# Indoor Exercise Bike



## Hardy (Dec 4, 2022)

Hi - I was wondering if anyone had a good indoor exercise bike that they could recommend.
Looking at what us available is rather overwhelming...
Thanks


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## grovesy (Dec 4, 2022)

I found when looking for it is very individual.


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## Chris Hobson (Dec 4, 2022)

I personally prefer an actual bike fitted to a turbo trainer. This of course lands you with an even bigger array of bewildering choices. I use a Charge single speed bike hooked up to a fairly basic trainer. I added some basic tech so that it could talk to my sports watch. Wifey has a more technology loaded trainer that will project a route onto a screen and make you go up and down hills. We also have a DVD of the Tour De Yorkshire route which helps with the boredom of indoor cycling.


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## giddyupgo73 (Dec 5, 2022)

Personally use a Peloton original bike, expensive but has kept my interest for the last 4 years.


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## helli (Dec 5, 2022)

Like @Chris Hobson I use a turbo trainer connected to "normal bike". This gives me the option to go outside when the sun is shining and play with apps like Zwift when it's not. 
Zwift provides training programs (like Peloton) as well as races against amateur and professional cyclists or just "pootling" around routes such as the Tour de Yorkshire or zipping around London or hiking up the Alps around Innsbruck or around fictitious Japanese  cities and islands.


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## Hardy (Dec 6, 2022)

Thanks for your replies - more research and thinking to do


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## Sharron1 (Dec 6, 2022)

Hardy said:


> Hi - I was wondering if anyone had a good indoor exercise bike that they could recommend.
> Looking at what us available is rather overwhelming...
> Thanks


Hi,

I tore my meniscus and was advised  an exercise bike would be helpful. I am not a natural cyclist so I checked and researched exercise bikes.  In the end we simply went to  Argos and bought a self assembly bike for under £100. It is perfect and does the job.


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## Tdm (Dec 18, 2022)

Sharron1 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I tore my meniscus and was advised  an exercise bike would be helpful. I am not a natural cyclist so I checked and researched exercise bikes.  In the end we simply went to  Argos and bought a self assembly bike for under £100. It is perfect and does the job.


Just got myself an argos bike, but bs too low to give it a go at the moment...i normally walk after eating to stop bs spikes, but the icy pavements mean that any walking is too slow to really help.
Plus, hopefully, it will increase my insulin sensitivity.
If all else fails i can use it to dry clothes on.


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## Tdm (Dec 18, 2022)

Tdm said:


> Just got myself an argos bike, but bs too low to give it a go at the moment...i normally walk after eating to stop bs spikes, but the icy pavements mean that any walking is too slow to really help.
> Plus, hopefully, it will increase my insulin sensitivity.
> If all else fails i can use it to dry clothes on.


I got one of these. Easy to put together, a bit heavy dragging it upstairs on your own, has heart rate monitor, speed, timeing  distance etc


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## helli (Dec 18, 2022)

Tdm said:


> Just got myself an argos bike, but bs too low to give it a go at the moment...i normally walk after eating to stop bs spikes, but the icy pavements mean that any walking is too slow to really help.
> Plus, hopefully, it will increase my insulin sensitivity.
> If all else fails i can use it to dry clothes on.


You should not need to exercise to reduce spikes. If your levels spike high after eating but come back to normal levels, your dose is correct but the carbs are absorbed before your insulin reaches its peak. This can be overcome by bringing the time you take your insulin forward.

Exercise has many benefits whatever your reason.


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## Barrowman (Dec 18, 2022)

@Hardy - I got mine from a charity shop around three months ago, it's oldish and quite heavy but it's got all the gadgets on it except a coffee maker and a TV - and it only cost me a tenner, a bargain or what!!

Oh, and I use it three times every day and average fifty to sixty miles over the three sessions. Apart from the exercise, I'm trying to build up the strength in my leg muscles after losing over three stones in weight prior to being diagnosed as a diabetic in May.


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## Tdm (Dec 18, 2022)

helli said:


> You should not need to exercise to reduce spikes. If your levels spike high after eating but come back to normal levels, your dose is correct but the carbs are absorbed before your insulin reaches its peak. This can be overcome by bringing the time you take your insulin forward.
> 
> Exercise has many benefits whatever your reason.


Tried that. Perhaps others have got it to work, but not me, even with careful prebolusing.  And we're not talking spiky food either. Sometimes i do get a flat line...often with chilli for some reason. 

Still, as you say, excercise is always good and on a good day I get 100 % tir (4 - 7.9 is what i go by).

With the icy ground my tir is down to 75%  :-(


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## helli (Dec 18, 2022)

Tdm said:


> Tried that. Perhaps others have got it to work, but not me, even with careful prebolusing.  And we're not talking spiky food either. Sometimes i do get a flat line...often with chilli for some reason.
> 
> Still, as you say, excercise is always good and on a good day I get 100 % tir (4 - 7.9 is what i go by).
> 
> With the icy ground my tir is down to 75%  :-(


I recommend relaxing your TIR. 
When you look at Libre graphs for people without diabetes it is not uncommon to see their levels reach 8 or 9 and even 10.
And they will pretty much always rise after food. 
Expecting a flat line is unrealistic and a strict TIR will risk diabetes burnout.

Please remember to look after all of yourself, your full body and mind. Not just the diabetic part.


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## Tdm (Dec 18, 2022)

helli said:


> I recommend relaxing your TIR.
> When you look at Libre graphs for people without diabetes it is not uncommon to see their levels reach 8 or 9 and even 10.
> And they will pretty much always rise after food.
> Expecting a flat line is unrealistic and a strict TIR will risk diabetes burnout.
> ...


Thanks for that, you have a point, and my consultants would be agreement with you, but i get quite motivated by good figures (whilst knowing it not healthy to push it too far).
And i agree diabetes is taking up too much of my time. My next target is to address that! (Getting off here msy be a good start!)
It may also be the honeymoon period so i want to do as well as i can whilst i can. 
It's a bit of 'aim for the sky and you'll hit the treetops'.
As for the 'flat line' its quite random when it happens and not reproducable.


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