Matt, Chris and I went to the ARC today to check out exercise bike designs. I never really go to the ARC, so it was kinda weird walking around with a laptop, tripod, notebook, and graphing calculator. Chris said that back when he would go to the ARC, he'd see all the co-op girls. I was incredulous, but sure enough, there are hippie chicks at the ARC.

We tried riding three different exercise bikes, a fixie spinning bike, a semi-recumbent, and an upright free bike.


Chris on the fixie spinning bike. It had a really nice fly wheel, but was totally impractical for upright laptop use.


Me on the semi-recumbent and Matt holding the laptop. He took measurements. The tape in this photo is set to 24".


Not exactly helpful, but it sure looks cool.

We also took video to illustrate the wiggle effect. I forgot to strip the audio and replace it with Daft Punk. You can just turn it down.





YouTube distorted the aspect ratios, but you get a pretty good idea of how much Matt is moving around relative to Chris. We did not feel comfortable typing on the upright bikes, this may be improved with a different seat design, but I'm not optimistic.

Other thoughts: Almost all of us agreed that we would like some sort of arm rests. Matt took a bunch of measurements, so he'll be sending those out, or sharing them on Sunday.