Forget treadmill desks!

[Kaido]

I was out poking around Black Friday deals at B&M stores and spotted this thing at Staples: (same $199 price on Amazon)

http://www.amazon.com/Stamina-Wirk-Ride-Cycling-Workstation/dp/B00V2IUJRS

Thought it was a joke, tried it out, it's actually pretty nice! It's basically a simple resistance bike that has a tray for a laptop (plus a kickstand for tablets or books). Folds up compact, simple adjustments, basic resistance knob for the pedals. Kick switch to adjust tray angle, pedal loops for your shoes, and height adjustment pin for the seat. It's really, really well-designed, especially for the price, size, and weight.

Only thing I wish it had was some sort of connection to your screen to cut power if you don't pedal. Someone hacked up a trainer like that on Instructables:

http://www.instructables.com/id/No-TV-unless-you-exercise/

There is a commercial pedaler available, but all of the connections are old: (RF, RCA, VGA)

http://www.d2tech.net/products.shtml

Anyway, neat bike design, probably going to pick one up for Christmas & slap my Chromebook on it

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Does Amazon or the company one buys from off of Amazon send advertisement fliers in the mail?

 

[Kaido]

Does Amazon or the company one buys from off of Amazon send advertisement fliers in the mail?

Dunno, never seen this before. I was surprised Staples even had anything exercise-related. They have a website:

https://www.staminaproducts.com/product_detail.cfm?cat=Wirk&pid=85-2221

Closest I found was a PDF manual:

https://resources.staminaproducts.com/products/85-2221/pro85-2221.pdf

It'd be cool to take it one step further & have a tablet/laptop app that could dim the screen if you don't pedal. I was hanging out with my buddy this weekend & his kids loafed for like six hours straight on the couch, totally glued to their tablets. Exercise for screen time seems like a pretty good trade-off...they need a v2 pronto!

 

[crashtech]

It seems obvious to me that the bike should power a charger.

 

[CZroe]

Having a notebook/tablet which dims the screen as soon as it's unplugged would do it for me. Add a Bluetooth speaker that shits off and sends a discrete AVRCP Pause command when you stop pedaling would be a good addition.

 

[Newell Steamer]

I could see myself playing video games - but, working on legitimate task? No fucking way.

The last thing I need while putting together a 100 page powerpoint slide for some executive idiot that won't even bother reading it is physically breaking a sweat over copy/paste.

 

[JSt0rm]

be very careful with that. You should look up the dangers of long term bike seat usage (especially if you are a boy).

 

[Kaido]

It seems obvious to me that the bike should power a charger.

Yeah, especially since this is 2015. Charger + dimming capability would be amazing!

 

[crashtech]

I think a charger plus a display that indicates power production would be an adult style of motivation.

 

[Kaido]

I think a charger plus a display that indicates power production would be an adult style of motivation.

Would be useful for charging your cell when the power goes out too...

 

[Harrod]

I've got one of these under my desk at work, it's good for burning off about 300 calories extra over the course of a few hours. I should probably mention, that I have a ton of downtime at work.

http://www.amazon.com/DeskCycle-Exe...UTF8&qid=1448766148&sr=8-1&keywords=deskcycle

 

[sdifox]

I could see myself playing video games - but, working on legitimate task? No fucking way.

The last thing I need while putting together a 100 page powerpoint slide for some executive idiot that won't even bother reading it is physically breaking a sweat over copy/paste.

How else would he know you were working hard?

 

[Kaido]

Ah, found a pedaler generator on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Generator-Emergency-Portable-Lightweight-Polycarbonate/dp/B00EZS8VQS

20 watts, $195.

 

[Kaido]

Check this one out:

http://gizmodo.com/this-exercise-bike-turns-cycling-into-a-vr-racing-game-1748315087

An exercise bike that turns pedaling into a VR game! It's basically a gamepad for VR headsets & includes support for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Playstation VR. $199 pre-order price; $249 retail. Ships Q1 2016. Early access price includes the bike, unlimited access to all of the minigames, and a lifetime VirZoom Plus subscription ($10/mo otherwise). I bit...I am planning on buying a VR headset next year (most likely the Vive, based on reviews, although the review from the Verge said the Sony model is pretty comfortable thanks to the spongy sweatband). They do nick you $50 for shipping, so it still comes up to $250 OTD. The early purchase should be worth it, since the subscription would work out to $120 a year & you get all of this included:

This will include free access to all the current games and any games we make! VirZOOM Plus transforms our mini game library into a complete workout solution by adding online multiplayer modes, leaderboards, and fitness profile tracking for every member of your household. Early access customers will get a lifetime free membership of the ultimate VR experience.

I dreamed about having something like this as a kid...exercise AND have fun at the same time! I really hope they get a good flight sim like X-Plane integrated ASAP - multi-player dogfights would be awesome! (despite the "2D" biking platform) And stuff like Far Cry or Mirror's Edge where your character is actually running around would be off the hook! I'm surprised at how cheap it is...I mean, Rock Band costs $200, so to get a combination of an exercise bike & controller for that price is pretty dang good, especially considering that the Wirk Bike in the OP costs $199 & only has a tray table on it. Quick product video: (I would suggest skipping the launch video...a bit NSFL )

https://vimeo.com/147495445

Sample game footage: (apparently where you're a dog driving an F1 car)

https://vimeo.com/147380602

Bunch of early reviews up already:

http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/16/10234898/sony-playstation-vr-virzoom-motion-controller-excercise

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/featu...he-virtual-reality-exercise-bike-virzoom.aspx

http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1328507

http://www.wareable.com/vr/fully-immerse-yourself-in-your-fitness-routine-with-the-virzoom-2063

Personally, I prefer indoor cardio because it's not weather-dependent like running or biking is (at least in my area, where we get a ton of snow & ice), and anything I can do to make it more fun is awesome. Definitely looking forward to this beast! As time goes on, I'd imagine we'll only see even more complex versions of things like this for different types of games (pretty sure I'm going to need a hydraulically-controlled Link Trainer at some point, haha!).