Exercise bikes

[kate_nepveu]

Hello, LJ. Having completed [major work thing] today, I intend to spend the weekend catching up on a lot of stuff—including looking at exercise bikes. Anyone have recommendations, suggestions, things to look for or avoid?

All I know now is that it should be sufficiently adjustable that I (5'3") and Chad (6'6") can use it. Oh, and I'd like some way to monitor my heart rate so I know I'm not slacking off, but that doesn't need to be intrinsic to the bike.

Comments

[itlandm.livejournal.com]

Funny, I've been looking at exercise bikes myself for some days now. Those are all Scandinavian, though. My parents used to have an exercise bike which I sometimes used while visiting them, and I enjoyed it. I walk quite a bit so biking is different for me. If you bike outdoors you may find it boring, like I would a threadmill. I'm currently drooling over a bike with magnetic resistance. Amazingly, it is lighter and cheaper than the purely mechanical ones.

Don't let people tell you that no pulse measuring devices work! I have a Polar pulse watch (a Finnish product, but they write English about as well as I do) and it is quite reliable until the batteries start running out (one year and a half for me). It requires a sensor belt that you wear right under your breasts, though. I doubt you can reliably measure heart rate in your hands like some training equipment claims; try before you buy! Anyway, it is true that if you monitor your pulse regularly, you learn to feel the different heart rates intuitively.

Unless a doctor tells you otherwise, the best training intensity is the one you want to do again because it was fun. But because a lot of men in particular start at max intensity, you can usually find used exercise bikes for sale at any time of the year, but especially from February onward. ^_^

[burger-eater.livejournal.com]

I was going to recommend the Polar product, too. My wife uses it when she bikes and walks. It's not that expensive, pretty comfortable to wear (for me it was, at least) and you can use it for more than just the bike.