Resistance Zones: Green, Yellow and Red
How hard each part of a ride should feel, and what the numbers mean on a 0–100 resistance bike.
Most spin bikes don’t measure power, so the best guide is a mix of the resistance number and how the effort feels. In Spin Studio every set is colored by its resistance, from green (easy) through yellow to red (very hard), so you can see the shape of a ride at a glance.
On my bike, resistance runs from 0 to 100. Anything at 25 or below is green, 55 and above is red, and everything in between blends from green to red. Your bike will be different, so use the “feels like” column more than the numbers.
| Zone | Resistance (my bike) | Feels like | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recovery | 15–25 | Very easy. You could chat all day. | Warm-ups, cool-downs, recovery rides |
| Endurance | 25–35 | Comfortable. Full sentences. | Most of your riding |
| Tempo | 35–42 | Steady work. Short sentences. | Long climbs, base building |
| Sweet spot / threshold | 42–50 | Hard but sustainable for 10–20 minutes. | Sweet spot and over-under intervals |
| Hard intervals | 50–55 | A few words at a time. 1–4 minutes. | Interval sets |
| Red | 55–60 | Close to all-out. 30 seconds to 2 minutes. | Summits, peaks and short sprints |
Finding your own numbers
Pick one ride, like Sweet Spot 3x10, and pay attention to how each block feels. If a sweet-spot block is easy enough that you could talk normally, add a few points. If you can’t finish the block, take a few off. After two or three rides you’ll know where your bike’s zones are.
In Spin Studio you can do this mid-ride: on a touch screen, drag up or down on the current set to change its resistance. The app saves an adjusted copy of the workout, so the original stays as it was.
Resistance and cadence work together
The same resistance feels very different at 60 RPM and at 100 RPM. Climbs use high resistance and low cadence; recoveries and spin-ups use low resistance and high cadence. See Cadence and position for more.