In this article, you will learn several ways to quickly and inexpensively convert your bike into a home exercise bike.

We remind you that in our store at the best prices.

How to make an exercise bike for 700 rubles?

Do it yourself out!

The exercise bike is a great heart trainer and a powerful weight loss tool!

But if you are not eager to buy a ready-made exercise bike and your hands are growing from the right place, yes, and Bac is idle in winter season bicycle - try to make an exercise bike yourself!

We offer the simplest scheme for manufacturing an exercise bike. From the photos it is clear how it works! Pipes - rear wheel supports can be bought at the store. Manufacturing costs - less than 1000 rubles and one evening of work.

A few boards and three hours of work and ready!

The device is clear without a drawing:

If you don’t want to mess with support tubes, buy so-called pegs from the store:

We remove the tire and the rear wheel chamber, take an old car or motorcycle generator, select the desired belt. Now the exercise bike not only increased the load, but also produces electricity (Chubais is resting).

Now set a goal for yourself, write a lesson plan, determine the incentive and go!

We remind you that in our sports shop presented affordable home exercise bikes.

Another option is how to make an exercise bike yourself from plywood and PVC pipes

If necessary, you can build an exercise bike with your own hands. The basis is a roller device. Rollers for an exercise bike are made of pipes or round wooden logs with a diameter of 10-15 cm. Roller bearings with axles are mounted at the ends of the rollers, and the axles are fixed in racks.

Depending on the tasks that the student sets for himself, he chooses heavier or lighter rollers. On an exercise bike with heavy rollers, power qualities are developed, and on a bicycle machine with light rollers, pedaling speed is developed. If there are no roller bearings at hand, you can drill or burn holes in wooden blocks, insert metal axles with a diameter of 18-20 mm into them and strengthen them in the racks. Such rollers must be systematically lubricated with grease or technical petroleum jelly. The dimensions of the frame on which the exercise bike is mounted depend on the model.

However, everything becomes clear from the photos:

Under the size of the PVC pipe, we make plywood inserts for mounting bearings and strengthening the pipe ( pvc pipe buy in the plumbing store diameter 75 mm - 100 mm):

The size of a homemade bike rack in inches for a standard mountain bike:

Glue limiters for the drive belt on the roller pipes on front wheel:

Pick up the diameter of the bearings (from the wheels of the rollers) and the axle.

The frame of the exercise bike is preferably made of hardwood or plywood. Pay attention to how the roller clamps are made:

Sew the drive belt to the front wheel roller to fit (this will increase the load on the exercise bike and allow you to keep balance):

The exercise bike is almost ready!

Footrests for comfort. If you want to increase the load, make a brake device out of felt on the exercise bike rollers:

Ideas on how to make an exercise bike yourself cheaply:

One of the possible ways to adjust the load on the bike rack:

Wish do it yourself the exercise bike is understandable - it saves space, and the use of an existing bike, and the desire to save money!

Let's take a close look at the advantages of a purchased exercise bike and the disadvantages of a homemade model:

• A homemade exercise bike will take up more space in the apartment.
• Not everyone in the family will be able to practice on a homemade one: stability problems, difficult to sit down, high seating position, risk of tipping over.
• As a rule, a home-made version is noisier - the neighbors will rejoice at your sports success!
• It is difficult to make an adjustable load with a homemade simulator.
• It is not possible to monitor the parameters of the training: pulse, calories, pace.
• As a rule, home-made technically (smoothness, convenience, comfort, load adjustment, training efficiency) will be at the level of the simplest belt exercise bike for 2000 rubles.
• Not every interior will fit homemade.
• Rapid wear of a bike used as an exercise bike (factory model is almost eternal with proper technical care).

Petersburg is not such an expensive pleasure (the price of two pairs of shoes). Many people can afford it.

It is enough to buy an exercise bike and train regularly on it, and you will get excellent health and the figure of your dreams!

How to increase the load on a homemade exercise bike

On the exercise bike, install the blades to create a load due to air resistance.

It generates electricity!

Exercise bike + generator equals power plant:

The implementation of the electrification plan:

We make a bicycle simulator ourselves!

With the onset of cold weather, many of you disassemble the bike and put it away. But it turns out that you can ride it ... even in winter. Of course, not on snow or ice, but on a special device that simulates road conditions.

Usually such a device is called a bike rack. cyclists train on it. It can be assembled and installed at home or in the school gym.

The base of the bicycle station consists of a platform 2 of a square shape, sawn from plywood 15–20 mm thick and an extension 5 made of a thick board. These parts can be fastened together, for example, with metal corners or glued with locking glue.

At the end of the extension, with the help of triangular pieces of plywood 6, which act as a bracket, they strengthen the rack 7, made, like the extension, from a thick board. In the upper part of the rack, a screw 8-10 mm thick is passed through the hole, on which the front fork of the bicycle will be installed in the future.

On the platform, metal racks 3 with stiffeners are strengthened. It is convenient to use ready-made aluminum corners here. The ends of the racks should be flat and bent at a certain angle. So, the ends with two holes are bent at an angle of 20˚, and with one hole - at an angle of 60˚. Perhaps this work will cause you difficulties. Therefore, we advise you to use template 8, sawn from a thick duralumin plate or cut from a wooden block.

Snobs 4, sawn from aluminum, duralumin or steel 3 mm thick, are attached to the ends with two holes.

Next, prepare the bike - remove the front wheel, loosen the rear wheel and remove the shield above it. On both sides of the wheel, a bracket 4 with racks 3 is attached to its axis. Moreover, on the sides of the bracket, a washer is put on the axle and only after that the axle nuts are tightened.

Putting the rear wheel with racks on the platform, attach the front fork to the extension rack. After that, you can fix the ends of the racks on the site with thick screws or bolts. But at the same time, it is necessary to ensure that the wheel tire is 15-20 mm from the platform.

If you now sit behind the wheel of a bicycle and start pedaling, the rear wheel will turn easily. To train in such a ride, of course, is not interesting. It is necessary to bring the training closer to real road conditions. For this, rollers 1 are used, which are installed under the wheel tire so that braking is created. The rollers are mounted on brackets 14 with longitudinal slots. The axis of each roller is a screw with a nut.

The rotation of the roller will become silent if a bearing is inserted inside it (the roller itself can be made of hard rubber). The roller bracket is screwed to the metal plate 15, which, in turn, is rigidly fixed to the site. Slots in the bracket allow you to move it along the site so that it is pressed against the wheel with the necessary force.

But that's not all. You know that climbing a mountain or driving on a bad road requires a lot of effort from the athlete. And this increase in load should also be simulated during training. For this, a special brake device is used, which rests on top of the rear wheel. By changing the force of pressure on the wheel, the braking effect is increased or decreased. The braking device consists of two crossbars 9, a holder 10, a rod 11, a load 12 and a roller 13.

The metal crossbars are mounted on the rear wheel fork, a screw is passed through their holes, which attaches the holder to the crossbars. Then the end of the rod is inserted into the holder and fixed with a screw - it serves as an axis around which the rod can turn slightly, rising up or falling down.

From below, a roller with a groove along the rim is attached to the bar using a bracket. At the end of the rod, a load, such as weights, is installed. During training, the roller will be pressed against the rear wheel of the bike with a load. By removing or adding weights, they regulate the pressure on the wheel, and hence the braking force.

It is advisable to install the simulator on a rug, for example, made of foam rubber, so as not to spoil the floor. You can also nail small rubber support legs to the bottom of the platform and the extension and do without a rug.

Morning exercises, jogging, skiing in winter and hiking in summer, cycling are effective means of improving health. However, the Go bike depends a lot on the conditions. traffic, the vagaries of the weather. In such cases, an exercise bike will help, the simple design of which I want to offer. It is simple and affordable to manufacture, easy to use, has a small weight (within 10 kg), there is a place for it in any apartment, since it takes up little space (300 x 1300 mm).

The assembly does not require a lot of time or scarce materials. And what is important - the main part of it is ... the bike itself, and any available in the house. Turning it into a simulator takes literally two to three minutes and comes down to removing the front wheel and fixing the fork on the simulator rack.

The base of the simulator is a frame made of steel corners 36 x 36 mm: two lateral longitudinal ones 1300 mm long and two transverse ones 230 mm long. Two duralumin flocks are screwed to the front side ones with an axle between them, on which the front fork of the bicycle is attached.

At the other end of the base, a support assembly with rotating rubber rollers is installed - the rear wheel rests on them. The axes of the rollers enter the bearings installed in the duralumin cheeks of the assembly. Old wringer rollers from a washing machine are used as rollers.

It is also possible to adjust the load: change the effort required to rotate the rear wheel and rollers. To do this, a tie rod is installed between the latter: by tightening its nuts, we increase the load, unscrewing it, we reduce it.

OWN HANDS from a bicycle

Usually the bike is used five to six months a year. In the autumn slush and winter cold, he stands (or hangs) idle, waiting for the new season. But it can be used with health benefits all year round, although optional, ride it. Equipping it with simple fixtures and supports, you will get an excellent exercise bike for the muscles of not only the arms and legs, but also the back and the press. On the simulator, instead of the steering wheel, a carriage assembly is installed (without frame pipes).

The steering column bearings are pre-removed and the front fork is tightly tightened with a clamping cone, which prevents it from turning. The left crank of the standard bottom bracket has been replaced by a crank with a sprocket connected by a chain to an upper sprocket with the same number of teeth. At the ends of the shafts of the foot and hand carriage units, on one side, additional through grooves (flats) were cut out using an abrasive wheel so that the connecting rods could be turned 180 ° and secured with a wedge.

The pedals on the hand cranks are replaced with bushings, and the foot cranks are equipped with self-made touklips (see "Model Designer" No. 5 "2000), which allow not only pushing, but also pulling the pedals up. For reliable chain tension, a fixing sleeve is put on the steering stem. Its the length and length of the hand drive chain depends on the type of bicycle and is determined locally.The chain links are disassembled in this sequence.

Having placed the chain on the vise jaws, moved apart by 4-5 mm, the desired axis is knocked out with a center punch with a diameter of 3 mm, but not completely, but so that it remains in the lower outer plate. Slightly bending the top plate, disconnect the chain and remove (or add) links. Connect the links in reverse order, hitting the protruding axle with a hammer until it completely enters the outer plate from the other side.

In order for the exercise bike to stand stably on the floor, a support stand was made in the form of an isosceles triangle from a half-inch steel pipe 1.5 m long. The ends of the pipe are flattened and bent, holes are drilled in them for the diameter of the rear wheel axle. A longitudinal stop from a piece of the same pipe is welded to the rack. A footrest is attached to the front fork under the crown with an M6 bolt. Rubber tubes are put on both ends of the support. The brake pads have been removed from the hub of the rear wheel of the road builder to enable reverse rotation.

The simulator is equipped with a rear hand brake, the rubber pads of which are pressed against the rim so that the required load on the pedals is created, that is, the necessary “track resistance” is provided. This is achieved by turning and locking the adjusting screw, through which passes a metal cable mounted on one of the brake levers. As the pads wear, the screw is slightly tightened, restoring the load.

The trainee, sitting in the saddle (it should be softer) and moving his legs from below under the support on the front fork, slowly takes the body back and down and returns to its original position, thus “shaking” the press. By rotating the appropriate handles and pedals with your arms and/or legs, you can successfully develop the muscles of your arms and/or legs.

If you rearrange the left cranks by 180 °, then, making reciprocating oscillatory movements with your arms and legs, like a rower, you can train big muscles back. The exercise bike is simple and reliable. It's easy to make. And if you are smart, then improve it, which will allow you to load other muscle groups.

exercise bike: 1 - front fork; 2 - clamping cone; 3 - steering rod; 4 - fixing tube; 5 - remote clamp; 6 - manual connecting rod; 7 - manual carriage assembly; 8— manual drive chain; 9 - steps; 10 - additional asterisk; 11 - seat; 12 - brake; 13 - tuklipe; 14 - stand-support; 15 - stop rack; 16 - brake pads; 17—brake levers; 18 - adjusting screw; 19 - cable.

Finalization of carriage shafts: 1 - carriage shaft; 2 - flats (grooves).

Disassembly of the chain link: 1 - inner plates; 2 - center punch; 3 - outer plates; 4 - vise jaws; 5 - axis

But frankly, it is much more profitable to choose and buy a good and inexpensive exercise bike than to spend a lot of time, disfigure the bike and, as a result, get a simulator that is impossible to work out on.

So, we choose:

Do you have an exercise bike at home? And the old bike? With straight hands, imagination and a small amount of materials that everyone can find at home, you can easily design a simulator for the whole family.

Oh, and there is no need to speak. Everyone knows that cycling helps to quickly tone muscles, stimulate the cardiovascular system. And most importantly, they burn extra calories, and this is one of the most important points for those who want to see the relief on the body. After all, your pumped up muscles are hiding under your accumulated fat. The only way to get rid of it is to burn it, and for this, exercises that burn calories are used: running, jumping rope, cycling. Such exercises are indispensable for warming up. For beginners, before training, it is recommended to roll for 5-10 minutes at a calm pace.

Manufacturing methods

There are many ways to make an exercise bike with your own hands from a bicycle. In this article, we will analyze the most popular of them. They have their advantages and disadvantages, and for those who want to get an old two-wheeled friend out of the garage, there are ready-made factory coasters. But if you are a "jack of all trades", then we are happy to present you method number 1 ...

Stand

This simple method involves creating a bike trainer stand under. For small spaces, apartments or rooms, this is one of the best options. The stand itself does not take up much space. With a size of about half a square meter, it will easily fit into any corner of your room.

Wooden structure: we take four boards, each about 50 cm long, and knock down a square structure from them. This will be the frame of our exercise bike. Take boards about 1 cm thick, 10–15 cm high, otherwise the stand will turn out to be too heavy. We nail 2 more vertical boards with rounded cutouts for peg to our support. Everything: an hour of work and the support stand is ready.
It remains to prepare the future exercise bike itself: we take out the bushings on the rear wheel. We insert a pre-prepared tube-bracket, with a diameter of about 2–3 cm. If you do not want to bother with pegs, you can purchase them at the store. Some peg models do not need to be removed in the summer when you will use your transport more often.
Pegs are tubes or tubing that runs through the rear axle and is fixed to the legs of the stand. When they wanted to practice, they fixed the pegs in the holes and have a pleasant walk. Everything - your homemade exercise bike from a bicycle is ready.

Such an installation can also be made of metal. Of course, such structures are stronger and more stable, but very heavy, so you can combine these two materials. The base is made of more stable metal, and the supports are made of wood.

Advice

The lighter the material you use, the larger its area should be. This will make your product more stable.

On homemade roller skates

There is another good, proven way to make an exercise bike out of a bicycle. It consists in creating a structure with three rollers, on which you will ride. The stores have a huge selection of driving tracks for every taste, but we will figure it out on our own with an example.

First you need to take measurements. Please note that the length of the frame should be approximately 50 cm longer than the length. Also, measure the width of the treadmill. The most convenient is considered to be from 30 to 50 cm. It makes no sense to make such a simulator out of metal, since it will turn out to be very heavy and will create a lot of inconvenience for you. Let's take a tree, knock a rectangle off it and start preparing the rollers.

For rollers, we need 3 tubes of the same length with a diameter of 10–15 cm made of wood or PVC. A bearing should be placed along the edges of each of the tubes. we mount in a wooden base like this:

• The front wheel should be directly under the first roller.
• Fasten the remaining rollers under the rear wheel so that it is in the middle.
• Tension the belt between the first and second roller to increase the load and for stability and balance.

It is better to place such a stand for a bicycle to create a simulator closer to the wall, because at first it may be unusual to train like this, and by holding on to the support, you can protect yourself from falling.

How to load a bike?

It is clear that without increased resistance you will not go far. It's very hard to build endurance or lose weight when you're putting in absolutely no effort. Therefore, a few kilograms of counterweight can be added to our simulator.
Immediately you need to mention the factory options for counterweights. For example, it consists of two small rollers made of soft materials that slow down the wheels, creating an additional load. Such a system will take root more in simulators for bicycles under the rear wheel. There will be problems with installing such a weighting system on the treadmill.

But if you are a “homemade” from start to finish, we suggest making such weights yourself.

• Heavy flywheel. Load the front or rear axle with a special flywheel. The assortment of this simple device is huge, the holes for pegs are made. We insert flywheels and you can train. And you can also make such a counterweight yourself, for example, from wood. Factory models are made with a weight of 8 kg.
• With the help of a belt on a roller, fixed behind the exercise bike, according to the principle of generators. This method is quite effective, but creates some difficulties. One of them is the inconvenience of transportation: after all, an extra detail has been added.
• With conventional brakes, you can adjust the load, slowing down at the right time for you.
• Rear axle counterweight. This method of braking requires fixing the weighting agent. Difficulties may arise here. For example, a loose weight can break the spokes.

Perhaps the main disadvantages of exercise bikes are the difficulty of creating counterweights. If the factory models are equipped with built-in brakes, then it is difficult to boast of this created at home.

But! For exercise bikes

Everywhere has its shortcomings, and here they are. We tried to take into account all the possible disadvantages so that you make a decision on a purchase or self-manufacturing consciously.

• dimensions - in typical apartments, this type of simulator will take up most of the space;
• lack of sensors for measuring pulse and heartbeat in homemade models. But you can measure speed and distance on a computer in a bike, and for this, you need to use a roller track as a choice of type of simulator;
• it is impossible to quickly change the load;
• high seat due to the height of the frame structure;
• instability;
• parts of your simulator will wear out faster than in factory models.

Which production method will you choose? You decide. Maybe just go to the store and buy a finished, beautiful product. What if you want to put your soul into it and you will get a thing that you, and only for this, and not for the number of bells and whistles, you will love it.

If you don't want to give your old bike in for repairs, try making your own exercise bike out of it. So you get almost the same product, but in a new quality. Even a homemade exercise bike from a bicycle has the characteristics necessary for productive activities, and in some situations it surpasses its fellow.

But before you want to make an exercise bike out of a bicycle, you need to decide what exactly you want to get in the end. Sports equipment is diverse, which means that making a choice in favor of one or another will not be so easy.

Kinds

Despite the fact that the range is huge, if you refused to repair and decided to build an exercise bike with your own hands, you should concentrate on only two of its types.

The simplest can be called an ordinary machine on a stand. Making it yourself is quite simple, even without special repair skills. The second type - the driving path - is more difficult, but is wildly popular. It will take a little more time and knowledge to build such a structure, but the result will definitely please.

Stand trainer

So, let's consider how to assemble a bike rack on a stand from a bicycle with your own hands. There are not many parts needed for this case, some of them can be purchased at a sports store and in the repair department.

You will need:

• boards;
• Peggy;
• Dural racks;
• Screwdriver.

The front wheel can be removed, and mono and left. If you decide to remove it, the front of the future exercise bike will be fixed to the corners, if not, by analogy with the back.

Boards are the foundation of the structure, on which everything else will rest. Pegs are attached to them, and a bicycle is already attached to the pegs. You must immediately make sure that the product is stable. Instead of the front wheel, we mount dural racks, and the work is almost ready.

This is not the only, but the easiest and most economical way to make an exercise bike at home from a bicycle quickly and easily.

As you can see, in order to turn one object into another, it will not take much time and money. Perhaps the repair of the bike cost much more.

driving path

The second type attracts much more, but in order to make a driving path at home, you will need more effort, money and skills. To do this, you will need special rollers, because it is thanks to them that rotation will occur and similar to what we see on factory exercise bikes. How to make an exercise bike from a bicycle at home?

The material of the rollers can be almost any, the main thing is that it is durable and meets all the requirements. Metal tubes are often preferred, but sometimes this role is played by such "exotic" devices as wringer rollers taken out of a washing machine unsuitable for repair.

They are needed not only for the rear, but also for the front wheel. A drive belt is fixed between the rollers. A big plus of this simulator is the ability to adjust the load with your own hands. This can be achieved by installing a tie rod in the rear rollers.

So, with a little work, you can get a completely working unit. Of course, it will be inferior in a number of points to branded products, but it is realistic to perform the main tasks on it.

Benefits of homemade exercise bikes

Homemade simulators have their positive aspects, although they are inferior in functionality to a bicycle. But you can not ignore the fact that when using a work bike, you will become the owner of two products at once. In the cold season, it will be possible to practice at home, and as soon as the time comes to get out for walks, you can simply disassemble the bike rack with your own hands and go for a ride on the street.

A big plus homemade is also compact. It is easy to move from one place to another, disassemble and reassemble. Repair of this design will be much cheaper than purchased. You can even completely change a few parts and get a completely different type of product.

• To create an additional load, install the brake. Its presence affects the rotation of the wheel and your efforts while pedaling.

So you can increase the effectiveness of training and add variety to classes.

Needless to say, such activities are beneficial for health. Training is also effective in the fight against excess weight, but in this case, carefully consider the material of the parts on which the bike is mounted so that you do not have to repair sagging tubes or rollers. They just can't bear the weight.

Disadvantages of converted bikes

Unfortunately, homemade simulators also have disadvantages, and they should not be forgotten. If something turns out to be a significant obstacle for you, it is better to think about buying a finished product or to think through your assembly work in more detail.

The main disadvantages are:

• Structural instability

This important point for overweight people, and in fact many decide to train for this very reason. Please note that an exercise bike assembled by yourself can be dangerous for you. The device may not withstand the pressure and break, harming you as well. While a store-bought item will keep you firmly in the saddle, a homemade one will just fall over. It’s not worth risking yourself, because your goal is to maintain health, and not harm it;

Low result

The effect of training, of course, is not the same as from training on a special simulator, because you will not have the opportunity to monitor the load and take into account other parameters. The maximum that is in your power is to pedal. Based on this, calculate the final result. Certainly the benefit of physical activity it will, but there is no need to be under any illusions.

• Technical difficulties

Although it is not so difficult to assemble a simulator with your own hands, not everyone can do it. There is nothing wrong with this, but you must soberly assess your abilities, otherwise there is a danger not only of not doing what was intended, but also of ruining an ordinary bike. Possible injury during assembly in the absence of experience in repair work.

Now that you know the pros and cons of this event, it will be easier to make a decision. If you are not planning to buy a new sport equipment, and you have an old, but working bike, you can try to give it a second life.

The problem of maintaining oneself in good physical shape is relevant today more than ever. Physical activity leaves a lot to be desired for most people. We managed to arrange our lives in such a way that we do not need to take a single extra step, and all this negatively affects our health. We gain weight and lose stamina.

In addition, now more than ever, attention is focused on a beautiful and elastic body. There are few lucky people who have amazing natural data, the vast majority of people are forced to exercise regularly in order to maintain their bodies in proper shape. And someone even prefers to brush aside the problem of lack of physical activity and excess weight. Many refer to the fact that there is no time to play sports or visit sports hall is an additional cost that they do not want to bear.

However, if you still want to keep your body in order, then there is a fairly simple way out of this situation - to make a gym at home with your own hands. Then you will be able to practice at any time convenient for you absolutely free of charge: there is a free minute - immediately on the simulator. At the same time, you can watch TV, listen to music, read at the same time. Some even manage to build a special laptop stand near their simulator to work, surf the Internet and chat online. in social networks while doing sports.

Start equipping your home gym you can from a bicycle, because many people love this two-wheeled mode of transport. A home exercise bike from an old or idle bicycle is a very economical and at the same time effective device for exercising at home. And all because you can easily make such an exercise bike with your own hands. But how to still convert your old bike - you will learn from this article.

Before you start making an exercise bike, it is worth noting that cycling is extremely favorable for our cardiovascular system, and in fact, heart and vascular diseases are in the first place in terms of prevalence among diseases that cause death. In addition, the exercise bike contributes to the fact that we waste the extra calories eaten, so advice: make an exercise bike, improve your health and lose weight with your miracle device!

What materials will we need?

This is how our exercise bike will look after all the necessary work has been done:

So, we suggest you make a do-it-yourself home workout device based on an old or idle bike. In addition, we need the following materials:

• plywood;
• PVC pipes.

At the heart of our do-it-yourself exercise bike project is a roller device. We have to make rollers from pipes, as an alternative, you can use wooden logs. The optimal diameter is from 10 to 15 centimeters.

Here is what the bike stand looks like in our DIY exercise bike project:

In the picture you can see the approximate dimensions of the frame, but adapt these dimensions to the model of your bike.

We prepare videos

It is necessary to insert roller bearings equipped with axles into the ends of the rollers. These axles should be fixed in racks.

Please note that rollers for a bike-based trainer can be light or heavy. Which videos to put - the choice is yours. If you want to carry out power training, then give your preference to an exercise bike with heavy rollers, light rollers will allow you to pedal at high speed.

In case you don't have roller bearings, an alternative is to make holes of the right size in blocks of wood, and then thread metal axles through these holes, reaching about 1.8-2 centimeters in diameter, and firmly fix the axles in the racks.

Such rollers need special care: they should be regularly lubricated with technical petroleum jelly or grease.

The optimal diameter of the PVC pipe for the exercise bike is 7.5-10 centimeters. Given the size of the pipe, cut out the plywood inserts. These inserts are needed in order to fix the bearings and make the PVC pipes more durable.

An important point: limiters must be glued to the pipes, as in the picture. This is done for the front wheel of our exercise bike.

Making a frame

The frame for the exercise bike must be strong, so it must be made of solid wood or plywood.

In the picture you can see how to make clamps for rotating elements.

Additional elements for the convenience of an exercise bike

The exercise bike also needs a drive belt. It should be sewn from a dense material in accordance with the roller under the front wheel of the bicycle. Such a belt is needed in order to make it easier to keep balance, in addition, it will allow you to increase the load, that is, it will help you achieve one of the goals set at the beginning of the article: "lose weight with an exercise bike."

For convenience, you can also make footrests. They may look something like the picture.

To increase the load during training on a stationary bike, you can make paddles on wheels, as in the picture below (such paddles will create additional air resistance), or you can make a simple brake device on rotating PVC pipes based on felt.

Advantages and disadvantages of a homemade simulator

The main advantage of a do-it-yourself bicycle-based simulator is, of course, its low cost. However, in addition to this, a homemade exercise bike has a number of disadvantages:

• a home-made device will “crush” more space for yourself in your home;
• a homemade exercise bike wears out much faster than the corresponding device from the store;
• there is always a risk that your machine will tip over;
• the seat of a homemade simulator will be high enough - and this is not very convenient;
• a homemade exercise bike creates much more noise than its store counterpart, which can be a problem at home;
• at a homemade simulator you will not be able to quickly change the load at any time;
• A homemade exercise bike will not tell you how many calories you have burned, it will not be able to show your speed and pulse, which means it will be difficult to control the load during a workout.

If you have ever used an exercise bike before gym, then you will definitely feel the difference between a simulator assembled by your own hands and made by specialists. In addition, if you are in good physical shape, then a homemade exercise bike is not suitable for you, since you will have to do very long workouts to stay in shape.

But in general, an exercise bike is, of course, a useful thing. Finally, we recommend that you watch the training video.

Wish with my own hands making a simulator out of a bicycle is commendable and quite justified, since a person who decides to do something like this is a real owner and his hands grow from where they need to. And, of course, by assembling an exercise bike with your own hands, you can save a significant amount of money without spending money on a ready-made exercise machine, the cost of which starts from several thousand rubles.

Important points when assembling

For home use regular bike on a stand is the best option for a simulator. In many homes, there is not enough space for overall structures, and a rear wheel stand will take up no more space than a stool.

You can make an exercise bike by placing the bike on an overall base with shafts fixed in it. By putting only one wheel on a small base with shafts, you will not get any load when pedaling. But if you set in motion both wheels of the bicycle, then the load increases significantly when pedaling. In addition, a loose bicycle with both wheels spinning is much more stabilized in the vertical plane than with one wheel running. And you won't need to change the location of the bike computer's sensor in order for it to work.

The shafts under the rear wheel of the bicycle, to transmit the rotational movement, are connected to the shaft under the front wheel through a wide belt. By putting a few more belts on the shafts, you can increase the load on such a homemade exercise bike. And do not forget that the axles on which the rollers rotate must be lubricated.

Ways to load a homemade exercise bike

Weights on the wheel

A heavy flywheel instead of a bicycle wheel is the main method of loading in many models of commercial exercise bikes, even modern designs. On factory models, flywheels weighing 8 kg or more are standardly installed.

If you weight the wheel yourself with quick-release weights, it will be very difficult to balance the weight in a circle with an accuracy of 1 g. Otherwise, unbalanced weights on a fast-spinning wheel can break the spokes, hit the brakes, frame or chains.

Blades on a wheel

The air load from the open blades on the drive wheel is not very noticeable, and besides, it cannot be changed. Unless, you can assemble a rather complex and material-intensive design from an old bicycle with the blades closed in a large drum.

The load in this bulky device can be changed by closing the through holes on the drum with a sliding cover.

permanent magnets

In terms of effectiveness, attaching powerful magnets to a bicycle wheel and frame is just as slightly stressful as attaching paddles to a wheel. The first problem will be when fixing the magnetic washers on the spokes. On the frame, the counteracting part of the magnets is easy to fix as an assembly on a metal plate.

One more thing: the most powerful permanent magnets are neodymium, such magnets are expensive, and you will have to buy at least 20 of them.

Two rollers are installed at the bottom of the wheel, one is fixed on the lever at the top of the wheel. One arm of the lever is mounted to the seat tube of the bicycle, and a set of weights is suspended from the other arm. Under the weight of suspended loads or the force of compression of the spring, the rollers hold the wheel. A poorly inflated tire, when rolled onto the pressure rollers, is crushed, while significantly absorbing kinetic energy and converting it into heat.

You can change the load using suspended weights on the lever with the upper roller or by changing the pressure in the wheel chamber. Compression springs in the load mechanism of a homemade exercise bike are rarely used, since they do not allow you to adjust the braking force over a wide range.

Connecting the generator

By the way, this method, in which electromagnetic braking is performed, is quite effective and advanced. There is a modern exercise bike-stand, industrial production, in which this method of loading is smartly implemented. An interesting video showing the benefits of this exercise bike is attached below.

Demonstration of the Tacx Genius exercise bike supply:

Every technically competent person can rip off the idea of ​​​​realizing a patented exercise bike stand with an electric generator, and build their own similar simulator. It’s easy: to mount a bicycle stand on a large base, fix a rubber pressure roller from below, connect a car generator to the roller shaft, connect a rheostat, a fan, a tablet or laptop charger to the outputs of the generator. All connected electrical appliances will create the necessary load, which can be changed by disconnecting partially connected consumers.

And you do not need to assemble an exercise bike with a belt drive, as is usually done with most homemade products with electromagnetic braking. The belt drive is noisy during operation, and therefore it will interfere with listening to music or watching videos on a tablet, laptop or computer monitor.

A do-it-yourself exercise bike can be further improved and adjusted for your convenience. It is not difficult to make such a healthy exercise machine yourself, especially since so many people have already successfully made it and, boasting, share their experience.