13
votes
Any suggestions for an indoor bike?
I had a stroke last year, which left me partially paralyzed. I'm doing much better and only my left hand and arm are still somewhat affected. Even though my stroke wasn't related to my lifestyle, I would like to get in better shape, and my PT has recommended getting an indoor bike. I would like one with pulse readers in the handle bars and preferably USB port to connect a tablet or phone to keep track of my progress. I live in Europe, so something available here would also be preferable. Does ~health have any experience or suggestions?
Ironic. I have a spin bike I need to sell here, but I’m in the US. Fwiw, I decided about 5 or 6 years ago to go with a very inexpensive one and then get separate heart monitor (straps around my chest) and a speed and distance sensor (affixed to the pedal) that run on my phone. Saved a few hundred dollars this way, set it in front of a smart tv, and it does about 85% of what a Peloton can do. I saw a few guides online and in the comments on some Amazon listings back then. I’ll see if I can find them later.
In hindsight, I kind of wish I’d gotten a recumbent style bike though. I’ve never found this one to be very comfortable despite trying different seats.
A recumbent bike is what you should be looking for. They're built to be more ergonomic so you can just focus on the exercise. There are a few other styles out there, including one that's basically just the pedal portion you'd combine with a regular seat, but the recumbent ones are the best IMHO. The main downside with them is that they need more space. If that's a problem, consider an upright model.
They come in an absurdly huge range of prices; a quick google search shows me results between $200 and $3500. I would go for the cheaper ones unless you have a reason to get one of the more expensive ones, such as if you're very large, need easy size adjustments so others can use it, or things like that. If you just want to get a nice one, NordicTrack is the brand I have seen the most in actual gyms, and they aren't too terribly priced for commercial quality machines. Otherwise, save the dough; they are extremely simple machines that don't really need complicated engineering or exacting manufacturing.
Pulse meters are an extremely common feature on all exercise bikes, as are computers to show you things like your speed and distance. It's to the point that it's harder to find models without them. That being said, they don't usually have any kind of communication on them to export any of that data. They are getting more and more common, but you probably won't find them on no-name brands.
I realise I didn't mention a budget in my original post, but I'm afraid the NordicTrack bikes are out of my price range.
i don't know about there but (US) here there plenty of exercise machines that are mostly a home for spiders. i say look into buying somebody else's misteak. do y'all have an equivalent Craigslist?
bonus: you might enjoy the chase.
mindless comment: i ride real bicycles, was OK at riding rollers, and indoor cycling is are OK at best. in the before times, i'd do a spin class at the gym as a change. the cuties were a bonus.
i say include a rower, Concept2 rocks, in your search.
I have looked at used exercise bikes. The ones here are usually either in really bad shape or people are expecting to get the same price as they paid for it.
For a budget option, you can consider just buying someone’s used bike and hooking it up with a trainer, which can go as low as $350. It’s potentially cheap, and it’s not a one use device like an exercise bike, since you can always just take the bike off and use it as a bike.
Won’t have the creature comforts, though. A smart watch, and a phone or iPad clip off of Amazon and something like Zwift gets you most of the way there, though.
Came here to suggest this, I did it out of necessity back in 2020 (literally not a single exercise bike to be had at the time without a three month wait) and it’s turned out way better than the standalone unit that would’ve cost me more.
At least for me, the motivation difference in being able to compete on Zwift or ride a beautiful scenic route on Fulgaz is a massive win compared to the little LED display with “level 6, program 3, 27% complete” that a sub-£1,000 stationary bike would have. Not to mention I get data! Charts of wattage, distance, cadence, heart rate all get exported automatically and seeing those progressing (a) totally appeals to my nerdery, and (b) feeds back into the gamified desire to keep improving.
Total cost for me was about £900 at pandemic prices (KICKR core, a basic but decent quality road bike, and a solid Bluetooth heart rate monitor) but looking at eBay today you could probably do it for half that. Might not be the option for everyone, but for me at least it’s better than anything I would’ve got even for double the money.
I recommend a concept 2 bikeerg with an Apple Watch or polar chest strap for heart rate monitoring. It has a fuss free built in monitor to track progress but you can use Bluetooth to connect their official app on your phone or tablet for even more analysis and options.
While I haven't used Concept 2's bikes, I have their rowing machine and based on my experience with it I wouldn't hesitate buying a bike from them. The quality is amazing.
I also second the idea of getting a chest strap (or a smart watch) for heartrate monitoring. I believe Polar H10 in particular is something of a gold standard in consumer products and should be much more accurate than handle bar pulse readers, or at least I have never had any good experiences with those. But maybe I have just been unlucky.
The pulse reader on cardio machines are simply awful. Not only they are inaccurate at best, they are also a common point of failure. Once they break, there’s no cheap way to fix/replace them.