The Best Mini Exercise Bikes for Seniors or Those in Physical Therapy

Most of the magnetic mini exercise bikes in this guide offer eight levels of resistance, so it’s difficult to rate one over another based on that alone, but its most significant plus is its LCD. 

Bigger than nearly every other display on this list, it’s easier to read than most others. This ends up being a good thing due to one of the product’s features some might consider a negative, especially compared to units offering similar features. 

This Sunny Health Fitness model is one of the heaviest units we evaluated. If moving this around is something you plan on doing much of, you should consider unit weight. And if you have a heavier mini exercise bike like this one, the easier-to-read display means less likelihood of you having to pick the whole thing up to see the readout. 

This unit offered what felt like more and better stability than the others. Nothing seemed rickety, but some units felt a little less grounded than others. 

We got minimal rocking out of the unit and never noticed the bike scooting away or toward us as we used it. It is also a lighter unit, making it more portable than others. It is also a multi-use unit, meaning it works for hand-pedaling, as well. Among the under-$100 products, this is a solid option.

Despite being so light, this is a solidly built exercise peddler. The benefit of the steel frame is readily apparent when pedaling or even just setting it down on the ground before you get to your exercise. 

The non-slip pedals are nice, too, and while non-slip seems like a reasonably binary condition (either your feet slip off the pedals or they don’t) these felt a little more secure when compared to many of our other options. 

Many differences in these bikes are small when it comes down to it, so something as seemingly insignificant as how well the non-slip surfaces work can make a difference in making your choice. 

Compared with other units, this one does not fare well simply because of factors already mentioned—it’s tall, heavy, and not meant for use in an office. It does offer one of the quieter motions on this list, which is nice. 

When in a physical therapy setting, this mini exercise bike is ideal, as it’s sturdy and offers the bi-directional motion mentioned earlier that can be beneficial to those recovering from injury. Comparisons with this one are somewhat apples-to-oranges, but our findings showed us that it works well for what this unit is, though it is on the pricier end of things.

With a 220-pound weight limit, this is a solid unit for just about any user. Its rotary knob for resistance control provides for many different settings—an excellent option especially considering that this one comes in on the lower end of the cost spectrum.

The LCD screen that tracks distance, time, and calories burned is a touchscreen, which is a nice feature for ease of use, especially mid-pedal. One major drawback compared to other units is that most pedalers work double duty, allowing for pedaling by hand or foot. This one works for your feet only.

As with most of these units, the actual use is pretty straightforward: put your feet in them and pedal. The straps on the pedals are designed to keep your feet moored to the product as you exercise are comfortable and secure. This compares favorably with other units, some of which do not feel secure at all. 

Worrying that your feet might slip off the pedals complicates things, especially if you’re doing the under-the-desk thing, as this might make it difficult to concentrate on the work you’re trying to do on your desk while pedaling under your desk. 

However, it is a tall unit and lightweight. This combination leads to the unit tending to tip over if you pedal one leg harder than the other—something that can quickly happen if you’re mindlessly pedaling while doing other work.

In the case of “Your Greatest Strength is Also Your Greatest Weakness,” the Vaunn unit’s real claim to fame is its weight—or lack thereof. Almost three times lighter than the next most lightweight unit on our list, this mini bike can go just about anywhere and be taken there by just about anyone. 

However, many of these exercise units lose points for moving around during use, which is no exception. The Vaunn bike does come with a strap to anchor it to your chair, but that only prevents it from moving away from you as you pedal and does nothing to dissuade the mini bike from sliding side to side. 

The resistance settings for this one go from one to eight like nearly every other one, the only thing here being that some users report that the knob slips after a brief time pedaling, although we did not encounter anything like that. 

It also does not have an LCD to track your calories burned or whatever, which may be a dealbreaker. However, sometimes more straightforward is better. Depending on your needs or what you do or do not care about knowing, this may be just right.

Maybe the best thing about this one is that it is compatible with Zwift, an indoor cycling app. Measure your time speed distance. It won’t turn your mini bike into a fancy virtual reality rig, but it can certainly help with motivation while exercising. 

Other than that, most of this unit’s features are de rigueur for mini exercise bikes—eight resistance levels that offer a wide range, a strap to hold it in place while you pedal, and easy to move from place to place. It isn’t the lightest unit we compared, but it wasn’t the heaviest, either. 

Our tests revealed a tendency to squeak occasionally, but that is not unusual with these units, as every single one of them makes some kind of sound. 

This is a pricier option, and it is one of the taller units, but the pedals sit a bit lower in the body than in some of the other tall mini bikes, so under-desk use shouldn’t be a problem unless you have exceptionally long legs.