DeskCycle Ellipse Under Desk Elliptical

This is a game-changer for me, enabling me to add more exercise to my day with minimal effort. It’s very quiet and sturdy and well designed! It really helps me close my exercise circles each day on my Apple Watch, allowing me to read or watch TV while I’m spinning! I did quite a bit of research before I settled on purchasing this elliptical leg exerciser, and it definitely was a great choice Though it is heavy, it can slide easily under a chair when not in use.

I have tried under desk pedalers before, but always the cheapest I could find, and none of them ever worked for me (bicycle-style ones make your knees go up too high and hit the underside of the desk, plus the angle is always awkward). I've been having problems with my circulation lately, and although I try to get up and walk around the office once an hour, my job is a desk job and I sit the majority of the day. Compression socks could only do so much for me. This elliptical is great. The large size of the pedals allow me to adjust my seating position without having to move the machine, it's nice and quiet (it makes a very gentle gliding noise, so it's not totally silent, but it's definitely not a volume anyone else is going to notice unless they're really sensitive to sounds), and it's very easy to use. It is a bit larger than I was expecting. I have an L shaped desk and sit in the corner, so it fits diagonally under the desk with no issues, but if I sat against one of the long sides of the desk I think I might have some trouble with it hitting the back of the desk. I also can't use it on anything other than the lowest setting because my chair will slide backwards, but my chair is also less than a month old so the wheels on it do not have a lot of resistance (the machine itself does not budge at all). My desk also has a raised power receptacle beneath it which made the placement a little hard to figure out but I made it work. I am only 5'1" so a taller person may have more trouble with finding a good position for this elliptical. However, if banging your knees on the underside of the desk is a worry, I would say my knees go up no more than half an inch at the highest point while pedaling.

Excellent product manual and so easy to set up. Even though it’s heavier than I expected, the handle makes it easy to move. I’m using it in my knitting chair, which is a bit reclined, so I appreciate that it is solid and won’t shift away during pedaling. The motion is very smooth and quiet. “So far so good” because I usually can’t do two things at once and I haven’t tried knitting and pedaling yet. This seems perfect for anyone recovering from knee injuries or suffering from vascular issues.

I bought this to try and combat my slow but steady weight gain brought on by working remotely during pandemic without cutting into my already scarce free time. Long story short, at ~4.5 months in I am pleased to say that weight loss has been occuring and I even have to wear a belt with my pants now! For the long story / more detailed review please see below. Noise and Pedaling Smoothness The sometimes noise is probably the only downside. When I first received my machine, it was totally silent and buttery smooth. I got excited and hauled it back and forth between my office and my living room every weekend. I don't know if moving it around caused the issue or maybe the floor not always being completely flat is the reason, but now the elliptical sometimes (but not always) squeaks and you can feel it in the pedals, although the action is still fairly smooth and much better than the other brand of desk cycle my boyfriend purchased. Strangely if it squeaks while pedaling in one direction it most likely won't squeak if you pedal in the other direction. I've asked while pedaling and called into meetings, but it seems like Microsoft teams or my headset software is good enough that nobody else can hear the noise. Probably wouldn't be good for an actual in-person office though. App There is a Desk cycle app where you can manually record your session details from the little stats display and set goals - daily and/or weekly, and in terms of time, revolutions, or calories burned. One of the details you can enter is the session start time, but I wish there was also an option to instead enter the session end time. Since you must enter the session duration, the app should be able to calculate the start time itself. What can I say, I'm lazy! I unexpectedly really liked the goals feature because it helps me to stay motivated and make sure I get a minimum amount of pedaling in every day. App and Fitbit Connectivity In this app you can link to your Fitbit account so that session details are sent over to Fitbit. This is really only good for recording steps or distance cycled (depending on your configuration), and not so much for calories burnt. The Desk Cycle app breaks your calories burned into 'calories from being alive,' 'calories from sitting up straight,' and 'calories from pedaling.' Only the 'pedaling' calories are sent to Fitbit, but as far as I can determine Fitbit takes that number as the total number of calories burned in that time period, so I didn't see a dramatic increase in calories burned in the Fitbit app after I got this. Ergonomics There isn't a whole lot of detail that I could find about any things you should be aware of while setting up your desk / chair to use the elliptical, so here's the setup that's been comfortable for me. I have a sit stand desk and a nice chair, and I think I had to adjust my chair a smidge upwards. Can't remember if I needed to change my desk settings though. I tend to pedal with my feet either at the middle or front of the elliptical pedals, and my thighs are parallel to the floor when the pedals are both at the middle height. The heel edge of the elliptical is lined up with the edge of the desk closest to me. I have to sit at the front of my chair while pedaling and sometimes I put a few extra pillows behind me so I can still get back support. I did get pain / soreness around my knees when I first started, but I think it was just me being overenthusiastic and pedaling more than my body was up for when I first got my elliptical. These days I have no issues. Weight Loss I was already exercising regularly, but clearly it wasn't enough since my weight was still going up. After getting this elliptical, I'm seeing a little bit less than one pound lost per week. I started at resistance level 3, and aimed for 6 sets of 3000 revolutions each, alternating between backwards and forwards every 500 revolutions, 4 days a week. Each set takes me about 45 minutes and I take a small break in between. I did hit a plateau about 2 months in and the weight loss slowed down, but upping the resistance level to 4 has seen the weight loss continue again and I'm very pleased. The shape of my legs has changed slightly and I can see the new muscle, although I don't know if it's something that anyone else would notice. Definitely not bulky or weird! Miscellaneous - I really like that you can take the stats display and put it on your desk for easy viewing. - Working while pedaling did take some getting used to, but now I can pedal while doing most things, like right now while writing this review :) - Great for boring/ useless meetings! Helps me stay awake, and even if the meeting is a waste of company time, at least I'm improving my health

This exercise machine is perfect. I use it under my desk and it also serves as a foot rest when not using. It is ultra quiet. Its fine if on lowest tension setting, but once I increase the tension, it requires something to stop my chair from rolling back. There are several options for this on amazon though.

I really enjoy the amount of tension this has and that it allows backwards pedaling! It's nice to get various muscles engaged depending on foot position. Very easy to assemble - note that the pedals have to be pushed down into the arm though (I struggled with this at first and initially thought the screws were too short but they weren't lol). Literally just put the pedals on, 4 screws, plug in and mount the display on the front of the machine, peel the sticker off the gear window, and you're good to go! Very comfortable too - I'm using a chair that rolls on a vinyl floor and it's still comfortable and usable! Completely silent, the reviews don't lie there. Definitely worth the purchase to help with restlessness while working at a desk. They made it very consumer friendly. Great job!

So very happy I bought this. I bought this particular one because it looked sturdy and wouldn't fall apart after a few revolutions. It is sturdy. Very. So, it weighs quite a bit, and when you are trying to get it into the right spot under desk, it may take a bit of effort. But, it means it doesn't slide around when you are using it. The varying degrees of resistance means there is a setting for pretty much anyone who uses it, and it's easy to change the resistance setting as needed. It caters for little feet and big feet. When I am using it, it is so quiet it doesn't interfere with the audio of teams meetings. Because it's there under the desk, you almost can't help but use it. I was worried that I would have to keep pushing it out of the way when I wasn't using it and drag my foot rest back in, but I have found that when I am not actively using it, the peddles are in just the right spot and height to act a foot rest. I have recommended this to friends of mine, and am happy to stand by that recommendation.

This device was easy to assemble. It's easy to use. It does not require a power source. It runs completely silent. The foot pedals are extra wide and you get a different work out based on whether your feet are in a forward or rear position on the pedals. Step count is slightly inaccurate for your fitbit. My fitbit blaze has an elliptical setting, and I find the numbers are most accurate if I wear the fitbit using an ankle strap, but you probably won't see perfect 100% recorded cycles. However, despite that I find this workout more rewarding than using my treadmill. The treadmill workout was hard on my joints (essentially just lifting and lowering your legs in place). This gives me the exercise I want while watching my shows. I cannot get over how quietly it cycles--it makes zero noise. I couldn't be more satisfied with the device. With winter on the way I'm so glad to have this in place. You might also want to invest in a good pair of sandals or house loafers as simply wearing socks while pedaling against the molded pattern in the plastic can be a bit irritating. Overall though, this was an A+ purchase and cheaper than the more popular Cubii.

Quite heavy but for me has worked really well.