PooBoo Indoor Cycling Bike Review
I had a deal set up to buy a used PooBoo bike on Facebook Marketplace, but the lady ended up selling it to someone else. I’ve been eyeing this popular “Amazon” exercise bike for 6 months, today I’m going to share my thoughts and opinions of this Peloton bike alternative with you.
To be 100% clear the PooBoo bike I’m commenting on in this post is the most popular model on Amazon, the FRICTION resistance model which is also the least expensive PooBoo bike in the lineup. PooBoo does offer a magnetic variation of this bike along with several other models.
From the looks of it the PooBoo seems VERY similar to the Yosuda bike which I did do several videos on, including a full Yosuda bike review with TailHappy Score. In relation to the Yosuda:
- The handlebars appear to be very similar, same “cheap” grip material, unconventional shape, shape flimsy piece of plastic to hold your iPhone or tablet which works, but I found it to stab my hands on the Yosuda.
- One key DIFFERENCE is the PooBoo has a Pulse Sensor to in theory show your heart rate. Is it accurate? I don’t know for sure, but the more expensive Sunny SF-B1709 bike I bought and tested which came equipped with this same style pulse sensor did not give me Heart Rate read outs that aligned with my trusty ol’ Scosche Rhythm+
- The resistance knob and friction resistance pad also APPEAR to be very similar to the Yosuda bike, which I was not impressed with, however they do get the job done – and after all the PooBoo and the Yosuda are very low budget exercise bikes.
and note I did say FRICTION resistance… which means you will not be getting that buttery smooth magnetic resistance feel on the PooBoo bike. Is that important to you?
Most notably on these friction resistance bikes with “relatively light flywheels” (for a frictions bike) is at the top end of the resistance range it starts to feel really “choppy”. If you watch my Yosuda review you will see the bike does fine at medium and low resistance, but as you turn that red resistance knob towards max resistance the pad pushes hard against the flywheel and the mass of the flywheel simply is not heavy enough to keep the motion fluid.
The max resistance of the PooBoo bike is probably just as good as the Cyclace bike I reviewed as well as the Yosuda bike, and the PooBoo probably suffers in the same ways these other two bikes do as a result of their wool pad friction resistance and 35 lbs (ish) flywheel. The PooBoo claims to have a 30 lb flywheel while other bikes similar to it claim to have a 35 lbs flywheel and the Cyclace bike ups the ante to beat out the competition with a claimed flywheel mass of 36 lbs. Are any of these listed flywheel weights accurate? I don’t know for sure because I didn’t take any of these machines apart to weight them, but I will say the drive train feel on these inexpensive bikes doesn’t compare to higher end machines.
An example of a friction resistance exercise bike that creates a smooth feeling drive train at low resistance and also HIGH resistance is the Sunny SF-B1002 I reviewed. This sunny bike has a super heavy flywheel compared to most indoor cycling bikes, and also it uses a leather resistance pad. I really like the drive train feel on the Sunny SF-B1002 and it performs well at high resistance as well as low resistance. I’ve made several videos with that bike.
Another strange thing the PooBoo bike has in common with the Yosuda bike is the handlebars up/down adjustment has TWO knobs you must tighten to keep that handlebars stable and not wobble. It’s cool that Yosuda and PooBoo added the second adjustment knob to help stabilize the handlebars – and to say it nicely, it’s also an indication of the low price point.
Let’s talk about the LCD display on the PooBoo bike – it’s basic, really basic. No cadence, no resistance number, but it does give you “Pulse” which is heart rate – in theory. These pulse sensors will only work if you have both hands on the sensors, and it also does not track or record your heart rate the same way a Scosche Rhythm+ does with you connect it up with an app such as Peloton Digital App. I would not consider any display of this caliper to be scientifically accurate on any of the metrics, but what this display can help you do is track your progress over time in relation to your own effort, which is truthfully the only thing that matters. Sure the speed read out, distance, and calories may not be 100% accurate but at least it’s a gauge to help you see how you’re doing compared to last time and come up with some measurable goals to your next ride.
If you want to know your cadence you can simply add a Wahoo cadence sensor to the crank arm like many people choose to do. On a friction resistance bike you simply will not get a quantifiable number metric however, so you need to ask yourself if this metric is important to you before you buy a bike.
The pedals that come on the PooBoo bike are as basic as I’d expect at this price point, there is not clip in option but you can always buy your own pedals and put them on if you’re ready to clip in and take your riding experience to the next level. Clip in pedals and shoes truely are a game changer and I’d highly recommend them to any one serious about getting the most out of there time invested into indoor cycling.
The seat looks wide and comfy, I can’t tell from the pictures but I hope it doesn’t have the same springs on the bottom side of the saddle that came on the Yosuda because that just makes the seat less stable in my opinion. I don’t think you need suspension on a bike that isn’t riding over bumps in the road, but hey, what do I know?
So here’s my bottom line…
The PooBoo bike is a $330-ish Peloton bike alternative that’ll probably get the job done for most people. If you like it and want to buy it the goods news is it’s usually in stock, ships quick from Amazon, it’s easy to build, and you won’t be locked into any particular platform that required a monthly fee. It’s a basic bike you can get on and start burning some calories and with consistent effort you’ll improve your overall health.
Considering the price point I’d at least consider watching a few video reviews I made on similarly priced bikes I linked above such as the Yosuda, the Sunny SF-B1002, and the Joroto X1s. If you can stretch your budget just a little bit more I do think there are definitely better options out there which don’t cost much more.
If you’ve decided this is the max end of your budget for a beginner indoor cycling bike and you want to help support TailHappyTV you can click the link here in this post and if you buy through this link I will get a small commission which will help fuel my indoor cycling bike review addiction so I can buy new bikes to review.
Thanks for reading, see you in my next post 🙂
-Matt