Scouted: This Indoor Bike Makes Fitness Feel Like Playing Dumb Phone Games

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I’ve disabled the iPhone notification that tells me how much time I spent on my phone the day before. I have a full-time job. I cook breakfast and dinner (most nights). There’s no way I was spending five hours per day on my phone, so I suspended my summary of what was clearly an incredibly faulty data collection.

But if the log is somehow, inconceivably correct, I can guess where the minutes added up. In addition to the most common offenders—Instagram and TikTok, of course—I have a weak spot for truly asinine phone games, the kinds with bright colors, repetitive action, and constant interruptions for ads for more games. Whether games or social media or videos, there’s a growing recognition that we should all spend less time on our phones.

Aviron turns that time productive. You want to spend thirty minutes busting blocks with a bouncing ball? Great, but instead of burning two calories moving your index finger (and literally no other muscles), you can burn hundreds on the Fit S Bike. Or take out pirate ships to grow and defend your chest of booty. Or go fishing, searching for bigger and bigger catches and avoiding electric eels.

The games are played by adjusting resistance and speed. With the pirate game, pedaling faster fires the cannons quicker, while a higher resistance increases the amount of damage each cannonball inflicts. I found myself adding bursts of speed and pushing harder in pursuit of gold coins, working up a sweat like Candy Crush never could. If competition fuels you, you can grab any friends with Aviron devices (the brand also makes a treadmill and rower) or compete against some strangers for a high score.

Aviron Fit S BikeThe bike itself was pretty comfortable as far as bikes go (bucket seat stationary bike when?) and the machine itself was incredibly quiet. Its footprint is pretty small, but it can support a wide variety of body types (recommended height is between 4’10” and 6’8” with a weight limit of 350 pounds). Speed and resistance adjust instantly with the push of conveniently-located buttons. The pedals are slip-in with plastic toe cages, but you can upgrade to clip-in if you really need the full spin class experience. See At Aviron

Speaking of the spin class experience—there’s that, too. You can take spin classes and see how your performance stacks up against others. Want something more laid back? You can pedal your way through scenic locations like Lofoten, Norway, and a mangrove boardwalk in Malaysia, taking in the view at your own pace. Want a race instead? You can try to take on Olympic athletes in two-to-five-minute sprints, but, like, good luck.

These features are unlocked with an Aviron membership, which runs $34 per month, or $29 per month if you pay for a year upfront. Unfortunately, a membership is not included with an Aviron purchase. If you aren’t looking for a recurring cost, you can still get a workout in with access to metrics, as well as streaming apps like Hulu, Netflix, Disney Plus, TikTok, or (my personal favorite) Amazon Kindle. From now until Jan. 29, you can get up to $1100 off your purchase, plus a free hydration kit–perks!

For someone like me, who needs workouts to absolutely fly by, the large touchscreen and variety of ways to distract myself are more important than hardcore specs (but check those out for yourself on Aviron’s site). If you’re looking for me, I’ll be doomscrolling on TikTok, but as I burn calories on a stationary bike.