Monark exercise bikes have more than 90 years of bicycle building experience behind them. Ever since the Kroon bicycle was introduced to the world from the Vansbro factory in Dalarna, Sweden, in 1910, the Monark name has been known for making strong and tough transport bicycles as well as exercise and testing bikes. Monark designs all of its bikes with an emphasis on simplicity and logic rather than unimportant form and aesthetics, making them classic pieces of functional equipment.

Wilhelm von Döbeln, Harry Hagelin and Professor P-O Åstrand produced the first Monark ergometer in 1954. This test bike proved to be incredibly popular, and set the stage for Monark to lead the way in ergometer technologies. Today, Monark ergometers are considered the most widely used performance analysis equipment in the entire world.

Types of Monark Exercise Bikes

Monark divides its line of exercise bikes into three main categories: test bikes, exercise bikes, and rehab bikes. The test bikes (or ergometers) are used for fitness assessment, stress testing, research, rehabilitation and sports medicine. With the use of a compatible heart rate chest belt, an on-board computer can be programmed with any number of individual exercise protocols and target heart rates. Many of these test bikes (such as the Monark Ergomedic 839E) contain built-in printer and serial communication ports to connect to outside PC or ECG machines.

Monark exercise bikes are slimmer in design yet feature most of the ergometric functions contained within the test bikes. For example, the Monark Cardio Care 827 E has a built in electronic meter that displays the user's heart rate (in beats per minute), pedal speed (in turns per minute), session time in minutes and seconds, intended cycling speed (per hour), and distance (in either kilometers or miles). Monark rehab bikes are even smaller in nature and take the form of handlebar-free stand along pedaling units that can be placed on the floor (for those who wish to strengthen their legs) or on a tabletop (for people who wish to "pedal" with their arms).