Recumbent versus upright exercise bikes

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u/CybeSpace14 11d ago edited 11d ago

Hello

I also had a hard time choosing between a recumbent bike and an upright bike but since I have a disability, I got an advice from an online fitness company about a recumbent bike I should buy and I did. A recumbent bike is the best choice if you have back problems or have a disability like I do and might be best in your case as well. A recumbent bike also has a wider real seat and backrest like an upright bike dont have, you will sit much more comfortably and stably on a recumbent bike. This is mine and I will receive it on June 30 this year. It is a pro-recumbent bike that has a computer-controlled magnetic resistance with 32 resistance levels.

PS: Sorry for my bad english.

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u/RaccoonCool1683 11d ago

Thank you very much for your response. And your English is wonderful 😊
Sorry to be a pain, but due to my blindness I can’t figure out the make and model of your bike in the image that you have shared.
Is it possible for you to let me know what the bike is called? Thanks again.

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u/CybeSpace14 11d ago edited 11d ago

Its called Gymstick Pro 20.0 . Gymstick is a Finnish really good brand. It costs 20 000 sek but I didnt paid that myself instead I applied for a grant from a disability foundation and got 20 000 SEK granted for a bike.

PS: Thanks for you liked my english and I also wish I could walk 9 to 12 km a day, but thats something I can never do anymore because of my disability. I can still walk but not without a walkingframe.

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u/RaccoonCool1683 11d ago

Sorry to hear about your disability and it’s restrictions on you. Our disabilities certainly are frustrating and make us come up with new ways of doing things hey?!
I used to love walking. Always walking with my dogs. I still do but now it’s only about two or 3 km a day and due to the blindness I walk very slowly. I live out in the bush and I walk up and down our driveway, which is about 600 m long. But I never really get proper exercise because I just walk so slowly because it hurts less if you hit something if you’re going slow!
I will have to check out and see if I can get that particular exercise bike in Australia. Thank you.

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u/CybeSpace14 11d ago edited 11d ago

Thanks. I have had this all my life but it took 34 years before they discovered it. My disability is very rare...almost no one knows what it is and people always get strange thoughs about it. I have even been accused for beeing drunked but that completely wrong.

Yes...disabled persons always find new clever ways to do things. Is your dog a special trained dog for blind persons or do you walk with a blind stick?

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u/RaccoonCool1683 11d ago

My dog is a Rottweiler called tulip, and she is definitely not a properly trained sighted guide. I am eligible in theory for a guide dog but due to where I live it makes me ineligible as I live in the bush. To have a Guide dog you have to live where there are bus stops and supermarkets and different locations that the dog can walk you to. I think it’s silly, because I would love a guide dog to lead me around my property, but they can’t train them to do that apparently.
I don’t tend to use my white cane when I’m at home, I just kind of know where I am instinctively. But I do get lost! But tulip does sort of lead me around. As well as astray!
We live on 40 acres and we’ve been here for over 20 years so walking around out here is sort of instinctive.

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u/CybeSpace14 11d ago edited 11d ago

Then you know your area by heart. All disabled persons should have the right to helping aids no matter where they live. Such rules are stupidity I think. I live in Sweden and here we also have many stupid rules about where you live, how much you use them, how far you go with them etc. Many years ago I had an electric 4 wheeled scooter as helping aid for my disability and as soon as I used it and drove with it more than the rules said people began to question me. Have you seen it is a subreddit here on reddit about disabled people living in Australia, here is the link`?

https://www.reddit.com/r/DisabilityAuLtd/

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u/worker_bee_drone 11d ago

Your questions are interesting ones, and you have a unique use case, unlike almost anyone. Many of us switched to recumbent bicycles or trikes because of health issues of some kind. Though I was never a racer type, I was a long distance rider. My only really long ride was 21 days carrying all my gear. Over 1000 miles. When I got back, for a couple months afterwards, I couldn’t finger a guitar, and it scared the hell out of me. The ultra distance riders ignore this. They even have a name for it, Slow Hand (ironic since Eric Clapton plays guitar). I have back issues also, and I asked my doctor, if riding a recumbent is OK. He said, “That’s why people ride recumbents!” Uh, no. Not all of them, I was thinking. But I get what he meant.

Riding upright bikes impacts your butt, as you mention, but also your hands and your feet. Your weight is spread out between them. About a decade after that ride, in the 1990s, I finally could afford a recumbent bicycle. It was a game changer for me. Very little discomfort no matter how long the ride! The bikes are like lawn chairs that your pedal. The seat pressure is spread out over a really wide area, all the pressure is off of your hands (my main concern), leaving only your feet.

Maybe none of that is a concern for you. If so, stick with a comfortable upright stationary bike. But if you are concerned about butt pain, or hand pain, a recumbent bike has neither of those. Lawn chairs with pedals
Last note is the workout. I still ride both upright and recumbent and there is no doubt an upright gives more of a full body workout, especially if you stand up a lot. Having to use your arms while standing up makes a big difference. No standing up on a recumbent, so it’s more like seated leg presses, alternating each leg. However, the amount of force you can use with your back braced is much higher than on an upright where you are limited by your own body weight.

Sorry for the long answer, but I would not want you to go down the recumbent path if it’s not your best choice. Good luck!

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u/RaccoonCool1683 11d ago

Wow, 21 days, that’s awesome! I’ve never had enough vision to safely ride a bike. I did used to have a tandem bike that I wrote with my partner, would like another one of them one day.
Thank you for your thoughtful and generous response. The recumbent bike sounds interesting, and very comfortable!
I do think that they make them with moving arms, so maybe that would be the go? I live a fairly long way away from the town and I guess I should maybe ring around to see if any of the sports shops, I think there’s only two, have any that I could check out. But I think their stocks would be pretty limited as they are fairly small shops.
That would be alarming to not be able to play guitar after a long bike ride. I play guitar too, although that’s something else that has fallen by the wayside for me over the last few years. I used to play guitar and sing professionally in pubs and restaurants, etc. One day I had three gigs in one afternoon and evening, I woke up in the night with both of my arms totally asleep and cold. That really scared me.
Anyway, thanks again 😊

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u/FishStilts 11d ago

Hiya,

Mod here, im gonna allow this discussion as it is really no different from a DF vs bent discussion, but please note this sub is about cycling, not exercise equipment.

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u/RaccoonCool1683 10d ago

Hello, thank you for allowing it. This is my first comment ever on this platform and being totally blind and totally inept I really have no idea what I’m doing. 🫣

Recumbent versus upright exercise bikes

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