I am the mother to a one-year-old, and editor of Cycling Weekly online, and the Stages SB20 is my lifeline when it comes to getting the fitness fix I need to maintain my mental and physical health, without hassle or fuss.
This super adjustable, training app compatible, highly accurate and robust indoor bike has always been a rather pricey option at $3,149.99, but we've just spotted the bike is currently available at just $1,999.99 from Backcountry. That's a massive 37% off - the cheapest price we've ever seen this model retail for.
It's generally understood that the first year as a parent is hectic. Regardless of your family and/or working situation, the same applies: if you're going to invest in an indoor bike, you want it to be standing to attention and ready to go at a moment's notice. No bugs, no glitches, no 'switching it off and on again', no lengthy software updates eating into those valuable free minutes.
Stages provide exercise bikes for gyms up and down the country, which is why I think the Stages SB20 indoor bike is quite so excellent. Bikes used in commercial gyms need to be able to take a battering, and remain robust, and that's the USP for the SB20, too.
I've been training at home on the SB20 for 24 months now - nine of them growing the baby from within, 15 nurturing her Earth-side. My training volume has decreased significantly, and when there is time to get a pedal fix, I want to be efficient.
The Stages SB20 provides resistance via a Gates carbon fiber belt drive. Pedalling feels natural and comfortable, until the climbs ramp up of course - with a maximum virtual incline of 25% more than tough enough. The claimed power accuracy is ±1.5% watts, and I've hooked the bike up alongside Favero Assioma pedals to verify this with impressive, repeatable success.
The bike connects to apps via ANT+ and Bluetooth, I tend to gravitate towards Zwift's virtual world at the moment, but have been a big fan of Wahoo's Systm in the past. A USB port at the front of the bike lets you charge a device (eg a tablet) as you ride, too.
The bike is extremely adjustable, with changes being very easy to make, as well. You can set your pedals up on a 165, 170, 172.5 or 175mm crank length too.
Over the course of two years of use, the SB20 has only once let me down with a power reading/effort mismatch, which was fixed via a Zero Offset Calibration. The only other time the readings seemed off, I soon realised that the crank batteries needed replacing. This was a five minute job, performed whilst making a family dinner, because - like many working parents - juggling is my middle name.
