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Exercise bike

The exercise bike is a very popular product for exercise or rehabilitation in the house, gymnasium, and hospital. The benefit of exercising on a direct drive exercise bicycle is well known. Exercise bicycles benefit the user by improving cardio-vascular fitness, enhancing body tone and engendering an overall sense of well being. Typically, the user exercises by pedaling a predetermined amount of time, or pedaling the equivalent of a distance indicated on an odometer. Also, the user may simulate pedaling up an incline by adjusting calipers or a tension belt on a wheel or the gear ratio between a sprocket and the wheel. Whichever mechanism is used, the effect is to increase the amount of work required by the user. Direct drive exercise bicycles typically utilize a high-inertia flywheel driven by a fixed-gear drive train. The flywheel is driven by the rider up to relatively high revolutions per minute (rpm). The resistance or brake apparatus in a self-sourcing exercise bike could be divided into friction brake, oil-pressure brake, electric-magnetic brake and eddy-current brake. The friction brake and oil-pressure brake are belong to contact force, the electric-magnetic brake and eddy-current brake are belong to surpass-distance force. Stationary exercise bicycles are generally comprised of a rotary pedaling mechanism interactive with a flywheel, a seat, handlebar means, and means for controlling the amount of force required to operate the pedaling mechanism. The force controlling means is often a braking mechanism, which applies frictional force of an adjustable amount to either the sidewall of the flywheel or its circular perimeter edge.

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