Exerpeutic Exerwork 2000i Folding Exercise Desk Bike Review

When we saw the Exerpeutic Exerwork 2000i, we were intrigued by the possibilities of this desk bike combo. With remote work and working from home on the rise, not only did we want to try one of these for our home office, but we felt compelled to test this versatile competitor against a selection of the best affordable exercise bikes on the market. While exercising while you work may not be for everyone, we found little to dislike about this fully featured desk bike hybrid.

Performance Comparison

Exercise Quality

The Exerwork 2000i surprised our testers with a relatively good exercise quality that we didn't expect from a desk/bike hybrid, on par with the Yosuda Indoor Cycling Bike. This semi-recumbent model has 24 levels of magnetic resistance, comes with 24 pre-programmed workouts, is highly versatile, and is useful for various situations. It can't quite match the more refined exercise quality of our top-rated upright or recumbent models, but we feel it is still quite good considering its unique design.

The Exerwork Desk Bike is both an exercise bike and a highly adjustable desk in a semi-recumbent, folding package. A such, it can be used as a bike only, a desk only, bike and desk at the same time, or even as a standing desk. This degree of versatility makes this an excellent option for the user seeking to get the most utility from their exercise equipment. It has a massive resistance range, with 24 levels from very easy to exceptionally difficult. Even our super-fit testers found levels 21-24 to be a little too challenging for their liking. That said, this bike has resistance levels that will suit everything from lower fitness levels or casual workouts to high fitness levels and intense workouts. We found that exercising and trying to work on the computer simultaneously was best while using levels ten and below. The higher the intensity of the movement, the more difficult it became to focus on work or type on a computer. While you certainly can work and pedal at the same time, we feel that you don't necessarily excel at either activity the way you might if focusing solely on one or the other. We also found the bike to be relatively quiet, although we found it to get marginally louder at higher resistance levels.

You can choose to use the Exerwork Desk Bike in manual mode with workout goals for time, distance, or calories burned. It also comes with pre-programmed workouts. These programs include various courses that range from the easier Quiet Trail profile to the more demanding Stairs profile. These programmed workouts automatically change the resistance level as they follow the course profile of the workout you choose. Unfortunately, the small LCD display only shows one value at a time and cannot show your progress on a chosen workout program. That said, you can set workout goals for time, distance, or calories during a manual or program workout. The computer can also sync to your phone via Bluetooth and the myCloudFitness App so you can control your training through your phone and view activity reports so you can monitor your efforts and progress. The app is free and relatively user-friendly and makes for a nicer interface with the machine than the small computer console.

Comfort

The Exerwork Desk Bike is quite comfortable and is highly adjustable to dial it in to your preferences for the perfect fit. It earned a score similar to other top-performing products in this category. The semi-recumbent style falls right between upright and fully recumbent models and allows for a relaxed seated position while you work at the desk, get in a solid workout, or both at the same time. It has a relatively low step-over height, a 400 lb weight limit, and a recommended user height range of 5'1" to 6'3".

The Exerwork Desk Bike has a large cushioned seat that is 2.5 inches thick and 15 inches wide. The foam padding is soft, and the size and shape of the chair should work well for most users. The Airsoft seat is claimed to have “aerodynamic healthcare technology” that allows air to breathe through the fabric to help keep you cooler for longer. The seat's position is highly adjustable, and it has both seat height and fore and aft adjustments. The 1.3" thick foam backrest provides adequate back support and has two positions. This bike's seat adjustability should allow for a comfortable position and natural feeling leg extension for most riders within the recommended 5'1" to 6'3" height range. Our primary tester is 6' tall and has a 32" inseam. Despite being well within the height range, he noted that he could have used slightly more adjustment to achieve the perfect leg extension in his pedal stroke.

At the front of the bike, you can adjust the desk in several ways for the best comfort and ergonomics. This flexibility allows the user to find their ideal desk position and is essential for finding adequate knee clearance when pedaling the bike. The desk is adjustable three ways, tilt angle, fore and aft, and up and down. The tilt adjustment has three positions, 0 degrees, 16 degrees, and 33 degrees, with several inches of fore and aft adjustment to optimize your reach. It also has five height adjustments ranging from 41" up to 45" off the ground. The front edge of the desk has a thickly cushioned wrist pad that is a comfortable place to rest your wrists while working at your computer that also serves as a bumper to keep your device or reading material in place when the desk is inclined.

User Interface

The Exerwork Folding Desk Bike has a decent user interface, but it leaves a little to desire. It earned a score that is only average for the group, similar to the Renpho AI Smart Bike. It has a small and straightforward LCD screen with four control buttons located at the bottom of the desk closest to the user. The size and position of the display/controls appear to be out of necessity to accommodate the fact that it is also a desktop. Testers found its use to be reasonably intuitive but felt that the user manual was quite helpful the first time around.

The 2.25" wide x 1.125" tall LCD display is located front and center in the desk and is inset in the wrist pad. This small display has relatively large numbers that are quite easy to read, and it displays one piece of information at a time. Scan is the default setting, and it scrolls through time, speed, distance, calories, odometer, resistance level, and RPM. There are four buttons below the screen, start/stop, mode, and up and down arrows. The start/stop button is used to begin a Quickstart manual workout, to Pause and Restart a workout, or to Reset the values of the metrics (press and hold for 4 seconds). Before starting a workout, the Mode button can set a workout target goal (distance, time, or calories) or select one of the twenty pre-programmed workouts. During your workout, you can use the Mode button to select the information displayed on the screen. The up and down arrows are used to select a workout target goal value, scroll through the 24 workout programs, or adjust the resistance level during a workout. All pre-programmed workouts are on page 20 of the user manual; we suggest keeping this page for reference as the small screen only displays the number of the program. It does not show the program name, course profile, or progress during the workout.

The Exerwork 2000i can also be synced with your phone through Bluetooth and connects to the myCloudFitness app. It is a free app, and when the bike syncs with your phone, you can use your phone to control your workout and replace the display. Once you finish a workout, your results can also be saved to the app to analyze your results. The myCloudFitness app also has loads of other features, including instructional workout videos and structured workout programs, progress reports, and analysis.

Features

The Exerwork Folding Desk Bike is about as feature-packed as they come, and only the Schwinn IC4 earned a higher score in this metric. One of its most valuable features is quite apparent; it has a sizeable adjustable desk attached to the front part of the frame. The desk is large enough to fit the biggest laptops or is an excellent spot to hold a book or magazine. It has a large wrist pad across the front of the desk to comfortably rest your arms when typing on a computer, as well as 2 cup holders at the upper corners. Underneath the desk is a small drawer to store writing utensils, a tablet, or a pad of paper. The desktop has several adjustments so the user can find the perfect position for the task at hand or avoid interference with their pedaling motion. It has three positions of tilt; 0-degrees, 16-degrees, and 33-degrees, and the desktop can be slid fore and aft to optimize your reach. The entire desk can also be moved up and down several inches to dial in the perfect height. All of the desk's adjustments have secure threaded pins to lock them in place. The desk feature allows you to use the bike as just a bike, a desk/bike, a desk, or a standing desk when appropriately adjusted.

In addition to the desk-related things mentioned above, the Exerwork has an abundance of other features to enhance your experience. First, it has 24 levels of magnetic resistance and pre-programmed workouts. You can also connect to the MyCouldFitness App so that you can save your activities and monitor your fitness over time. At the front of the bike, there are adjustable feet for leveling, while the rear feet have transport wheels to make it easier to move across hard floor surfaces. The Exerwork also folds in the middle to reduce its footprint for storage. Comfort and fit adjustment features include an adjustable padded backrest, seat height, and fore/aft adjustment, and adjustable pedal straps.

Ease of Setup/Portability

The Exerwork Desk Bike was average in setup and portability. A significant amount of assembly is required, and it took a sizeable chunk of time to get it completely set up, but it was easier than the Marcy Recumbent ME-709. It is relatively heavy and awkwardly shaped, but its folding design scored a few points for its more storable collapsed size.

The Exerwork 2000i arrived in a relatively large and heavy box. The box weighed in the neighborhood of 75 lbs, and we would recommend having two people to move it. Inside the box, the bike was well packaged, and all the parts were individually wrapped and well protected from shipping damage. The two main frame pieces come preassembled and are connected at the folding pivot, while all of the other parts need to be attached. Everything you need to assemble the bike, including all the necessary hardware, tools, and instructions are in the box as well. The user manual has detailed written instructions for each step of the assembly process accompanied by exploded diagrams for visual reference. It took an hour to complete the assembly of the Exerwork 2000i, and while it wasn't particularly difficult, the weight and shape of the bike made it slightly awkward at times. We were able to assemble it with just one person without much difficulty, though some users may find the assistance of another person to be helpful.

While this bike may be pretty heavy and relatively large, folding it reduces its overall footprint significantly and makes it easy to move on the integrated transport wheels in the rear stabilizer. Due to its awkward shape and weight, we found that carrying this bike anywhere, up a flight of stairs, for example, was a task for two people. We measured our test model and found that it matched the manufacturer's stated dimensions of 43" long x 25" wide x 50.5" tall in its open position, and it tipped our scales at a hefty 71 lbs. We also measured the Exerwork Desk Bike in its folded position to be 30" long x 25" wide x 61.5" tall. In its folded position, this bike becomes less noticeable in the corner of a room and could likely squeeze into a closet for storage.

Should You Buy the Exerpeutic Exerwork 2000i Folding Exercise Desk Bike?

It's an exercise bike… it's a desk.. no wait, it's both! The Exerwork 2000i is a unique product that offers more versatility than most regular exercise bikes. If you spend a lot of time on a computer and are looking to integrate some movement into your workday, then the Exerwork is the perfect bike and scored relatively well compared to other options in our review of the best exercise bikes. It falls in the middle of the pack in terms of price, and we feel it has good value for the features that it offers. However, we found that it does not provide the best workout experience, and if you are looking to do some serious training, we think you should check out some other options.

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