I bought myself an early birthday present to help my diet... a Schwinn 270 Recumbent Bike. It was on sale at Dick’s Sporting Goods for $399. I remember that during my physical therapy for my knees, I was asked by the physical therapists to ride a recumbent bike for several miles before each therapy session, so I figured maybe I could get my own and continue this to help my knees and to help my diet!
I took my time building the bike so it took me around 2 hours to assemble it. It's relatively easy to build actually. Everything you need is included with the bike for the assembly. It turned out great! Instructions were nicely detailed and even your screws and nuts and washers are packed in a cardboard that is shrink wrapped and labeled. That made it really easy to identify the parts! While some places offer an assembly option for a cost, I think most people could actually build this themselves and save the money. You might need two people if you are older just to help steady the bike during the first phase of installing the stabilizer bars for the bike, but other than that, you can do the rest yourself.
As for operation, if you download the Schwinn Trainer ap, the machine will bluetooth the workout session data to the ap. The ap in turn will update your burned calories to the MyFitnessPal ap! Nice! I use the MyFitnessPal ap to track my calorie intake during my diet. The console is easy to use, but not that intuitive. If they had thought this part through a little more, perhaps it would have been better, but after fumbling a bit, I was able to figure out how it works to get the various programs to run. There's no on-off switch, but the console will turn itself off after about 5 minutes with inactivity.
Even after just pedaling just several miles on the bike, I can tell that it seems really smooth and quiet. I am finding that my hamstring muscles and hamstring tendon are really aching after even just a few sessions! I suppose I'll have to work up the ability to do several miles at a time. When you don't use these muscles as often as you should, you are going to ache after exercising!
While I had hoped to keep the bike in the family room so that I could pedal and watch TV, my wife prefers it in my office, so that's where it will stay. I'll watch Netflix and YouTube on my iPad Mini and plug it into the bike's built-in speakers. The built-in fan is nice too to help cool you off while riding.
I am 5'10" tall. For me, I have to put the seat all the way back. I wonder for those with long legs or taller than I am, would the bike be too small for them? It's no problem for my wife or daughter as they are shorter than I am. I like the pedals to be just under the point where my legs are fully extended. It's less strain on my knees this way. Even on a regular road bike, you should adjust the seat post and seat so that your knees are just slightly bent. Too many people pedal with their seat post too low on a bike. That's not good for your knees.
Overall, I'd say the bike is really good. It is comfortable and even with my bad knees, I can pedal away safely. If I ever do get knee replacements, it will be important to have for my rehab as well. Overall, a good purchase which I hope to use daily! Highly recommended for those who need some exercise but must limit the impact on their joints.
As for operation, if you download the Schwinn Trainer ap, the machine will bluetooth the workout session data to the ap. The ap in turn will update your burned calories to the MyFitnessPal ap! Nice! I use the MyFitnessPal ap to track my calorie intake during my diet. The console is easy to use, but not that intuitive. If they had thought this part through a little more, perhaps it would have been better, but after fumbling a bit, I was able to figure out how it works to get the various programs to run. There's no on-off switch, but the console will turn itself off after about 5 minutes with inactivity.
Even after just pedaling just several miles on the bike, I can tell that it seems really smooth and quiet. I am finding that my hamstring muscles and hamstring tendon are really aching after even just a few sessions! I suppose I'll have to work up the ability to do several miles at a time. When you don't use these muscles as often as you should, you are going to ache after exercising!
While I had hoped to keep the bike in the family room so that I could pedal and watch TV, my wife prefers it in my office, so that's where it will stay. I'll watch Netflix and YouTube on my iPad Mini and plug it into the bike's built-in speakers. The built-in fan is nice too to help cool you off while riding.
I am 5'10" tall. For me, I have to put the seat all the way back. I wonder for those with long legs or taller than I am, would the bike be too small for them? It's no problem for my wife or daughter as they are shorter than I am. I like the pedals to be just under the point where my legs are fully extended. It's less strain on my knees this way. Even on a regular road bike, you should adjust the seat post and seat so that your knees are just slightly bent. Too many people pedal with their seat post too low on a bike. That's not good for your knees.
Overall, I'd say the bike is really good. It is comfortable and even with my bad knees, I can pedal away safely. If I ever do get knee replacements, it will be important to have for my rehab as well. Overall, a good purchase which I hope to use daily! Highly recommended for those who need some exercise but must limit the impact on their joints.
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