General Cycling Discussion - Good exercise bike to buy

Dont know if any one can help with this one.On of my family has wanted to try a bit of exercise and was looking about buying an exercise bike to use at home, basically starting some fitness.

I had just given my spare turbo trainer away so my idea of giving that has to be changed.

Has anyone bought an exercise bikes(just like the ones in gyms/health clubs with the programmable resistance and displays?He doesnt want to spent a great deal on it, but at the same instance I had said not to buy the really cheap ones as the resistance is very jumpy and you really need the programmable settings.

Any ideas?

Here is my idea, I hope it helps.

I don't have an exercise bike persay, I do have a old bike attached to a wind trainer. If your family member wants to exercize outside, he can take the bike off and get fresh air. I think the trainer cost 60.00 USD (new from Nashbar), the bike is an 1989 GT mountian bike with slicks.

It works well for me as i use the cycle computer to keep track of miles, cadence, speed, and the like to set goals and track progress.

Hope this helps,

ehenz

I like ehenz's reply but to more directly answer you Dick's had some the last time I was in there and would let you try them.

Joe

I like the idea of using a trainer, since exercise bikes (even a trainer) is BORING!!!! :) So then you can decide to go outside on the bike. There are also computer addons to some trainers that can very the resistance and everything a good exercise bikes does. There is also a addon so you can play video games with your bike and a trainer.. A real bike and a trainer gives you ALOT more options open to you rather then you standard exercise bike.

I have a life cycle c7i and I use it five day's a week. it's great for staying in shape. and has numerous programs to make workouts challenging.

I agree with Kev. A trainer does open up a lot more options, so you never have to get bored. They also don't cost nearly as much as a stationary bike. You could even get one used to save even more money!

If you have a regular bike you can buy a mount that converts it into an indoor bike. No computer but if you buy a cheapy bicycle computer, heart rate monitor, blood pressure monitor, and maybe an oximeter you can pretend you are a pro. The reality is if you don't know your working hard, your not, no computer needed. If you have to take your pulse with your finger tips now and again, hint if you can feel your heart pumping your pulse is high.

Go back to that family member and ask about a bicycle and a trainer. Or does he already have a bicycle?

I think the Recumbent Bike ODIN Magnetic Exercise Fitness Bike would be the perfect choice for what you want. It has easy to reach resistance knob that lets you choose from the eight levels of resistance. It also can be used to monitor your progress as it has the large, easy to use LED centre console that displays speed, time distance, calories, heart rate and scan.

If you don't want to be bored exercising indoors get a set of rollers. You will be concentrating on keeping upright without rolling off the edge of the trainer that you won't be bored.

But with a trainer I don't see how the resistance can match actually moving the bike on the ground...either way I would only use of those in the dead of winter, I love the outdoors.

I got one of these for free on Craigslist:

http://www.robbinssports.com/sporting-goods-store/images/Monark-Ergomedic-828E.jpg

Works great but it is deadly boring. More boring than the treadmill, elliptical, and rowing machines.

Here is my idea, I hope it helps.

I don't have an exercise bike persay, I do have a old bike attached to a wind trainer. ...Hope this helps,
ehenz

This would be my recommendation, too (only with better spelling...). I've never seen a cheap ex-bike that was worth the money. An old bike on a sub-$100 wind or magnetic trainer works great, and you can ride it to Starbuck's if you want. Around here you can get a decent, rideable bike, maybe in need of a tuneup, for $25-$50 at places like the Salvation Army or Good Will.
Now that I think of it, I'm guessing at the trainer price--I bought mine for about $75 several years ago from Performance, and it's worked great. Probably costs more now, though.

The best bike for home use it the Schwinn Airdyne bike. This bike is used for Physical therapy in all medical communities since it does the job so well.

i would never ride a bike indoors unless i was a competitive cyclist and needed to train while it was snowing or something.

if i wanted to do cardio indoors i would use an elliptical trainer because it doesn't hurt your back or butt.

for me the whole point of a bike is to breathe fresh air and enjoy nature ... and run people over !

But with a trainer I don't see how the resistance can match actually moving the bike on the ground...either way I would only use of those in the dead of winter, I love the outdoors.

It depends on the trainer. They either have a resistance control or they add resistance as you go faster. Kurt Kinetic's fluid trainers are often reported to nearly replicate outdoor riding; it's just as hard for me to hit an indicated 30 mph on my Kurt as it is on the road.


i would never ride a bike indoors unless i was a competitive cyclist and needed to train while it was snowing or something.

if i wanted to do cardio indoors i would use an elliptical trainer because it doesn't hurt your back or butt.

for me the whole point of a bike is to breathe fresh air and enjoy nature ... and run people over !

When I want to do cardio indoors I usually do something besides twirling circles with my feet (which means that my oh-so-awesome trainer hardly gets used; but I got a good deal on it ;)).

But with a trainer I don't see how the resistance can match actually moving the bike on the ground...either way I would only use of those in the dead of winter, I love the outdoors.

I feel the same way--I rarely even go to a gym, though membership comes with my job, because i'd rather be doing something outdoors. I do lift weights in our spare room, because I want to maintain strength and flexibility, but I don't have any urge to drive to the gym and stand around with the posers to do it.
It occurs to me, though, that a trainer/exercise bike doesn't HAVE to replicate real riding, at least for people like me. For a racer, it might be important to be as specific as possible, but most of us are just trying to maintain fitness, burn a few calories, get our heartrates up. Anything that does that is fine, even if it's slightly less efficient at making us better cyclists.