Compact Exercise Bike - Right For Me?

I have a confession to make. I want to get in shape, but I hate the idea of going to a gym. They're expensive, noisy, dirty, and frankly I'd rather not have all those exercise junkies staring at my fitness attempts and commenting to their meathead buddies about how funny I look. I just don't think I'd be able to keep going to the gym for too long facing that kind of scrutiny! What can I do to get in shape?! I started looking at home working out equipment.

The problem is I don't exactly have the the largest apartment, nor too much money to spend on clunky weight equipment! I don't want to look like the roided out guys on the infomercials (OK, I wouldn't mind looking like that, but I'm clearly not willing to put in the effort). Home fitness equipment it is for me! After some research, I settled on a compact exercise bike - not too expensive, and more importantly, fits in my cramped studio apartment. It's so convenient and I can avoid the gym environment that keeps me from exercising.

Like every piece of fitness equipment, prices are all over the map for various compact exercise bike models with crazy functions and neat doohickeys. Most of them are unnecessary - it's really just a bike that doesn't go anywhere when you pedal it! The difference is that it fits into small places, the best of which is under my desk! That way when I'm paying bills (yay!) or reading late at night, I can be slowly pedaling the pounds away!

Compact Exercise Bikes are basically the pedal part of a regular bike, and nothing else. No seat, no handles, no giant wheels (why are those there anyway on the bigger models - they're not going anywhere!). None of those complex video screens and games (I never thought anyone would want to play games while exercising), just an adjustable difficulty band and timer. Put it down, somewhere discreet, and pedal away, none the wiser. While my coworkers are filing their reports, I'm...filing reports and riding a bike!

I did a lot of research online in to exercise bikes, and I highly recommend you do too - everyone's got a different set of requirements - having a piece of equipment you're not comfortable with, or putting it in a place you don't like - all of this contributes to you not using it, which is the exact opposite of what we're going for. Ideally you find something that gets you to use it almost mindlessly, without effort, and without all that "meh, I don't want to" we all feel from time to time (some more than others!). If you don't think you're going to use it, do some more research and pick something you'll like.

From the research I've done, I'm choosing between three different products:
1. Genuine Magnetrainer ER (Extended Range) Mini Exercise Bike
2. Verseo Freedom Cycle Compact Digital Exercise Bike
3. Paradigm 7101 ACTIVcycle Motorized Exercise Cycle

Me, I went with the Genuine Magnetrainer ER - mainly because at ~$150 (you can find it cheaper with a bit of hunting!) it's not very expensive, and it fits under my desk, my main requirement. Now I leisurely pedal my way through the day while I'm at my desk. The scenery doesn't change, but now I can more easily see my toes, so something's working! Sometimes I put the device on my desk and use my hands to turn the pedals - gets me a great shoulder and arm workout too, my wife has commented!

When I finally move to a bigger place I'll look into a recumbent or upright model, like the Schwinn 131 exercise bike or the Schwinn 101 exercise bike, but for now I'm going to stick with the Verseo Freedom Cycle. I'm no crazy fitness guy, and both of these seemed like good starter models that wouldn't overwhelm me with features and bells and whistles. I pretty much just want to pedal, keep track of time, and adjust difficulty. For now, a compact exercise bike fits the bill perfectly.