Best Folding Exercise Bikes
Latest Update: 6 December 2024
Unless you have a dedicated gym space in your home then you are going to think long and hard about buying any form of exercise equipment.
Even those lucky enough to have a dedicated room to work out in are going to want to optimise their space as fully as possible – so any equipment that folds down and is easy to store is going to appeal. Folding exercise bikes are a great idea – but are they really all they’re cracked up to be?
Like most things in the world of fitness, there is the good, the bad and the downright ugly – not to mention the ludicrously expensive! Having trawled what feels like hundred of options we have found 9 of the best folding exercise bikes that offer good value for money, a decent workout and are easy to store – we then put them to the test and have brought you this comprehensive review.
Best Foldable Bike – Quick Verdict
The best foldable bike has to go to the BCAN. It’s hefty, solid, can hold up to 136kg and a height of 6’ 1”, yet it somehow folds up to a perfectly compact position that will suit any small space.
The seat is incredibly comfortable and wide, which is a relief when compared to the usual cycling saddle. The monitor is also simple yet perfectly designed and positioned, with a handy non-slip silicon holder for your device above the display.
It’s one of the quietist bikes we’ve tested, and its 8 levels of magnetic resistance provide enough ease and challenge for most riders. The pedals are nicely designed and comfortable, too.
Overall, this bike is excellent value for money, and gives us a solid frame to cycle on that easily transports to a hiding place when not in use.
Wenoker Exercise Bike
Let’s start with the bestselling Wenoker, which is a fantastic option for a folding bike. You can get it either in black and orange or a cool grey and green, though the latter is a little more expensive.
This bike is really simple in design, which means it folds up as simply as an ironing board – perfect if you’re really short on space.
Plus, you can easily transport it on wheels, so it’s fantastically convenient.
It’s got the standard 8 levels of magnetic resistance, and for each level you can really feel the difference.
The bike feels really stable when you’re cycling, and is nice and quiet, too. Holding up to a maximum capacity of 110kg, it’s not the heaviest-holding, but still a stronger hold than some others.
The pedals are particularly comfortable on this bike – they’re anti-slip and easily adjustable. The seat is adjustable in height, too. You don’t get any back support with it, but then you really want a recumbent bike if back support is a deal breaker.
The size of this bike is as standard really (116cm d x 24cm w x 28cm h).
What I really love about this bike is the monitor. It’s simple, but really well designed whereby the display is clear and easily functional, and even has a non-slip silicon holder above the monitor rather than below it. So you can pop your iPad or phone on there with ease, without blocking the display.
The handles are also very nicely positioned either side of the monitor, with built-in heart rate monitors.
And bonus, it was so easy to assemble. This bike really is designed purely to do what an exercise bike should do, and it packs away beautifully. No, it doesn’t come with included resistance bands like many other bikes; but it doesn’t need them. It focuses instead on just being a really good bike that works in small spaces, and it does it very well indeed.
Despite being sold hundreds of times over by Amazon alone, there’s barely anything negative to say from users. It really is a very good option at a very good price.
BCAN Folding Exercise Bike
This bike is a lot like the Wenoker in terms of design and folding mechanisms. It’s another very well-built bike that still manages to fold up like an ironing board so that you really can easily bring it out and put it away again without much fuss.
The BCAN also has the same monitor style, with a non-slip silicon holder that presents your device above the monitor rather than below it. The display and surrounding handles are similar in design, too – which I love.
What’s better about this bike is that its maximum capacity is 330 lbs (149.6 kg), which is way higher than the Wenoker and most other folding bikes.
Plus, the seat is absolutely amazing in comfort. It’s wider, alleviating some of the agony that comes with perching on a slimline saddle. If you’re not used to cycling you’ll still feel a little ‘different’ in the nether regions after some lengthy workouts – but trust me, this seat is much more comfortable than a lot of the others.
The actual frame of this bike is genuinely solid, yet it only takes up 0.98㎡ of space. It’s really quiet to use through its 8 levels of magnetised resistance, and the seat has 7 levels of adjustments that cater for height ranges 4’ 9” to 6’ 1”.
Overall, this is a brilliant bike, and functionality aside, it looks great too.
Ultrasport F-Bike Folding Exercise Bike
The Ultrasport F-Bike is not the cheapest on our list, but it is one of our favourites and offers exceptional value for money (and not the most expensive, either).
At around the £130 mark, the basic model (F-Bike 250) offers a good solid level of performance from its 87cm wide, 118cm high body.
The F-Bike features magnetic resistance of which there are 8 levels to choose from, and affording a good light-to-moderate workout for most types of user.
When folded, the F-Bike measures up at just 53cm wide and 137cm in height, so it can be easily stored away from sight – the understairs cupboard springs to mind as a perfect place for it to live when not in use.
The F-Bike does have a maximum weight restriction of 110kg, so if you are over this you might want to check out the Ultrasport F-Bike Heavy version.
The bike itself weighs just 15.5kg so it is pretty easy to move around. There is a built-in LCD display and although this is pretty basic it does serve a few functions and does so effectively.
A single button can be used to scroll through the display, which offers information on calories burned, time elapsed, distance covered, speed and your heart rate – this is determined by two pulse monitors found in the handle bars.
The handles themselves are pretty sturdy and the pedals are wide, feature an anti-slip surface, and are comfortable to use. The saddle is decent, although as with most bikes it is not the most comfortable place to sit. If you are planning on regular rides of more than 30 minutes then you might wish to upgrade the saddle but this is easy to do.
The seat is height adjustable which makes the bike suitable for people of varying heights.
User feedback for the F-Bike is very good indeed, and as far as we can see it looks like Ultrasport have a very good track record when it comes to reliability and customer service. The bike is easy to put down and setup, with the folding being initiated by simply removing a single pin and releasing it back in to lock in the position.
For the money the F-Bike is a top choice, and as a budget model is rightfully near to the top of our list.
HFC Folding Exercise Bike
The HFC exercise bike is one of the best all-rounders when it comes to foldable options. It features a semi-recumbent design, has an exceptional build quality, and has a pretty decent feature list considering its budget price point.
This is a quality exercise bike that doesn’t take up too much precious space in your home.
Measuring up at 103cm (l) x 53cm (w) x 117cm (h) when in use and just 53cm (w) x 138cm (l) when folded, the HFC folding bike needs little space to use it and even less to store.
Most of us will be able to pop this under the bed or in a cupboard when it’s not in use.
The HFC measures up pretty well from a performance point of view, too. Considering it is a folding bike it still offers a great deal of stability and it has a very decent maximum user weight of 120kg.
You really do feel secure on this bike thanks to the conveniently positioned handles at the front (with multiple grip positions) and the extra handles next to the seat – and with the back-rest those who need extra support will find extra comfort on this model.
Stability is usually one of the biggest issues with folding exercise bikes, but there are no such concerns with this model.
The seat itself is well padded and is pretty comfortable (even without an extra seat cover), and the handles also feature a good level of padding, making those tougher cardio sessions over 30 minutes a little more bearable. The height is adjustable too.
There are 8 levels of magnetic resistance that are manually controlled via a dial just beneath the centre console. Speaking of which, the display is simple yet very smart, and displays all the usual data you would expect, as well as your heart rate measured via the pulse rate sensors on the handles.
It also has some pretty decent resistance bands attached to the bike, which are very secure and conveniently positioned.
What sets this model apart form the rest on this page is the high level of stability offered combined with the smoothness of ride and high level of challenge at the upper end of the resistance levels. All the inner parts are hidden away by a neat plastic casing and at this price point it is hard to beat the HFC.
YYFITT 2 In 1 Folding Exercise Bike
The YYFITT folding exercise bike is one of our favourite options – it’s not the cheapest of the bunch, but it’s not expensive either for what you get from its build quality, versatility, and ability to provide a challenging home cardio workout.
This bike is one of the more stable and sturdy options available and can take a maximum user weight of 120kg – which for a budget folding bike is pretty impressive and is a nod to the overall quality of build.
It has a semi-recumbent design which affords even greater stability to the lower back as well as handles to the front and the sides – so anyone who is concerned about staying secure will be very happy with this model.
It can be used at two different heights meaning it can be used like a traditional upright exercise bike or in a more recumbent position that is lower to the ground.
You get 16 levels of magnetic resistance and the range of this is pretty impressive, however I didn’t feel the highest set of resistance was any more challenging than those with only 8 levels. Resistance is manually controlled via a dial and this is easy to change mid-ride.
The LCD monitor is pretty standard, except the numbers are luminous which makes such a difference if you’re working out in low light (how tricky is it to see what you’re doing on a greyed-out screen?!).
It displays all the ride information you need as well as heart rate data from the built-in pulse rate monitors.
In operation, the YYFITT 2-in-1 exercise bike is a joy to use. It is fairly quiet when compared to other models, and the ride quality is smooth. The pedals are comfortable to use and feature an over-strap to keep the feet secure, and the two sets of handles are well positioned and ergonomically designed for comfort.
This bike also has built-in resistance bands for you to do some light upper body resistance exercises while getting your cardio in – not an absolute necessity and perhaps a bit gimmicky, but still useful all the same.
We enjoyed using this bike and considering its low-ish price point, overall build quality and ease of use – it is a top choice for anyone needing to take delivery quickly.
Exerpeutic Foldable Exercise Bike
Exerpeutic are a fairly well known brand in the home fitness market and have fast developed a reputation for high quality but affordable products.
The Exerpeutic Folding Exercise Bike stands up their reputation and is one of the best budget foldable exercise bikes on the market.
It is a little bit sturdier than most of the other bikes tested on this page, which is why we have placed it so high on our list and although it doesn’t fold quite as compact as some of its competitors this bike will fold amply for most users (Edit: They’ve now redesigned the bike so that it folds very nicely and reduces its size by 50%).
The Exerpuetic model measures up at 78.5cm in length by 48cm width and stands at 117cm tall when not folded. When folded it is still fairly compact at 59cm length, 51cm width and 141cm tall.
The larger frame allows a good level of weight distribution and the Exerpeutic can withstand 136kg of body weight – just about as good as it gets at this price point.
In addition to having a sturdy frame, the seat pad is huge and pretty comfortable too – it really should be described as more of a seat than a saddle.
It weighs a pretty lightweight 20kg and moving the bike from place to place in your home is fairly straightforward, with wheels in the sides of the base designed to make this even easier on hard floors (which are recommended for this bike).
There are 8 levels of magnetic resistance on this folding exercise bike and there is plenty of range in the levels of resistance between the lightest and heaviest settings.
Don’t get us wrong, this bike is probably not going to satisfy a pro; but any beginner or intermediate users just looking to use a bike to elevate their heart rate and give some light resistance to the leg muscles are going to be more than happy.
There is a 3-piece high torque crank system that drives the transmission through a well set flywheel and we found that the ride was smooth and felt well balanced.
There are dual pulse rate monitors on the handles that relay heart rate information to the 3.3″ LCD display along with other important data such as distance, speed, time and calorie expenditure. The display is easy to use and easy to read too with the main data displayed taking up most of the screen.
The height of the seat can easily be adjusted and is suitable for users between 5’3″ and 6’1″. The peddles are very comfortable and pretty wide and feature a non-slip finish and straps to keep your feet in place.
Overall, the Exerpuetic is a top choice when it comes to foldable exercise bikes and even took ‘editors choice’ from Mens Health magazine.
AtivaFit Foldable Exercise Bike
One of the best folding exercise bikes has to be this AtivaFit model. For £138.99, you get a lot for your money with this one.
The AtivaFit sports a slimline design that at first glance looks like it could be somewhat flimsy, but it is actually really well made and very sturdy considering its lightweight looks.
Although this bike weighs in at just 15kg, it is capable of holding 100kg of bodyweight pretty comfortably and is also incredibly stable and sturdy for a foldable bike.
Like most foldables, the AtivaFit has 8 levels of magnetic resistance which can easily be adjusted thanks to the controller which is nicely positioned near your hands at the top of the bike.
The flywheel and magnetised resistance are almost silent so you this is also a top choice for anyone who needs to workout quietly, perhaps if you’re using it during uncivilised hours.
The large seat is fairly comfortable and the height can be adjusted from 26 inches high to 32 inches high, which means it is going to be suitable for most people between 5’3″ and 6’1″. The pedals are also a decent size and feature a really impressive non-slip surface along with foot straps.
The LCD monitor sits atop the handlebars and has a large screen that shows you all the usual stats including speed, time, distance, calories and heart rate. The pulse rate monitors are found in the handle bars which are also well made, comfortable and give you added stability.
There is a convenient phone/mobile device holder just underneath the main display – this is a great addition and allows you to use your phone in landscape mode to watch videos whilst still being able to see the main display of the bike.
However, if you want to view your phone in portrait mode it will obscure the main bike display. We actually found this to be one of the best features of the bike as the phone holder is in such a convenient place.
When folded, the AtivaFit measures 136cm in height by 40.1cm width and 17cm length – pretty impressive really!
Overall, we found the AtivaFit to be a great budget option when it comes to folding exercise bikes and was comfortable enough for a 45-60 minute workout. The depth of challenge is limited but for beginners or those who are really limited by space or budget then it is a great buy.
MERACH 4 in 1 Foldable Exercise Bike
The MERACH is the most expensive folding bike in this list, but it is an absolute dream of a bike.
Let’s start by showing off how solid it is – this alloy steel bad boy weighs 18 kg, and can hold up to 136kg with its sturdy build, plus for heights up to 6’ 6”.
How can it even fold? It does, though.
Perhaps not so neatly as some other bikes here – it takes up 19.7cm width of floor space when folded, but actually it’s the top end that’s a little awkward to pack away. It’s not the neatest.
But, that’s because there’s a lot to this bike.
The seat itself is excellent, nicely padded, and can be readjusted for an upright position as well as recumbent.
You’ve got 16 levels of magnetic resistance, and these are actually quite challenging. The magnetic system itself is smooth and very quiet, too.
The handles are perfectly positioned on this bike – I’d say it’s the most comfortable for this. The big difference here is that the heart rate sensors are positioned on the higher bars as opposed to the side ones. But that’s because it’s more of an upright position kind of bike, rather than a reclined recumbent.
The display monitor presents the typical readouts, which a clear screen. Nothing special about it, but it does the job.
What I loved most about this bike was how solid yet quiet it is. It’s a really smooth ride, and very good quality. It also has a nice little bottle holder behind the seat – a feature I’d love to see on more bikes, because it’s otherwise really quite difficult keeping hydrated when you’re cycling.
It also has some firmly attached resistance bands. Overall, this bike would look like a solid addition as a permanent fixture in your gym setup – except you have the real convenience of being able to pack it away too. A big thumbs up for this one.
Are Folding Exercise Bikes Worth It?
Whether a foldable exercise bike is a good option for you or not is a question that only you can answer.
Do you have somewhere to use it and fold it? Yes.
Are they going to give you the same degree of a workout as a real bike or a professional exercise bike? No.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy one. For some people, the idea of going to the gym is either mentally off-putting, can’t fit in with their schedule, or is financially out of reach.
For those people there are two alternatives – do very little exercise, or find ways to work out that fit your lifestyle. If cycling is your thing, then an exercise bike for the home can be an ideal choice. For those who are limited on space, then a folding exercise bike is a top solution.
The other aspect to consider is that there are some very affordable foldable bikes available today. If you consider an average gym membership might cost you £35 per month, then for the price of four months of gym membership you could have purchase your own bike.
You also have the flexibility to use it when you want and because it is in your home you can even mix it with your own entertainment such as whilst watching your favourite show on Netflix. If you compare one of these models to even a sub-£1000 electric bike, they are phenomenal value.
It is worth pointing out that a folding exercise bike does not quite have the same level of sturdiness as a fixed position spin bike, and that means you are less likely to have quite such an intense workout on one as you would at the gym or even out on a real bike.
So we really see the folding bike as a compromise. But if you need or want an exercise bike for your home that isn’t going to take up a lot of space, then it is just about the best option.
Latest Updates – 6 December 2024: Products out of stock or no longer in production removed from list and replaced with thoroughly researched and tested replacements. Products re-evaluated in comparison to each other. Links checked/added. Content reformatted for easier readability.
