When it comes to staying fit and keeping in shape, one of the best exercises that comes to mind is cycling. But for many of us, getting out on the road bike isn’t possible as much as we would like. Luckily, home exercise bikes provide the perfect opportunity to improve fitness from the comfort of our homes. Today we review the Ultrasport F bike.
Even if you have limited space in your home, an exercise bike is compact and can be easily folded and put away when not in use. The benefits include burning calories, building muscle and boosting metabolism. All of this without leaving the house.
If you have started to look for a budget exercise bike online, you will have certainly come across the Ultrasport F bike series. The range is extremely popular on Amazon and also has many great reviews and recommendations. Out of the range, we will be focusing this review on the standard Ultrasport F Bike. This is due to being the most popular model and also being the model which we would recommend for the majority of users.
You may not have heard of Ultrasport before, but they are actually one of the most popular fitness brands on Amazon. As well as exercise bikes, their full range includes steppers, mats and weights. This is great if you are looking to keep one brand throughout your home gym set-up.
Key Features
8 resistance levels – The exercise bike has a choice between 8 different resistance levels, each with varying intensity. This is key for improving your fitness and building muscle over time. Increasing resistance is essential for muscle building and 8 resistance levels provide good flexibility to use the bike for a long time.
Foldaway space-saving design – The ability to fold this bike away when not in use is a massive benefit for those with not much space. There is a pin in the middle which can be removed and allow the exercise bike to be folded. Perfect for placing for example in a cupboard or even up against the wall and out of the way
Training computer – The onboard screen allows the user to quickly get information about their workout including time, calories, speed, distance and more. The screen is fairly basic but still provides a good source of information, especially at this price point.
Rated weight of 100kg – For the price of the Ultrasport F Bike the 100kg weight limit is more than enough. The sturdy design means the frame feels solid and perfectly capable of meeting the weight limited. For heavier users, there is also an upgraded model which is suitable for up to 130kg.
Hand pulse sensors – The sensors on the handlebars allow for easy tracking of the rides pulse and are perfect for ensuring you are inside the optimal fat burning zone.
Performance & Quality
The frame
The design of the F Bike is perfect for those in a smaller environment who will appreciate the space-saving design. Despite this, the build-quality all the way around is very good. The frame is metal which has been painted silver. This feels particularly strong and is quite heavy to pick up which gives us confidence this is going to last a long time.
In fact, all elements of the design feel robust and well made. This includes everything from the pedals to the rubber feet which keep the bike secure on the floor.
Seat
The seat is fairly comfortable and is perfectly fine for shorter rides. The materials are good quality with no sign they will wear out. There is also good height adjustment in the seat with approximately 8cm of travel. We found this to be suitable for the majority of users but those who are smaller may find it difficult to properly reach the pedals.
For those using the exercise bike regularly, the seat may feel slightly on the firm side. Luckily, Ultrasport has a solution with the comfort saddle cover which can also be purchased. This provides additional padding with a drawstring to keep it in place on the seat.
Handlebars
We found the handlebar set-up to be pretty impressive as well. The material of the handlebar is plastic with a foam coating. This is comfortable to hold, even for long sessions. On each side of the handlebars is hand pulse sensors. When riding, these provide a live readout of your heartbeat.
The location of the sensors is where we found ourselves naturally placing our hands. The readings seemed accurate, we did have to find ourselves holding for several seconds before getting the results. The centre of the handlebars features a small screen which reminds us of an old calculator.
For this price point, we could not really expect much more though. The display is clear and easy to understand, even when riding. A single button in the centre of the handlebars provides navigation through the different displays. Although simple to use, it does mean having to rotate through every display to reach the one you are looking for.
Resistance
The Ultrasport F bike provides 8 levels of resistance. This can be adjusted by a dial in the centre of the frame that can be rotated to alter the resistance applied. 8 levels of resistance provide versatility to be adjusted over time and also to rotate between different workouts.
We did find that the resistance on the highest setting was not the strongest and we would have liked a higher level of resistance. But overall this is still adequate for most users and we generally found ourselves sitting at around resistance level 6 out of 8.
Assembly
The exercise bike arrives in a flat-packed box. The box is roughly 18kg and so feels heavy when trying to move to the appropriate location. We would suggest assembling the bike in the room you wish to use it. The main base of the exercise bike is in one unit. The other parts all need attaching into place.
This includes the handlebars, pedals and seat. The assembly instructions are simple and clear to follow. It took approximately 20 minutes to get the exercise bike completely built. The F Bike does require batteries which are not included. This is to power the screen on the handlebars. The batteries seem to last a long time and we have not had to replace ours after many months of use.
Price
The price of the Ultrasport F bike is one of its biggest selling points. It can regularly be picked up for around £90 on Amazon. However, being Amazon, the price can fluctuate on a regular basis. A few times a year the exercise bike will dip to around £80 and it can also rise above £100. With the increased demand for at-home equipment at the moment, the price has risen slightly.
For this price point, the F Bike is great value for money and it is easy to see why it is so popular. When looking at competitors, it’s difficult to find anything better. The features are exactly what we would expect for just less than £100 and ideal for a first-time home exercise bike purchase.
Who should purchase?
We would recommend the Ultrasport F bike to any beginner user of a home exercise bike. The ease of use is perfect for those with little experience and who are just starting to workout from home. The fairly low levels of resistance will also make this suitable for beginner users but may struggle for intermediate users who require a higher level of resistance.
The seat has an okay level of height adjustment. We found this to accommodate for those of roughly an average height. For users smaller than 5’5 or particularly tall, there may not be a great enough level of adjustment. Only the seat features height adjustment, with no option on the handlebars.
The rest of the range & accessories
For this review, we focused on the standard Ultrasport F Bike model. And that’s with good reason, the price and feature set make it an ideal choice for most users. But there are further models in the range to consider. The F Bike Heavy is suitable for users up to 130 kg. The screen is slightly larger on this model but the overall design is very similar.
A number of colours are available across both models including black, green, navy and pink.
Ultrasport produces a number of accessories that are available and compatible with the F Bike series. The comfort saddle provides additional comfort for regular users. There is also a multimedia fitting. This allows for attaching a device such as a tablet or a laptop during a workout. The distraction of a video, for example, is an easy way to increase the time to spend using the exercise bike each day.
Conclusion
Overall, the Ultrasport F Bike is an excellent choice that we would confidently recommend as a home exercise bike. The F bike is most suited to beginners and those looking for a low-cost option. More advanced users may not find it offers the full features they are looking for. The fairly low resistance was the main drawback for this exercise bike, but we can understand that given the price point. The quality overall is very good and the pulse sensors on the handlebars are a great feature.
For a similar price, we would struggle to find a more well-rounded exercise bike. Indoor cycling with an exercise bike has many benefits for fitness. We hope you enjoyed our Ultrasport F Bike review. Let us know below which exercise bike you will be purchasing.
