I’ve had a variation of this bike for about 5-6 years, this is one where you’ll have a lot of companies throwing their name on exactly or almost exactly the same bike. My display isn’t near as fancy and there’s no bluetooth (It broke about 6 months in anyways), but the body and the rest of the pieces are similar. The pedals are complete garbage and honestly outright painful for me. The resistance dial also sucks and I don’t remember a time where I ever felt that it actually did anything. It’s also always made this real weird noise when cycling that I don’t hear with other exercise bikes at the gym and you got to be careful not to get going fast or it starts to feel real unstable.

With all those things mentioned, after swapping out the pedals, it works as an exercise bike. I got mine for $90 on sale and paid another $20 for some new pedals. It’s a piece of shit, but it’s a functional piece of shit and probably appropriately priced around $100. Looking at the price on amazon for yours, I’d be real unhappy about it if I paid $270.

My internet is a bit choppy rn, so I can’t see the exact bike you are talking about. But my advice - just check fb marketplace for all your exercise bike, treadmill, elliptical, etc, needs. After about a week, you’ll probably find one for free. Why is it free? Because it has become a coat rack in the living room for the past year and a half, and it’s just taking up space.

And you, dear OP, with the greatest kindness I can muster… are probably not the chosen one who will break this cycle of cycle non-cycling. Now, maybe you are, in which case you can get a free bike, use it consistently for 3 months, and then decide to upgrade to a really nice one that will be even more enjoyable to use. But as statistics as our guide, we must assume that any bike you buy will soon become a coat rack in your living room - so you might as well save your money and get one for free.

Now, if you can stomach any more advice, I will tell you this - very, very few people are well suited to using an exercise bike or similar device to exercise regularly. The people who are well suited are (1) already dedicated cyclists who want to keep training during the winter months, or (2) extremely type-A people who have no problem being bored for long periods of time. But as someone who is currently not very active, I will tell you the secret to building a consistent exercise habit that will last for life: make it fun, social, and regularly scheduled.

The exercise bike, then, is the antithesis of all these things, and is almost purpose-built to cause you to fail in your goal of building a consistent exercise habit. Riding an exercise bike is not fun - hence why people always put it in front of the tv. The TV is fun, and is there to distract them from the chore of exercising. But then, you know the bike is making watching tv less fun, so after one or two times on it, you get home from work one day especially tired and say “eh, I’ll exercise tomorrow.” Similarly, it is possible for you and your wife to, say, take turns on the bike while the other cooks dinner, and to have a nice conversation with each other while each does their respective task. But then, again, the bike is taking away from your enjoyment of the conversation by distracting you. “Why not just get off the bike and cook dinner together? Wouldn’t that be more enjoyable?” your brain will rightly think. And the bike is always there. Always just sitting in the living room, ready to use, night or day - so you can always say “I’ll do it in 10 minutes”, “after this show ends”, “this evening after work”, “tomorrow”.

Contrast this with something like meeting up with friends to ride bikes. Every sunday, you wake up, pack your bag, inflate your tires, and ride off on your bike to meet your friends a few blocks away. Then you all decide on an objective for the day - riding to the cafe on the other side of town, or checking out the small villiage at the other end of a rural road - and off you go. Pedalling along, making small talk, talking about life, whatever comes to mind. Whatever problems you are worried about feel smaller as you cruise down neighborhood streets, through alleys and parks, and over landscapes of trees and rolling hills. Your quads burn. Your heart thumps. Your lungs ache. The wind blows across your face, and the sun is warm on your back. You finish the day with your friends and everyone high fives, talking about their favorite parts of the day, and already planning next week’s ride. This is what a lifelong exercise habit looks like.

The exercise bike’s main selling point is convenience. It promises that, even with your very busy life, you can still have the time to exercise (if only you buy this product). But the very premise is what causes its users to fail, because if you are prioritizing convenience over all else, then it means you are unwilling yo prioritize exercise over anything else in your life. Creating a sustainable exercise habit starts with deciding to make health and fitness a central piller of your life - not something you haphazardly tack on at the end after you are done with your stressful commute and time spent doomscrolling and watching tv. And as a soon-to-be parent, it is never more critical that you start building this habit now, because life will only get more stressful and busy. You need to start building the habit now of finding ways to stop the responsibilities and crises of daily life from drowning you. Yes, you have a baby on the way, and that is very important. But what is also important is that you continue to have a life outside of work and family. That you continue having fun doing things you enjoy. That you keep up connections with friends, and keep making new ones. And that you keep having time that is dedicated just to yourself and your goals. Not just for your own health, but for the sake of your future child. After all, kids learn by example. What example do you want to set?