Exercise bikes are a great addition to your home workout setup because they allow you to attain the much needed cardio faster and in a challenging way.
Two things I like about them is that they take up much little space and are easy to set up and secondly, they are more affordable compared to treadmills and ellipticals.
The one challenge I did find was picking the right model for my workout. At first I had made the assumption that all exercise bikes are the same and offer similar benefits until I got trying different models and burnt a few dollars along the way.
To save you the same experience I have narrowed down the top three exercise bike models covering different user needs and budgets to help you start off your search.
You can always use the features of these three to gauge other choices in the market when shopping for an exercise bike.
First things first, you have to understand that there are different types of exercise bikes.
The main three are the indoor upright bicycles, which are more suited for beginners, and they are usually the cheaper option. You also have the indoor cycles which ate more similar to the exercise bikes in spinning classes.
They employ the riding stature of a race bike to give you more intense workouts and they are great for getting in shape when you are preparing for an outdoor ride. The final group is the recumbent exercise bikes.
These are ideal for people who want to ease into cycling as they provide a natural laid back seat offering lumbar support are they are gentle on the joints.
They are also great for people with physical conditions but still looking to have a joint workout. They are the costlier option and take up much space.
- The best budget exercise bike
For someone looking to have starting point on the exercise bikes but having a limited budget, then the Exerpeutic Folding Magnetic Upright Bike with pulse is the bike to get.
At less than $200 you get a well-designed folding bike that comes with enough data recording capability as well as a pulse rate. Since I was just 5’7 it was an ideal entry-level bike after so many fails. The height element is only let down because only those within 5’3 and 6’1 can enjoy the bike.
- Best Recumbent Bike the Schwann bike 270 Recumbent bike.
This bike is the best value for money in the recumbent range bikes. Its range of features from the allowance of four user profiles, 29 built-in program modes to its light frame yet sturdy nature with a capacity for 380 pounds, there is little else you will want that’s not on this bike. It nursed my ankle injury back to fitness and I thank my gym for it.
However, since I always yearn for a challenge, I am saving for the next bike on this list.
- The best premium exercise bike Proform Tour De France TdF Pro 5.0 Studio
There are more expensive options in the premium range like the Wattbike which I find to be an overkill or The Keiser M3 Plus Indoor Cycle which is a close competitor, but the Proform is in my experience the most challenging and most adventurous bike out there.
It comes with 24 video workouts styles to the stages of the Tour de France. Better yet, you can use the inbuilt browser to get any track recognized by Google for your workout both the climbs and slopes.
Jorge is a health blog author who has been writing about nutrition, fitness and healthy living for over 10 years. He also loves to run, hike and bike with her wife.
