Cheap exercise bikes are two a penny - well not
quite. But are they good value? Will they get you fit? Or is it false
economy to spend well under £100 for an exercise bike.
A budget
bike can be a complete waste of money or an absolute bargain buy. If
the bike you buy doesn't do what you want it to do then you will waste
your hard-earned cash no matter how little you spent.
The reasons why you're buying a bike are most likely to be:
- To get fit
- To lose weight
- To tone your lower body
- To recover from an illness or injury
With a bit
of careful research you can get a really good bike that will meet your
requirements at a very good price. However, there are some very shoddy
bikes out there which will not last five minutes. Likewise, if you get
bored of a very basic cheap bike within two weeks your not going to
achieve your goal.
There are hundreds of cheap exercise bikes on
the internet. If you've spent £75 on a bike you no longer use you'll
not get much selling it on eBay because you'll be up against too much
competition. You now have a piece of kit taking up space in your house
that will probably make you feel guilty every time you walk passed.
Obviously
a cheap exercise bike to one person may be expensive to another. When
prefer the term 'budget' and use it for bikes under £200. It is
possible to get a brand new bike for less than £75 - but we think
they're not worth even that as you'll probably stop using it very soon.
They look cheap, they feel cheap and usually fall apart quite quickly.
So
before you think it may be too good to be true check out the features,
reviews and what sort of warranty is available before you waste your
money.
Roy Palmer is a teacher of The Alexander Technique and has studied
performance enhancement in sport for the last 10 years. In 2006 he
published a book called 'Zone Mind, Zone Body' about how to achieve a
peak performance more often. He's also a bit of an 'anorak' when it
comes to exercise bikes and gadgets. To find out more about getting a
bargain see his reviews of cheap exercise bikes here.
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