My new toy, a bike desk.

Updated 7.24.2013; reformatted 9.7.2105
Earlier this year, I purchased a semi-recumbent bike that I put in my living room. Yes, the living room. I got the idea from an article in the NY Times, in which a fitness expert said she had one in her living room (it's a small one) so that she could move while reading. At the time, we had a gym membership, but had stopped going to the gym regularly.

The only piece of equipment my husband would use at the gym was the recumbent bike. So I bought one thinking that he might use while watching TV at home. Did not work out. However, I used the bike while reading or watching TV. Much like I use the treadmill that I bought for him, but it is what it is. His recent weight loss is all due to diet, specifically the 5:2 BBC diet that we've been following since March. It would be better of course if he'd move more as well, but at least he's losing a bit of weight.

Anyway, although I could read or watch TV on the bike, I couldn't use my laptop. So I decided to buy a sofa desk and use it with the bike. I also bought the table at Amazon. It's actually a standing desk, and the reason for that is becuse I needed a taller than average desk to use with the bike because in pedaling my knees would hit a normal sofa desk. The desk in on wheels so it's easy to use.

I still use the treadmill desk during the day, however, at night I sit at the bike desk while I watch TV. In fact, that's what I'm doing as I type this.

No research

So I went looking for articles that have measured the effects of working while riding a bike, and there aren't any-- at there were none that I could find. I suppose this isn't really surprising. Treadmill desks are unlikely in corporate America, bike desks are more so.

Bike desks don't have the buzz that standing desks or treadmill desks have. I think that may be in part because you are, after all, still sitting. I know I prefer standing to sitting on the bike.

Differences, good and bad

The bike is quieter than the treadmill, that's good.
The bike doesn't keep me moving (the pedals only move when I do. The treadmill moves so I move, without noticing even if I'm concentrating. On the bike, if I'm concentrating, I tend to stop pedaling. That's bad.

It gives my feet a break. That's good. In my most recent treadmill desk update I noted that my feet have been barking at me lately. I've had to recognize that maybe 10 miles a day is a bit too much for a 50 year old woman (in any shoes). Plus it turns out that I am more efficient at the slower speed, and I don't have to turn the treadmill off when I take a phone call or try to have a conversation. But rather than sit once I've finished on the treadmill, now I can sit at my bike desk and work.

It's easier to take a brief moment and "surge" in terms of effort. To move faster on the treadmill desk, I have to change the speed on the console, and then alter it again when I'm done. With the bike, I just start pedaling faster for a bit, and then stop when I'm ready. That's good.

This is something that is specific to my set up. The treadmill desk is in my basement, so there is no natural lighting. The bike desk is upstairs in my living room next to a large window with lots of natural lighting. That's good. I'm a huge fan of natural lighting and truly wish that I had the treadmill set up near a window. But such is not to be in this particular home.

It's early days with the bike desk. I'll update as I learn more.

Computer Update

I have written recently of the sad decline of my laptop, to which I may have contributed with a poorly designed treadmill desk. Although I have corrected the design, the damage is done, and the advice the technician had for me was, "Use it until it dies. It's not worth putting any money into."

So my days are spent finding ways to stave off the keyboard and touchpad freezing (symptoms of poor power management and a failing motherboard.) Weirdly, the freezing doesn't seem to happen when I use the bike desk. So I walk five miles on the treadmill desk at 1 mph, and then switch to the bike desk for the rest of the day.

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