Yes, I have a stationery bike and it helps a lot. I have no great love of exercise but I know the importance of it. The reason I like the bike a lot is that I can read my magazines while riding it and the time goes quickly and it doesn't feel like work. I do it for 30 minutes 4-5 days each week. Mine is a Schwinn model and my sons bought and installed it after I came home from the hospital with pulmonary embolisms and then COPD.

It is good for exercising the heavier muscles which improves the blood circulation and it helps me to sleep better at night which has always been a struggle for me.

I highly recommend it. Lifting weights - not too heavy- is good but I am lazier about that.

Do you mean a stationary bike or the kind that has a little motor on it to ride outside?

Where we live there are so many restrictions on where you can ride them they are relatively useless. Which is a crying shane if you ask me because I think they lot of people very much.

I have one. I bought a Schwinn 3 wheel bike and added an Amped
Bikes electric motor kit to the front wheel. The kit comes with all you need besides the bike. The bike and kit cost me about 800.00. I have used it for nearly 3 yerars and it is wonderful. You don't have to pedal at all unless you want to. The speed I use it is usually around 10-15 mph which is quite fast. The range is 8-12 miles depending on the terrain.If you do come to a step hill you have to pedal as well which is much easier with the kit. Check out their website. You could put it in a 26" two wheel bike as well.

Oh thank you so much for your reply. I so want one... and yes they are expensive. Is there a big advantage to having a 3 wheel vs a 2 wheel bike? I would think the 3 wheel would be harder to peddle? Thanks, again. I am really surprised that more copd patients are not riding these bikes. Do you think we could get insurance to pay for these?

I wanted a three wheel because I thought it would be more stable. If you really want to pedal buy a three speed for a hundred more. A two wheel would be a lot easier with a bike rack on your car to go different places though.

Oh love the idea of a bike rack on my car. I have severe copd so I know I can't peddle very much. I just want a way to do a few fun things by myself and get me out of the house. I absolutely hate having to stay away from crowds of people, afterall, that is where you find the fun things that everyone wants to do. What about you, what kinds of activities do you do? K

Whether two wheels or three, or even if electric bikes are allowed depends on where you live and how you intend to use them. So I advise to check around and see what people are generally getting away with, and where you can ride, before you invest too much.

Note: like everything else an *official* answer is often very different from what is *unofficially* allowed. Smile. Always easier to get forgiveness than it is permission. To get *unofficial* information for your area find a busy spot and ask the cyclists as they go by. They are always glad to help and always have a good story or two to tell. Lol

Example, where I live (semi-rural, extremely hilly, between a large retirement community, a modest city, and further south a University Town) three-wheelers are limited to specific sections and banned from others (the police will harass/fine you), but electric bicycles are essentially ignored by the authorities everywhere EXCEPT down town. (My bike uses a two-cycle engine.) Ive gotten around by learning all the various short-cuts and portages. I can ride around my street and immediate neighborhood, but cant go directly to the main bike path just a mile south of me. Have to cut through a trailer park, slip through a dog park, and then enter the path just north of a city park then clear to go. Lol

To amplify: If you are physically able to manage a bike I highly recommend them. Exercise aside for the moment, there is something to just having the freedom to take off. For me, it is pure childish joy. Stability is not an issue unless you are unable to stop and hold your bike up for a reasonable length of time and not get dizzy. Once you get going the natural gyroscopic action of the wheels will hold you up. Also two-wheels attract far less attention.

Also not all the kits out there are of decent quality or as maintenance free as the vendors would have you believe. Lots of inexpensive poor quality kits and lots of seriously overly-priced kits, you really have to do your research. Also shop around motorized bikes are like treadmills lots of people buy them but they often end up gathering dust. Answering ads I was able to try-out quite a few before I finally bought one.

I like the two-cycle compared to electric. One, I live in the hills. Electrics dont do hills as well. Mine is capable of going 27 mph, but I never go there, however nice to have the power when needed.

Two, I prefer the traction model (the drive rides on the bike wheel) compared to the chain or direct drives Ive tried. With traction if the wheel gets wet it just slips a bit, with direct drive systems it can be a problem. Far less things to break as well. You have to disengage and throttle a two-cycle while riding for various riding situations, so you are busier. You dont have to do as much with electrics.

Three, if the battery goes you are dead, with a two-cycle I just carry a few extra ounces of fuel. Worse comes to worse I can get going again at any convenience store. It isnt as loud at low speeds as you might expect. I cover my engine with a fake saddlebag (dont block air flow). Looks like my lunch. (Smile.)

Four, those batteries are NOT cheap and they are heavy. Electrics also seem to have few user-repairable parts. Something breaks you have to replace whole units. Any lawn mower shop can rebuild a two-cycle. (Although I do all my own maintenance.)

hth

Thanks Gnott for all the info, when I came out of the hospital, my half brother brought a stationary bike (like the ones in the gyms) a PRO
FORM XP , it's big and now in my living room, but now winter is here I sure appreciate. The only drawback is the seat hurts my butt. But I try to ride it for 20 minutes 3 times a week, good for you Cindy doing 30 minutes. I also lift weights, as I had a program in Pulmonary rehab, when you open the rib cage movements you inhale and when bringing arms back together exhale. I do them all 10 times each.

Thank you all such good information. I really want a three wheeler with the motor, its fairly flat where I live and a small community, not a lot of rules. I'm not sure where to shop for a bike like that in my area, but I can find out.

Without a reputable specialty bike shop nearby, your best choice is online. You can order some decent quality three-wheelers from common retail outlets and then add your own kit. Or you can buy one already set up.

Purchasing a trike and a kit separately will be cheaper but with kits there are major cravats beyond buyer beware. There is a ton available *Green Is In* - and everybody and his sister with room in their garage have jumped into the business. They run from aprox $250 to $800. You will find 36v/1000w, 48v/800w, 48v/1400w, 18v/600w, 12v/40w, yadda, yadda, yadda, all for around the same prices, and scratching your head wondering why. And unfortunately price seems to have little relationship to quality. Some include fancy panels, some have disc brakes, some have remotes, some come with batteries, some will not, some install in 30 minutes then take an amazing amount of tweaking, others are a nightmare to install, but never need to be touched again. . How are your mechanical skills? Smile.

If you buy a completed package be aware many are horribly over-priced. (Much of the cost is to cover their lawsuits. Smile.) Some are pure toys. Some are very well-built. Price is only barely associated with quality. Check out name-brand products that have been around for awhile.

If you buy a kit for a separate trike appreciate that a three-wheeler will operate at about 75% of the specs they publish for a two-wheeler, specs which are generally overly-optimist to begin with. Be sure and include your own weight and anything you plan to carry when you compare specs.

Ask around. If you spot someone using one talk to them. People love talking about their bikes.

Nearly half the people in the town where I live own a 150cc motor scooter. We all need a change of scenery and plenty of exercise.

Researchers estimated that eradicating physical inactivity in the population would reduce the number of deaths twice as much as if obesity was eradicated.

From a public health perspective, it is as important to increase levels of physical activity as it is to reduce the levels of obesity -- maybe even more so. The report was published Jan. 14 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

you guys got me thinking of the old mopeds in the '80's that everyone rode around my area (far distances between things).
out of curiosity i googled "moped" and darn if they don't still sell them!!!
walmart has a cute lil pink one with "tassles" on the handlebar that i could really "go in style" with ;)
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Razor-Pocket-Mod-Euro-Girls-Electric-Scooter-Sweet-Pea/39673207
i haven't found any 3 wheel models yet.

Well now, Jarca, that little Sweet Pea is saaweet..... :)
Think I would be better off with more than 2 wheels, though.
Thanks for the memories!

Clever idea about the saddle bag to hide the motor! Oh yes and mopeds were great! Had a friend back home who lost his drivers license for a while and got around on one of those things quite well for some time.