Top 5 Folding Exercise Bikes Review
Lack of space in your home or office is one of the most frequent problems that stops people from getting in a workout. But, with a folding exercise bike, you can get a training device that stows away when you’re not using it to save space. That makes it easy to get in a quality, low impact workout in the comfort of your home.
Quick Answer : Folding Exercise Bike
Recommended
ATIVAFIT
My Rating:
Exerpeutic
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PLENY
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Choosing the best folding exercise bike can be difficult, but we’re here to help. We’ll highlight five of the best folding exercise bikes for your home or office and explain what sets them ahead of the rest of the pack.
We’ll also explain everything you need to know about getting the folding exercise bike that’s right for your workout needs and available space.
ATIVAFIT Indoor Cycling Bike
Overall Best Folding Exercise Bike
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This simple and elegant folding magnetic upright exercise bike from ATIVAFIT is one of the best folding exercise bikes on the market right now. It doesn’t take up much space, but it does pack a ton of features. You can continuously modify the magnetic resistance using a simple control knob and monitor your workout with data displayed on the integrated LCD screen. When your workout is over, the bike folds up easily and rolls away thanks to wheels mounted on the frame.
Specs
This bike is designed to be very versatile. The seat, which is wide and padded to keep you comfortable while spinning, adjusts over a 6-inch range to fit any rider. You can’t adjust the handlebars, but they’re long enough to offer hand positions no matter your height. Another benefit is the sturdy construction of the base, which makes it nearly impossible to tilt the bike over when you’re riding hard.
Tech
ATIVAFIT knows the importance of tracking your workout as you ride. The foldable bike is built with heart rate sensors in the handlebars, allowing you to monitor how hard you’re working. You can monitor your heart rate, as well as your resistance level, speed, distance, time, and cadence on the integrated LCD screen.
Cost
For all that this bike offers, it’s surprisingly affordable. While it’s not the cheapest foldable exercise bike on the market, it’s very hard to argue with the price.
Overall rating : 4 / 5
This folding stationary bike from ATIVAFIT includes everything you need to get into a consistent workout routine. The bike is fun to ride thanks to the fact that you can monitor your workout data, and the wide and adjustable seat makes it comfortable for most riders. Plus, it folds up small and wheels easily away once you’re finished riding.
ANCHEER 3-in-1 Stationary Bike
Best Upgrade Foldable Exercise Bike
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This folding magnetic upright exercise bike from ANCHEER is quite unique. Depending on how you unfold it, it can be used as an upright exercise bike or a recumbent folding exercise bike. There are 10 magnetic resistance gears, so you can easily choose between a leisurely or heart-pumping workout. If you want to get an arm workout in while you ride, the bike even includes a pair of resistance bands for biceps and triceps curls.
Specs
The thing that sets this bike apart from the competition is that it’s both an upright and recumbent bike. The metal frame has two notches that you can unfold the bike into, depending on what type of workout you want. This is perfect for giving your entire lower body a workout, targeting different muscles with each bike position. The only downside is that the bike doesn’t fold up quite as small as other foldable stationary bikes.
Tech
This bike comes with an LCD screen so that you can monitor your heart rate, speed, and distance. On top of that, ANCHEER offers a free mobile app with 21 built-in games that you can use to workout. You can even compete with friends who have their own stationary bikes, allowing you to get a hard workout in without getting bored from pedaling.
Cost
This is a premium foldable stationary bike, so it doesn’t come cheap. Ideally, this is a bike for anyone who’s looking to upgrade their existing stationary bike or who is very committed to working out on the bike. That said, the price is reasonable given the 3-in-1 construction and the included mobile app.
Overall rating : 4 / 5
This unique foldable stationary bike from ANCHEER is perfect if you want both an upright and a recumbent stationary bike. It offers built-in heart monitoring and a fun mobile app that allows you to compete with your friends while working out. The only downsides are the cost and the extra space that this bike takes up compared to other folding exercise bikes.
Exerpeutic Gold 525XLR Folding Recumbent Exercise Bike
Best Folding Recumbent Exercise Bike
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If you’re in need of a folding recumbent exercise bike, this is by far the best option on the market. The steel construction allows it to hold users up to 400 pounds in weight safely. The pedals come with integrated foot straps to help you engage all of the muscles in your legs, and there are eight levels of resistance to choose from so you can fine-tune your workout.
Specs
This folding exercise bike doesn’t compromise on user comfort or safety in order to be foldable. It offers a 400 pound weight limit and the seat height is adjustable to fit people from 5’2” to 6’5” – that’s a huge range! The wide, padded seat cushion is comfortable enough for extended rides. The only thing we’d like to see are rollers to help you put the bike away after your workout.
Tech
Exerpeutic designed this bike with built-in heart sensors on the handlebars and equipped it with a large and easy to read LCD screen. You can monitor your pulse, calories burned, distance pedaled, speed, and resistance by switching between modes on the screen. However, you can’t monitor all of your data at once, which is somewhat unusual.
Cost
This recumbent folding bike is on the pricey side, but that’s a reflection of the heavy-duty steel construction that goes into it. Considering that Exerpeutic offers a one-year warranty on the bike, the price seems fair even if it’s not a bargain.
Overall rating : 4 / 5
This bike from Exerpeutic is the best foldable recumbent exercise bike, without a doubt. It offers eight levels of resistance to help you get in a good workout. The construction is designed to accommodate users of any size, while a simple integrated LCD screen allows you to monitor your workout as it progresses.
It would be nice to see some added features, like resistance bands for arm workouts, but this doesn’t affect the utility of the bike for recumbent cycling. Keep in mind that you can also get the Exerpeutic Gold 500 XLS foldable upright bike bike if you don't want a recumbent model.
PLENY Foldable Upright Stationary Exercise Bike
Best Folding Exercise Bike for Hard Workouts
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PLENY built a foldable magnetic upright bike that’s perfect for hard rides. It features a 16-level tension control, which allows for fine-tuned ramping of the resistance as you get further into a workout or intervals. This indoor exercise bike also has double the magnetic resistance level of PLENY’s similar folding bike, making it the ideal choice for serious indoor training.
Specs
For how hard you can push this bike, it’s surprisingly compact. The frame folds up easily after your workout, and PLENY included small wheels to help you roll it away. The curved shape of the frame is also a nice touch, as this allows you to easily step on and off the bike without tripping. It would be nice to have more control over the seat height adjustment, but this isn’t a huge deal for most riders.
Tech
This folding upright exercise bike includes an integrated LCD monitor between the handlebars that allows you to keep track of your riding data. You can monitor your pulse, which is gathered by sensors mounted on the handlebars. All of your speed, distance, and cadence data can be displayed at the same time, which is nice if you’re trying to stay consistent between intervals.
Cost
While this folding exercise bike is designed for hard-hitting riders, it doesn’t come with a hard-hitting price tag. In fact, it’s just as affordable as many of the other top foldable exercise bikes we reviewed. It even comes with a one-year warranty from PLENY for peace of mind.
Overall rating : 5 / 5
This bike is one of the best folding exercise bikes around if you’re looking for something that can handle your hardest rides. It offers a whopping 16 levels of magnetic resistance, allowing you to dial in the resistance you need for tough intervals. The bike is also very compact and rolls away for storage, making it a good choice if you need to put away your bike after every ride.
Xpec Indoor Foldable Stationary Exercise Bike
Best Budget Folding Exercise Bike
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For riders on a tight budget, this foldable stationary bike from Xpec is a steal. It offers everything you’d expect to find on a pricier model, including built-in pulse monitoring, and LCD data display, and a 16 levels of magnetic resistance. It even comes with arm resistance bands so you can get a total body workout while spinning.
Specs
This foldable exercise bike is extremely compact. The construction forms a simple X-shape, so it doesn’t take up much space when unfolded and can stow away easily in a closet or a corner when folded. However, this does come with some compromises for larger users – the bike can only accommodate riders up to 220 pounds in weight, and the seat height can only be adjusted over a range of four inches.
Tech
One of the best things about this folding spin bike is that the resistance can be set in 16 different intervals. That’s hugely helpful for fine-tuning your workout so that you get just the right amount of burn in your legs. It also includes an LCD monitor, which displays your heart rate, calories burned, distance, and speed. You’ll need to use the mode button to cycle through these displays, though, since it won’t show all your data at once.
Cost
Xpec priced this spin bike to move. It’s extremely affordable for the wealth of features it includes. In many ways, there are few differences between this bike and some of the significantly more expensive options we looked at. The only catch is that Xpec doesn’t provide a warranty in case anything goes wrong with the bike.
Overall rating : 3 / 5
This inexpensive folding stationary bike is perfect for riders on a budget. It offers many of the features you need to get the most out of your workout and even goes above and beyond by offering 16 levels of resistance. Heavier and taller riders may have a problem with this bike, though, since it only has a 220 pound weight capacity and doesn’t have much seat height adjustment range.
How to Choose the Best Foldable Exercise Bike
There are a lot of foldable stationary bikes on the market, which can make it overwhelming to find the one that best suits your needs.
Here, we’ll take a closer look at what goes into making an exercise bike perfect for your fitness needs, as well as explain why a folding model is so advantageous for many indoor riders.
Advantages of a Folding Exercise Bike.
There are a couple of advantages to having a folding indoor exercise bike .
The number one advantage – and the reason that many riders opt for folding spin bikes – is space savings. Folding exercise bikes are designed specifically to fold up so that you can store them out of your way when you’re not using them. Most models are compact enough to fit neatly in a closet or corner.
That’s a huge plus if you want to put a folding bike in a crowded room in your home or in your office for spins during your lunch break. If your exercise bike doesn’t fold, you’re stuck with having it as the centerpiece of your room. Helpfully, most folding exercise bikes collapse just by puling on a knob in the frame, so there’s very little fuss over setting up and taking down your bike. That makes it easier to workout in the comfort of your home.
Another advantage to folding exercise bikes is that they’re often more budget-friendly than standard exercise bikes. That’s in large part because they require less material to construct. So, foldable stationary bikes are a good choice for riders on a budget or anyone who’s just getting into biking at home.
Upright vs. Recumbent Exercise Bikes.
One of the major decisions you’ll need to make when choosing the best foldable stationary bike is whether you want an upright or recumbent exercise bike.
Upright stationary bikes are designed to mimic the body positioning and workout you would get from a traditional outdoor bike. This is the exercise bike style of choice if you’re training to ride outside during the summer season.
Upright bikes are also good for getting a full-body workout, since you engage your core to remain upright in the seat and have to support your upper body using your arms.
Another advantage to this style of stationary bike is that it takes up the least possible space, whether it is folded or unfolded.
Recumbent bikes position you on a seat with a back, with the pedals out in front of you. For many people, this is a more comfortable and low impact position since you don’t need to engage your core to hold yourself up. That makes recumbent bikes a great choice for anyone who suffers from back pain while sitting on an upright exercise bike.
The body position that you take on a recumbent model also places less pressure on your knees when pedaling. You’re able to build leg strength without risking joint damage. This can be a major advantage for riders with knee pain and elderly riders.
Some folding exercise bikes, like the ANCHEER 3-in-1 stationary bike, give you the option to switch between upright and recumbent.
You’ll pay for this adaptability, but it can be worthwhile if you like to swap between the two types of riding.
Bike Weight Capacity and Height Adjustment
Whenever you’re looking at folding exercise bikes, it’s important to check the bike weight limit and seat adjustability. Many folding exercise bikes have relatively thin frames to help save space, but that means they can only hold a limited amount of weight. Riders over 200 pounds may need to look specifically for models that are built with a high bike weight limit.
When it comes to height, riders between about 5’6” and 6’ generally won’t have a problem finding a folding stationary bike that fits them. But, riders outside of this height range will need to look for a bike that has a wide seat height adjustment range. On recumbent bikes, the height of the seat back is typically adjustable to account for different rider heights. Keep in mind that some folding bikes allow for continuous seat height adjustment, while others only move in increments of an inch or two at a time.
Workout Data.
All of the top folding exercise bikes that we looked at are equipped with built-in pulse sensors and LCD data screens. These are hugely helpful since they allow you to monitor your workout as it’s in progress. Heart rate is particularly important to have, since this is how you can track the intensity of your ride and make sure you’re staying within the range you need to achieve goals like weight loss or building endurance.
The quality and functionality of LCD screens can vary. Some screens display all of your riding data at once, while others require you to manually cycle between metrics. If you find a display that shows all of your data at once, make sure that the information is large enough that you can actually read it while riding.
Resistance Levels.
The number of resistance levels differs widely among foldable stationary bikes. In general, more resistance levels are better – that way, you have more options to fine-tune your resistance for intervals or easy rides. While there’s no way to measure how difficult the highest resistance level is before trying out a bike, this is also important for the quality of your harder training rides. We recommend looking for bikes that offer 8 level magnetic resistance or greater.
Ease of Folding.
If your folding bike isn’t easy to fold, you simply won’t want to take it out. So, ease of folding is essential. Most of the folding stationary bikes we looked at have a simple release knob that allows you to expand or collapse the frame, so the process takes just seconds.
Be sure to look for bikes that have wheels on the bottom, like the models from ATIVAFIT and PLENY. These can be very useful in helping you put your bike away after your workout.
Budget
Folding exercise bikes are generally very affordable, which is great news. Of course, though, your budget will be a major factor in deciding which bike is right for you. In general, recumbent bikes cost a bit more than upright folding bikes, and you may be able to save some money by foregoing features like heart rate monitoring.
Additional Features
There are other helpful features to look out for when choosing the best exercise bikes.
Many bikes include a small stand on the screen or handlebars where you can put a tablet or Kindle, allowing you to entertain yourself while riding. Other bikes, like the ANCHEER exercise bike, come with games so that you can compete against friends during your workout.
Another nice feature that some folding bikes include are arm resistance bands. These allow you to get in a quick arm workout while pedaling – in case holding yourself up on an upright bike isn’t workout enough already!
Frequently Asked Questions
How does a foldable exercise bike create resistance?
Foldable stationary bikes create resistance using a powerful magnet. The exercise bike magnetic resistant unit simply opposes the motion of a flywheel as you pedal. This system is nice because it has few moving parts, so it’s very durable. In addition, magnetic resistance is extremely quiet, so you can watch TV or listen to music while riding.
Are there any waterproof cycling shoes or winter cycling shoes?
You won’t find waterproof cycling shoes in large part because they would necessarily become very sweaty to ride in during warm weather. However, you can save your feet from becoming wet on a rainy day or insulate them during the winter by purchasing a pair of neoprene overshoes.
I suffer from back pain. What kind of folding exercise bike do I need?
If you suffer from back pain, a folding recumbent bike is probably the best choice for you. This style of exercise bike has a full padded seat with a back to support your bike, rather than relying on your core muscles to maintain your posture.
Having your legs out in front of you when pedaling on a recumbent bike also requires less engagement of your lower back, which can help prevent back pain. Recumbent riding can also be low impact on your knees relative to riding upright.
Can I connect a chest strap heart rate monitor to my exercise bike display?
Unfortunately, none of the folding exercise bikes that we looked at come with Bluetooth or ANT+. So, you won’t be able to connect a chest strap heart rate monitor to the LCD screen.
That doesn’t mean you can’t monitor your pulse, though. You can either use the pulse sensors on the handlebars or monitor your chest strap using a smartwatch or another device.
Can I use a folding stationary bike to train for riding outside?
Yes! If you’re training to ride outside, you will want to use a folding magnetic upright bike. Upright folding bikes mimic the body positioning of a traditional bike and engages all of the same muscles while pedaling.
Competition for the title of overall best folding exercise bike was tough, but our exercise bike reviews converged on the ATIVAFIT Indoor Cycling Bike as the the best folding exercise bike.
This simple and affordable spin bike offers a wide range of magnetic resistance levels, an integrated LCD with pulse monitoring, and a base that’s stable enough that you can stand up to pedal hard. We also liked the ANCHEER 3-in-1 bike, which allows you to switch easily between upright and recumbent cycling.
The fact that it comes with a mobile app that allows you to compete with friends is also a big plus. Whether you want to get in a quick workout at lunch or in the evening, build strength for cycling outside, or keep up your fitness and lose weight, a folding exercise bike can help. Thanks to our review of the best folding exercise bikes, you can easily find the indoor spin bike that’s right for you.
