7 Best Folding Exercise Bikes for Any Space or Budget

The XTERRA FB150 is hands down the best exercise bike in its class, with an unrivaled mix of price, comfort, and quality of workout.

If you’re a new or intermediate biker with limited space and a tight budget, this is the #1 pick. You can stop reading now.

Throughout testing, our team pretty much all gave similar feedback: “it was the most comfortable workout in this group of bikes, and it actually helped us pedal further and stay on the bike”.

Most exercise bikes aren’t very comfortable, which leads to back, knee, or even elbow and wrist pain. But the XTERRA’s magnetic resistance and oversized, plush cushion made it comfortable enough to pedal on for hours.

Here’s what we liked:

Of course it’s not perfect. There’s no single ELITE feature on this bike. Some bikes have more resistance levels or larger seats. A few on this list have some better features or are better for different types of people (for example, very tall or heavier users).

The biggest drawback is it’s only for average-size users. The capacity is only 225 pounds, so some of our team members couldn’t even use it. And it’s wobbly when you’re over 200 pounds. Also, if you’re 6-foot or taller, then you’ll struggle to pedal. If you’re larger than that, skip down to #2 - it’s our top pick for larger users.

It’s just a great all-around pick at a no-brainer price for average-sized people.

If that’s you, then this is the perfect bike for you. Check out the specs now and see if it fits your profile.

Next up is our top pick for the big boys reading this review. The Exerpeutic Gold is a heavy duty bike meant for tall or bulky users, but that’s still comfortable and compact enough for smaller users.

It’s great for couples where the husband is much larger than his wife, too!

We tested this bike on our tallest and heaviest team members and it passed with flying colors. It’s stable to get on, doesn’t wobble when you pedal, and comfortable enough to handle long limbs without causing aches and pains. Even the pedals themselves are wider than average.

Here’s the overall feedback:

There are a few things you might not like though:

All-in-all, if you’re a taller or heftier rider, this is the best bike for you considering the sturdiness.

Introducing - Amazon’s most comfortable exercise bike, and our top pick for comfort and usability for long workouts. Even after a few days of cycling an hour at high speeds, our team said they felt no back aches. That’s unheard of!

As soon as you climb on, you’ll notice the plush seating and adjustable backrest taking the pressure off your lower back and hips. You won’t feel like you’re in the clouds, but for an affordable foldable stationary bike, it doesn’t get much better than this.

The best part of the bike is that the comfort actually propels you to challenge yourself. Most exercise bikes are so uncomfortable that you stop cycling because you’re in pain, NOT because you’re tired. Not this one. You’ll be comfortable enough to keep pushing where you’d normally stop.

The comfort comes at the expense of durability. It’s super strong and the weight capacity is much lower than option 2. We’ll cover that down below.

But first, let’s cover our favorite features:

As far as what we didn’t like, the team was pretty much in consensus:

This as-seen-on-tv model is the ultimate calorie burning, muscle sculpting machine. The seated position takes all the pressure off your joints and optimizes your own torque to propel you farther than a typical “upright” bike.

If you want to have a long, leisurely ride with added strength training, this is for you. It’s also perfect for anyone with severe arthritis or chronic back pain, since it puts as little pressure as possible on the back.

It does make your workout less intense, though. So you’ve got to cycle longer and include strength training to make up the difference. If you do, you’ll get the ultimate full body cardio and strength workout.

The 10 free bonus classes are just the icing on the cake. A few of our team members said it was motivating to have instructors to follow along with. The classes are kind of cheap to be honest, but don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, right?

Here’s what we liked:

A few of the complaints about this bike include:

Pleny’s 3-in-1 is the most unique bike on this list. It’s the only one that comes with:

It’s like buying 3 bikes in one. You get the intense upright position, the comfortable “flat” position, and the semi-recumbent middleground in case you want some comfort and still want an intense cycling session. You can even alternate training on different days to sculpt muscles one type of cycling might miss.

Anyone in the family can use it to get any type of workout they want, and with 16 different resistance levels, you get the ultimate step-by-step resistance training program. Our team called it the Swiss Army bike!

The downside is that this bike sacrifices elite features for the sake of flexibility. The cushion isn’t super comfortable and the bike isn’t super sturdy. The main selling point here is all of the options for getting a killer workout.

Next up is the most stylish and high-end bike on the list: Lanos’ folding stationary bike. Everything about this bike screams luxury: The phone and tablet holder, the wide seating, the safety handle bars, the non-slip pedals_it’s made to impress.

And for a luxury bike, it’s super simple to assemble. It only took about 30 minutes.

After about 20 minutes each on the bike, the most common comments from our team were the sturdiness, stability, and ultra quiet gears.

If we had to be frank, we’d say that the price doesn’t really justify the added value. We’d much rather buy a cheaper bike that gives 95% the same value than an expensive bike with a few extra luxuries like a tablet holder and non-slip pedals.

If the others on the list didn’t appeal to you, check this one last and see what you think.