently finding out it was like michael jackson doing the moonwalk You’re very fast Personal trainer and self-proclaimed health and fitness evangelist ida makaya is an impressive character current guinness world record holder for the amount of chin ups in 24 hours 5 340 to be precise he’s also the record holder for the fastest crossing of great britain on an elliptical bike

All a few facts i stumbled across on the internet but what really did pique my curiosity was the word elliptical bike as a cycling fan and someone who kind of thought they knew all areas of our sport hobby transport method call it what you will didn’t actually know what an

Elliptical bike was so i gave a guy a call and he invited me out for a for a spin on one which is where i am today Thanks for having me it is so cool to be here nice to meet you nice to meet you connor i am so intrigued by this bike i mean it’s actually even more striking when i see it the first time yeah before we go into it just just what can you explain

To me and the viewers what stand-up cycling is and riding on an elliptical bike what absolutely absolutely so connor an elliptical bike um is a bike that’s designed initially it was designed to replicate running but without any impact so um the creator of this bike was a guy called brian payton

A maker he used to do iron man triathlons he developed osteoarthritis in his knees he couldn’t run anymore he loved running so he started using elliptical machines in the gym and in the same way as there were bicycles in the gym and ellipticals he assumed there’d be an

Elliptical for outdoors as well and he started trying to find one because he didn’t like indoor training and he realized that there wasn’t one so he had a friend who was a product designer and he convinced him to make him an elliptical bike and this is a

This is a way of people to be able to kind of get out on the roads ride a bike in a way where they maybe wouldn’t have been able to before due to injuries it’s a good way to be able to cycle without um with comfort because it’s a once you get

Used to it’s a very natural motion so whilst these bikes look a lot of fun to ride there’s a serious side to them as well and i’m really interested to learn how they actually work the elliptical bike uses this mechanism with very very long cranks and the bottom bracket is attached right

Here at the end right behind the rear wheel nice that’s right it’s actually behind the rear wheel here’s like a normal road bike ordinary bike gears wow i’m so intrigued i just want to give it a go now yeah i’m very keen to see how

You get on with your first ride i think you’re gonna take it like a duck to water Okay so connor um it’s time to ride now let’s get into it let’s do this i can’t wait any longer i’m like i’m like a kid with these things yeah i just love it thank you right here we go first attempt wish me luck everyone good luck

I’m a bit nervous actually don’t be nervous it feels so weird let’s go connor we’ve got places to go so connor just push away like a scooter just just just just push away like a scooter glide oh there you go look what you’re doing connor all right start moving obviously i’ve

Straightened up a bit more i feel like a drawer try not to lean on your hands connor you’re the tallest person i’ve ever instructed so that you’re at the breaks that’s it slow down now connor come around really slowly uh really slowly really slowly my first

Impressions i feel i feel like a a giraffe like galloping yes you’re very very tall you must be eight feet high right now just do it now as you coast yes and then come to a complete stop and lean to the side you want to step down on

Lean as a complete perfect there we go you’ve come back it’s really cool you’ve done it it was so weird like you’re on two wheels yes it’s like been on a bike that’s it and because i hadn’t given you the demo you don’t even know what you’re supposed to look like okay

Well i feel like i’ve got to grips to the basics i think now it’s time to get my kit on and we really i think so and don’t worry after about 10 minutes you’re going to be handing gloves okay we’ll see you’ll see i think you’re

Still going to beat me in a few races no wait absolutely not right then i guess you better hit the road today okay let’s go um you’re not gonna need your pads um your seat pads but i’ll follow i’ll follow you yeah do what i do

And i’m going to start my gps device graceful like a swan i’m going to get the hang of it now be very careful connor don’t hit any um potholes and stuff because these small wheels really feel it i’m so high up safety first oh so what got you into doing ultra

Endurance events on elliptical bike well it started out just wanting to do a century um there was a hall of fame for the first 100 riders to complete a century on an elliptical and now you’re the world record holder crossing great britain on one of these honest description of how i’m feeling

Now i’m getting used to the bike so strange i think the best way to describe it it kind of feels like you’re running for like four times the speed that you normally would you can kind of rock the bike at the same time so it’s almost like you’re on a scooter

It’s like a scooter across the bike crossed with skiing it’s a bit bizarre but a lot of fun so cool i’m seeing over all the hedges able to get up to speed relatively easy actually it feels quite efficient more efficient than i thought it would be have a lot of fun

As you might be able to tell i can’t die i think i’m starting to get the hang of this now i’m getting absolutely a bit more comfortable yeah i didn’t look like you’ve been doing it for a while now you you’re looking okay almost almost but i think now we ramp

Things up a bit really i think you need to put me through my faces okay i’ve thought of a few challenges good first one hill climb okay next record first the top um first on the top i know a good one round intimidating okay die yeah this is the bottom of the

Climb i think this might do is a bit of a challenge a bit of a race up here what do you reckon this is tom’s hill so not point eight five kilometers long average gradient okay it sounds pretty steep and it sounds pretty long especially in my current state but

Um you know for the gcn viewers i’m willing to put myself through it okay you could sport i actually held the the segment of this club you do very rare moment of form for me no so ah i’m not sure i’ll be going as fast today i don’t

Think i’ve quite got the hang of the elliptical bike enough to really push it we’ll see three two one [Applause] all right come on [Applause] Your wheel and i got in my back ears Oh that’s something he’s like she’s like vanderpool versus bernard here i have to head dude right damn it’s one of the most bizarre hill climbs i’ve ever done my back Oh it’s a tough bit here [Applause] Some workout There we go top of the climb i think i think the knowledge of that one proved useful for me i think uh it i might have hit the steeper slopes huh a bit too hard early on good effort quite solid i think the experience paid off there on that cloud really did so

It’s so cool lovely i loved it i think we did another challenge though this is like yours okay a sprint okay head to head yeah let’s go go 200 meters 200 standing start what’s your record um yeah let’s do it let’s do this right there this is our start line nice

Baby tree yep i reckon we go to the 40 mile an hour slime just at the end there okay about 200 meters yeah that looks like we’re trying to start yeah yeah yeah standing start slightly uphill let’s do this okay right i’m nervous this one i think you’re gonna absolutely

Travel oh no no no you know i’m dead from the climb well you by the time i’ve got going you’re already halfway up there oh yeah i’ve got the card for you got the right gear well that’s the only chance i’ve got are you ready i am three two one go let’s go

All right i haven’t got my fifty that’s always balls down the blocks like a rabbit oh my god there is no way i’m getting back on terms with that gotta make up for the help i had to i had to make up for the hill oh my god you’re like a lightning bolt

Yeah i’m a sprinter not a climber i’m not i don’t think i’m a sprinter right it’s 1-1 now on the challenge front so i thought i’ll turn you all to my favor make sure i get the victory i’m bringing the road bike to the party well how come i’ve forgotten how to pedal

This feels so weird now Today i thought i’d mix things up for our final challenge oh no i’ve brought my road bike traditional bike it looks as light as a feather it it is light but i thought we’d go head-to-head yeah in a sprint again totally fair same sprint yeah and see how the road bike compares

To the elliptical bike okay i reckon we go straight into it yeah yeah let’s do that you can’t as soon as you hold it three two one go yes [Applause] straight on the rocks ah the oh is freezing it’s gathering to his eyes during the win it’s close though oh my goodness

I feel like i’ve stacked the odds in my favor by making it two or 300 meters long every 50 meters you did it i thought it was definitely high five hold on mate you’re excited for your integrity your acceleration is insane so is yours actually well acceleration was more than

Mine i just managed to get you with the length i think the robot kind of had it in the latter stages thank goodness it’s down here but if that had been 50 meters you’d have got me yeah oh you were good though thank you you’re quite an engine thank you so much

Young man hey show me the joys of stand-up cycling thank you riding a little bike so so different yeah i’ve really enjoyed the devin i’ve experienced the two years before it’s just like the feeling of powering yeah a vehicle on your own steam exactly in a different way it’s

Brilliant exactly i can see why you love it so thank you thank you so much thanks so much for being here and uh if you enjoy this video don’t forget to give it a big thumbs up and let us know in the comments what you think about elliptical cycling and stand

Up cycling if you’d like to give it a go after watching our exploits today yeah but uh right now i think i’m gonna i’m gonna go for a little while on this and then maybe i’ll swap back onto that for a little bit to try again for a little longer

Yeah why not yeah yeah now let’s have fun okay right thanks for watching everyone see you next video bye let’s go [Applause]