Pedal Your Way To Health In The Office With A Bike Desk

My desk in the Portland showroomOver the past few years there have been a number of interesting new ideas for combating excessive sitting at work. One of the more innovative ideas to emerge is taking the concept of an exercise bike and marrying it up with a height adjustable desk.

The result is the standing desk bike. And it's awesome.

 

So, what is this idea all about?

Keeping active while you work

Lifespan, well known for its office treadmill products has now designed an exercise bike specifically for use with a sit stand desk.

The main difference between this bike and the sort of models you find in gyms and health clubs is it doesn't have handlebars as they would get in the way. And of course you have your desktop to support you.

Once positioned on the bike at a height adjustable desk your body is placed in a far healthier open position than the scrunched up angle associated with sitting in an office chair. It’s stable in use thanks to the self-balancing adjustable strap pedals.

And while the idea is to pedal to keep fit, you simply stop for a rest when you're ready.  

How does it work in practice?

The bike is both portable and sturdy. To move it into position it has a pair of rollers at the rear and tilting it upwards engages them for easy movement. Once lowered the front feet keep it solidly in place. 

From there it has a huge range of adjustment positions allowing the seat to be set anywhere between 5 feet and 6 feet 8 inches to suit individual users. It makes the perfect partner for an adjustable height desk and a model such as our AD129 would work best due to its height adjustability range.

There's no need to worry about finding it hard going as it has some 16 resistance levels making it easy to match it up with your level of fitness. It will comfortably support users up to a weight of 400 lbs.

It even lets you know how you’re progressing.

Using the desktop console

The desk cycle comes with an electronic console which gives users a wealth of information. It lets you know what resistance level you are working at, so as you progress you can alter it to suit your needs. It keeps a record of the time you've used it for as well as the number of calories you've burned. Lastly, it even shows how far you've travelled which is very motivational. 

Finding more information about the desk bike

Here's where you can find information about the LifeSpan desk cycle and the AD129 desk we recommend to use with it.

Humanscale Seating: Overview

Humanscale Seating A Relative Newcomer With A Lot Of Class

It would be a mistake to dismiss Humanscale when buying a new office chair on the grounds that it has only been making office seating since 1999. When you dig deeper you will realize just how far it has come in a relatively short time since launching the Freedom chair just before the start of the new millennium.

So how has it been able to become such an established seating manufacturer in little over a dozen years in the business?

Why Humanscale has been so successful in office seating
In an odd way it's Humanscale's lack of experience that has made it so successful in producing innovative new chairs. Unlike more established chair manufacturers it doesn't carry around the baggage of existing products and designs. This means it's been able to start with a clean slate with no preconceived ideas.

But surely a lack of experience is a bad thing isn't it? Only when you don't go about things the right way.

What makes Humanscale different?
From its first entry into the office seating market Humanscale called on the expertise of Neils Diffrient a renowned designer. It was Diffrient who came up with its first award winning chair the Freedom. This chair has gone on to be its most popular seating product.

It's a relationship that has endured as Humanscale and Neils Diffrient continue to collaborate on all its new seats, the last of which even bears his name, the Diffrient World chair.

By using such a talented designer not only has the company created a great range of seating, it's also given it a consistent approach. Each new chair it launches bears the hallmark of a master designer and at the same time has that unmistakable Humanscale identity about it.

And as mark of confidence in its chairs they all come with a 15 year 24/7 warranty so you won't have any worries about quality and reliability.

Let's take a look at some of its seating, shall we?

The Humanscale seating range
In terms of task chairs there are three seats in the Humanscale offering. The Freedom, Liberty and Diffrient World. Let's delve into each of them in a little more detail.

Humanscale Freedom chair
The Freedom was the first chair Neils Diffrient designed for Humanscale and in keeping with his thoughts on good chair design it doesn't have loads of complicated levers and knobs to set up. Instead many of the chairs functions are automatic requiring little user interaction apart from setting up the seat height and seat depth for personal leg comfort. Neither are complicated and are generally one off settings.

From there the chair takes over and automatically senses the user's weight and movements and self adjusts as you go about your work.

There are a couple of neat features which are definitely worth having.

First the the chair has an optional headrest. If you like to recline a lot while sitting then you'll find this acts as an excellent neck and head support.

Second the adjustable arms offer great flexibility. One of the problems with arms on office chairs, even adjustable ones, is they can get in the way. The great thing with the arms on the Freedom is it's very simple to drop them down to seat level when you don't need them.

As well as the standard chair there are also models for specialist applications like a drafting chair model, an ultrasound version for laboratory use and even a saddle seat version.

Following the success of the Freedom, Humanscale's next chair was the Liberty.

Liberty chair
In conceiving the Liberty, Humanscale wanted to maintain the kinds of benefits of the Freedom and yet take things a stage further. The main difference is the introduction of mesh upholstery to the back. However, the mesh used is a world away from the normal run of the mill stuff you find on the average mesh chair.

It's formed from three layers of mesh in a tri-panel construction. This gives far superior support compared to single layer meshes. In fact the support is so good the chair doesn't need a separate lumbar support as the mesh is more than able to support your lower back correctly and comfortably.

It retains the self adjustability features of the Freedom and so is very simple to use. Perhaps the biggest difference with this chair is that it is a lot lighter due to the use of advanced plastics in its construction.

There is also a side chair model which is great for use for coordinating guest or meeting chairs.

So much for the liberty, let's fast forward to 2011 and the Diffrient World chair.

Diffrient World chair
Named after its designer, the Diffrient World uses the latest in technology to take chair design even further. And clearly a great deal of thought has gone into conceiving the chair, Neils Diffrient spent almost 10 years working on the design of this chair.

As you might expect most of the adjustments are automatic. With the Diffrient World it's possible have both the seat and back finished in its unique tri-panel upholstery. So not only do you get great support, you also get excellent air circulation too, making it a great choice if you find conventional upholstery makes you sweat.

By using even more plastics it's been possible to reduce the major components used in the chair to just 8, nearly all made from eco friendly recycled materials. Simplifying the construction has also helped keep costs down with the chair starting at $200 less than the equivalent Freedom model.
The other great thing is the chair weighs a mere 25 pounds about half the weight of a typical office chair. This helps to make it easy to move it around your work area and office.  

Clearly Humanscale offers a great range of quality ergonomic office seating, helping to make your working day more comfortable.

Further information
You can find out more about these excellent seats by visiting our Humanscale page.

Video: Introducing the HumanTool Balance Seat

We are very excited to announce the Balance Seat by HumanTool. A popular ergonomic tool in Finland, Ergo Depot is now offering this sale in the United States for the first time. Check out the video below to see how it works:

For more product information, head to the page here.

Great Swopper Video

One of our favorite chairs gets a great video review:

Koncept LED Lighting Sale

Mosso LED lamp by KonceptYou know that stunning Mosso task lamp you've had your eye on for a while now? Or was it the Equo lamp that impressed you more? Koncept wants you to have it. In fact, all of Koncept's Generation III lights are available for 15% off through the end of the year. We like the Gen III products so much, we've added several to our showroom and bought a few to our homes. They are quite neat.

Koncept has made a big splash in the LED lighting world. The awards keep stacking up for their Generation III line, and accolades are well deserved. Each lamp is incredibly stylish and proves to be a great addition to your ergonomic workstation.

Check out our video review of the Equo task lamp below.