Project Nerdcycle--Exercise Bike Hacking

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!

(ed: Originally posted 2-13-2008.  Submitted to Lifehacker for their reader contest, and won a book with it!   Also, every google search result for as many pages as I looked through for the term 'nerdcycle' refers to my project!)