REVIEW – When I’m back at work I clock a couple of miles of walking a day, so although I spend a fair amount of time sitting, I didn’t worry about the whole “sitting is the new smoking” thing. However, thanks to unlimited access to streaming services and remote working, I’m far more sedentary than I used to be. When I saw the Flexispot Sit2Go 2-in-1 fitness chair, I decided this was an awesome way to incorporate some movement into my workday.
What is it?
The Flexispot Sit2Go 2-in-1 fitness chair is a hybrid of a stationary bike and an office chair.
What’s in the box?
Parts to make the Flexispot Sit2Go 2-in-1 fitness chair, tools and instructions
Design and Features
The Flexispot Sit2Go 2-in-1 fitness chair came packed really well with a lot of protection from the perils of shipping. My son is my resident construction guy and he had the chair put together in about 15 minutes. It’s really just a matter of putting the pedals on it and attaching the chair parts to the main piece.
When I first saw the chair on the Flexispot website, I was fascinated. They show a lady who uses it for her morning workout, then she gets dressed, goes to work and uses it under her desk, then she goes to the breakroom and uses it while she sits and chats with her coworkers. Mind you, she doesn’t move the chair – the chairs are basically just scattered throughout her workplace. It makes it look like the perfect chair because it can be used at counter height, desk height and in between. And that is true, it’s super adjustable height-wise. However, I quickly learned that if you’re using it to pedal at a desk, you really need a fairly high desk because you need room for your knees to go up and down. The seat adjusts up and down, but the pedals don’t, and that’s what dictates how high your legs will go when pedaling. My son took my Flexispot Comhar desk that I reviewed back in March, so I thought I’d use it at the kitchen bar area in my house. I moved a barstool over, wheeled the chair over and realized there was another problem with that: the front wheels hit the base of the bar and so I couldn’t really get as close to the counter as I needed to work on my laptop comfortably. My advice if you are seriously considering this chair is to invest in a standing or adjustable height desk. Luckily, Flexispot wanted a review of their Esben Standing Desk UD4 and they sent me one to try out (it’s awesome). So I set up my new desk and chair and got to pedaling.
The Flexispot Sit2Go 2-in-1 fitness chair is really two things. It’s a desk chair and a stationary bike. As a chair, it’s not exactly like sitting in a regular desk chair, although Flexispot has done it’s best to make it comfortable. It has a gel seat that is contoured to facilitate leg movement while pedaling but also is large enough so you don’t feel like you’re sitting on a bike seat. The mesh backrest is quite comfy and supportive. The back and seat are adjustable in a number of ways for height and position relative to each other. I personally liked the seat oriented all the way back towards the mesh backrest while typing and all the way forward while pedaling, so I loosened up the hex bolts and took one off which allowed me to move it back and forth whenever I wanted. The pedals are a bit grippy but not uncomfortable if you’re using them with bare feet. I thought the pedals would interfere and bother me when I wasn’t pedaling, but I tended to put my feet on top of the front wheels and I found that to be very comfortable. All in all, I think Flexispot did a great job design-wise straddling the limits of an exercise bike and a desk chair (it couldn’t have been easy).
As a stationary bike, you should not expect the Flexispot Sit2Go 2-in-1 fitness chair to be as fancy as what you might be used to at your gym. It’s fairly basic in its design, with a knob that adjusts the resistance. I tended to keep the knob in the middle and I was able to sort of absentmindedly pedal throughout my day. I was very surprised that I had pedaled nearly 5 miles on the first day and I felt it in my legs the next day even though I didn’t really put any conscious effort into what I was doing. Could I break a sweat with this? Probably, but I feel like I couldn’t be typing or doing work if I was really pedaling up a storm. I can barely walk and chew gum at the same time, though, so maybe you’re different. Again, keep in mind that while the seat adjusts to be taller, the pedals stay in the same position, so if you’re using it at a lower height it might feel uncomfortable (like your bike seat is too low).
The bike has a display that I had a hard time reading, and if they ever make another version of this, I hope they put one in that is brighter. There is a button that switches between the timer, the speed, the distance, the calories burned, the odometer and the RPMs, but you can’t easily see the readout because it’s quite dim and it’s pretty dark because it’s underneath your desk. It also is very hard to tell which mode is being displayed. I had to get off my chair to tell for sure. For me, it’s not that big of a deal, because I’m not trying to track my progress or anything, but I know a lot of people are and would also have a hard time seeing what is happening on the display.
Another thing that I think could use some refinement are the wheels on the chair. They work OK when you’re not on the chair but if you want to scoot up to the desk without getting up you probably would have a hard time. I kept wanting to grab onto the desk to pull myself closer and you can’t do that with these wheels.
What I like
- Easy to use
- Easy to exercise and not notice you’re exercising
- Adjustable
What I’d Change
- The display should be brighter
- The wheels could be more flexible
Final thoughts
All in all, I really like the Flexispot Sit2Go 2-in-1 fitness chair. I try to stay away from high impact exercise for health reasons and cycling is something almost anyone can do. Also, you can cycle into old age if you’re not having to worry about balancing and falling off. I was surprised how much cycling I could do without even really trying, and although I’m not sweating or huffing and puffing, it’s more movement than I was doing before, and that has to be beneficial.
Price: $399.00 (but currently on sale for $279.00)
Where to buy: Flexispot
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Flexispot
