Im thinking about buying a bike, is it a good way to exercise??

Do spend some time with the stickied threads...

but short answer.. anything that gets you moving and you will do consistently is a good way to exercise... Walking is free... Dancing to music is pretty much free...

The downside to biking if you haven't biked in a while -is your butt can get pretty sore...

Padded seats, or better yet, gel seats are so worth it. If you haven't ridden in a while, don't worry about it. It's like... well, you know.

you get used to it eventually.. but you have to start out fairly slow and not with a 25 mile ride.. ;D

I tried to exercise on a unicycle. I didn't get much cardio but I did like 50 push-ups.

Oh, yeah, absolutely, provided you can find some way to work it into your life so you'll actually USE the bike. Do you live in a neighborhood where you can bike? If not, are there parks or trails nearby where you can bike? Can you imagine throwing your bike into your vehicle on a weekend and heading out of town to a nearby off-road bike path? Would it be possible to bike to work? To the store? Could you find friends to bike with?

If the answer to ALL these questions is no... it probably won't do you any good to buy a bike; it will just sit in the garage. But if you answered yes to a couple of them, you should definitely consider it.

As far as weight-loss goes, biking is right up there with running (but way easier on the knees!) Biking on a real bike burns a lot more calories per hour than riding on an exercise bike, and it's SO much more fun that an hour goes by before you know it. I can't IMAGINE working on an exercise bike for an hour. I don't think I've ever made it longer than 15 minutes in my life. But I can bike 5 miles with ease, 10 miles with a little practice, and 20+ miles once I'm in shape for the summer. (And I'm old and fat: 58 years old and well over 200 pounds).

If you want to chat about biking and weight loss, I'd love to! Check out my diary: Recovering Bike Commuter

And good luck with whatever you decide to do!!

before i couldnt ride half of my neighborhood without stopping

Now i can ride the entire neighborhood without stopping and im beating all of my speeds.

It helps, especially when walking long distances to and from classes in college campuses

Bikeing is good!

You can use biking for exercise and you can use it for transportation. I ride a bike to work and that way I get to exercise at least twice a day, on the way to work and home. That is providing you don't work a huge distance from your home.

I had lost 45 lbs (350 to 305) and then had lost track of my weight loss over a few months span. I purchased a bike 2 months ago and I've lost 20 lbs. I ride it 6 days a week for at least 50 minutes. I do HIIT two of those days and I ride to work once or twice a week, which is 30 miles round trip. My polar watch shows a calorie loss of around 860 each way. Not too shabby! But yes, a bike is a great form of cardio, I prefer it over any other cardio. Beats jogging or sitting in a gym, unless I'm doing weights.

yes!

it is an amazing way, and probably the best (and most fun) way to loose weight! I started riding my bike last week since it got nice out, and i lost 5 pounds!! i dont know how but, gosh im really really happy because biking helped me get over a 'plateau'.

I decided to take my bike out after reading this thread. Should have waited and bought a softer saddle first.

Somewhere (my memory is failing me - I think it was wishes) who gave a pretty good explantion of what type of bike seat you should look for - I don't recall it being the softness of the seat or the size of the seat either-but how the saddle fits you...

There is a good bike shop not far from where I live, so I might take it down and see what they suggest. Maybe get it tuned up a bit too before I take it out again.

My poor bike is collecting dust right now. Brake line needs to be replaced. But as soon as I get that done ("as soon" means "a long time from now"...), I will start to bike to the grocery store. I'm only a mile from work, so I walk but the grocery is about 3 miles away. I've thought about walking, but then I could never get any refrigerated/frozen things!