Best exercise bike sub £500 for general fitness?

I like full body bikes. I found a Schwinn AD6 for around 475 on a UK site. I like the AD Pro or the Echo Rogue Bike better, but to be under 500, that's a good option for you.

I don't know of a machine that has a "smart" workout. I think you're referring to something like on those newer Nordic Track machines that track your progress. Not at that price point you won't find anything. Even at the higher pricepoints, there's nothing that I know of like that. Watt training should be something where you know what you can produce and it gives you a metrics. I use the AD Pro (Schwinn AD7) and it has Watts, Calories per minute, RPM and MPH. You can set up interval workouts. You can use your past workouts to know if you're progressing or not. I simply take a snap and know what my average Watt was and then I have a benchmark for the next time. Most bikes are going to be like that.

Mr_Boy wrote: »

Reading a bit more it seems like the bikes with "23 built in workouts", these include workouts based on BPM and they can be tweaked for overall intensity. That's all I was really meaning - otherwise a workout I do on day 1 will be ridiculously easy 6 months later. It sounds from what you're saying too this is quite standard otherwise it wouldn't be much use!

The 'smart' stuff is more like the more advanced ones where you can cycle a real route. Which I think is more like iFit or peloton or other things... subscription based and higher end.

I've not come across the term "full body" bike, only indoor/upright/spin/studio. What is it?
Thanks for your comment.

edit: oh, full-body as in it has the levers for your arms too!

Yeah, I like the full body ones, but certainly it depends on what you want. I like the ones that don't have a motor. They last so much longer. Plus, the AD Pro, Echo Rogue Bike and Assault Bike are built to last for years. I do like the AD6, but it's not built for heavy gym/commercial use like the AD7 is.

There is a Peloton competitor now that's MUCH cheaper. Echelon Smart Connect is one. It's much closer to your pricepoint in US dollars at least ($899 USD). I checked the price. They are 999 plus 39 for the subscription. Still out of your range, but similar to the Peloton.

I'd look for a used Air Bike and see if you can find one that has Watts and try that perhaps.

The more popular this gets, it's going to push the price point down on Peloton and others.

https://echelonfit.uk/products/echelon-connect-indoor-cycling-fitness-bike-ex3

aokoye wrote: »

If you already have an actual bike (as in one you ride around), you could easily get a smarter trainer for £500 or less and just put your bike on that. Even if you didn't, you could probably get a used bike for a low price and get a trainer to put it on. Then you could use Zwift, TrainerRoad, make your own watt based workouts, etc.

Smart bikes that are like Peloton include the Wattbike Atom and the Tacx Neo Bike, though those are both way out of your (and my) price range.

I love that idea. I looked on Amazon UK and you can get a "Smart" trainor (one that hooks up to Zwift automatically without having to buy add ons) for around 350 pounds or less. Great idea Aokoye!

MikePfirrman wrote: »

aokoye wrote: »

If you already have an actual bike (as in one you ride around), you could easily get a smarter trainer for £500 or less and just put your bike on that. Even if you didn't, you could probably get a used bike for a low price and get a trainer to put it on. Then you could use Zwift, TrainerRoad, make your own watt based workouts, etc.

Smart bikes that are like Peloton include the Wattbike Atom and the Tacx Neo Bike, though those are both way out of your (and my) price range.

I love that idea. I looked on Amazon UK and you can get a "Smart" trainor (one that hooks up to Zwift automatically without having to buy add ons) for around 350 pounds or less. Great idea Aokoye!

No worries I mean Zwift and TrainerRoad do have subscription costs, but both platforms make a world of different for me with regards to tolerating indoor cycling. They also both have good training plan options (TrainerRoad especially) as well individual workouts.

How accurate the watts are is dependent on the individual trainer and user error/inaction (ie not doing a spindown on a wheel on trainer). That's part of why I use powermatching with TR - the software gets the power from my pedals (which have a much more accurate power meter +/- 1.5%) and then tries to get the trainer to match that power output. It used to be kind of meh but I've been really happy with it over the past week. That said, even when I'm riding on Zwift without that enabled, using a smart trainer makes things more interesting because you get a simulated change in gradient. Note, I don't currently subscribe to Zwift. I did for a long time, but I couldn't justify subscribing to both them and TR and I like TR more.

edit: TR also has a great podcast called Ask a Cycling Coach https://www.trainerroad.com/podcast - it's also streamed live on Youtube and Facebook.