If you go into almost any fitness gym in America, you will see a line of exercise bikes, most likely with riders already using them. They have been one of the most popular exercise machines for several years now. Although they seem very simple and easy to use, and they are, they are capable of giving you a very good cardio workout if you use them properly.

Most of the exercise bikes that you see in fitness gyms will probably be the upright kind. However, there are actually two main types or styles of exercise bike in use today. The first is the upright kind that looks most similar to an ordinary bicycle, except that is missing one or both wheels. The second kind of exercise bike is called a recumbent bike, and it can look fairly strange the first time you see it. Rather than sit on an upright seat, you actually lay in the recumbent bike and work the petals with your feet out in front of you.

So when considering an exercise bike for your home fitness workouts, the first choice is whether to get an upright or recumbent bike. Actually, the choice is entirely up to you, and comes down more to which style is most comfortable for you as you exercise. It has been noted though, that those who suffer from chronic back pain may be able to make the most use of a recumbent bike simply because it takes the stress and pressure off their spine as they exercise.

There is actually a third kind of exercise bike although it is not usually thought of in that way. It's called a bike trainer, and it is essentially a stand that you place a real bicycle into in order to lift the rear wheel off the ground and give stability to the bike. There is usually a resistance wheel that makes contact with the rear wheel of the bike and provides the resistance for your workout. If you get a very good model of bike trainer, the stability and ease-of-use will be very good no matter how fast you pedal. One of the advantages of this design is that it lets you use your own bicycle that you may feel very comfortable riding as a virtual exercise machine indoors when you can't use it outdoors. However this solution is not for everyone, even though it is a very inexpensive alternative to exercise bike machines.

Once you have decided on the type or style of exercise bike that you like best, it's time to consider the features of each individual model. Some of the features that are most useful include an interactive heart rate monitor, and a well-designed electronic display.

An interactive heart rate monitor will keep an eye on your pulse rate as you exercise and then adjusts your workout intensity to make sure that you get the most calories burned in each exercise session. This is a real timesaver as it prevents you from having to constantly check your heart rate and make the manual adjustments for resistance on your bike as you go.

The electronic display should be clear and easy to read even when you are peddling fast and at a high intensity level. It should also allow you to make adjustments manually while you are exercising easily and quickly.

The information provided here should help you understand the various kinds of exercise bike equipment that is available and what features are most useful to the average person. And hopefully you can use these suggestions to get the exercise bike that is best for you.

Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including fitness. You can find exercise bike ratings and the best exercise bike by visiting our Home Fitness website.