The Exerpeutic Folding Magnetic Upright Bike continues to rank as the Best folding exercise bike year after year.
In fact, it’s an Amazon bestseller in exercise bikes. It’s got high ratings, with close to 6000 reviews at the time of this post.
And almost 90% of those reviews are 4 and 5 stars.
The quality is good and the price is right!
That’s why so many people are investing in their health with this folding exercise bike.
If you are thinking about a portable exercise bike that’s easy to fold up for storage — this could be your best choice ever.
The Best Folding Exercise Bike Review
The Exerpeutic Folding Magnetic Upright Bike With Pulse is one of the most affordable priced folding bikes on the market.
That’s really something when you consider the quality and features you get!
General Description
This compact bike comes with all the basic features you need for getting the most out of your exercise — right in the comfort of your home.
● Weighing in at about 40 pounds – with built-in wheels for moving – it’s very portable.
● Hand pulse sensors on the handlebars put monitoring your heart rate while pedaling right where you want it.
● 8 Tension levels to choose from keeps you challenged as your strength and stamina build.
● Easy to read – Large – LCD display console to view your present and accumulated workout stats keep you accountable for your workouts.
● The wide, plush, comfortable, and easy to adjust seat makes it fun to exercise.
● Accommodates up to 300 pounds with no trouble so you can depend on being stable, with no flexing or rocking.
Features
This Exerpeutic foldable exercise bike comes with the features you would expect on a much more expensive stationary bike. Everything about it is made for ease of use while getting and maintaining the best health and fitness.
Folding – Storage – Portability
Here are two reasons people enjoy this compact exercise bike so much:
- Just fold it up, roll it to the closet, and hide it away until your next exercise session. You won’t be looking around it while you watch TV, and there’s no need to add a room for a gym.
- Load it in the car, camper trailer, or Rv for trips. It’s easy to take with you on extended trips to be sure you don’t miss any workouts for cardio and burning calories.
Stationary bikes have a bad habit of winding up in the middle of a room, pushed up in a corner with difficult access, or needing a room dedicated as a gym.
With a portable bike, you’ll never be faced with that problem, because it’s easy to get it out of the way when not in use.
It will never be in the way! Just fold it up and put it a closet, laundry room, or in an unused corner.
When you’re ready for your cardio session, or just burning off a few calories — Quickly and effortlessly set it up just about anywhere in the house.
When it’s unfolded for riding, it’s only 46″ tall and about 37″ long.
Moving it from place to place is easy. It has 2 wheels (that can’t be seen in the image, but are at each end of the front stabilizer bar).
Just lift the back of the bike off the floor and easily roll it around. It will roll effortlessly on the carpet, tile, vinyl, or hardwood surfaces.
Heavy Duty Design
You can put any questions you may have about the sturdiness and safety of a foldable exercise bike to rest.
Everything about this foldable exercise bike is very high quality — including the actual design and frame components.
Here’s what I mean by sturdy and safe:
- Heavy duty design and construction. Everything about it is designed and constructed with heavy duty as the watchword — while maintaining the lightest possible weight.
- Ergonomic. The Exerpeutic Folding Bike is built around comfort and efficiency as you exercise.
- Easy and safe to mount and dismount. The unique and stable design makes it effortless to get on and off.
- Wide and stable footprint. Extended leg stabilizers make the bike stable and solid for a great ride.
- Rigid construction. Enjoy a comfortable exercise experience from a firm, steady, and durable piece of the best home exercise equipment.
- Substantial and long-lasting finish. The powder coating is one of the most long-lasting, color durable, resistant to chipping, fading or scratching — finishes available anywhere.
- High weight limit. The recommended weight limit of 300 pounds is an indication of high-quality construction. It also means no flexing in the frame no matter how fast or vigorous you ride.
To tell you the truth, the sturdiness for such a lightweight bike made for exercising is amazing. Don’t forget, this thing weighs less than 40 pounds.
Comfortable Seat
The seat itself is large enough for anyone of any size to sit comfortably for extended periods.
In fact, it’s larger and more comfortable than the seat on my much more expensive stationary bike, which came as a surprise to me?
I guess if you’re used to riding a 10 speed on the streets, you might find the seat a little large? For me and countless others though,
This is the best seat for a folding exercise bike.
The seat is big, nice, roomy, and padded.
Sometimes people have something to say about it being large, but after riding on it a few times, they get used to it, and wouldn’t trade it.
Adjusting the Seat Height
All it takes to move the seat is to loosen the adjustment knob underneath and easily slide the seat up or down.
The adjustment knob is a pin that locks into one of 5 different predetermined holes making sure that once properly positioned and tightened it can’t move.
The ease of safely re-aligning it for different users makes it quick and efficient.
Any number of people will have no trouble finding just the right height seamlessly and with no fuss.
In fact, this is a great foldable exercise bike for short people!
The different preset aligning holes make for a very comfortable cardio workout because you can find the perfect place to get a full range of motion as you pedal with your legs.
If you’ve been riding a bike at the gym you may find this one to be a lot more comfortable due to the seat size and easy adjustments.
The seating is actually made to cater to people between 5’3″ and 6’1″.
There are reports of people taller than 6’1″ using the bike by sliding back on the seat, but I suspect it’s not comfortable or efficient? Tall people could find their knees coming up too high and limiting the full range of motion.
Most people “just a little shorter” than 5’3″ just move forward on the seat to reach the pedals. Exerpeutic seats adjust up and down quite easily and quickly to fit different heights and leg lengths.
Pedals
The pedals are hard and thick plastic with attached straps to keep your feet in place and secure
With no slipping around as you ride and exercise.
You’ll notice right away that the entire pedal device, including the straps, provides a very smooth and fluid workout.
If you back up the page to the second image you will see the pedals are a little more forward than what you would have on a street bicycle.
In reality, they are a little more like the forward pedals on a recumbent bike. You will notice that instead of the straight down motion of pedaling — there will be just a small amount of pushing forward.
At first, pedaling may seem a little awkward, but trust me, you’ll get used to them quickly. You won’t be able to stand up and pedal, like doing sprints, but that’s not something I do anyway?
Pedals are spacious and include straps to keep your feet in place with no slipping.
Noise
The first thing you’re likely to notice from the Exerpeutic Folding Magnetic Upright Bike With Pulse is the quietness.
I really prefer to watch TV while I’m exercising on an indoor bike, and this bike lets me do that with ease. As a matter of fact, you won’t even need to turn the volume up.
You can even ride in the same room with someone else watching TV or reading a book without bothering their concentration. The only thing they’re likely to notice is your own movement as you pedal.
And if you live in an apartment, no worries about disturbing your neighbors.
Even though I don’t have any babies, I am sure they could sleep in the same room while I workout.
If you really get into your cardio or doing HIIT exercises on the bike, you’ll probably hear yourself panting.
About the only other noise, I can think of is this: if you live upstairs, or exercise on the second floor of your own house, you may want to invest in an exercise mat.
I’m guessing there would be that constant vibration working through the floor as you do your training. An inexpensive rubber mat should dampen any vibration.
The bike is quiet with no noisy chains or wind noise. Only the heavy breathing of a good workout.
Magnetic Tension System
The magnetic tension system is part of what makes this bike so versatile.
Quickly select the tension level — which selects how much exertion needed to turn the pedals.
It manually adjusts from 1 to 8 different levels with a large and easy to reach knob right in front of you while riding.
Being able to adjust the tension is a real plus for changing your own exercise and workout levels as you get stronger, as well as accommodating different users.
You find your own best resistance level when starting out. One that’s not “freewheeling”, yet doesn’t cause you to hurt as you pedal.
As you get stronger with exercise and your endurance level goes up, just adjust the tension knob up in small increments.
And don’t worry about it having enough for a serious workout, either. There’s plenty of resistance even in the midranges.
Magnetic Crank System
This unique magnetic tension control system is really the core of the Exerpeutic Folding Bike and what makes it the best choice.
The high torque cranking system delivers a fluid, slick, smooth, and seamless experience as you’re pedaling.
Combine this with the 8 resistance levels for a very smooth cardio session.
The V-belt drive is the system that makes it smooth and responsible for the quietness I mentioned earlier.
How the Magnetic Tension Works
Inside the flywheel cover are magnets. As you turn the tension resistance knob the positions of the magnets change.
The closer the magnets get to the flywheel as you turn the knob, the more resistance it puts on the pedals.
Reduce the tension with your hand adjustment, and the magnets get farther away from the flywheel, thus making it easier to pedal.
I like that there is no front wheel like you find on stationary bikes that require a chain drive and much more noise.
The ingenious magnetic tension system with a flywheel and v belt makes cardio exercise sessions easy and productive with no noise.
Electronic Computer Console
The console readout indicates:
- Distance in miles accumulated during all of your workout sessions
- The distance you’ve ridden so far during the current workout
- Calories you’ve burned throughout current session
- The time you’ve exercised in minutes and seconds
- The present speed you are pedaling
- Heart rate monitor works as you hold both handlebars for the sensor measure and display your pulse.
The screen is generous in size so that it’s very easy to read while you’re pedaling. The only drawback I’ve found here is that the screen isn’t backlit.
I never count on any of my home exercise machines to accurately measure my calories burned, but rather use the function to give me a general picture of how hard I’ve exercised. I understand there’s no real way to tell me how many calories I’m burning, but it’s a great motivator.
The main thing I want to know is how fast I’m going, how long I ride, and what the resistance is set on. That way I can gradually increase each as my strength and endurance increases.
I really like the automatic on/off function of the computer. When I start pedaling, the computer turns on automatically. However, it will give me 4 minutes after stopping before it turns itself off.
You won’t lose all the info when you let it sit for more than 4 minutes, because it’s stored for you. When you start pedaling again, it starts where you left off.
Just hold the function selector button down for 2 seconds to reset everything in the computer other than the odometer that keeps up with the miles over all your workouts.
The Electronic Computer Console shows me how fast I’m pedaling or several different stats — depending on what I want to know at the moment
Heart Pulse Sensors
What would the Exerpeutic Folding Magnetic Upright Bike With Pulse be without pulse sensors?
As the name suggests, part of the popularity of this portable and compact exercise machine is the heart rate sensors.
Indoor cycling is one of the best aerobic exercises for losing weight and increasing your overall heart and lung health. But you need to get your heart rate up to enjoy the benefits of cardio workouts of any type.
The heart pulse sensors on the handlebars keep you informed of how fast your heart beats as you workout.
When you know your target heart rate and keep up with how much effort you’re exerting you can get the most from your workouts.
When you’re ready to check your pulse, just move your hands to the sensors and grip them firmly.
You won’t need to hold the sensors constantly, either.
Just keep your hands at the most comfortable place, and move them to the sensors when you what to check your zones for effective cardio workouts.
You’ll receive the two AAA batteries to operate the console and pulse rate monitor sensors with the bike, and they will last for a long while. There’s nothing else electrical, so there’s nothing to plug in….
Assembly
There is some assembly required, but you won’t have any trouble putting it together yourself. In fact, most of it comes pre-assembled. Two people should be able to have it completely assembled in less than an hour, and probably more like 30 minutes.
I say two people because I like to have my wife read the directions step by step as I put everything together? To tell you the truth, there’s only a very few screws, nuts, and washers that you’ll need to attach.
And it comes with all the tools you need, and that’s only a small wrench, Allen wrench, and a Phillips head screwdriver.
Here’s an infographic showing all screws, nuts, and washers you will need to apply:
Most of the bike comes pre-assembled. You just put the finishing touches on it and start exercising and smiling at such a great purchase.
Factory Specs
Weight:
39 lbs
Weight capacity
300 lbs.
Measurements:
Unfolded and ready to ride – 46″ height, 37″ length
Folded for storage – 55-1/2″ height, 19-1/2″ length
Front stabilizer – 22-1/2″
Rear stabilizer – 22″
Click here to go back up the page to get a visual picture of the bike folded for storage when you’re not exercising.
The most important thing for me is the small footprint and lightweight. You can put it almost anywhere to ride or store.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
These are the most common questions I’m asked about the Exerpeutic Upright Bike:
Seat Size?
The seat is 15″ x 11″
Is it hard to assemble?
Even if you consider yourself non-mechanically inclined, if you can read and follow directions you will have no trouble. There are a total of 9 bolts and screws, 4 nuts, and 11 washers to install.
Can I read while I exercise?
Most people find it easy to prop their elbows on the handlebars and hold a book while pedaling.
Does the bike plug into the wall for power?
No! The only power needed is from the included 2 AAA batteries. Just remove the cover from the back of the computer, correctly position them, close the cover and you’re ready to go.
Can I lose weight with cardio exercise?
You should consider that weight loss comes from 2 sources: consuming fewer calories and or burning more calories than you consume. You could potentially burn as many as 250-300 calories an hour with this exercise bike depending on the tension level and speed. Now take into account that one Big Mac is over 500 calories. So the exercise machine will do its job quite well, the rest is up to you?
Is the bike silent?
Not really? However, you will find it to be very quiet with much less noise than stationary models that use the front wheel for a fan.
How long is the warranty?
Comes with a one-year limited warranty.
Is it hard to fold up for storage?
The bike is extremely easy to fold when you’re through with your workout. You merely remove the safety pin that holds it in the extended position. Next, push the front and rear frames together until the holes for the folded position meet. Now, it’s locked into position
What does Pulse mean?
Pulse simply means your heart rate, or how fast it’s beating. (your pulse) Your pulse is an important part of exercising on a bike for cardio or for losing weight. If you’re not raising our heartbeat while you’re riding, you probably aren’t exerting yourself enough. You can raise or lower it while exercising by adjusting the tension knob, and by pedaling faster or slower.
What does the magnetic mean?
The Exerpeutic Folding Magnetic Upright Bike With Pulse uses a series of magnets that engage and disengage via the tension adjustment knob. The closer the magnets are to the flywheel, the more tension you have to work against.
Can I leave the bike outside on the patio?
This is an indoor piece of equipment! Leaving it outside in the weather is never advisable. It’s so easy to move on the wheels in the front extended stationary bar, that there’s no reason to leave it in the weather.
Still got questions? Over 1,000 answered questions await your arrival.
Customer Reviews and Scores
At the time I publish this post, there are over 5,600 customer reviews on Amazon with about a 4 1/2 star rating (out of 5 stars).
Folks, that’s about the best rating you would ever expect to see for any product. There’s no doubt that many people would complain if you gave them money- hence the 1/2 percent of dissenters.
The high customer rating speaks loads about this folding – exercise bike, it’s usability, and endurance when it comes to having a machine that can drastically improve your heart health and help you lose weight.
What People Complained About
- The majority of the complaints have to do with the seat size. I’ve never found that to be a real issue? The seat is large and comfortable. The bike and its quality warrants a trip to Walmart and purchasing a bicycle seat for a few bucks if you don’t like it.
- Complaints about calorie usage not being accurate. All I can say to that is that the calorie counter is a guide, and does what is expected.
- The other majority of complaints have to do with the position of the pedals. The pedals are not directly under you as a street bike or even a stationary bike. They are also not as far forward as a recumbent bike. It should take about 3 1/2 minutes to get accustomed to giving a little push forward instead of straight down?
I don’t really have any complaints, and the reviews and high ratings speak louder than anything!
Why Exerpeutic is The Best Choice
In my opinion, it’s hard to beat this bike for exercising and then folding up to get it out of the way. It’s:
- Durable
- Lightweight
- Affordable
- Foldable
- Strong, rigid, and well made
- Has a heart rate sensor right on the handlebars
- Computer to keep track of your workout stats
To be honest, you can find cheaper knock offs of this bike, but I wouldn’t do that? Exerpeutic is a name brand with a telephone number to call if you need help and a warranty.
The Exerpeutic Folding Upright Bike is the best portable bike for the money when you consider that it’s made with solid and quality parts.
This bike is made to last and provide the service you can count on for years to come.
Benefits of an Exercise Bike
U.S.Department of Health and Human Services states that for persistent and sound health benefits adults should get no less than 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity each week. Cut that down to 75 minutes with HIIT type workouts on your cardio bike.
One of the best ways to get cardio exercise is with an exercise bike. Here are just a few of the benefits you’ll get from a regular and sustained exercise schedule:
Weight loss
Let’s be honest, ok? There’s no magic here. Even this bike, as good as it is, is not a magic pill for losing weight. But here’s what it takes to lose those extra pounds:
- Time
- Effort
- Regular exercise
- Lifestyle changes
- Devotion to your goals
So, let there be no doubt that even a mini exercise bike like the Exerpeutic Folding bike is going to provide the machine to get the regular exercise you must have for weight loss.
Easy on your joints
Getting your exercise on a bike is much easier on your joints than using a treadmill, or even walking. With arthritis in one of my own knees, working out on my own portable bike is a breeze.
People who are prone to knee injuries, have arthritis, or just want to take good care of their knees — can opt for an exercise bike for more comfort than more high impact workouts.
Toning your legs
Pedaling a bike will help tone your entire lower body, including your quads, glutes, and calves for great looking legs. (I find that pedaling also works on my waist.)
Improves leg range of motion
Exercise is the #1 remedy for arthritis in knee joints, and pedaling a bike is one of the best ways to sit comfortably in your home and exercise.
As you pedal along, you will rotate your knees, ankles, and hips to keep the joints mobile and surrounding and supporting muscles strong.
Forget the weather
There are only a few days each year when the weather is perfect. It’s either too hot, too cold, raining, or snowing. With an indoor bike, I get my exercise every day without the weather interfering. No heavy winter clothes, no rain gear! In fact, you can get in your cardio in your PJs.
The fact is this: no exercise program, heart health regime, or dieting efforts are complete without cardio. And exercise bikes are the best way to get cardio for me!
Are Folding Exercise Bikes Any Good?
No doubt — you can buy folding exercise bikes that won’t last long enough for you to change your waistline or your heart health.
On the other hand, this is surely the best portable exercise bike I’ve found.
When it comes to keeping your body in check with physical exercise:
A foldable bike Is Just As Good as a much more expensive stationary type.
That’s simply because you’re getting your cardio and complete lower body workout on either.
We all need cardio and we all need regular physical activity, and this is one of the best ways to get that done.
Here’s what makes folding exercise bikes so good:
Space Saving
It’s evident that the first benefit is that it’s easy to fold it up into a compact unit to store away when you’re through with it. This particular bike takes up very little space when folded, and that’s even better for people who don’t have a lot of space. In fact, it takes up very little space when in use.
Affordable Cost
The next plus is that it’s much easier on your pocketbook to purchase a fold-up model than an upright, or recumbent bike. They have smaller frames and lighter frames, with fewer parts. That makes it cheaper to produce than larger bikes, so they are more low cost than other options.
They are Portable
When it comes to cardio machines, you just can’t beat the portability of folding exercise bikes.
The Exerpeutic Folding Magnetic Upright Bike, in particular, makes it really simple to pick up the back end and roll it around when it’s fully extended.
That means you can quite easily place it in view of the TV today, and watch out the window when you exercise tomorrow.
It’s light enough and compact enough to carry from one place to another, and even take it on trips with you.
To Summarize
To sum it up, I definitely consider this to be the superior choice for the money. This bike is more than ideal for anyone:
- With limited space
- Doesn’t like having an exercise bike sitting in the middle of the room when not in use
- Likes to move around to different rooms to workout
- Wants to keep up with cardio on trips
- People who prefer low impact workouts for cardio
- Doesn’t care to spend the money on a stationary bike
- Likes to exercise inside instead of dealing with inclimate weather
These home exercise bikes are meticulously produced to provide you with years of enjoyment while you expand your health and reduce your waist.