Sit back, put your feet on the pedals, and enjoy a heart-pumping workout without stepping outside.
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As runners, we love nothing more than feeling the road or trail under our feet as we bop along on our favorite training loops. Unfortunately, conditions outside aren’t always ideal, and chancing it can be dicey, especially if you’re recovering from an injury.
While treadmills might be your go-to for indoor workouts, it’s often smart to take a break from repetitive high-impact exercise and opt to cross-training. Enter the recumbent bike, a great alternative to help you reap the benefits of an upright exercise bike in a more comfortable reclined position that places less stress on your joints. This makes them well-suited for older athletes, arthritis sufferers looking for low-impact workouts, or anyone working through physical therapy or injury recovery.
Recumbent exercise bikes are a staple at commercial gyms, and for good reason: They’re accessible to almost all fitness levels, and the best recumbent bikes are exceptionally simple to operate. If you’re ready to add a spin to your own home gym (forgive the pun), check out these reliable recumbent bikes recommended by our editors.
For more great additions to your home gym setup, check out our picks for the best home gym equipment, advanced treadmills, and adjustable dumbbells.
If you plan to dive into a serious workout program on your new recumbent bike, consider a model that has a broad variety of programs and resistance levels to continually increase difficulty as you get fitter. You’ll probably want a model with a large, interactive screen to visualize your progress and your current workout.
Some recumbent bikes have displays for watching TV or biking programs, or a space for you to place a phone or iPad to stream content. We recommend prioritizing this if you need an immersive workout in order to get motivated. (And if you want a workout that’s even closer to actually riding a bicycle, you might want to consider an upright bike instead.)
Before you finalize any big recumbent bike purchase, consider space constraints and choose a bike that fits comfortably in your workout area. Some options fold to store away easily, but most recumbent bikes are designed to stay set up all the time. And an ill-fitting one can swallow up a room.
We used our personal experience with several recumbent bike models to help select a range of our favorites, as well as updated versions of those favorites that haven’t deviated much from their previous models. The options below all feature intuitive controls, multiple resistance settings, and sizes and weights that are manageable in a house or apartment. Although we didn’t physically test the models on our list, we enlisted a combination of spec comparisons and our knowledge of the home fitness space to help us land on our top picks.
If you’re looking for the recumbent bike that balances simplicity and capability, we wager you’ll find that in Schwinn’s 290. Not only does this bike come with a crisp 7-inch display for tracking all your favorite metrics, it’s stocked with hundreds of virtual courses that auto-adjust resistance for an immersive, hands-free ride.
Neat finishing touches include USB charging ports, Bluetooth speakers, and even a ventilated seat. And the whole package sits well below the $1,000 mark.
If you’re on a limited budget, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the benefits of a recumbent bike. This Sunny Health & Fitness is an excellent value that provides useful features like a pulse sensor, self-leveling pedals, and eight levels of resistance.
The lightweight frame and its integrated wheels make it easy to roll around, whether you’re moving it into a closet or storing it behind the couch. This bike isn’t as durable as heavier-duty models, though, so if you’re looking for something to tackle daily long-distance rides, you may need to spring for a more expensive option.
Want an exercise bike that pulls out all the stops, giving you everything you need on one crystal-clear display? The R35’s 14-inch screen is stuffed to the gills with workouts that auto-adjust your resistance, and it’s flanked on the top and bottom by a large Bluetooth speaker and a built-in fan, respectively.
This bike is also dead quiet thanks to its top-tier magnetic resistance system, making it a perfect option if generating lots of noise is something you’d prefer to avoid (looking at you, fellow apartment-dwellers!).
If you’re not interested in the nice-to-have extras of high-end models and you just want a basic bike for simple workouts, this Marcy model could be the perfect fit. Its stripped-down controls—just three buttons—are great for users who don’t like to decode cluttered control panels.
Despite its simple setup, this model provides a good amount of data, including workout time, speed, distance, calories burned, and an odometer—more than enough for the casual user. Plus, at 86 pounds, it’s still relatively easy to assemble and move around.
Looking to add some upper-body resistance to improve the efficiency of your cycling workout? The revolving handlebars on this Sunny Health & Fitness model let you pump your arms as you pedal, and they feature adjustable resistance settings, just like the lower half.
If you like, you can also forgo the pedaling altogether and simply plant your feet on the floor to specifically target your arms and shoulders. A digital monitor provides workout info as you go, and a handy device holder allows you to easily watch movies or TV shows on your phone or tablet.
If you’re short on space or simply want to stow your bike away when you’re done using it, consider this Lanos folding bike. Its X-shaped design provides a sturdy foundation while you exercise while also having extra slim profile when folded up.
One issue we see with similar folding models is a low-weight capacity, owing to this design’s smaller overall platform and the concentrated strain our bodies put on the central pivot. But this bike can hold a claimed 330 pounds, which is more than seven times the bike’s own weight.
Adam Schram is an Assistant Editor of Commerce at Runner's World, though you might see his byline on Bicycling and Popular Mechanics, too. A lover of all things outdoors, Adam's writing career comes after six years as a bike mechanic in his hometown of State College, PA. His journalism experience is steeped in cycling and running gear reviews, and he's also a published creative nonfiction and satire author. When he's not writing, riding, or running, you can catch Adam at home mixing cocktails, watching Star Wars, or trying in vain to do the Sunday crossword. You can check out his latest work below.
Alex Rennie is a freelance writer who specializes in the Home Improvement, DIY, and Tool space. As a former residential and commercial carpenter, Alex uses his hands-on experience to write practical buying guides, how-to articles, and product reviews. His work has also appeared in Business Insider's Insider Picks, and before his writing career, he was a full-time carpenter living in New York City. There, he worked as part of a team designing, building, and installing large furniture pieces, as well as performing a variety of home repair and maintenance projects. Alex currently lives in Los Angeles, CA, and spends his free time exploring the beaches and mountains with his fiancé and their dog Louie.
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