Help me buy a new exercise bike

In My Humble Opinion
1

My current exercise bike is reaching end of life. It’s about 10 years old, has been used an average of 5 days a week over those 10 years, and the magnetic resistance is starting to sound like metal on metal (not to mention that rust is starting to be evident).

I have a LifeCore 850RBS recumbent bike. I think I spent about $900 for the bike new and assembled. I’d buy again, but as far as I can tell they don’t make anything like this model anymore and the company is all but out of business.

So, I’m looking to replace the bike. In the past, I’d visit a bunch of local fitness shops, sit on some bikes, check prices, and buy what I liked best. That still isn’t possible where I am, so I’m looking online. That’s where I hit a dilemma. I see bikes from $1,000-2,000 and higher as well as bikes at $500 and less. I don’t have any fancy needs, so if I can replace what I like about my current bike with something at a lower price point, I’d be very happy.

I know I don’t need a $2K bike with a $500 a year subscription in order to exercise. What I want/like is:

Recumbent- I’ve had upright and recumbent exercise bikes. I much prefer recumbent
Compact- my current bike is only a little more than 4 feet long and 2 feet wide. Fits in my bedroom very nicely.
Quiet- the magnetic drive was the first bike I had that didn’t require I turn up the sound while watching TV and exercising. I really like this.
Programmable- The 850RB has some simple programmability which allows me to start at lower resistance, ramp up, and then cool down at a lower resistance. I don’t really use any of the preset routines, but it also has that (see the links).

Some other things that I like (and somewhat justify the original price) are simply the result of good engineering design such as a wide comfortable padded seat, built in heart rate monitor grips, self-powering (battery recharged by the exercise so no electrical connections to the bike), and transportability (only a little more than 100 lbs and it has some simple wheels for moving it around while cleaning).

So, any suggestions, especially bargains?

2

Chances are that all you need to do to your existing machine is to get the bearings replaced - they will be standard sizes and its likely an auto mechanic or maybe a bike shop could do the work.

I tend to look much more towards cycle related trainers, but you’d need a bicycle to start off - you could get yourself a second hand machine pretty cheaply.

In terms of cycling related trainers, the two main types are with wheel on and with direct drive. Wheel on means your back wheel drives the resistance roller - you need to fit a specific tyre for this purpose due to the heat build up and subsequent tyre delamination. Direct drive means you remove the back wheel and attach the bike to the drive sprockets, it then operates in the same way for gear changes, but it is far more acurrate and a heck of a lot quieter.

Your issue is that you would also need to have them linked to a cycle computor such as a Garmin or a Wahoo - but the fun thing is that you can also link online and go on virtual bike rides with similar minded folk - there is a whole different world out there - you’d also need a pc or laptop but I guess you already have this since you already posted this message.

I would not buy one made by TACX because they were bought out by Garmin, I would maybe not bother with their more expensive ones due to this - and Garmin don’t seem to understand the requirements to support mechanical maintenance and repair.

This would leave WAHOO, Elite, and Saris as your main contenders - best go on EBAY and get yourself a second hand model - a budget of around $700-800 would do the job nicely but you can easily look at lower end versions - the wheel on trainers tend to be cheaper.

If you can go to using one of those where you supply the bike, then I would look at
WAHOO KIKR Core - make not to get the first generation as they are know to be noisy
Elite Products Muin Smart
TACX Flux (even though I did sort of decry them - but these are ok)
Elite Zumo Turbo Trainer

For a Wheel on trainer then

Wahoo KICKR SNAP
Kurt Kinetic Road
Elite Novo Smart Turbo Trainer

Don’t forget that Smart trainers are often pretty heavy - shipping costs will add to the price.

This gives you an idea of cycle based trainers rather than all in one units. They can take some setting up becuase you need to get your cycle computor to link in to the bluetooth on the trainer itself, and understaning how to get your cycle computor can be a challenge if you are IT challenged - but once you have it running you’ll discover lots more options.

3

I broke my pelvis in a climbing accident a few years ago, and a recumbent was all I could use for a while. I got a Nautilus for around $600. It was pretty much identical to the current R616 or R618 models.

I can’t speak to all the fancy app connectivity, I never used that, but I used it almost every day for about 6 months, including quite high intensity 1 hour workouts as I recovered from my injuries. I can tell you it was a well made robust machine, fairly quiet, comfortable, reliable. It’s longer than 4ft, but easy enough for one person to wheel around on a flat surface using the handle at one end.

4

If you are open to other ideas, consider a concept 2 rowing machine. Gets the core ’ legs back and arms as well as a great cardio workout.
Mine stores vertically in the office and I have a tv on the wall and some bluetooth headphones so either ground away yo music of work through some shows, 45 mins for 10km is a good workout. I use mine to keep in shape for skiing and mountain biking.
They are about 900USD.

5

Really? Just because of the change in ownership?

I have a Tacx Neo 2, and my girlfriend has the original Neo, no issues at all with the product.

You don’t need a PC or laptop, just a tablet or phone is enough to run something like Zwift.

Other options are something like the Wahoo Kickr trainer bike or the Tacx Neo Bike, but boy are they expensive.

6

Yup, Garmin simply isn’t up to speed on providing tooling for the maintenance of their newly acquired TACX trainers.

Problem is that Garmin is an electronics/software outfit and just do not have the culture of end user or dealer maintenance - there are quite a few comments on Youtube from former TACX agents that detail the specifics.

In time I’m sure they will get on top of it but for the moment they lack experience in this type of product and don’t understand the need to have a dealer network, and actually pretty much shut down the TACX own tools and support side of things.

7

You appear to be looking for very specific features, which is fine. For others, one of the “Pogue’s Basics” books mentions never buying exercise equipment new. There’s enough people who buy things like this, use them for a while if at all, and then sell them online.

8

Yeah, this is my fourth exercise bike in 35 years and I’ve been using them until they basically fall apart. So I expect to get about ten years of steady use, which means I’m investing less than $100 per year in my exercise, even buying new.

The downside is there is really no used market for rusted equipment with worn out parts…

But it does mean that I really do know what works for me and what doesn’t.

@casdave : I’ll look into the bearings. I’ve got the manual with assembly instructions, but it doesn’t give me a clue as to how to even get to the bearings. I’m not going to roll my own (pun intended), though.

@Riemann : The Nautilus sounds intriguing- I’ll check them out.

@Precambrianmollusc : Over the years, I’ve looked at rowing machines. The compact ones are not very sturdy and the larger models are jus too big for my bedroom. Besides, I know I get the most out of the machine if I can just roll out of bed in the morning, climb on the machine and start exercising.

@Richard_Pearse : Do they make the TACX in a recumbent? I’ve had upright and recumbents and vastly prefer the recumbent.