August 21, 2005

By: Maxwell Stone
Website: http://www.1st-in-fitness.com

The Time Ryder VR Sports Brand Exercise Bike

Life Gear, Inc. of Rockaway Township, NJ and ExerGame, Inc. of Seattle, WA announce the Time Ryder VR Sports brand exercise bike. The product was developed and is marketed jointly by Life Gear and ExerGame. This product debut at major retail stores in November 1995.

The Time Ryder is a recumbent exercise bike that has video game controls built into the handle bars. The Time Ryder plays all popular joystick controlled video games for Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Sega 32X, Super Nintendo, and PCs. The Time Ryder has a three connector joystick cord with one plug for each system. The interactive exercise bike can be connected to the Super Nintendo in the living room when the kids want to play, then rolled into the den on its built in rollers and plugged into the PC when Dad needs a workout.

The bike have full video game controls. The left handle has a directional button and start button. While the right handle has A, B, & C buttons for Sega, A, B, X, & Y buttons for SNES and A, B buttons for the PC.

The System is Simple.
No custom software is needed, the Time Ryder plays the games you own now. Both the Time Ryder plays any game interactively with your pedaling speed. You must pedal the exercise bike in order to play the game. You can set the pedaling speed required to play the game with the press of a button from a leisurely 5 miles per hour to a blistering 30 miles per hour.

Playing Racing Games.
If the game is a racing game, like NASCAR racing for the PC, Virtua Racing Deluxe for Sega 32X, or Stunt Race FX for SNES, your pedaling speed controls the speed of the vehicle in the game. If you pedal fast enough - the vehicle accelerates, if you pedal too slow - the vehicle brakes come on. Thus, as you come to a corner, you naturally stop pedaling for a moment, just as you would on a real bike, then start pedaling again to accelerate through the corner. Using popular head-to-head racing games you can compete against another Time Ryder or a regular joystick in a Virtual Reality sports competition where both skill and stamina are important factors.

Playing Action Games.
If the game is an action game, like Donkey Kong Country for SNES, NBA Jam for Sega, or DOOM for PC, your pedaling speed controls the ability of your character to move. If you pedal fast enough, your character can move at it's normal speed, if you pedal too slowly your character slows down and stops. You control your character's movements with the directional button just like you normally do.

The Exercise Bike.
The Time Ryder is a top quality recumbent exercise bike. You ride the bike in a reclined position with your feet in front of you. The padded seat provides great back support and allows very comfortable game playing for hours on end. The bike features a sleek compact form with a completely enclosed drive train and fly wheels. A unique dual transmission give amazingly quiet and smooth pedaling resistance. A built in fitness computer automatically tracks your workout time, distance traveled, and calories burned. The seat adjusts forward to accommodate short and extra long leg lengths. The bike feature rugged yet light weight construction that makes them easy to move on the built in rollers.

Fun With Your Fitness.
The Time Ryder makes workouts painless. Where else can you do something that you love to do in your own home and get some much needed exercise? Talk about guilt free fun! ExerGame research shows that people will not only ride the Time Ryder much longer than a typical exercise bike, but they will ride it harder as well. ExerGame's Jamie Childress sums it up this way, "In one consumer test, a bike playing Electronic Arts "Road Rash" logged 1,400 miles in five weeks on a retail show room floor.

The non-interactive bike next to it logged 1 mile. Since the bike wasn't actually for sale, several people would come in on their lunch hour to ride it. By the time we pulled the bike from the test, one store employee had gone out and bought his own games to use on it, even though he didn't own a Sega." VR Sports brand joysticks turn exercise equipment into one person sports arenas.

Author Notes:

Maxwell Stone contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.1st-in-fitness.com.  A source of information and helpful tips on various types of fitness equipment.