Cycling UK Forum

My wife and I are both having issues that may be alleviated by the use of an exercise bike. My own experience of exercise bikes involves only upright bikes that mirror 'ordinary' cycling. My wife is interested in the idea of a recumbent exercise bike where the seating position may apparently be more comfortable for someone who does not cycle very often. Has anyone any experience of comparing the two styles or any valid comment / suggestion as to the pros and cons of the different styles?

Whilst a regular gym user, hadn't bothered with exercise bikes until a series of broken bones kept me off the road back in '19, '20

Actually found an upright exercise bike can usefully mimic the retention & development of muscle, useful to use later on a for a normal bike. Clearly it depends on set up, height of the saddle and resistance levels, higher resistance levels contributing to muscle use. But even at low resistance and "spinning", found it useful for retention and development of cardio fitness.

Recumbent will be just as useful for cardio and muscle development/retention. I haven't bothered with them much, as they tend to use upper rear thigh and backside muscles, which aren't of much use on a normal bike. And can't say I've ever found them particularly comfortable, which may merely be due to muscles I don't normally use when cycling, being used

I don’t ride a recumbent exercise bike but I do ride both an upright bike and recumbent.

On recumbents the vast majority of your weight is spread across your back with very little weight on your backside. There is virtually no pressure on your shoulders arms and wrists or neck. Your head and back are aligned in a natural position unlike a road bike. Comfort is light years ahead of an upright bike.

If the recumbent exercise bike is just a saddle with a back rest, it won’t be as comfortable as a true recumbent seat.

It’s true that the muscle emphasis is different to upright, but you soon adapt. If you still ride an upright bike, it’ll strengthen a few of your leg muscles which are usually weak. Initially you won’t be able to raise your HR as high as you can upright, but over time you’ll be able to hit your max HR should you choose.

The exercise bikes that are popular in 'spinning' classes offer quite high a good trade off in comfort and exercise. You can buy a good second hand one for about 150 quid.

Having regularly ridden both on / off road, my impression, from limited gym exercise bike use, is that an 'upright' gym bike should give you more of a workout than a recumbent one; the latter tending towards fast leg presses unless you work at 'pedaling circles'. I wouldn't describe recumbent gym bikes as 'comfortable', either!
YMMV

Thanks for the replies

Slowtwitch wrote: ↑21 Feb 2022, 12:47am The exercise bikes that are popular in 'spinning' classes offer quite high a good trade off in comfort and exercise. You can buy a good second hand one for about 150 quid.

That's excellent for £50. Where from?

Littgull wrote: ↑25 Feb 2022, 2:27pm

Slowtwitch wrote: ↑21 Feb 2022, 12:47am The exercise bikes that are popular in 'spinning' classes offer quite high a good trade off in comfort and exercise. You can buy a good second hand one for about 150 quid.

That's excellent for £50. Where from?

Typo, meant £150.

This one is pretty decent for £100, 13kg flywheel. The bigger the flywheel the smoother the pedaling and more linear the resistance. You can expect to pay £250 for a 25kg flywheel, but this is a good place to start

Slowtwitch wrote: ↑25 Feb 2022, 2:53pm https://www.amazon.co.uk/ONETWOFIT-Adju ... 279&sr=8-5

Thanks for the link @slowtwitch, looks a good bargain.

Just to say there are spinning bikes out there with puny 8kg flywheels, and they are best avoided.