8 Best Budget Exercise Bikes in 2024

Cycling workouts are among the most beneficial training for the whole body and mind that can be as versatile as possible and fit a wide range of people with various fitness levels, preferences, and sports intentions.

You can choose a type of cycling training that fits your needs: stationary bike indoor workout, group cycling class, or pedaling on your own at home. It’s up to your needs and desires what kind of cycling workout you’d like to take up. But, a key point is how to choose the best budget exercise bike that will meet your expectations and won’t make a hole in your pocket.

Our panel of experts and professional athletes has evaluated 38 budget exercise bikes to bring you 8 top choices that blend functionality, quality, and low price. They assessed the bikes on 8 key factors, with the team spending over 350 hours testing the majority.

In addition to their rigorous testing, they’ve also reviewed hundreds of online user reviews. This list is always evolving, so don’t hesitate to leave feedback, share your experiences, and engage with us!

Follow our detailed review of the most popular low-cost indoor exercise bikes, each model’s pros and cons, and a comprehensive summary of their features.

Top 8 Best Budget Exercise Bikes Reviewed

1. ProForm 500 SPX Exercise Bike – Top Pick
2. Sunny Health&Fitness SF-B1203 Exercise Bike – Best Budget Spin Bike
3. Yosuda Indoor Stationary Exercise Bike
4. DMASUN Indoor Cycling Exercise Bike
5. Sunny Health&Fitness Upright Exercise Bike – Best Upright Exercise Bike
6. Marcy Recumbent Exercise Bike – Best Recumbent Exercise Bike
7. XTERRA FB150 Folding Exercise Bike – Best folding
8. Exerpeutic Folding Exercise Bike

Product	Total	Adjustability	Durability	Comfort	Drive system	Assembly	Portability	Price/Quality	User Interface
ProForm	80	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Sunny Exercise	79	9.5	10	10	10	10	10	9.5	10
Yosuda	79	10	10	10	9.5	10	9.5	10	10
DMASUN	78	10	10	9.5	10	10	9.5	9.5	9.5
Sunny Upright	77.5	9.5	9.5	9.5	9.5	10	10	9.5	10
Marcy	77	9.5	9.5	9	9.5	10	9.5	10	10
XTERRA	76	9.5	9	9	9.5	10	10	9.5	9.5
Exerpeutic	74.5	9	8.5	8.5	9.5	10	10	9.5	9.5

This is a good affordable indoor cycling bike for home workouts that has a 4-way adjustable seat and handlebars, and a single-window LCD display enabling you to track your training stats such as the time of your ride, speed, distance, burnt calories, and cadence. The console works with two AAA batteries that aren’t included in the package. Additionally, you can change your body position due to non-slip multi-form handlebars, dipped grips, and their vertical and horizontal positioning.

There are quick-stop brakes to stop a bike instantly in case of emergency and control ride intensity. You can manage the resistance level with the help of a manually controlled knob. The belt-drive system provides you with the maximum realistic ride, so you can enjoy a silent ride almost like when riding a road bike. Additionally, a 40 lb flywheel vouches for smooth pedaling. The bike’s ergonomic pedals with adjustable straps and toe clips guarantee safe training without feet slipping out during fast riding.

The bike is compatible with the iFit application by giving you access to more than 30 workout videos with a 30-day free trial period, and the ability to create up to 4 user profiles.

Transport wheels that are situated in the front of a bike make it easier to move a training machine wherever you’d like to place it. This exercise bike can be used for burning fat, and losing weight. It’s also possible to pass a fitness test via a fitness app, and do intervals for a specific time and distance.

Sunny Health&Fitness indoor bike provides comfortable and effective pedaling for all-fitness level riders. It’ll help you to fight belly fat and improve both core and lower body muscles. A digital monitor shows all essential stats: distance, speed, time, and calories to gain your goals gradually. If using it daily, you’ll improve your general well-being and range of motion.

The 4-way adjustable saddle guarantees as maximum as possible comfortable fit concerning your body type. Despite being non-adjustable, still, non-slip handlebars allow multiple hand positioning: on the center, side by side, and at the top. Secure feet placement in the pedal cages is a guarantee of an effective safe ride.

A brake pad resistance system enables you to regulate tension level, depending on whether you want more intensive cardio training, or a standard low-impact workout for a recovery. With a 22 lb flywheel, you’ll be able to control your ride with the help of high resistance and inertia. So, it feels like you’re really on your bike riding through different terrain.

An option to get access to the workout library available on the Sunny Health&Fitness website or YouTube channel. You can synchronize your bike with Sunny Fit App to track your progress. Also, if buying a cadence and speed sensor, you can track how fast you can ride a specific distance and pedaling frequency.

Thus, this is apparently one of the best budget spin bikes you can find that will bring you more than enough resistance to make your body well-shaped.

Yosuda manufacturers aim to produce high-quality fitness equipment fitting for everyone who strives to become more sporty and endurant. This bike is also among the best cheap exercise bike lists, which provides a convenient way to have a low-intense workout without leaving the house by riding with the target ride duration, resistance level, speed, and training program wholly.

So, you have the freedom to build up a customized ride according to your physical conditioning. What’s more, a 4-way adjustable seat (up&down, back&forward) and 2-way adjustable handlebar (up and down), together with 3-way grip variants, bring you more versatility to your positioning on the bike.

A smooth resistance knob allows for mimicking a real road bike ride. The emergency brake lever can be pulled and the bike stops immediately. The belt-driven system brings more silent rides than a chain one, so your workout won’t disturb anyone. There’s no problem adjusting the saddle height and horizontal distance from pedals. Due to a resistance knob and heavy flywheel, you can enjoy both easy and difficult pedaling to build up your leg muscles and improve general stamina.

It’s easy to move through the apartment with the help of transport wheels.

DMASUN specializes in manufacturing exercise bikes of diverse riding styles and targets, rowing machines, and other sports equipment. This affordable spin bike has a highly sensitive micro resistance knob from 0-100%, which allows customizing your workout by varying ride difficulty from flat to the mountain which allows you to diversify the terrain and simulate real road bike rides. You can track your training data: time, speed, distance, calories, odometer stats, and pulse. The bike suits best riders with heights 4.8” to 6.3”.

Its advanced handlebar has 3-grip options: stand, flat, and climbing targeting different riding positions. A flat grip is for warm-ups, a stand-ride grip is for a speed-up position for getting more aerodynamics, both sitting and standing, and a climbing ride grip is for a more aggressive position.

This bike is ideal for more intense indoor training due to its design and handlebar form: it makes you lean forward and move more intensively. This option forces a rider to move to the next fitness level. Also, the bike doesn’t shake while riding, there’s no vibration, and whisper-silent smooth pedaling.

It’s an exemplary upright exercise bike on a budget that will improve your fitness level, cardiovascular capabilities, develop leg and core muscles, and help to burn calories and get away unwanted fat without extra tension.

Its performance display shows you all the essential data to make gradual improvements:

• time
• speed
• distance
• calories
• temperature
• clock
• calendar
• and also extra points like RPM and pulse

So, you’ll know more information about your workout productivity that you can improve each time you ride.

Moreover, the built-in pulse sensors on the handlebars enable you to monitor your current heart rate. You can use all three handlebar positions for more effective ride sessions: the top grip to flex arms while riding, the middle grip - to keep track of your heart rate, and the bottom - to lean in. You’ll feel comfortable with a 4-way adjustable saddle for the optimal riding position.

8-level resistance leveling and magnetic resistance mechanism bring riders better quality of ride due to the more sensitive resistance knob. So, you’ll succeed to adjust a proper resistance level that fits your condition and your training plan: whether you want to mount ride or practice speed-ups.

You also have an access to the workout library with training available on the Sunny Health&Fitness website and YouTube channel. The bike is also compatible with the SunnyFit application: here you’ll find free exercise videos to schedule your training regimen and get your goals easier by making it maximum personalized.

There’s an option to buy a cadence sensor to track your ride metrics via synchronizing with the SunnyFit app.

For those who want to strengthen the cardiovascular system with minimum pressure on leg muscles and burn calories steadily, this mid range exercise bike in recumbent position is a worthy variant on the market. It’s perfect for shaping your body and improving your general physique level. LCD monitor displays standard data such as time, speed, distance, calories, and odometer to see your RPM.

The curvature of the handlebars and seat back guarantees an even and relaxing position of the body while riding with proper tension balance during the workout. Extra back and arm support enables you to maintain correct posture during riding. Its adjustable seat with an inseam height minimum of 27” and a maximum of 37” vouch for proper stride while pedaling. The 8-level resistance knob helps to customize your ride for your sports level

Mercy recumbent bike gives you an ultimate level of comfort thanks to its adjustable foam seat, counter-balance pedals with regulated straps, and a step-through frame. So, it’s easy to enter and exit a bike. It’s a good basic exercise bike with low impact on hip and leg joints, still providing enough opportunities to improve your physical form, and stamina, train your heart, and become fitter without going to a gym.

If you’re searching for a lightweight best affordable exercise bike to burn calories and get in good body shape, then this foldable exercise bike will satisfy all your needs for a perfect home workout without occupying much space.

It has a simple LCD display showing your riding time, speed, distance, calories, and pulse data you can track due to heart rate sensors in the middle of the handlebars side by side. An 8-level resistance will assist you to train your legs by increasing the resistance level gradually. A padded oversized seat that can be adjusted up and down. 8-level tension control diversifies the intensity of your training for moderate tension on your muscles and improves your general wellness.

Here you are a nice best value exercise bike to shape your body, remove fat, burn calories, and boost your cardiovascular health at your home. Thanks to the folding option, the bike is very compact and saves your space up to 50%, so it’s easy to store.

This affordable at-home exercise bike goes with a smooth and silent magnetic tension, belt-drive mechanism enabling you to train whenever you want, without disturbing anyone at home.

Like the majority of the reviewed bikes, it also has an LCD display showing you the main data for your workout statistics: time, distance, calories, speed, and heart rate. Also, like others, having an 8-level resistance, you’ll be able to build moderately intense training by targeting to rehab, strengthening cardio capabilities, endurance, or muscle workout.

You’ll find pulse sensors on the handlebars to be aware of the intensity of the cycle workout and track your heart rate condition. You’ll also get a softer, wider, and more comfortable seat with the 7-level height adjustment and height range of 4.9’ to 6.1’. As a result, you seat on the bike in an extra-comfort upright position with no overload on your body.

Additionally, you can reach your sports goals easily with the help of the MyCloudFitness cadence sensor that you can buy separately and an app you can download for free and link your stats to the gadget to track your progress in real-time and follow any training program.

Benefits of Budget Exercise Bikes (Cheap vs. Expensive Models)

✅ Saving Your Budget

If you’re searching for a low-cost way to take up sports and have cardio training with burning calories, it’s not necessary to buy a premium-class exercise bike. A budget stationary bike will be enough for these purposes. An affordable indoor exercise bike costs $100-$300 and its quality is good enough for stable and relatively long-lasting performance (considering how often it’ll be used).

You can choose an upright or recumbent bike that will meet your fitness needs fully. These bikes can also offer an intense workout as an advanced spinner does, just twist a resistance knob for a proper level and pedal quickly.

✅ Making Your Training Interactive

A great advantage of a costly exercise bike is the availability of a touch-screen display that brings multiple features, so you can track more training stats than while using their cheap alternatives. Besides standard data, i.e., time, speed, distance, and approximate calories, you’ll get an opportunity to see more detailed information on your performance, such as maximum and average HR, fat burn % of calories, training effort rate, etc.

These numbers can matter to those who are keen on sports, workout enthusiasts, and advanced riders. By tracking each training, they see their progress throughout each session, analyze data, and build a personalized training plan.

✅ Compatibility with Devices and Fitness Apps

This feature is closely connected to the previous one that makes an exercise bike highly refined and upgraded compared to cheap workout bikes. This point is important mostly for more professional athletes and riders who know a thing or two about cycling.

What can be better than synchronizing your indoor bike with your gadget and linking to a sports app? Such a great perk gives access to even more precise data about each training, including intensity factor, wattage capability, RPM, and used intensity zones during the ride.

✅ Durable and Efficient Resistance Mechanism

Cheap bikes use friction resistance and are equipped with brake pads that are in direct contact with a flywheel when you increase a resistance level. However, this mechanism tends to wear out quickly. Meanwhile, a high-priced indoor bike is tooled up with magnetic resistance parts, i.e., two durable magnets, with a flywheel in between.

This is a touchless, quiet, and friction-free mechanism that can work for a long time and doesn’t require any maintenance. It creates more effective braking to a flywheel and a more gradual resistance level making it easier or more difficult to pedal. Thus, a rider can experience a more realistic indoor ride.

✅ Bike Size and its Ability to Comply with Your Living Space

Here we talk about whether you have enough space to place an indoor exercise bike, a stationary, or a foldable one, in your room without sacrificing your personal space. As usual, an expensive workout bike is larger and heavier than a low cost exercise bike because they’re stationary mostly, with a tablet-sized display (depending on the model), and is made of high-quality material.

On the contrary, budget exercise bikes are light, have no additional components that may influence their weight, and can be folded easily. This option is important for people who have little space in the room and don’t have an extra place to store it.

What to Look for in a Budget Exercise Bike

1. Adjustability

For getting maximum comfort and effectivity from cycling workouts, it’s important to adjust a saddle and handlebars up and down, and back and forward. So, when seating, the rider’s legs should be slightly bent, as well as arms are. This body position won’t put extra tension on knee joints and the upper body. Generally, handlebars should be higher than a saddle to keep a rider’s back straight and relaxed to the maximum.

Additionally, handlebars should be at a forearm distance from your body. You shouldn’t lean forward too much or backward. Just a slight leaning position can be possible to keep the core tight and upper body muscles fit enough. Thus, 4-way adjustability is perfect for maximum comfort and a productive workout.

2. Durability

To be short, with proper setup and regular maintenance, your exercise bike, both cheap and costly, will serve long with zero or slight malfunctions. With appropriate and careful use, it can last up to 20 years. Additionally, consider the fact that the durability of a workout bike depends on the used resistance mechanism.

3. Comfort

Speaking about the bike's comfort, we consider a rider's correct position to accommodate the pressure on the body properly. Almost all tension goes to the inner body and the rest, that is a little percent, comes to the core and arms for stabilization. While riding, your shoulders and arms shouldn't be tense, but your legs should move actively with a properly adjusted resistance grade.

General comfort also depends on pedaling smoothness and speed. This can increase your performance and prevent muscle overload and injuries. A saddle plays a crucial role in enhancing the rider’s comfort, meaning not hurting the butt, providing a better quality of the training itself, and further progress by following specific fitness goals.

A well-adjustable position doesn’t have to cause numbness in the legs and toes too. Although, comfort position may depend on a rider’s preferences: whether they prefer a more aerodynamic aggressive position or a standard one.

4. Drive System

Budget training bikes we observed have a belt-drive system and possess brake pads or magnetic resistance systems. The latter is more advanced and in default increases the bike value. Unlike a friction mechanism, a magnetic one doesn't make contact with a flywheel since a magnetic force works here by varying the resistance degree.

So, the magnets become closer to the flywheel. This creates a highly sensitive resistance knob enabling a rider to apply precisely that resistance level that fits their expectations and training purposes.

Also, this privilege vouches for quiet bike performance, and little to zero maintenance and such indoor bikes are highly durable. Meanwhile, contact resistance, both with felt or leather pad, directly influences the flywheel. If you tighten the resistance to the max, you won't be able to pedal at all.

Such a mechanism provides quite an ineffective resistance level - too light or too difficult pedaling, without gradual switching like with magnets. These brake pads wear out over time and need to be replaced, or lubricated regularly.

5. Assembly

When we look for a limited-budget exercise bike for home training, we want to find enough light, easily portable cycle machines that won't require some extra power to assemble.

Generally, all exercise bikes we reviewed come with a user's guide where you can find step-by-step instructions on how to assemble a bike, what element to take, and which tools are required (that are included in the package).

What's more, generally you can do it on your own or ask a friend to help you. But, the assembly process won't take much time, approximately an hour or two.

6. Portability

One of the major advantages of affordable exercise bikes is the ability to move them from one place to another without hassle. This feature is important for people who don't want to train every day but to do some pedaling several times a week to keep in good physical shape. If speaking about the reviewed bikes, the lightest ones are XTERRA FB150 and Exerpeutic folding bikes.

7. Price/Quality

Everyone wants to find an inexpensive exercise bike with a good price and quality balance, but it may be a challenging task. Speaking about a low cost workout bike, we presented you with the best options to have a well-balanced home cardio training out of some superb features, premium materials, memberships, and so on.

So, we show that everyone can cycle at home without spending much money and not sacrificing greatly the bike's functionality. It's obvious, cheap exercise bikes have simple mechanisms, second-quality materials, etc., but it doesn't affect your workout if you don't have extraordinary fitness goals.

8. User Interface

Like more costly models, at-home cheap exercise bikes are also equipped with a much simpler monitor. But, still, it's available and offers a rider to track basic training stats, i.e. the duration of the ride, distance, calories, and speed, more fancy ones have pulse sensors, and so on.

As usual, an ordinary workout bike has a one-window LCD display with limited functionality and the absence of Bluetooth and a WiFi connection.

More advanced exercise bikes come with built-in programs or can be synchronized with fitness applications to make the ride more versatile and get more information on their performance. For instance, some of these perks you can find in ProForm exercise bikes, Sunny Health&Fitness stationary and upright bikes.

What Is the Difference Between Cheap and Expensive Stationary Bike?

1. Getting Detailed Data on Your Performance

Compared to the best inexpensive exercise bike that provides standard measures, i.e, time, distance, calories, speed, more expensive smart indoor bikes present much more detailed statistics and metrics during the training itself, and after it uploads to the synchronized fitness app, or your smartphone or wristwatch.

With this option, you get data such as heart rate and its connection to the workout zones, the time you spend on each of them, wattage stat separately and whole for the ride, and intensity factor. Some programs can offer personalized recovery training, considering your performance. A top perk is the ability to connect your indoor bike to the Zwift platform and join the online cycling community to have even more fun and improve your physique greatly.

2. The Higher Price, the Better Quality, and Comfort

The more money you’re ready to spend on tools, equipment, clothes, or workout machines, the better quality they’ll be and you’ll get more comfort while using them. As usual, more costly indoor stationary bikes offer users maximum adjustable options and full bike functionality to get out the maximum benefit from it and easily gain your destination.

High-quality bikes come with fully adjustable saddles that are moderately small yet comfortable and handlebars, which offer you several grip options for diverse riding positions. These features guarantee that a bike will fit anyone of any height, constitution, and riding style.

3. The Cost Depends on the Style of a Stationary Bike Ride You Prefer

What does it mean? If you’re a newbie in cycling and sports in general, then you won’t consider some expensive bike models to improve your health state and burn calories. If you search for a stationary indoor bike just for general fitness goals, i.e., to lose weight and get rid of fat, you’d rather look for a standard exercise bike that covers your needs at least at the minimum.

On the contrary, if you’re a well-trained person, a regular gym attendee, or a professional cyclist, you’ll focus on advanced multi-functional indoor bikes to make progress and develop your muscles, or get prepared for some bike competitions.

FAQ

Is a Budget Exercise Bike Worth It?

Buying an inexpensive exercise bike’s worth depends on your goals. If you want to have a light, comfortable cycle workout at home to maintain or increase your fitness level, then buy this kind of bike. If you’re a more advanced gym-goer or experienced rider, you’d better look for other indoor bikes.

How Much Does a Quality Cycling Bike Cost?

A high-quality multi-functional indoor bike may seem quite costly. Such a cycle machine is fully feature-packed, with numerous adjusting features and mechanisms to guarantee a rider high customization, get the maximum out of the cycling workout, and make considerable progress. Their cost may reach starting from $800-$900 and even up to $2000-$3000, depending on the brand and model.

Conclusion

Having reviewed the most popular exercise bikes and compared them with their expensive counterparts, we highly recommend you to try ProForm 500SPX bike that fully meets our criteria as for the best budget exercise bike to make your body fitter and more endurant. With regular use, you’ll gain good progress by enhancing your physical form, cardiovascular capabilities, and muscle toning. If you still hesitate, write us in the comments and we’ll give you an essential piece of advice concerning what workout bike will meet your goals.

Also read:

• Best Exercise Bike Under 200
• Best Type of Exercise Bike to Rehab Knee
• Best Exercise Bike for Beginners
• Stationary Bike Benefits
• Elliptical vs Exercise Bike
• Best Exercise Bike for Seniors
• Best Mats for Home Gym

References:

1. Valéria Sales do Valle, Danielli Braga de Mello, Marcos de Sá Rego Fortes "Effect of diet and indoor cycling on body composition and serum lipid" Arq Bras Cardiol. 2010 Aug;95(2):173-8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20585735/
2. Stacey Colino "How Indoor Cycling Works Muscles All Over Your Body" Verywellfit May 21, 2021 https://www.verywellfit.com/what-muscles-biking-works-1958330
3. A Bianco, M Bellafiore, G Battaglia, A Paoli, G Caramazza, F Farina "The effects of indoor cycling training in sedentary overweight women" J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2010 Jun;50(2):159-65. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20585293/
4. Paige Waehner "Everything You Need to Know About Cardio" Verywellfit https://www.verywellfit.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cardio-1229553