20 Best Bikes For Losing Weight (2023 Updated)

I am a 200 lb man doing nothing crazy with the bike, just a normal ride, and the cheap, non-steel pedal bolt snapped mid ride, causing my shin to slam into the crank arm. Could have seriously injured myself.

Not only will they not cover it under the warranty (apparently the pedal is not part of the bike, but a part and accessory) but I cannot even purchase a replacement because it is backordered. They will not take one from a complete bike and make my defective bike whole.

Absolutely terrible customer service. I would upload a picture of the defective pedal but it isn’t letting me.

I bought this bike because someone on Twitter recommended it as a super sturdy, super affordable alternative to a Peloton. It has not disappointed. This is a bare bones bike- no lcd screen, no device mount.

What it does have is that 49-pound flywheel, which gives a better “road feel” or whatever, and it has a water bottle cage, which is useful. The bike itself looks sleek, it is compact (only a 4’x 2’ footprint), and with no clunky accessories it looks minimalistic and uncluttered.

To make the bike function as a Peloton alternative I just added a phone mount and a Bluetooth cadence sensor, and it works really well. The bike offers a smooth ride, it’s quiet, it’s highly adjustable, and it doesn’t take up much space in my house.

My two minor complaints are that I can’t ever get the seat tightened enough (maybe -probably- my fault), and, I’m unable to find a hand weight rack accessory to buy for this bike; it’s the last mod I want to make and so far only Etsy sellers seem to have any (and even those are sold out).

So, Sunny, can I get a hand weight rack for this thing? That’d be great. Otherwise, I love the bike and use it almost every day.

I bought this for the upper body arm bike to continue physical therapy at home. The lower foot bike was a bonus. But I notice the tension sticks in both areas. The lower foot bike can loosen the tension enough for better motion, even though it still feels a bit sticky instead of flowing with smooth motion.

The upper arm bike isn’t loosening enough to make the stickiness of the motion negligible. I am hoping over time and use that will help. I am reviewing it first day out of the box and put together. I did notice the foot crank and hand crank attachments were both pre-greased and sticky to touch when we put it together.

If I am having the same issue after a few days I will try some WD-40 to see if that makes a difference.

I am a 68 year old woman who, before Covid-19, was very active. I bought an affordable elliptical that drains me after three minutes. In doing my research for spin bikes, I happened upon the Stamina Recumbent Exercise Bike.

This bike checked all the boxes. Affordable, sturdy, excellent instructions, easy to assemble, quiet, comfortable, and with the Back and Arm rests, it’s a pleasure to ride. I even ordered a Stamina folding mat to complete the set.

I can enjoy watching TV while burning calories. Thank you Sharper Image!.

This machine is very well built. Quiet and comfortable to exercise on. Would recommend to anyone who wants comfort while working out. Love that I can up the tension for when I want to burn more calories and dial it back when I just want to take it slow and easy.

Love the ease of adjusting the seat, I need it set a certain distance as I am short, and my husband sets it further back for his comfort in pedaling. Highly recommend.

Love our new bike! Assembly was not difficult after watching the video on you tube a couple of times. Pedaling is super smooth and quiet as advertised and it is quick and easy to start working out without fidgety electronics to work through.

I like the knob to change the tension, it works really well.

Assembly was straight forward right out of the box. The instructions were clear and all the parts fitted together without any issues. _x000D_ _x000D_ My wife and I needed an exercise bike for our workouts that was quiet and would not take up much space.

Also, we were looking for a simple control panel with basic functions. This bike filled that bill!_x000D_ _x000D_ We are enjoying our bike with it’s smooth and quiet pedaling action. It is a great component to our in-home exercise routine.

Due to gyms being closed, and being stuck at home taking online and working remotely, I decided to purchase this bike for myself. After numerous hours of research, checking prices, reading reviews to even watching videos on YouTube of fitness bikes, I particularly came across this bike and I was instantly sold.

The reviews it had the majority of them are positive, and the price is not bad at all. I decided to order the bike, and give it a try. It got here earlier than expected, when I received it, the box was in good shape, when I opened it my firsts thoughts were “this is going to be hard to assemble”, but as soon as I got all the pieces out and read the instructions, it did not seem tedious at all.

Personally the instructions were not as hard to read, and I had read some reviews saying that the instructions were complex. My recommendation is to read them slowly and loud, another thing I do recommend when assembling is that some screws are already screwed into some parts of the bike, so don’t waste too much time searching for a corporate’s number to complain about the package not having the screws, because they are there!! The item came with a wrench and a hand screw (I am not sure if these are the correct names for them), and some screws and washers, as a woman who does not know the exact names of each tool, it was not too complicated to assemble.

Once it was assembled, I did a test on it to check that everything is in place, the bike runs very smooth and it is quiet to the point that when I was using it in our garage, my mother thought no one was there and turned off the light on me.

I am 5 feet and 3 inches, and weigh 175lbs, the bike is sturdy, though I guess due to my height it is pretty weird to get on the bike, I have the height set on the lowest hole, so the seat is at its lowest.

Overall, my whole experience has been great, I have not encountered myself with any issues with the bike. I am hopefully looking to lose some weight and get in shape!.

While this bike is definitely a good idea for those who can use either a regular bike or stationary bike, this recumbent bike’s seat causes both my wife and my legs to start going to sleep about 45 minutes after starting.

The seat, which is described as a cushioned seat if to hard and curved up in the front, thus cutting the circulation off. We have two different body types and there is no adjustment to the angles of the seat except for forward and backwards.

I’d recommend this bike if weren’t for this issue.

I absolutely love this recumbent bike. I wanted a real recumbent, not a semi, and this is it. I also wanted the bike to have a desktop to accommodate my very large laptop, 17 inches, plus 2 more inches on the back, and it all fits nicely with room to spare on my bike desktop attachment.

I have slid it into my L shaped desk inplace of the chair, and can use my laptop along with viewing my other 2 monitors for my workspace. It all works extremely well. and I can now exercise and work all day.

I can stand up, raise the bike desktop and keep working comfortably while taking a bike break. This is an awesome exercise bike. Runs smoothly, is quiet as can be, and appears to be made very well.

I received this as a 2018 Christmas present, and I just went through 5,000 miles. I just have it on level 6 and slowly move along while I work a Sudoku, read the paper, watch some westerns on the western channel, play on my computer, or some combination.

It’s still whisper quiet and everything functions well. The only things that I think could be improved on are providing some space for a mouse and back lighting the digital readout. I glued a plate on the right edge for a mouse and use a flashlight to read the digits.

I’m 81, but I still hope to use it for several years. Hang in there, Matt.

The engineering of the sliding chair is awful. First, the regulating stem was stuck and only released after applying careful strong pressure that caused it to finally release. It still it has poor movement.

Secondly, the backrest bracket is only held onto the slip tube by four small screws. While biking, the plate rocks causing the seat to be be very unstable, no matter how tight the M8/16L screws are tightened.

The seat is much too hard to allow for rides of more than 10 minutes. For a bike advertised for rider weights of up to 300lbs, your math is way off. I only weigh 250 lbs and it is a horrible riding experience.

Also the cardio handle is pointless. It only reads 72 and seems stuck on it. The pedal straps are way to short and I had to remove them and ride the bike without them. Finally, the pedal cranks are always a hazard of hitting your shoe while riding due to the gap not being wide enough.

I emailed you three times about these problems and no replies. Your return policy is impossible. Shipping from here in VA back to California is cost prohibitive. It is really a shame that I got stuck with this product, the Evo-Fit cardio recumbent bike model SF-RB4954 should be restricted to weights of no more than 200lbs.

I should have purchased through Amazon Prime. But your lure of save close to $200 to go direct was a great error in my judgement or you would had this bike returned. I will make sure my social media footprint about the garbage your sold me is posted where ever I can.

Plus I am writing a formal complaint to FaceBook where your ad had me decide to order, and goolge. All they have to do is read your return policy to figure out you are simply crooks. You might be a business in California but you are selling bikes coming directly China, without buyer recourse to return.

Shame on you.

I bought this bike with the assumption that “24 levels” of resistance would be sufficient. I am very out of shape, and not what anybody would consider an athlete. I got this bike because I have difficulty walking long distances, in fact.

Despite this, I find the resistance levels are not at all sufficient. There is very little difference between the levels, or indeed between the lowest and highest levels. Don’t be fooled by the 30 day “guarantee” – I blame myself for not reading it more carefully.

It is no guarantee at all – I received the bike, assembled it, and it does not function as I expected. This does not fall under the guarantee, which is really just the unopened item return policy. It’s not a “try it in your home” guarantee.

A cationary tale – be very careful buying exercise equipment you can’t test first. I fell for the trap.

As a retired nuclear mechanic/engineer I highly approve your Recumbent Bike. Firstly, the Quality is A1 along with excellent step by step assembly instructions. I especially like the exploded views as do All mechanics.

My wife just had a total knee done and has already shown remarkable progress after just two weeks. She loves the bike which is heavy enough so that it will not move during use. All the heavy duty parts fit together perfectly.

Your company has built an excellent product.

Although the packaging box was a bit smashed, the bike parts were intact. Easily assembled myself by following the instructions. This is a basic recumbent bike which does not require it to be plugged in to an AC outlet.

Since this was my first recumbent bike, I was looking for just a basic, quiet model which didn’t break the bank. This fit the criteria perfectly.

This Recumbent bike took me and my wife about a hour and 15 minutes to assemble. It came with a little damage to the plastic covering and a tear in the foam covering the handle bars though the box wasn’t damaged so it must have happened at the factory.

No big deal. Because I’m a very large person this recumbent didn’t work out for me. It was given to me for free to try out so i was hoping I could get some use out of it. The #1 problem is the seat cushion as it feels like your sitting on a board.

Even someone under 200 lbs. will be uncomfortable. There is no seat height adjustment however there is a quick release knob to adjust leg length. It was impossible for me to reach it while sitting. To adjust your leg length you pull on the knob and push back or slide down.

If your short legged like me, It bends your knees at a very uncomfortable angle in able to reach the pedals for full cycle motion with your feet. Another problem is the bars you hold on to on the right and left sides are too close to you if you’re large and they need to be farther apart.

Also the seat is very wobbly due to the way the seat support fastens or “floats” inside the rear main frame. Pros- I like the monitor that shows the Speed,Time, Calories,Odometer & Distance. This model might be okay as a low priced entry level recumbent for people under 160 lbs.

We received the SF B 1851 bike with the monitor not working. We reached out to support, and they were going to ship a new monitor out. Follow the monitor not working, comes the flywheel is making noise.

We have communicated with support, and we have watched videos support sent for us to diagnose the issues. It is indeed the loud noise coming from flywheel. First support was going to send replacement but then we received an email stating its best to return and get another one.

Support also advises us to get it from Amazon. It does not matter where we get the product. Whether we get it directly from Sunny Health or 3rd party, the issue is that the product is already damaged before or during shipment.

And if we return the product and buy another one, it is more expensive so why do we have to go through if Sunny Health does not want to deal with it? This is our service request (126848). We request that this support need to be taken care correctly.

We are still within 30 days Sunny Health guarantee so please honor what is indicated on the company policy. Since the entire bike is not working (monitor and loud constant noise coming from flywheel) we request new bike.

If replacement is the only route, then we need to make sure that the parts replacement works once we switch out.

Check BBB before buying a Sunny produce! My bike was easy enough for my son to put together for me with help from info. sent with it plus the online video. I was very happy with the bike until it started making a grinding noise the second week.

As the first month of use went by, the noise got worse and bike started leaving a black powder substance on floor under left foot pedal. Customer service was quick to respond at first, but now they won’t answer my calls (I think they’ve blocked my number).

They emailed me day 1 requesting video of problem and serial #. I made the video that day but struggled to shorten it enough to send. I finally sent it and serial # the next day but cannot get a response as to whether they received it and are working on my case.

Even though their website ratings are 4. 5 stars, BBB ratings have them at 1. 5 because of similar issues to mine. Sad to say I may have to file a complaint with BBB. That seems to get their attention.

It took over five frustrating hours for two people to put this bike together. The written instructions were extremely confusing. Without the help from YouTube we would still be struggling to finish the job.

One of the brackets under the seat was severely bent and no amount of torc would straighten it out. Consequently one of the screws does will not fit in order to further secure the bike seat. I do not feel that I should be inconvenienced further by having someone help me once again to remove the seat, take a photo and provide further information for my complaint to be resolved.

All I asked for was to be issued a $50 credit to my Visa card to compensate for the damaged part. On the plus side the bike seat is very comfortable.

I am a physical therapist and after watching the video and reading the reviews I purchased the stationary cross trainer for my home. It was actually fairly easy to assemble but that’s the last good thing about it.

It was very flimsy and not a smooth ride. The arm pedals are very hard to start and not smooth. After using for 2 hours the bike developed a annoying noise as if it needed wd40 or some kind of lubricant.

I will have to try to take apart the pedal area and see if I can stop the noise. Very frustrating for a new machine. Do not buy this!.

Getting over Chemo therapy I needed something I could depend on to get exercise with. My muscles had been so weakened from the last several treatments and my balance had been effected that I could no longer go for long walks.

This bike is doing the trick. resistance can be set as I work up my strength. Seat is comfortable and bike is made well. I would recommend it to anyone.

This is a great bike. It is easy to ride, adjust for height and assemble. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an upright and stationary bike. We have had no difficulty with instability. My husband weighs just over 200lbs.

The tension on our new bike is ridiculous. When we pedal on tension level one it is like peddling our older bike on tension level 6 or 7. In a little over 20 min, I was perspiring and breathing heavier and that was on tension level 2.

After receiving a positive diagnosis on Cancer treatment, I was looking for an exercise bike it would both strengthen me and hold up over time. This bike seems to be a good choice. Heavy frame, easy to assemble, and easy to work.

I would recommend this exercise bike to anyone.

Fantastic! It is absolutely perfect for what I wanted – quiet, so comfortable, effective, good quality and it was priced well. Had a little trouble connecting the sensor wires but overall, it wasn’t too bad.

Most important, it works beautifully and I could not be happier! Thank you for a great product which is a pleasure to use. PS: I’m a 76 yr old widow so must wait for my son to help haul it upstairs. Of course, I should have assembled it up there.

Love it : ).

Assembly was relatively easy as long as you follow the instructions carefully. This bike does what it supposed to however not very comfortably. There is hardly any cushion in the seat and backrest. I understand this is not supposed to be a luxury recliner however it’s really hard to exercise when after five minutes of peddling your butt hurts.

That’s saying a lot for someone like me who has a lot of extra padding to peddle off. Also the handlebars beside the seat that have the heart rate sensors is set to low, I have to actually stop peddling and Scooch down the seat just to reach for full contact.

(I am 5’2) this may not be a problem for taller People.

I know I’m going to love this bike and benefit greatly from it. I just have one question. It’s making a noise when I’m peddling and I’m not sure it should be doing that. We just got it put together a couple of days ago and I started using it yesterday.

I called earlier today and left a message. If someone could please call me back I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much. Lynn Hainline, Norwalk OH 419-541-0361.

The only easy aspect of this company or it’s products was the purchase. Besides that just horrid. The bike came and we put it together. It did not work. Called them and had us do trouble shooting which also consisted of us having to take it all apart including the cover.

The cover would not come off unless we broke it off. Could not fix it. Called the company for a return. They told me I WAS NEGLEGENT because I couldn’t remove the cover!!!!! They would not cover the cost of the return.

How am I at fault when I bought a brand new product that is supposed to work. I did not buy a used machine. Then they have the gall to try and make me feel inadequate because i was unable to repair it.

I SHOULD NOT have to repair a bike I bought NEW!!!! AVOID this company and it’s products at all costs! Horrible.

Great ( so far ) recumbent bike, for the money. Purchased this to help during double knee replacement & hip surgery. Easy to assemble. ( just pay close attention when hooking up tension cable ; you can actually pull the connecting loop ‘up’ from the neck to make that connection easier.

) All in all, quiet , inexpensive and small footprint. ( * note * wife is 5’2″ ; with seat all the way forward, she reaches pedals easily. ) ( Only complaint, so far, is the seat adjustment knob. It can be difficult for arthritic hands.

If you’re using bike for yourself only. no problem. Set it, and forget it. ).

I love this bike it’s awesome but the ribbed belt for the pedals has slipped a little and torn for the second time and I haven’t even had it for a year yet. I got this bike as a birthday gift back in June 2021 and I kid you not two months later the ribbed belt broke.

I don’t know why or what I did for it to break the first time but I contacted the support team and was able to get a replacement part that my dad replaced for the old part. Although now that it broke again I’m not sure how or if I can replace the part since he’s no longer around to help and I don’t know how to take apart the bike to replace the belt.

I also didn’t buy this bike from sunny health and fitness it was purchased online from Walmart but I don’t think that would have any affect on how the bike works.

This is a very recent purchase. We got it put together ourselves fairly easy, follow step by step and use the pictures too. It took about 1 hour to put together. It arrived a day after it was originally supposed to arrive.

Not too happy, but however. Situations arose to where I wasn’t able to use til a couple days after. I have terrible knees, osteoarthritis in my right knee cap (meaning it’s fused), bad back, epileptic, and have previously had dvt in my left leg (blood clot), my left knee is not so great either, oh and I am 401 lbs.

Last year I attempted a popular diet which allowed me to lose 50 lbs, but made me constantly sick. I can’t go for walks as much as I want to as it hurts a lot. So I wanted something low impact that even if I’m watching tv, etc I can get some exercise in.

I’ve so far used it twice out of 4 days, but today is not over and will use it a little later. It’s easy, comfortable mostly, my whole family is enjoying the use of it, etc. Only real complaints I guess is I would like the pulse taking handle bars a little wider out so I can get my full hands on (I have hips right now at least), and it would be nice if where the top part of the seat that connects to the bottom part had some padding.

When you’re exercising for a while that metal area starts hurting my tailbone a bit. I have use a very small pillow to help, but yeah those are really my only “complaints “ per sé. The hubby’s only complaint is he doesn’t like how the wires under the seat are a little loose and hang.

He’s worried they could get caught moving it around, our dogs causing damage to them, and the look of them as they hang. I don’t really mind. So even though right now my stars are really at 4 I feel it’ll go up to 5 soon.

I love it, it’s easy to move around between any room we want, I enjoy that even though I am a very big woman still I can do this. Yes, I do have a little pain, or discomfort, but a lot of that is the fact that I’m going from a no exercise person to one who is.

Muscles are going to be a little sore until I get a little more used to it. I think this is a great product for anyone to try and especially the much larger people who just want to exercise for whatever their reasons are.

Yes, losing weight is ideal, but I want to build up my ability to move around more than I can at the moment. If I am sitting, there’s no excuse now to not exercise while “sitting around”. So, so far a very worthwhile machine and happy to have it.

Also honestly pretty affordable when you think of it in terms of getting exercise to save your life, or not and take chances. I’d rather take charge and I have. Also it really doesn’t take up too much space.

This bike is absolutely worth the price. 1. This bike does take two people to put together, but the manufacturer has all the screws and bolts needed in its own little compartment on a big plastic sheet.

Follow the directions and it should be fine. Now, it did take me and my husband about 3 hours to put it together, but neither of us are really handy people. It is delivered in a big box and it is heavy.

I was able to walk it into the house and down my hallway by myself, but if it needs carried upstairs or managed more than in a door and down a hallway it will need two people to carry. 2. If you are like me, I want to know if a “plus size” person can use it without needing an emergency room visit! 🙂 Well, I am here to tell you that I was able to sit on it and ride without a problem.

Truth time. My birthday was yesterday and I just turned 49. I have bad knees, am 5′ 5″ and I weigh around 350 lbs. Hence the reason I needed a bike to hold more than 250 to 300 pounds. That did not break the bank!! Now my husband could use any exercise bike as long as it had seat/leg capacity for 6’3″ – 210 lbs.

He had no problem riding even set to my height. 3. Once I was able to pull my leg over the bike in a straddle position and sat down I rode a mile as a practice run. After the exercise it is easier to pull your leg back over the top of the bike to get off.

There are no handles except on the side of the seat if you need something to steady you. I may pull one of my kitchen chairs into the room with the bike so I can have a hold of something to steady me getting on and off for my first couple times.

While biking I found that having the side seat handles are really the only thing you need if you need to hold onto anything. 4. This review is being written on the same day it was put together.

Super quick and easy assembly – instructions are well written and hardware comes separated and labeled by step. Bike is sturdy and stable, yet easily transported. Magnetic drive is smooth and shifts tensions easily, pedal action is also smooth.

The only two things making this a 4-star and not a 5-star rating are the lack of a backlight on the display (its hard to see the mode in lower light conditions) and that it doesnt fold into as compact a shape for storage/transport as I was anticipating.

Ifi could give it 4. 75 stars I would! Neither of those issues are dealbreakers though – its still a really solid piece of exercise equipment and definitely worth the price!.

Bought it about a week ago. Arrived on schedule. A+. Assembly – About two hours without a second person. No major problem. A-. Sturdyness – A. Look – A+ Now some cons – Three major issues: 1. Computer sucks and I mean really sucks.

You have to reset it manually every time you get on it. But that’s not all, even when you reset it. It retains some memories from the last time you worked on it. Reset is not what it’s supposed to be.

2. When you reset, it briefly flashes all the icons like speed, time, etc. along with a heart icon. This heart icon never shows up at any other time but only when you are doing a complete reset. The heart symbol appears for a second and then disappears.

What does it do? How does it work? On the back of the computer, there are two holes that read ‘Pulse’ and ‘Sensor’. Why is it there? What does it do? How does it work? Which brings me to point 3. Manual barely talks about the computer.

It just identifies different settings but doesn’t give any detail about it. To make matter worse, this is the only manual available. I have searched the internet but haven’t found any answer to the above questions.

Finally, point #4 – Adjusting the length of the seat is nearly impossible. You cannot make the adjustment without two people. It’s a complete pain in the you know what. Sorry, I wish I could return it but don’t know how to.

I have already thrown the original box and don’t know if I can take it back to the store in its assembled form.

Decent recumbent exercise bike. Lowest price for a recumbent exercise bike I could find. Well packaged and arrived in excellent condition. It took me several hours to unpack and assemble. I gave it four stars as I have to agree with other reviewers: the assembly instructions are vague, hooking up the resistance cable is nearly impossible, the pedal straps are worthless, adjusting it for different height users is awkward and the display function is confusing.

For the price it is still about the best recumbent exercise bike out there. How it holds up to long term use remains to be seen. If you can accept it’s shortcomings, I highly recommend it.