Choosing the Bike and Add-ons

So while I wait on the PCGamerBike to get here, I thought I'd go into a little background on how I picked the specific bike and setup.

The PCGamerBike is built around the Magnetrainer, a similarly-shaped mini bike for exercise. As far as I can tell, the PCGamerBike is just some sensors and accelerometers added on to the Magnetrainer base. Now this is good news as far as the bike is concerned - the Magnetrainer has quite a few positive reviews at Amazon (as opposed to the PCGamerBike which only has 4).

After looking at the Magnetrainer and seeing it had a "PC Connection Kit" for $50, I wondered if I shouldn't just get the Magnetrainer + PC Connection Kit and save about $20. However after quite a bit of poking around I found, buried in the PCGamerBike site, that the Magnetrainer + PC Connect would only support forward movement - not backward movement, and not the speed toggle from walk to run and vice versa for RPG-style games. The PCGamerBike seems to have additional sensors to support these modes (this is me trying to sound like I know the technical basis for any of this).

The site also claimed the PCGamerBike (PCGB) would be 'more responsive' than the Magnetrainer + PC Connect, but it's unclear how much more responsive the PCGB is, or if that's more of a marketing spin. Since I knew I wanted to use the PCGB primarily for WoW and other MMOs that could use the added PCGB features, I decided to go for the actual PCGamer-branded bike.

As for add-ons, I eventually decided to also buy the "large pedals with velcro straps" add-on for the bike. I'm thinking I'll likely want to use it barefoot or with socks quite a bit, and the larger pedals look a lot more supportive of the full foot (whereas the small pedals seem like they could hurt on a bare foot, if they started digging in over time). Just say no to bruised arches. This may have been an unnecessary purchase, but I'll post some pics of both sets of pedals when I get them for better comparison.

The PCGB also offers "handle" add-ons to give you something to hold on to as you pedal. I wasn't interested in these since I plan to be using a keyboard and mouse. An optional "gamepad" was also offered, but if I want to play using a gamepad I'm more likely to use an Xbox360 Controller so I also decided against the controller.

Now, to back up a little, the company that makes the PCGamerBike also makes a full 'bike conversion' kit called the "XRGameKit" (no idea what the 'XR' stands for). The kit seems to be made for people who have a current stationary bike they like to use - you attach sensors from the kit to your existing stationary bike and it transmits the data to the PC to indicate if you're moving forward or back. This seemed interesting for people who already have a bike, but I don't, so I didn't much care. However what did peak my interest is the XRGameKit also comes with the 'GameHat' - a baseball-style hat with a sensor that can tell when you tilt your head left/right/forward/back. This sounds like it could add a whole new element to the game - I could picture myself wheeling around Azeroth, head tipping slightly to the left and right to navigate, bumping my face towards the ceiling to jump, and glancing down to toggle 'Sneak'.

It sounds pretty cool - but it could also be downright annoying depending on how sensitive it is. Too sensitive and you end up with a stiff neck trying not to lean left or right. Not sensitive enough and you'll get whiplash from lolling your head around in a desperate attempt to navigate a switchback trail up a mountain (not to mention you just look plain stupid - a valid concern for those of us who share a living space with others and may be open to ridicule.)

After some deliberation I decided not to purchase the XRGameKit. Although the hat sounded interesting and immersive, there was no real added value to it in terms of exercise, and I would have had to shell out another couple hundred dollars to buy a bike to stick the sensor clips on to. However, I have decided if after 6 mos I'm still merrily pedaling around Azeroth, I'll pick up the XRGameKit and clip the sensors to my PCGamerBike. This will let me test out the Game Hat as well as directly compare the sensitivity and responsiveness of the XRGameKit sensors/software to the PCGamerBike.