I have previously reviewed the excellent Flexispot electric E5 standing desk, and 3 years ago, the Cubii Under Desk Smart Elliptical.
Since reviewing the Cubii, the trend for under bikes and ellipticals have grown exponentially with dozens of options on the market, while Cubii appears to have discontinued their app-connected models.
Flexispot has then taken things one further by building a fully integrated desk bike. Priced at £449.99 RRP, it is not exactly cheap, being more expensive than the electric sit-stand desks they offer and being more expensive than the handful of competing options.
FLEXISPOT V9 Home Office Exercise Desk Bike Upright…
- Exercise Bike Part, Standing Desk Part. Flexispot…
- Multitasking is a cinch with plenty of desk space…
- Whether It Is 155Cm Or 190Cm, Everyone In The…
- Easily move the bike desk from room to room with 4…
Set-Up
Setting the Flexispot Cycle Desk Bike up couldn’t be any easier, though it is quite heavy, so if you are not very strong, two hands may help.
The bike arrives in two boxes, the bike itself, then the desk. Assembly consists of:
- Flipping out the bike legs
- Slotting on the table
- Screwing in one bolt using the supplied hex key
- Adding two AA batteries to the clock/timer
- Adjusting the seat height/table height etc. to your liking
In Use
As a keen cyclist and a tall person, I was a little concerned about the design and dimensions, it looks extremely cramped. One of the amazon reviews shows a man that looks far too squashed up for my liking.
Thankfully, the range of height adjustments should accommodate most people. Importantly, this isn’t designed to be like a real bike you cycle outside; you are sat much more upright, so the seat to table distance is much shorter than on my road bike where I am sat forward 45+ degrees.
Height adjustments for tall people
At first, I had both the seat and table at the full height, which was quite comfortable for me and provided the best leg extension to offer something semi like cycling.
I found that it was also possible to find a comfortable position with lower down settings. For tall people, once you hit a certain point, your knees will be travelling up higher than your hips, so you run the risk of bashing your knees on the desk, or have the desk too high up.
The main thing is, that at 6’2, I was able to use the bike without maxing out all the adjustments, so I think this should accommodate people quite a bit taller.
Desk cycling experience
Because I am someone that cycles a lot for fitness, the cycling experience is a little odd. It is a very small pedal rotation, so it’s a bit like riding a child’s bike at first. There is also the temptation to try and put in more effort in order to replicate that fitness experience.
This is not ideal, nor what it is designed for. Increasing the resistance too much and/or cadence, and you will introduce quite a bit of table wobble, plus the effort you are putting into cycling is somewhat distracting when trying to complete work.
However, on what feels like easy to no effort for me, the desk is quite pleasant to work on. It is much more preferable than the Cubii, which just felt a little pointless using.
While this physically takes up a lot of space, it is on rollers, so quite easy to move around.
Table size / workspace
As you would expect, the table is quite small, so this is only suitable for a laptop, which unfortunately rules this out as a long term solution for me. I use 3 large monitors, I couldn’t cope working all day on a laptop. However, I have used this regularly in the evening for general admin work, which has worked well for me, stopping me from lying down on the couch all night.
I have seen some users that have integrated the Cycle Desk with a sit-stand desk which seems to offer quite a usable work environment for more complex monitor set-ups.
You can remove the table and then use this underneath a desk, but in this scenario, the Sit2Go 2-in-1 from Flexispot may be a better purchase.
Fitness and health benefits?
Sitting down all day has a negative effect on your health, which is why we have seen such a large growth in sit/stand desks. This works in a similar way, keeping your legs moving and providing an alternative option or something that can be used in conjunction with a standing desk.
I found it hard to get my heart rate up high enough for any meaningful benefit for cardiovascular health, but I am considerably fitter than average. People that are just getting into exercise should be able to achieve a moderate heart rate that can be acceptable for low-intensity cardio training.
Of course, this and sit-stand desks are not just about burning calories or raising your heart rate; there are numerous health benefits, including reducing the risk of long term back pain/injuries.
Comfort
This is not an office chair. It has an actual bike seat on it similar to what you might find on a gym bike. It is much larger and more comfortable than my road bike, so I didn’t experience much of an issue with comfort, but some people may have issues with extended use.
There is no back support, but I found that the design of the bike combined with the cycling motion helped me maintain a good posture vs my usual slumping in my office chair.
Price and Alternatives
| Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
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FLEXISPOT V9 Home Office Exercise Desk Bike Upright… | £429.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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Fitdesk 3.0 Desk Exercise Bike – White, Medium | £379.00 | Buy on Amazon |
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himaly Mini Exercise Bike Pedal Exerciser Portable Home Leg… | £41.98 | Buy on Amazon |
The Flexispot Cycle Desk Bike V9 Pro is £449.99 on Flexispot, and they regularly have sales on. It is also available on Amazon for £429.99.
There are a few alternative options, but the Flexispot seems to offer the best design, in my opinion.
The Fitdesk 3.0 Desk Exercise Bike is £379, which can be collapsed down to be a bit more storable, but I am not sure about the overall design of it.
Depending on your office set up, the Fitdesk Sit2Go 2-in-1 Fitness Chair may be a better investment, it is cheaper at £250 but lacks a table, it is instead designed to go under a table, and I would assume this is geared towards being used with one of the sit-stand desks.
Then, of course, there are all the affordable under desk solutions, they are worth considering if budget is limited and you want something to help improve your overall daily activity, these are available for under £50.
Overall
The Flexispot Cycle Desk Bike V9 Pro works as expected, it is well made, and I find it much more preferable to the under desk options. I feel like there will be significantly better health benefits from a greater range of movement you have from a proper Cycle Desk.
However, this is a physically large device that is quite expensive. So you need to be quite committed to using it if this interests you.
For me, I am already extremely active, so I don’t really need to burn more calories and fit people are unlikely to achieve the intensity required to achieve any cardiovascular benefits. So for people that are already very active and healthy, I’d suggest a sit/stand desk is a better investment, giving you a superior workspace combined with the health benefits of standing up.
For people who are not fit and/or want to lose weight and struggle with exercise or mobility in general, this seems like an excellent way to add some low-impact activity into your life.
I have previously lost a lot of weight and I would have loved to have had something like this to aid in my weight loss.
Posted by Mighty Gadget Blog: UK Technology News and Reviews
