Exercise Bike Review

Exercise bikes: you get what you pay for

We found the best comparison reviews of exercise bikes at Consumer Reports and Which? magazine, a U.K. review publication. Both reviews evaluate an extensive list of important product features ranging from overall construction and ergonomics to programs, display panels and safety. Test engineers, sports scientists and volunteer riders also rode the bikes to assess product performance. Consumer Reports and Which? magazine test nine and six exercise bikes, respectively, with no duplication in the models tested. However, two of the three exercise bikes that Which? magazine recommends are not available in the U.S.

Other reviews come from Exercise-Equipment-Review.com and Fitness-Events.com, although neither gives specifics about their testing methodology. We also found a number of articles that discuss only one exercise bike or make recommendations for one bike without any shown basis for comparison. Other reviews, including exercise bike coverage in an article at Money magazine, are helpful but limited. We also found some highly useful comments from owners at Walmart.com, Amazon.com, Buzzillions.com and Sears.com. But when it comes to exercise bikes, Consumer Reports and Which? are easily the most credible test reports.

We found exercise bike reviews to be all over the map, with very few across-the-board home runs. The largest area of consensus was among mid-priced bikes. Still, as with other types of fitness equipment, reviews say you generally get what you pay for when it comes to exercise bikes. Brands that are not well known or don't have an established name in home fitness equipment often receive mixed or even harsh criticism from users. Even the most highly reviewed bikes receive a very harsh, critical comment every so often. For instance, the highly rated Schwinn 230 (*Est. $450) has a few complaints on Amazon.com about missing parts, difficulty of assembly and damage to plastic parts during shipping due to poor packaging. All the same, Jon Stevenson of TreadmillDoctor.com, a site that sells replacement parts for fitness equipment, says that exercise bikes are usually the most trouble-free type of cardio equipment.

If you aren't totally sure you want an exercise bike, you might check the other ConsumerSearch fitness equipment reports. Treadmills are still by far the most popular type of home fitness equipment. According to surveys, a treadmill is least likely to be gathering dust in a year's time; people who buy treadmills tend to be better about using them than owners of other types of equipment. Elliptical trainers are also gaining in popularity. Fitness experts and owners like them because they reduce knee stress by combining the motions of a treadmill with that of a stair stepper. We also have a report on stair steppers, which might be the least popular piece of fitness equipment these days.