When it comes to exercise bikes, there are a few types of bikes that you will want to compare and consider what your personal goals are and comfort levels are before you choose one. We are going to show you a comparison of two types of exercise bikes, the recumbent bike, which has gained immensely in popularity these past few years, and the regular, stand up bike that looks just like a real bike, only it’s stationary.
The latter type of machine is usually called a stationary bike, and the main difference between this machine and the recumbent variety is that you sit back in a recumbent bike rather than sit up the whole time. Stationary bikes are typically used in spinning classes, and they may be priced about the same or a little bit under a sit down exercise bike.
The top exercise bike now though is the recumbent, and most people favor it in comparison because they feel like they can sort of sit down and relax and read or watch the television when working out. A lot of people also choose this type because they may feel it is better for their back if they have back problems. It probably is the better ergonomic choice for anyone who strains their back easily, in my opinion. Probably one of the most popular brands of the recumbent exercise bike is the Schwinn.
I myself have tested out quite a few of these, and found them to be consistently the smoothest ride and the ones that have the easiest to control settings and instruments that are used to control the machine. There are a lot of different models of the Schwinn bike, and in comparison, for the price, many people choose them because they have a superior quality for a reasonable price.
I know that’s why they were at the top of my list when I was comparing bikes, however, we had to put buying one on hold because of other expenses, so now I just use the one at the gym where I work, and that one is a professional gym brand that performs about the same in my opinion.
There are other brands as well, like Nautilus, that gets high marks, and is a little higher priced, but still well worth it for it’s ease of use and endurance for years of use, and another popular brand is the Reebok brand bike, which is known for it’s brand name and reliability, and they are usually priced about the same as Schwinn.
The higher end brands are really solidly constructed, more so gym quality and larger than the other ones for endurance and solid construction, and two of those brands are Diamondback, and the gym staple Nautilus, which can run up to a grand for the bike, and then there is one called Lifecore, which can run in the seven hundreds price-wise.
They of course do get rave reviews, as you do get what you pay for, but the most consistently rated ones I’ve seen, and therefore the best sellers, are usually the Schwinns, and they are rated compared to the others as a good value because they are solidly and quality constructed, but they do have the more reasonable price tag, and a reliable household name. Now, let’s talk about the upright exercise bikes, or the kind that are used in your typical spinning class.
When you are shopping for these, they are typically called an “upright exercise bike”, and they are taller than a recumbent in comparison, because your sit in an upright fashion, and they are designed so that you can stand straight up and pedal if you want to, so they should have load baring strength and very solid construction.
I wouldn’t recommend you ever go cheap on this type of bike because of that, and you DEFINITELY need to have a really good rubber mat to support this type of bike. Of course, you have to have a good rubber mat for the recumbent bike as well, but the stand up one requires even more support and floor grip because it‘s center of balance is less evenly distributed than the recumbent type.
Again, Schwinn has quite the presence in the upright exercise bike department. You even see some that have the fan built into the front wheel. You can actually hear the fan speed up when you speed up, so it’s kind of cool to have that connection to your speed and to be able to link your speed psychologically to a sound, it seems to help prompt you to keep moving.
The cool thing about this fan is that it utilizes an air-based technology that increases the resistance for the user the harder they pedal, so it actually goes up to as high of a resistance as the user can handle, which gives the experienced user a heck of a workout. This model is called the Airdyne model, and I believe that other upright bike brands have comparison models like this as well, using similar technology for die hard spinners.
And there you have it, a comparison of the different types of exercise bikes that are available for your fitness use. It’s up to you whichever fits your fitness and comfort level, and fits the primary goals you want to accomplish by beginning a workout regiment that includes some type of biking. After all, it’s one of the best types of cardio you can get sitting down.
