I recently had orthoscopic knee surgery and would like to get a better cardio work out biking. I currently have a recumbent bike but feel that it's hard to get a good workout with it, and I think a upright, or bike trainer, might be best. I am not looking for a peleton but Pro-form seems to have similar cheaper version that I have seen $200-$300 on the used market. The bike trainer would be nice because they are low cost and take very little space. I would likely be able to upgrade some things on my hybrid bike which I need some new tires. My goal is to lose some weight over the winter months and bike more often outside, weather permitted. Second questions does anyone have any suggestions on workout plans? What say the hive?
I bought something like This Link a few years ago and have been happy with it. It is not perfect but does the job and stores away nicely when I am not using it.
Do you want the bike trainer to adjust the resistance for you to follow some sort of a virtual workout? do you want it to measure power? Cadence?
if you don't need any real smart features cheap mag resistance trainers are easily available on Facebook market place. The one posted above from Amazon works well. Then when you want more you can move to a wheel on erg Type trainer. If you get a wheel on trainer get a trainer tire as trainers can wear out tires quick. I bought a cheap road bike for 250 on Facebook market place and then the wahoo was 50% off at a bike shop going out of businesss.
https://us.zwift.com/products/wahoo-kickr-snap?variant=42524430401792
I have a wahoo kicker and I like it but will be changing to a peloton style bike. Probably a cheap merach bike. This will allow my daughter son and wife to ride the bike. Most likely this type bike. https://a.co/d/1i9E3pq It'll go on sale on Black Friday im guessing for about 299.
for workout plans. I've been using mywoosh. It's like zwift but free. Has built in workouts and rides. If you were nearby I'd let you come over and try it all out. I like zwift better but I can't stomach another $15 a month subscription. But if you can and want a smart trainer. Zwift is the way.
https://www.mywhoosh.com/
https://www.zwift.com/home
i ride about 4-5 hours a week a mix of inside and outside when I can get it. Hopefully it'll get snowy this year so I can put some miles on the fat bike. Just got spiked tires for the winter. 😃
Do you have space for other equipment? I have a bike and a nordic trak XC ski machine. They can be found free on FBMP, and the workout is much more extreme than a bike. If it is cardio inside the nordic track uses arms and legs while forcing you to hold your abdomen firm against the pad.
If you want a better outside cardio the streetstrider was the king for me. Brutal workout, higher calories per hour than a bike and again it used the arms and legs. Downside of these is price and where to ride.
People will say if you want more cardio on a bike just ride with more tension or faster cadence. But the nordic track can be had for free or close, it has worked for me for over 30 years.
In reply to porschenut :
I have the space but had a elliptical that I recently sold because I found it boring to do. I have thought about a ski machine because I actually cross country (rather I have CC skis but only ski once or twice a year in my back yard. I also thought about a row machine, which is supposed to be easy on the knees, just looking to do something different other then running, that I can get in decent shape for the racing season.
In reply to trigun7469 :
Working out inside is boring, that is why the gyms have TV built into their equipment. I just watch TV, but it still gets boring.
I've been keeping my eye out for a Bowflex C6 in a thrift store because they can work as a general-purpose game controller, so you could get a workout while using it to play a cycling game.
The best cycling game I've seen so far was a mountain biking sim in an arcade, but the second-best is probably GTA San Andreas 
