Cycling the Tour de France® route through Lourdes or across the Alpe d’Huez has become more of a reality for cycle lovers – thanks to the launch of ProForm Home Fitness’s new innovative indoor cycle.
The official training bike of the world’s most prestigious cycling event, ProForm’s® Tour de France® indoor cycle, boasts a 20% motorised incline and decline, Real Road™ resistance technology and iFit Live™ Technology, which is powered by Google Maps™.
The bike, which was unveiled for the very first time at the 2011 Le Tour de France event, allows the user to experience the thigh-burning inclines of the high mountain stages of the race, just like its competitors.
Ten challenging pre-programmed routes are stored in the bike’s memory, which trace different stages of the route including;
-
Stage 8: 30 km of the route from Aigurande to Super-Besse Sancy
-
Stage 13: Pau to Lourdes, including the Col d’Aubisque
-
Stage 19: Modane to Alpe-d’Huez, including the Col-du-Galibier and Alpe-d’Huez sections.
The equipment also features a built in wireless internet connection, which allows the user to connect to iFit.com, log onto their account, and create their very own cycling route anywhere in the world – thanks to Google Maps™ technology.
The Google Map™ appears on the product’s high-res console screen in Satellite View with a red line marking the cycling route and a marker that moves along to show the rider’s progress. As the user progresses, Geo-data embedded in Google Maps™, automatically adjusts the cycle’s position and resistance to simulate the mapped terrain.
The bike has been designed to provide the optimum cycling experience by simulating the combined resistance from four major factors that affect road cyclists: body size, wind resistance, road grade and tyre contact. The resistance that the user experiences is based on body weight to make it as realistic a ride as possible.
ProForm’s® Tour de France® indoor cycle’s smooth ride is also bolstered by touchless magnetic resistance on the flywheel, 24 gears and an electronically controlled touchless magnetic brake, which assures that the resistance does not change with wear. The bike also features a watts meter, to provide an accurate measure of a cyclist’s power input.