twistedmosaic

I am getting fat. It's a fact of life brought on by a desk job and a sedentary lifestyle.

This displeases me, so I decided to do something about it.

I bought an exercise bike on craigslist for $100. I rode it five times. It then became my footrest while I surfed the net, as it is next to my computer.

I decided enough was enough, and I had to make it fit into my lifestyle. So, some hacking was in order.

Exercise bike before:

Spare monitor I happened to have lying around with no home, and a mount I picked up at work that seemed suited for this project:


First things first, I had to see how much wiring I was looking at, so I took the control unit off.

Doesn't seem too excessive, I'll just cut the harness in the middle and extend it.

First, though, that bookholding lip has got to go, and I'll need to drill some holes and mount the backplate for the monitor mount.

Looks good!

Now, where to put the control unit. I still need to be able to use it while I'm riding...I think right by my left hand would actually be more convenient then the stock location.

I mock up a mount idea with a paint stirrer and some PVC:







Fits perfect, the ergonomics are vastly improved over stock. My 'mockup' is actually quite sturdy...I was going to make a metal one after work tomorrow, but I may just stick with this one until it breaks, if it ever does.

On to the more difficult part....extending the harness. I have some bulk CAT-5 laying around that I decide to use as raw materials, and 30 butt connectors later...

....I've got a 4' harness instead of a 18" one. Wasn't so much difficult as tedious.



Moment of truth...



Yay, everything works!

This is as far as I got today:


Still to be done:
*loom the wires and ziptie them so I can't trip and die
*Figure out what source I'm going to use for this (most likely: rig up a laptop shelf/slot)
*Make an adapter plate to raise the monitor 3" (my knees hit if I'm peddling vigerously)
*Come up with a workable keyboard solution
*Make a matching mount by my right hand for a mousepad

All in all, not a bad days work Once it's done, I'm going to do all my at-home internet surfing on it. I may put a switch on it so the monitor only stays powered up if the RPM is above a minimum level, we'll see

Anyone done anything similar? Any comments or obvious keyboard solutions I've missed?

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evilbeefchan

Absolutely brilliant!

Martian

I'm reasonably sure there are commercial products to accomplish this, but that would take all the fun out of it.

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shakran

(It's called the Freestyle keyboard)

dlish

is there a Nobel prize for something like this??.. im sure there is...

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Hain

Brilliant! I recommend finding a spill proof keyboard for this project.

twistedmosaic

Exercise report: I just did 40 minute exercise (two episodes of the old Dilbert show) and must say...the time flew by! I wired up the laptop and some wireless headphones. I haven't set up my wireless internet yet, otherwise I probably would have been surfing the net instead. Something for next time, perhaps.

The screen doesn't interfere with my knees like I feared, however I'm still going to make a plate to raise the monitor next time I have a chance, just to increase the clearance.

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allaboutmusic

What a fantastic idea for a project. Cheaper than a gym membership too. Keep us updated. I wish I had the room to try this!

ride_there

Great Idea, and its got to be cheaper then this ~$6000 Steelcase treadmill workstation.

twistedmosaic

I found out something really interesting. I was playing a game (Moonbase Commander, not that it matters--it's a fun mouse-only game) and discovered that exercising while gaming sets up what I've termed an "endorphin positive feedback loop": The game gets more stressful which triggers endorphins, which makes me subconsciously pedal faster, which triggers more endorphins, which in turn gets me more hyped up about the game....etc etc.

I was trying to be one particularly stressful level requiring quite a bit of precision, and I didn't realize how hard or long had been pedaling until my heaphones slipped off my head from the sweat, and I looked down and had ridden 28 miles!

If you wanted to simulate this without getting so DIY, just point any exercise equipment at a wall mounted monitor or TV...you don't have to go as 'crazy' as I did, although I'm glad I did :-)

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snicka

This is a great idea, brilliant. I try to play xbox while on the ellipter but those damned things require balance and I often nearly fall and die because I get all caught up in the game.

Delirious

Easy solution is use a laptop lol

RetroGunslinger

My quick-n-easy solution is using my video ipod while at the gym. Watching Moulin Rouge while on the exercise bike makes you never want to leave.

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pppg

That is awesome! You need to make the bike control your internet connection speed. Pedal slow: you get 28k-like speed. Kick it in gear: TFP loads like a dream.

Baraka_Guru

Do you have a video podcast of this project?

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Willravel

That stupid thing bounces even if you're like a 170 lb man. They should have separated the base of the table and the base of the treadmill.

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debaser

Tip: Buy an excercise ball and sit on it while you surf instead of a chair. You work your abs and don't even know it...

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Willravel

Or the Hawaii chair!

But seriously, just exercise an hour a day. Jeez.

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smoore

I think the OP is great but this makes it greaterer. Hell, tie energy expended to CPU speed too. The command nice might be a cheap hack to get it to work.

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twistedmosaic

Submitted this on a whim on the last day of lifehacker.com's Upgrade Your Life contest, and won an autographed book! Yay!

http://lifehacker.com/376204/nerdcyc...-exercise-bike

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Martian

Congrats on the win, but I'm curious to know - have you solved the input yet? Having a mouse is a start, but it's fairly limiting; on the other hand, a workable keyboard solution might get somewhat complex.

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Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

- Journey, Don't Stop Believein'

twistedmosaic

I've got a couple ideas floating around, and this might be the initiative I need to act on them. I've done plenty of hardware hacking on keyboards before (if you yank the chip out and wire it properly, you can use it as a 121 button custom input source!), so I may just take two cheap USB keyboards and literally cut them in half.

The other option is some sort of swing-away lap-level keyboard...something else I will definitely consider.

Expect to see this addressed by this weekend.

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dlish

just wondering where ugot with things twisted>>

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AKR

Sheer Genius.
The treadmil thing is absolutely retarded. Your body moves around when you're on the treadmill, you you'll be stretching your hands sometimes to get to the keys. Its hard to type with the bounce, too. Plus, you forget that you're running for one moment and it'll rip you right off.

I usually just break from the computer when i'm working out. if i have to use it, i just use free-weights, or do push ups at my desk with my feet on my chair nad my hands on my desk. The added height makes it feel kinda cool too, and encourages you to drop lower to lengthen your muscle movement

thingstodo

They actually make a cardio machine that is linked to games. The levels get easier the harder you work out. I saw that recently but can't recall where. I'll update if I figure it out. Mad cow is slowing my brain...

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