What to Look For When Buying an Exercise Bike?

Several years ago, when I first started using exercise bikes, I thought “a stationary bike is a stationary bike” and I didn’t realize the difference between different types and models. However, after a while I understood it is very similar to road bikes and soon realized what are the main things to keep in mind when buying a stationary bike, with some specificity for foldable ones. These are:

• Choice of the type of bike
• Folding capability and dimensions
• Tension and transmission systems
• Adjustability: seat comfort and other components
• Additional stuff

Upright vs Recumbent Exercise Bike

While each type of stationary bike has its’ advantages and disadvantages the choice of a fitness bike really depends on your personal  cycling, rehabilitation and fitness needs. The Exerpeutic 300SR Foldable Recumbent Exercise Bike is a semi recumbent exercise bike where you will be sitting slightly more upright than on a classic recumbent exercise bike. However, this characteristic allows for easier getting off and on the bike, providing even a more comfortable and effective workout. Recumbent bikes are usually the first choice of some cyclists primarily due to ergonomic reasons as the weight is distributed more comfortably over a larger area with a naturally reclined position and no need to bend head or back. On the other hand, on a standard upright bike, the body weight is concentrated entirely on a small portion of the sitting bones, the feet, and the hands.

Folding Capabilities and Dimensions

The Exerpeutic 300SR Stationary Bike will fold at least half of its size in comparison with when fully assembled, so it is really compact as shown in the pictures on the right.

The maximum supported wight is approximately 300 pounds while the user height may range from 5 feet 2 inches to 6 feet 2 inches. The total weight of this recumbent exercise bike is 39 pounds while the dimensions when not folded are 19 by 46 by 33 inches (W x H x D). The dimensions when boxed are 16.4  by 10.4 by 47.2 (W x H x D).

Tension and Transmission System

This exercise bike comes with a precision balanced flywheel together with the V.belt double driven system allow for a very quite and smooth operation. In other words, although this bike is small and available at a reasonable price you will not need to worry about waking up your kids, annoying your neighbors while you will be able to listen to your preferred music or watch a movie/TV. There is not much to say about the tension, as the Exerpeutic 300 SR uses a standard magnetic tension control system with 8 different levels to simulate different terrain, allowing the participant to determine the intensity of the workout. It is however important to note that the process of switching levels is very smooth thanks to the precise adjustment knob, like on road bikes

Adjustability

The Exerpeutic 300SR has fully adjustable seat and handlebars for maximum comfort. This is crucial, as having adjustable handlebar and seat setting means that you can move your position not only up and down but also front and back to get that perfect fit. In addition, this recumbent exercise bike has a very comfortable flat seat, cushioned and with a large back rest that will prevent back injuries.

The pedals are larger and have a safety strap preventing foot slippage while exercising and creating a unique cycling experience, no matter what you height or wight might be. It is important to note that the high-torque system adds to comfort providing a smooth and consistent pedaling motion

Additional Features

This Exerpeutic recumbent exercise bike comes with on-board computer that displays your heart rate, speed, time, calories burned and distance.

How Much Should You Expect to Pay?

The Exerpeutic 300SR Foldable Recumbent Exercise Bike is available on different sites for approximately 150$, but I would suggest to go for Amazon as it does provide Super Saver Shipping.

Does the Product come with a Warranty?

Yes, the Exerpeutic recumbent bike comes with a 1 year limited warranty on the frame.

What Others are Saying

Rating: ★★★★½ 

• One heck of a quiet workout!
• We love it
• This Is A Great Exercise Machine
• Can’t say enough good things
• Very solid bike, workout, price
• Easy to put together
• Excellent little bike

Any Complaints?

I found very few complaints for this recumbent exercise bike on consumer sites around the internet. One consumer did express concern over the adjustment of the length once the bike is assembled. However, it is just necessary to unscrew one of the (factory put in) screws in order to let the inside bar slide down far enough for the “shortest” hole to be used.

Where Can You Buy the Exerpeutic 300SR Foldable Recumbent Bike?

The Exerpeutic 300SR Foldable Recumbent Bike is available on Amazon. At the moment they include FREE Super Saver Shipping and if you compare prices with other online merchants, Amazon do currently have the best deal especially with the free shipping option. Click here to view the best price on Amazon.

Where to Find More Customer Reviews on the Marcy Recumbent Mag Cycle?

The best place to find more relevant reviews from customers that have used the product is on Amazon. Click here to read more

What to Look For When Buying an Exercise Bike, Specifically a Spin Bike?

Several years ago, when I first started using exercise bikes I thought there is no big difference between exercise bikes; I just knew the difference between recumbent and upright. However, it didn’t take me long to understand what are the main things to keep in mind when buying a stationary bike. These are the things to look for when buying an upright exercise bike:

• Choice of the type of bike (classic upright or spinner bike)
• Level and type of resistance (heavy flywheel)
• Adjustability of seat and handlebars
• Measures and chain drive
• Additional stuff such as bike computer and waterbottle holder
  

  Sunny Health & Fitness Spinning Bike – unpacked

If you just buy the first spinning bike you see based on price alone then you are destined for trouble particularly if you are going to be using it on a regular basis. So stick with me here and I will be explaining all these characteristics in relation to the Sunny Health & Fitness Indoor Bike Trainer.

Upright vs Spinning Bike

Spinning bikes and upright bikes both build strength and endurance in a rider; they provide good workouts without heavily affecting the joints, hips and knees; and they’re great for home gyms. But despite the similarities between the two, there are some differences mainly explained by the following points:

- COMFORT: a spin bike is designed to emulate the behavior of a road bike and you are able to adjust the handlebars and seats to a customized position to simulate the position of riding a road bike. Upright bikes are designed to be more comfortable for the rider with wider seats that can typically only be moved forward and back.

- INTENSITY: while riding an indoor bike trainer, you can manually control the intensity of the workout at any given moment through the use of a resistance knob attached to the bike’s flywheel. Riders of upright bikes are typically limited to the built-in programs on the bike that automatically adjust tension to simulate various types of terrain.

- FLYWHEEL: in most upright exercise bikes, the flywheel rotates even if the pedals do not, while most spin bikes such as the Sunny Health & Fitness Indoor Bike Trainer have a weighted flywheel controlled by the rider which emulates road bikes.

- RANGE OF MOVEMENT: as the spinning bike is designed to perform exercises in and out of the seat it allows to train a fuller range of muscles than a classic upright stationary bike.

- RIDERS: spinning bikes are usually designed for specialized cyclists for their indoor training or for indoor spinning classes. On the other hand upright bikes are designed for riders with low back pain who need a low-impact aerobic exercise and low impact on the back.

It’s all About Resistance and Having a Nice & Heavy Flywheel 

The Sunny Health and Fitness is an indoor cycling bike with 40-pound flywheel which is an ideal weight for spinning bikes. The flywheel is what rotates when you pedal and continues spinning, replicating the forward momentum you have on a regular bike. A bike with a nice heavy flywheel such as the Sunny Health spins more smoothly for a longer period of time and makes the bike feel more solid allowing that smooth pedal stroke and even the rhythm of the push/pull on the pedals. One with a lighter flywheel will seem like riding in far too low of a gear, and your pedaling will be out of control and jerky.

Adjustability of Seat and Handlebars

The Sunny Health Spinning Bike has fully adjustable seat and handlebars for maximum comfort. This is crucial, as having adjustable handlebar and seat setting means that you can move your their position not only up and down but also front and back to get that perfect fit. This is  is especially important for women, as they have a shorter torso than men, and this allows adjustments that make for a better bike fit.

Measures and chain drive mechanism

It features a compact design to fit easily in small spaces with measures 20 x 46.5 x 48.5 inches (W x H x D), weighs 108 pounds and supports weight of up to 275 pounds. The assembly is pretty easy and it takes up to 20 minutes to finish everything. In addition, once assembled, you will first notice how chain drive mechanism provides a smooth and quite experience, so you don’t wake up your kids when exercising.

Additional stuff

The Sunny Health & Fitness Pro Indoor Cycling Bike has a heavy duty crank and a heavy duty steel frame. In addition, it features transport wheels to easily move the bike from place to place. However, it does not provide a waterbottle holder or a bike computer,
that might be easily purchased on Amazon.

How Much Should You Expect to Pay?

The Sunny Health & Fitness Indoor Bike Trainer is available on all the major e-commerce websites for under $300 but you really shouldn’t be paying any more than $260 for this spinning bike. The cheapest we have seen is on Amazon
who consistently sells this drill for under $150.

What Others are Saying

Rating: ★★★★¼ 

• I would compare it to bikes that are in the $1000+ category. I’m very impressed!
• Overall, 5 out of 5 for this bike.
• Comfortable, quiet, smooth pedaling. I would highly recommend.
• Great bike……Great price! Overall, I think this is the best product for the $.
• Good bike for the price!
• A real bargain!

Any Complaints?

I found very few complaints for this indoor bike trainer on consumer sites around the internet. One consumer did express concern on the seat being too tall for even on the lowest setting, but the problem was soon solved by drilling an extra hole in the post as there was plenty of room available.

Where Can You Buy the Sunny Health & Fitness Pro Indoor Cycling Bike?

The Sunny spinning bike is available on Amazon. At the moment they include FREE Super Saver Shipping and if you compare prices with other online merchants, Amazon do currently have the best deal especially with the free shipping option. Click here to view the best price on Amazon.

Where to Find More Customer Reviews on the Sunny Health & Fitness Pro Indoor Cycling Bike?

The best place to find more relevant reviews from customers that have used the product is on Amazon. Click here to read more

Make it more interesting

The biggest obstacle with home exercising is how to keep motivation high in order to stick with the plan. On one hand, home exercising is more convenient as you don’t to have drive to the gym to use the exercise bike or treadmill. However, on the other hand, exercising at home requires much more discipline as you can get easily distracted by different things in your home. The key to stick with your exercising plan and have high motivation is having fun; you have to look forward for your next workout. Being realistic, looking at the on-board computer and checking how many calories have you burnt or your heart rate will be interesting just for the first couple of weeks. But let’s look at each piece of exercise equipment and what makes them interesting and fun:

Treadmill Fun Level

On the treadmill you are able to run and walk, and these are the only two things you can possibly do on that piece of machine. You can change the speed and in the case of inclined treadmill you can change the inclination which isn’t exactly fun but it’s at least different and for someone might represent a challenge, but in general it’s not the workout many are dreaming.

On a treadmill you can’t read as you are bouncing up and down and cannot concentrate on a sentence. On the other hand, you could possibly listen to music, watch television or a movie but again, you have the bouncing and the noise of the treadmill.

Exercise Bike Fun level

On a stationary bike you are much more likely to be able to find more activities to do during your workout without much disturbance. You can for example watch your favorite TV show, movie, read a book, listen to music, play video-games and even watching around you and possibly talking to other persons: all this is possible as you are not jumping up and down on your feet.

In addition, some exercise bikes come with various programmed bike routes and you could be sprinting, going uphill, and have several changes in resistance during a single workout without the need to constantly change and pressing buttons. You can even select random routes so you don’t know what is coming.

Recumbent exercise bikes are much more comfortable and in case of upright exercise bikes you could be encountering some difficulties related to treadmills. In any case, whatever type of stationary bike you decide to choose you are far more likely to stick with your workout routine than in the case of the treadmill

Effectiveness of the Workout

i.e. how many calories are you going to bun out. Well, according to a study conducted by NordicTrack, in an hour of workout with the same intensity on a treadmill most people were consuming 750 calories while on the exercise bike only 550 calories, all things being equal. However, this is just a part of the equation, and you have to take in consideration several other factors, as explained in the initial paragraph.

As exercise bikes are more fun, you are probably going to use them in the long run. This means, even if you are more likely to burn calories on the treadmill you are also more likely to give up using it. In addition, it is also very important to take in consideration the duration of your home workout: if you are more likely to do an hour of workout on the stationary bike and you cannot force yourself to do half an hour on the treadmill, the equation is very simple: you are burning more calories in one session.

Safety

The main difference between exercise bike and treadmill lies in its safety, which is in a sense related to comfort as well.

• I recently had a very good discussion with a personal trainer who said she would rather exercise on a cardio equipment that fits her body needs and that she enjoys than suffer on an equipment that burns more calories but she doesn’t like and hurts her joints. In the case of a treadmill especially knees and junctions are put under pressure while in the case of an exercise bike less stress is put on your joint as it supports your weight but still allows to get a high impact form cardio workout.
• You can fall from a treadmill while it is almost impossible to fall from an exercise bike. Although people think that you have to be very clumsy in order to fall while walking it happens more than you think especially if you get involved in listening music beats or watching television
• In case of an exercise bike, when you experience a non-workout injury like neck or back you can still continue to do your workout on a daily basis, especially if you use a recumbent exercise bike. Let’s be sincere – once you stop it is very tough to start exercising again

Conclusions

As explained, each cardio machine has its advantages and disadvantages. Treadmill continue to be the most used piece of cardio equipment at home due to higher impact on burning calories. However, stationary bikes have shown to be more fun, comfortable and safer then treadmills.

My final advice is to choose something that you feel is comfortable to you and that you are pretty sure you can stick with the workout in the long run.

If your decision is an exercise bike, click here to read more reviews but you definitely want to see my review of the best buy recumbent exercise bike.

On the other hand if you decided to go for a treadmill, check on Amazon as you can always find the best deal there.

Bestsellers for these categories on Amazon are the LifeSpan Fitness TR3000i Folding Treadmill and the Exerpeutic 300SR Foldable Recumbent Bike

As usual, I started where I could find most user reviews i.e. on Amazon. There I selected all the best selling recumbent bikes in the selected price range with enough user reviews and my extensive research finally led me to the Marcy ME709 Recumbent Mag Cycle.

Although I am a fan of classic upright bikes (due to my road cycling past), I know the benefits of recumbent bikes, especially in terms of comfort as well as in terms of people recovering from injuries.

What to Look For When Buying an Exercise Bike?

Several years ago, when I first started using exercise bikes, I thought “an exercise bike is an exercise bike” and I didn’t see the difference between them. However, it didn’t took me long to understand what are the main things to keep in mind when buying a stationary bike. These are:

• Choice of the type of bike
• Level and type of resistance
• Adjustability of seat and other components
• Measures
• Additional stuff

If you just buy the first exercise bike you see based on price alone then you are destined for trouble particularly if you are going to be using it on a regular basis. So stick with me here and I will be explaining all these characteristics in relation to the Marcy recumbent exercise bike.

Upright vs Recumbent Exercise Bike

While each type of exercise bike has its’ advantages and disadvantages the choice of an exercise  bike really depends on your personal rehabilitation, cycling and fitness necessities. The Marcy Recumbent Mag Cycle is a bike that places the cyclist in a laid-back reclining position with a very low center of gravity making the bike and rider very stable. Most recumbent bike cyclist choose this type of design for ergonomic reasons; the cyclist’s weight is distributed comfortably over a larger area, with a far more natural, reclined position and no need to bend head or back. On a standard upright bike, the body weight rests entirely on a small portion of the sitting bones, the feet, and the hands. Other sensible advantages include:

• the arms are hanging naturally on your sides which eliminates sore hands, wrists and arms because there is no weight put on them while cycling
• better workout for the muscles of your butt as the reclined position naturally works the gluteus maximus
• Very comfortable seat often compared to the car driving position or a piece of comfortable furniture.
• Increased desire of the rider to continue the workout as a more natural position of body alignment  reduces fatigue
• People with lower back issues find recumbent bikes to be more comfortable and help workout
• People with neck pain issues are find recumbent exercise bikes more comfortable as there is no need to bend their neck or hang their head during the workout.

It’s all About Resistance

The Marcy recumbent bike is a magnetic exercise bike that works on a magnetic resistance which allows much smoother tension adjustments and much quiter workout than in the case of manual belt style. It has eight built-in programs that allow to adjust tension with a tension-tighten knob  to simulate different terrain, allowing the participant to determine the intensity of the workout. Turning the knob increases or decreases resistance, which simulates ascending a hill on a road bike.

The On-board Computer

The Marcy ME 709 Recumbent Mag Cycle comes with on-board computer that displays the temperature when not in use, and readouts of current speed in Miles per Hour, speed progress, distance travelled in Miles elapsed time and calories burned with possibility to use the count-down option. Two 1.5V (AA) batteries are included with battery life of approx. three months under usage in normal circumstances.

Size Does Matter!

It features a compact design to fit easily in small spaces with measures 55 x 40 x 25 inches. In addition, the seat height is adjustable so that riders of various shapes and sizes can use this bike and it also includes padded foam grips and counter balanced pedals with adjustable foot straps.  

Additional Features

The recumbent bike has a powder-coated finish which ensures much better quality than conventional liquid coating an is ecologically friendly as it emits zero volatile organic compounds, produces less waste and the overspray can be recycled.

In addition, it features transport wheels to easily move the bike from place to place.

How Much Should You Expect to Pay?

The Marcy ME 709 recumbent bike is available on the Hayneedle website for $190 but you really shouldn’t be paying any more than $170 for this exercise bike. Last time I was looking at it, the cheapest was Amazon.

Does the Product come with a Warranty?

Yes, the Marcy recumbent bike comes with a 2 years warranty on the frame.

What Others are Saying

Rating: ★★★★¼ 

• “Great value for money”
• “Smooth, quite and very, very comfortable”
• “Very easy to assemble and comes with all necessary tools”
• “Great exercise bike that’s well worth the price!”
• “The cycle is very sturdy and quiet”
• “Does pretty much everything we bought it for.”
• “Relatively easy to set up”

Any Complaints?

I found very few complaints for this recumbent exercise bike on consumer sites around the internet. One consumer did express concern over the adjustment of the length once the bike is assembled. However, it is just necessary to unscrew one of the (factory put in) screws in order to let the inside bar slide down far enough for the “shortest” hole to be used.

Where Can You Buy the Marcy ME 709 Recumbent Mag Cycle?

The Marcy Recumbent Bike is available on Amazon. At the moment they include FREE Super Saver Shipping and if you compare prices with other online merchants, Amazon do currently have the best deal especially with the free shipping option. Click here to view the best price on Amazon.

Where to Find More Customer Reviews on the Marcy Recumbent Mag Cycle?

The best place to find more relevant reviews from customers that have used the product is on Amazon. Click here to read more.

Fitness bikes, also called exercise bikes and stationary bikes are one of the most used home fitness equipment: they are usually the first piece of equipment to be bought for in-home use, due to the ease of use and the benefits it provides in the form of increased aerobic condition, burning calories while at the same time avoiding to put in danger knees and leg joints.

Types

In general, the first step in the process of buying a fitness bike is understand what types are available and what are the main characteristics of these. In fact there are three main types (some would argue there are actually two as spinning may be a subcategory of upright bikes): upright, recumbent and spinning bikes. Upright bikes are the traditional exercise bikes that best mirror the style and the position of road cycling bikes, there is no support for the back and pedals are directly below you. Recumbent fitness bikes provide support for your back and the pedals are located right in front of you, and as a result the sitting position is very similar to the one when driving a car. The third category, spinning bikes, takes in consideration bikes that are used in spinning classes, which are in fact upright bikes but with the design that resembles much more the one of a professional road cycle.

How to Shop

Shopping for a fitness bike, and in general for any shopping equipment, has to be a structured and wisely done process in order to ensure that the piece of equipment will be used in the long run.  Besides the price, that we will cover later on in this article, it is very important to test the exercise bike for comfort: it should have first of all a comfortable seat, adjustable in height in order to be used by all household members, adjustable handlebars and seat as well as back support n case of recumbent bikes. In order to ensure the comfort of the fitness bike you and your family members that are going to use it should try it, probably in a department store or gym and use it for at least five minutes. Besides comfort test for adaptability as well as the level of noise the fitness bike makes during exercise which is a crucial check during the buying decision but mostly overlooked by buyers. Take in consideration that even a small repetitive noise during a longer period of exercise may result in driving you and your family members crazy and give you a reason to abandon exercising. In addition, read reviews on the web posted by specialized sites and user reviews to check ratings and to see what are the potential problems that might arise after a certain period of time (mechanical problems, noise issues, comfort, etc).

When buying a fitness bike it is also very important to check the maximum weight it can support. For most bikes this is usually around 250 to 300 pounds, although certain exercise bikes support weights of up to 400 pounds. Finding the right for you should not represent a problem.

Most fitness bikes will provide you with computerized measurements for speed, distance and time of the workout although some models give you information on the hearth rate, resistance, burned calories and preset programs. At the end, it’s up to your preferences but keep in mind that better measurements and more preset programs are usually available with more expensive bikes.

Once you tested several models in your price range, and decided which is the model you want to buy check for prices in various department stores, sporting goods stores and online. When buying online, take also in consideration the shipping costs that may be significant due to weight, although large e-commerce sites such as Amazon usually provide free shipping.

Warranty

Warranty usually ranges form 3 months to lifetime warranty for certain parts of the exercise bike. Some manufacturers provide 5 year warranty on the frame, like for example in the case of the Proform 290 SPX, we reviewed in another post. However, as it usually is the case a longer warranty is a guarantee of better quality.

Conclusion

The selection of an exercise bike is dependent on your level of preparation and probably on your experience in indoor cycling. If you are a new user and you are not sure how much are going to use it, my advice is to go for a less expensive version. On the other hand, if you are an experienced user, that is likely to use it frequently and in the long run, it is reasonable to invest more money and buy something you’ll know that will last.

A Great selection of fitness bikes can be found on Amazon and to check prices click here.

The ProForm 290 SPX has a capacity of 250 pounds with a warranty of 5 years on the frame and 90 days on the parts, the same as the more expensive Nordic Track while the dimensions are 48.6 by 19.9 by 46.5 inches (L x W x H).

The main features of this fitness bike are:

1. Horizontally and vertically adjustable seat in order to find the best fit
2. Pedals with Toe cage in order to increase stability and get the best results on muscles, and can be used on the opposite side up as well
3. Chain drive system
4. Non-slip handlebars that are adjustable in order to give the best comfort and reduce fatigue
5. Transport wheels to easy move the bike from one place to another
6. Water bottle holder helps you stay hidrated
   

Assembly - Very simple as you get just a couple of parts to attach such as handlebars, seat, bottom braces and paddles. Enough screws and tools are supplied. Very easy in comparison to other fitness bikes, especially computerized magnetic type. The assembly of the ProForm 290 SPX should not take more than 15-30 minutes.

Pros.

• Handlebars and seat can be smoothly adjusted allowing both small and tall to get a good fit on the bike
• Very stable, but smooth and quiet during the workout (you just hear yourself pedaling)
• Very smooth transition with the resistance lever being very sensitive
• The heavy flywheel allows pretty good inertia
• Performs almost like an elliptical when standing on pedals, and you are able put all your weight on the pedals
• The small front wheels allow to move the bike around the house

Cons.

• There is some amount of chain slop that can cause noisy drive-train as it slaps against the chainguard
• The water bottle holder is in plastic, but it’s easily replaceable with a professional, metal one (more options on Amazon)
• Slightly uncomfortable seat when the fitness bike is aggressively used, but it’s easily replaceable with a professional one.
• The handlebar post has a some amount of side play which can be a bit disturbing in case of aggressive workout.
• No fitness bikes computer

User Ratings

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Amazon: 3.8 out of 5 stars

ProForm: 4.4. out of 5 stars

Walmart: 4.3 out of 5 stars

CONCLUSION

The ProForm 290 SPX is a good quality exercise bike at a reasonable price: it is probably the best buy cycle trainer in the segment up to 300$ on the market at the moment. The bike has of course some drawbacks when compared with more expensive cycle trainer but for most people, who are looking for a solid home fitness bikes in order to avoid gym and spinning classes (and of course spare some time), as well as for those that are going to use it for their recreation and cardio-training, I would for sure recommend it.

On the other hand, for those who are looking for fitness bikes to be used for more aggressive spinning session and have the possibility to spend +800$, I would recommend something more professional (more on that in some other review).

In any case, the ProForm 290 SPX is currently on sale on Amazon and you can check the price here.

Types
The early antecedent of the modern exercise bike was the Gymnasticon (more info on this here), an exercise machine developed by Francis Lowndes in 1796. The current version of the stationary bike has been developed by the South-african cyclist Johnny Goldberg as explained in my previous post. Today, the exercise bike is presented in many different models such as recumbent, upright, mini bikes as well as professional indoor cycles. In addition, there are certain models that have handlebars connected to the pedals in order for the person to train both legs, arms and the whole body during the exercise. The majority of current stationary bikes have a mechanism built in to regulate the resistance that is applied when pedaling, and it can be magnetic or based on air or/and water.
Recently, some of the well known exercise bikes manufacturers such as Marcy have started with cheaper solutions such as mini exercise bikes that are provided with just pedals and resistance mechanism, without pedals or other accessories and are mainly used for just exercise. These are usually put on the floor and used why sitting on a chair or even used with hands for a different type of exercise.

Use of the exercise bike

Exercise bikes can be used for many different exercises, from general increase in fitness whether using it at home or in a gym. On the other hand help in loosing weight is probably the most wide use of the stationary bike. A third and very important use is related to physical therapy, as a solution for cardiovascular problems. Last but not least, exercise bikes are as well used for training purposes for cycle events, whether amateur or professional.

Advantages

• Fitness bikes usually do not require a lot of maintenance
• Learning the exercise is quite easy…it’s just pedaling
• Very low impact ensures almost no risk of injury or strain
• Popularity of biking and spinning means users can add variety to workouts by using spinning videos
• Possibility to choose between upright stationary bikes and recumbent exercise bikes to see which is most comfortable.

• The focus is solely on exercising legs, although this problem is solved with the use of models with handlebars. In any case it is ideal for the user to balance bike exercise with upper body exercise for a balanced workout

Today, exercise bike training is done in a class environment with trained instructors (certified by some of the best exercise bike manufacturers such as Schwinn, Spinning or by national associations) or train individually at homes, hotels, finess clubs.

This is my first post of the new blog concerning fitness, but mainly concentrating on exercise bikes training, different exercise bike reviews, explaining pros and drawbacks of different exercise bike models, as well as accessories you are likely to use when using your bike.

Hope you will enjoy reading my posts and reviews.

To the next post…the Proform 290 SPX

Exercise bike for you