Recumbent or Upright Bike?
 

I have a cheap upright bike that I have been using on and off for a few years. My mom picked it up years ago for cheap... so it is that, cheap. When I am really into it, I ride it about an hour a day. I am currently working at getting back into that.

A co-worker has a Recumbent bike she is wanting to a sell. A really nice one, with all kinds of different programs - it was bought about a year ago, so pretty new with all the bells and whistles.

For the amount I use my cheap wal-mart bike I was thinking I will buy this one off her and put it to good use but I want to know if there is a big difference. Mostly, will i get the same work out/amount of calories burned? It will take some getting used to, but my butt wont hurt so much after a good work out!

What do you guys think/recommend?

I prefer recumbent, because comfort is an issue. At my gym, there is one of those recumbent bikes that has both hand and foot petals, and I feel like that's a pretty good part of my workout.

When I ride a bike at the gym, I always pick recumbant. I can last much longer on those than the upright bike. My butt starts to hurt something awful on the regular bikes. The workout should be the same as long as you exert yourself the same. You might have to play with the settings since it is a different machine, but you can get a decent lower body and cardio workout on those

i like the upright bikes at the gym but only because it shows all the rides on the little screen and i like to cut other people off and hit the trees and go completely off the trail...


i have a boring life....lol

That sounds like fun! I wish I had a bike that did that!

I've hurt my knees on a recumbent bike with the resistance cranked up - where an upright has never done that. That confused me because I thought they were good for people with knee problems. Maybe it was back problems, I dunno. In any case, I use an upright when I get an indoor biking urge.

I like the upright, but the recumbent bike is good for the abs. Pushing and pulling the pedels for some resons works the lower ones. Get a very sore bum though.
Maryl

I have a recumbent bike at home, used to ride an upright at my mom's house. I like the recumbent better from a comfort standpoint.

Oh god so true. After an hour on my recumbent (I have this one, cost me about $200 on sale from Sears in Canada - same bike is $50 cheaper in TN) I can barely feel my backside. My tailbone gets sore too but it's the best purchase I've ever made.

I put it in front of the (semi big - 42") TV - we have a PS2 that can played burned games (fliptopped, not modded for all you gamers), a PS3/Blueray player, a computer hooked to the TV with an SNES emulator and hundreds of games and movies on it. I sit down for an hour or two at a time playing games, watching movies, or TV shows. I actually lose track of time on the bike and often go over my set goal.

Thanks everyone for your advice! I am going to go with the recumbent bike as it is an awesome price, and a much better bike then the one I am using! I am so excited :)

I would just warn you to watch your back... I have a myriad of back problems and am a decent road cyclist. I can take a 70 mile ride across the state on afternoon and be pain free but put me on a recumbant and I'll be crying for the next couple of days.

just wanted to pop in and see how you like the recumbent bike? I love ours. I have back problems and I haven't seen any increase since using it.
I do have a little trouble with sore knees and sometimes my feet fall asleep- but overall I'd rather have my feet asleep then my butt and crotch which was always the case with the upright. lol.