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A review of the 5 best budget indoor bikes
If you don’t have £1500 to wax on the Watt Bike Atom (the best indoor bike since sliced bread (just look at it - so, SO sexy!) that’s not an excuse to sloth-it on the couch in the company of a bucket of Ben & Jerry’s and family-sized packet of Doritos.
We just have to set our sights a little lower that’s all.
Indoor trainers are as cheap as chips nowadays and for around a £100 you could have yourself a praiseworthy piece of exercise equipment.
In this short product review I have sourced 5 quality indoor trainers for your consideration. The trainers featured below have had to satisfy certain requirements to qualify for a place in this review – because I’m not going to waste my time reviewing crappy kit. The requirements:
No less than 4 stars
Over 100 customer reviews
Durable and built to last (not to break!)
Cost under £300
Come on then, let’s have a look at some bikes . . .
1: Ultrasport F-Rider fitness bike and ab trainer (£109.99)
Product Specifications
Collapsible home trainer fitness bike with 8 resistance levels.
Training computer with LCD display. Functions include: time/scan/calories/speed/distance & pulse.
Max user weight of 100 kg.
Easy and quick to set up and take down.
Click image for availability
The Ultrasport F-Rider, amazingly, has received a jaw-dropping 9,600 reviews; making it a staggeringly popular piece of exercise equipment. This is especially impressive as it still retains a four star status.
Yes the Ultrasport is a basic bit of kit which looks like an ironing board – it actually folds down like one too. However, for £109.99 this will more than suffice as a home exercise bike.
On rainy days or whilst you’re watching that ‘binge worthy box-set’ you can whip it out the cupboard, unfold it and peddle to your heart’s content.
What customers are saying
Favourable
Does the job
Durable
Takes up limited space
Unfavourable
Your get what you pay for
Bit rickety
Limited display options
2) Ultrasport F-Bike Home Trainer with Hand Pulse Sensors (£125.27)
Product Specifications
Collapsible home trainer fitness bike with 8 resistance levels.
Training computer with LCD display. Functions include: time/scan/calories/speed/distance & pulse.
Max user weight of 100 kg.
Easy and quick to set up and take down.
Click image for availability
Another cracking product with stellar customer feedback. With over 5,000 reviews the Ultrasport F-Bike, which is a step-up from the F-Rider, retains a healthy 4.5 star rating.
For an additional £15 (£125.27) you get a back support, funky colour options and – AND! – anti-slip peddles – for when you really start making that fat cry!
Other additional features of note include the ergonomic 'curved' design which, according to the manufacturers, makes it even more space saving.
What customers are saying
Favourable
Great value, does the job
Great fitness device
Does the job
Unfavourable
Display could be clearer
Seat uncomfortable
You get what you pay for
3: Exerpeutic Unisex's Exerpeutic 400XL Folding Recumbent Bike (£228.00)
Product Specifications
Foldable recumbent exercise bike with quiet V-belt double-drive transmission system.
Precision-balanced flywheel.
8-level adjustable magnetic tension control system
LCD display tracks your distance, calories, time, speed, and heart rate.
Semi-recumbent design for easy entry and exit.
Click image for availability
The Exerpeutic recumbent indoor bike allows you to exercise whilst in semi-supine position – perfect for keeping the blood flowing as you clear your inbox of junk, spam and brain farts (aka emails from management).
You could even enjoy a TV dinner and burn the calories whilst you consume them! Now there’s a marketing strategy.
By all accounts this is a very well made piece of exercise kit and with over 3,000 reviews is a mere two spikes off 5 stars.
As well as durability Exerpeutic's bike boasts a number of other additional functions; such as an LCD display which monitors speed, distance, calories expended, training duration and heart rate.
What customers are saying
Favourable
Very sturdy
Highly recommended
Value for money
Unfavourable
Pretty noisy
Self-assembly can be a pain
Built in computer could be better
4) ION fitness AXEL Foldable home exercise bike (£229.00)
Product Specifications
The foldable functions makes this a space-sensitive exercise bike.
Adjustable saddle with back chair.
Inertial fly wheel equivalent to 8 kg with magnetic break for smooth, fluid and noiseless pedalling.
Track and control your cardio trainings on the electronic LCD monitor with large digits
Advance your training by choosing between 8 different resistance levels.
Click image for availability
Though all the other bikes reviewed thus far have substantially more customer feedback than ION’s libation, of the 109 reviews not one is negative. That’s got to count for something?
Ok, yeah, the thing looks like it popped out of Isaak Asimov’s imagination and should be programmed with the three laws of robotics. And you certainly wouldn’t want your mates catching you on it, not if you care a damn about your street cred. But if it's a basic piece of fitness kit you want to keep you ticker ticking over it’ll do perfectly fine.
For the price of a meal out for four you could have yourself a rock solid stationary pedal cycle that comes replete with all the mod cons. The LCD monitor displays the all-important performance outputs: speed, distance, training time and calories consumed.
What customers are saying
Favourable
Not heavy
I love this bike!
Very happy with my purchase
Unfavourable
No negative reviews
5: Exerpeutic Folding Magnetic Upright Bike (£289.00)
Product Specifications
Folds for storage and can moved with the included transportation wheels.
Track and control your cardio trainings on the electronic LCD monitor with large digits
Advance your training by choosing between 8 different resistance levels.
Click image for availability
Here we have the alpha of the bunch. The Exepeutic indoor trainer boasts very nearly 5 stars even after 8,000 reviews – putting it in the Amazon best seller list; which for products is the equivalent of being awarded an Olympic gold medal.
In addition, this immensely popular piece of exercise equipment has been awarded the illustrious and highly coveted award of being the Men’s Health Editor’s Choice. Get me one!
So what makes it so popular then?
By all accounts this is a surprisingly durable exercise bike. Surprising for the fact that it costs less than £300, which, by today's standards, is as cheap as chips (the Watt Bike Atom, by contrast, costs £1500 - and for that you don't even get a display monitor; that'll set you back a further £500!)
As well as durability Exepeutic's indoor trainer comes with an LCD monitor which displays those importance performance outputs.
What customers are saying
Favourable
Brilliant exercise bike
Very sturdy
A quality piece of kit that does the job
Unfavourable
Seat is uncomfortable
Resistance could be harder
Conclusion
I’m not going to lie, if someone else was footing the bill, of the bikes reviewed above I’d chose the Watt Bike Atom in a heartbeat, what with its NASA grade technology and ‘intelligent’ on-board computer.
But if you're not yet ready to part with a month's wage on an indoor trainer, or you’re not preparing for a place in a professional grand tour team, and your physical aspirations are a tad more modest, then one of the five bikes reviewed will provide you with a faithful fitness companion.
(As we are very interested in user feedback here at Hungry4Fitness, we would be very grateful if you could take a few seconds out of your day to leave a comment. Thanks in advance!)
Blog Author
Adam Priest is a former Royal Marines Commando, professional personal trainer, lecturer, boxing and Thai boxing enthusiast