Y News: Expresso Bikes Make Exercise Interactive & Fun!

We’ve had our Expresso Bikes for several years, but several people have asked about them since we moved into our new Wellness Center. With the 2021 Rally for the Y starting April 1, we figured now would be the perfect time to give members a tour of these bikes that make exercise engaging, fun and interactive!

BIKE SETUP

Before you ride, you need to make sure you have the seat in the correct position.

To adjust the height of the seat:

• 1a. Pull up the up/down adjustment lever
• 1b. Raise or lower the seat to the correct height. Release the lever and ensure that it locks the saddle into place.

To adjust the fore/aft position of the seat:

• 2a. Pull down the fore/aft adjustment pin
• 2b. Slide the seat forward or backward to the correct position. Release the pin and ensure that it locks the assembly into place.

Watch this video for more information on correctly setting up your seat position. Be sure to remember both settings for faster setup on future rides.

The Expresso bikes have dual function pedals. There’s a strap on one side that can be adjusted by pulling on the strap to tighten, and pushing in on the locking mechanism to loosen. The other side of the pedal is designed for use with SPD compatible shoes. Follow directions provided with the shoes/cleats.

SIGN IN FOR THE BEST EXPERIENCE

Now that you have the bike set up, it’s time to get registered.

1. Press the blue menu button. This will bring up the “Create Account” screen.
2. Press the blue menu button again. Enter your cell phone number. The bike will send you a text message to create your account.
3. Follow the prompts to create your account.
4. Sign in every time you ride.

LEARN

If you’ve never been on an Expresso Bike, we recommend selecting “Learn” from the home screen the first time you ride. LEARN teaches pedaling, steering and shifting through a short on-bike tutorial.

RIDE

Once you have the basics down, you are ready to RIDE! Riders can select from over 40 preset courses ranging from 1-20 miles long, and varying from flat to very hilly. The preset rides are categorized as Basic, Moderate, Challenging and Extreme.

Pedal, steer and shift through the routes just like you would on a real bike. You’ll find the experience is much like riding outdoors!

For best results, pedal at a cadence of at least 50rpm. The faster you pedal, the faster you will move through the virtual world. Pedal resistance is a function of your gear and the slope. When you start going uphill, you’ll feel the resistance increase, and you’ll have to work harder. Use the shifting buttons to adjust from gear 1‐30. Adjust the gear lower for less resistance (less difficult) but slower speed, and adjust the gear higher for more resistance (more difficult) and faster speed.

Riders also can set individual Time, Distance and Calorie goals on any route.

After you have completed a course, you will notice a Ghost Rider when you do that course again. The ghost shows your past workouts on screen so you can challenge yourself to set new personal bests.

Leaderboards also will display at the bottom of your screen while you are riding so you can see where you rank with other Expresso riders at our Y on that particular course. Following each ride, you also can check the full leaderboard for our Y and the entire Expresso network.

PLAY

Instead of riding a course, select PLAY to ride a fixed time, off‐road course. Riders score points by chasing down coins and dragons. Develop scoring strategies and learn the layout to improve your score.

TRAIN

If you prefer a more traditional spin, without the virtual roads and games, Expresso Bikes can do that too! Choose TRAIN from the menu, set a goal and pedal. Steering is not available in training mode and your mileage will only count towards your lifetime totals.

MYEXPRESSO

Creating an rider account gives you access to all kinds of fun stuff on your MyExpresso page. The login information is the same as your login info for the Expresso bikes. Sign in and keep track of your Time, Distance and Calorie goals along with daily session reports. All ride information can be synced to platforms like Strava and MyFitnessPal.

You also can join Challenges and see Leaderboards for each of the Courses and Games to see how you stack up against other riders in our Y and across the world.

A challenge that is coming up in April is Expresso’s annual Rally for the Y. Expresso donates 10 cents to our Annual Campaign for every mile our Expresso riders ride in the month of April. Riders also can collect pledges and donations from their friends and family that also go to our 2021 Annual Campaign.

Click the button below to join our team today! And then ride, ride, ride in April to help raise money for our Y!