How to Choose an Exercise Bike

Unlike some stationary bikes, all of the exercise bikes we rate have a heavy magnetic flywheel for momentum and resistance that makes a ride feel similar to riding a road bicycle. You can adjust resistance and posture, and track such metrics as time, distance, and heart rate. They come in two different types: connected exercise bikes and conventional ones. These machines have grown especially popular during the covid pandemic as more people work out from home.

• Connected exercise bikes are connected to indoor cycling apps accessible through their display screens that typically give you access to on-demand and live fitness classes. These apps link you to instructor-led studio classes, recorded scenic bike rides, and sometimes custom map-based rides anywhere you’d like to virtually visit. To access them, though, you’ll need to sign up (and pay) for a monthly subscription service. Connected bikes are the more expensive of the two exercise bike types we test, usually running above $1,400. For specifics, check out our ratings of connected exercise bikes.
• Conventional or nonconnected indoor exercise bikes usually have a simple digital display that provides information on speed, time, and other metrics without the videos and interactive components of connected bikes. For this reason and others, they’re often cheaper while offering the same performance and comfort. Plus, a conventional exercise bike gives you more flexibility in the subscription service you use, if you want one. The models we test generally cost less than $1,000. For specifics, check out our ratings of conventional exercise bikes.

There are some baseline considerations, which we outline here: 

Exercise Bike Type 
Maybe you want a connected bike with apps that help add the camaraderie and energy of a group cycling class to the riding experience through on-demand sessions with a variety of themes and levels. Maybe you don’t want to spend more money on the steep cost of a connected bike. If that’s the case, look for a less expensive conventional indoor bike. 

Adjustability
Our experts prefer bikes that allow you to make small, varied height adjustments rather than those that restrict you to specific, pre-established increments. The range of these adjustments can be important, too, especially for people who are very tall, very short, or those who have mobility concerns. (Experts tell us that seat height settings more than an inch apart can be too large a difference to account for all preferences.) If you can, try out the exercise bike in person before buying it, even if you end up buying it online.

Display
Whether or not your bike is connected and has a video screen, a good display will show some combination of your heart rate, calories burned, speed, revolutions per minute (RPM, or “cadence,” in biking vernacular), and details such as time and distance. 

It’s particularly important for the display to show the bike’s resistance level. Some displays don’t, which means that the only indication you have of resistance is the position of the manual knob on the bike. This makes it difficult or impossible to replicate workouts if you’re trying to track your progress over time.

Noise 
Look for a bike that doesn’t create a lot of extra noise during operation, which can be distracting.

Decide which extra features are important to you—including water bottle holders, dumbbells and dumbbell holders, and a heart rate monitor. If you want to be able to use the bike while reading or watching something, be sure it has a reading shelf to hold a book, tablet, or smartphone. 

Capacity
Capacity is the weight the manufacturer claims the bike can support. You’ll want one that can hold your body weight without a problem.

Warranty
Look for a warranty that provides lifetime coverage for the bike’s frame, at least two to three years of coverage for major moving parts, and a year for labor. The poorest warranties in our tests offer just a year for the frame and as little as six months on parts and labor.

General safety
Exercise bikes have many moving parts and can be hazardous, so follow directions. When it’s in use, make sure children are kept away. When it’s out of use, make sure it’s locked (if possible) and out of a child’s reach.

We arrive at our exercise bike recommendations through rigorous testing of each model. The results of those tests are carefully weighed to calculate an Overall Score.

Our exercise bike ratings make clear each exercise bike’s Overall Score as well as how it performs in specific tests.

All the bikes are put through a series of tests and evaluations to assess their usability. Below are a few examples of the tests that we perform on each exercise bike.

• To determine how easy assembly is, we time how long it takes to put each bike together out of the box.
• To assess a bike’s features, we examine the ones that our experts consider useful, including the types of pedals, the placement of handlebars, and the water bottle and dumbbell holders.
• For adjustability, we look at how easy it is to adjust the bike’s seat height, horizontal seat position, and handlebar height. Our testers say the best bikes let you make fine adjustments so that you can get the seat into the right position for you.