Schwinn 230 Recumbent Bike

I ordered the Schwinn 230 after doing some research on different recumbent bikes that were under $500. I wanted something with a full seat that was easily adjustable with programs, heart monitoring, workout tracking and could increase resistance via the control panel vs a manual adjustment to the equipment. There were a few models that popped up, but after reading the reviews and watching the video for the Schwinn 230, I was sold. Assembly was not too difficult. My husband and I were able to put it together in about 30 minutes. It helps to have a second person for some of the assembly but it *could* be done by one person. **Note, the main body of the bike comes assembled and is quite heavy. It may require one strong person or two people to get it up or down stairs safely. I have been using the bike now for a week and a half and am quite pleased. I am using the bike 7 months pregnant (not recommended unless checking with your Obstetrician first) as a way to get daily exercise that is safe, comfortable and doesn't overexert my abilities. There are many different programs and resistances to choose from, but I stick with 30 minutes on the quick-start (one level), which even at resistance 1 will burn around 100 calories over ~6 miles of cycling. My husband has also been using the bike on days he doesn't go to the gym and he finds it very challenging at the upper levels of resistance. The bike also includes a fan, which works great and can be adjusted to 3 speeds and 2 different positions, an audio jack for your ipod/iphone/ipad or other mp3 device and speakers (adjust volume through your device), and a tablet mount for reading, watching videos or surfing the web. All in all, a great piece of exercise equipment for the price.

This bike is great, especially for it's low price. It is sturdy and my husband built it in about an hour without much grumbling (so it MUST have been easy to build!). I have used it every other day for the last week. I do the "rolling hills" program and it has me sweating by the end of it. Their is a little beeping melody at the end of the workout, and the other day my 5 year old heard it and yelled out "Goal Achieved!". Programing in your name, weight, and the date got me a little confused (and it isn't covered in the manual). I evenutally figured out how to reset the programming so my name is no longer just "Ju". There are plenty of programs to pick from, and more challenging levels that I will hopefully be able to use as my level of fitness increases. The cup holder is well located. Big enough to hold an oversized bottle or cup. Fan is a perfect height and keeps me cool during my workout. The seat is easy to adjust, and it fits my height (5'2") and my husband could use it if he wanted (at 6'4"). It really does have a the feel (resistance, quality, programs) of an expensive piece of gym equipment. Note: At my height the shelf for a tablet or phone is rendered useless because it is well below eye level. I happily hold my kindle as I pedal along. Added 7/9/15 - Still using the bike. Aiming for every other day, but not always accomplishing this. I am still doing the "rolling hills" program but I have increased the time by 10 minutes and the level by 1. My pants are looser in the thigh area, and I feel better and sleep better.

I added my performance review below, my early review was only on shipping and assembly. SHIPPING AND ASSEMBLY: For ease and condition and shipping, etc, I give it 5 stars. This bike comes in a large box that weighs 90 pounds, and is about 5 feet tall, 2 feet wide and 1 foot deep. The UPS guy will deliver it to the door, and I was able to "walk" the box without any problem. I could not have lifted the box by myself, and I'm 6 foot adult male in pretty good shape, but I only had to go 10 feet from my front door to where I was taking the bike. So, if you expect to have to get the bike up or down stairs, or from the front door to somewhere way back in the house, you definitely want two people, and a dolly if you have one. The box did not have any clearly marked "this side up" that I could find, but it has the Schwinn logo and name so common sense tells you which way to rest it on the floor. I don't know that you could break anything by putting it upside down but who knows. The exterior of the shipping box had some dings and a few cuts on one corner, but no major marks of abuse. The box is very sturdy and professionally stapled and taped closed. You will need a good pair of scissors and a flat screwdriver to get the box open. The parts are packed carefully with plenty of form-cut Styrofoam. Plastic wrap also protects the parts I guess from getting scratched. After opening the box I was able to get all the parts out with no problem. You might want a second person to help lift the base out but it's only about 50 pounds and has several useful grip points so it's not too hard. The parts include two allen wrenches and a combination screwdriver tool for assembling the bike. Except for a pair of scissors, you do not need any tools beyond what comes in the box. They also have a clever marking system on a small diagram for all the different size screws and washers; but it can be torn beyond recognition getting it open so take a good look and maybe even take a picture of it before you tear it open. I found only one very small spot of breakage. The plastic cover that surrounds the front wheel has a left and right half, with 4 molded plastic male-female connections that hold the halves together. One of them had been pulled out, but I was able to snap it back together, and one of the pieces you put on during assembly holds it together too, so I see no problems there. The instructions are fairly simple and easy to understand. You really almost can't put something on wrong. I spent about 2 hours putting it together but I was taking my time and could probably have done it in an hour, maybe 90 minutes. You do not have to be especially good with tools or anything. There are some places where having two people would be useful, but I don't really think having two people would make it go much faster. There's just one or two steps where an extra pair of hands would have been useful. You may also need some WD-40 on one or two of the screws. The bike feels very solid and sturdy when assembled. It does not feel like a cheap piece of equipment. I'm not crazy about the shape of the seat but everyone's rear end is different and I suppose other people might like it. The display panel works as advertised, no glitches or anything so far. It has both a USB and a 1/8 inch stereo jack so you can plug in an I-pod or whatever. The speakers have decent sound. The bike is so whisper quiet that you will be able to hear music or the TV with no problem, without having to turn the volume up to 11. The fan seems inadequate, if you like working out with a fan blowing on you then you might need to use a house fan. The seat adjustment lever is interesting, I cannot for the life of me figure out how it holds in place once you get it set where you want it but who cares as long as it works. It takes minimal effort to engage the adjustment lever and slide the seat back or forwards. ** ONE ODDITY THAT I JUST MENTION --- PARTS OF THE BIKE, I BELIEVE IT'S JUST THE METAL PARTS, HAVE A VERY STRONG, NAUSEATING ODOR. POSSIBLY FROM THE PAINT OR THE MOLDING PROCESS, WHO KNOWS. IN A POORLY-VENTILATED SPACE IT WILL MAKE YOU SICK AFTER A WHILE -- HEADACHE AND NAUSEA. THE METAL POST THAT SUPPORTS THE DISPLAY PANEL WAS THE WORST OFFENDER ON MY BIKE BUT THE SMELL IS PRESENT IN OTHER AREAS OF THE BIKE. I TOOK CARE OF THE WORST OF IT BY WRAPPING THE POST IN HEAVY GORILLA TAPE JUST TO COVER IT UP AND IT WORKED OK. MAYBE I JUST GOT A BAD PAINT JOB, I CAN"T BELIEVE NO ONE ELSE WOULD HAVE REMARKED ON THIS IF IT WAS THE STANDARD FACTORY SMELL. ** All in all, I give this bike 5 stars for ease of setup, easy to follow directions, useful parts and tools, etc. I guess some people have had bad experiences with a busted bike being delivered to them but I had no problem. Just about anyone should be able to set this bike up at home and you don't have to be a professional handyman either. *** OPERATION / FEATURES *** OK, to answer the main questions: Yes, this bike really is ridiculously whisper-quiet. I mean next to no noise while riding it. It really is amazing after having a chain-drive Schwinn Airdyne for years to have a bike that is so quiet. I live in an apartment, so a quiet bike that would not disturb my neighbors was important and this bike is as quiet as it could be. I can hear the TV or radio easily, without having to crank it up loud. The resistance is very smooth when increasing or decreasing, and it is totally consistent while riding. It never changes suddenly to harder or easier, if you set it on 7 then it's going to stay at 7 for as long as you want. The higher levels provide enough resistance to give a great workout to even the most fit bike rider, honestly I can't imagine even using the top 3 or 4 levels LOL. Changing levels while riding is very simple and the change happens quickly and smoothly. The console is nice, it's easy to read, etc. No complaints, it's not as fancy as some of the gym bikes I've used but so what. The built-in programs are nice and provide useful variety if you want more than just a standard ride. Some simulate small hills, some simulate urban riding, etc. You get different difficulty for different amounts of time with the programs. I haven't fooled with the feature that lets you track your progress. The speakers are fair, but the fan is really just about useless. You will do better to set up a small fan next to the bike rather than using the built-in fan. Or maybe a small hand-held battery-power fan. The pedals are very solid, but of course like most of the parts on this bike you will want to inspect and re-tighten as needed. The special tool that comes with the bike is very useful for tightening the pedals so you will want to throw it in a drawer and keep it. The pedals are mounted so that you need to pay a little attention or your heel may strike the floor as you come around, but that's no big deal. I have average adult male size feet and I can get them in the pedal strap with no problem. I'm 6'1" and the bike is big enough that I don't have to put the seat all the way back in order to get the right setting. I imagine someone 6'-3" or maybe even 6'-4" could probably do OK as long as you don't have real long legs. I am also about 260 and I had worried about the seat's durability because of the way it's mounted, it seems like it would be under a lot of torque since it only attaches to the bike along the center but it seems to do just fine, and worst case it would be one of the easiest parts to replace. Overall, I give this bike 4 stars. It seems like a perfect home exercise bike for someone who wants a quiet ride, ease of operation, and affordability. I trust the Schwinn name, and I'm glad I went with this bike instead of paying twice a much for a gym bike. But the weird smell is a show-stopper. Maybe I just got a bad paint job? I love the bike so I'm not sending it back, but it really dampens my rating.

Update: After 6 weeks, the unit died. Testing the transformer (power supply) showed it to be stone dead. Schwinn Fitness sent a replacement which fixed it, though it took weeks to get as the part was out of stock. While waiting for the new one to arrive I used an adjustable power supply instead, which worked fine. Pros: It seems mostly well built, fairly priced, has decent features including ample resistance levels, a variable speed fan, it's assembly is easy, comfortable, very quiet, and ought to provide effective workouts for many years. Also Schwinn's customer service is eager to help with issues. Cons: Pausing a workout only works for 5 minutes or less, after which it shuts down, canceling the workout. Sometimes it shuts down even faster than that. I've stepped away for not more than 2 minutes to find it in "cool down" mode, which is when it stays on at a reduced resistance for a few minutes to end a workout. Once it goes into cool down or shuts down, pedaling again wakes it up again, but at that point you have to start a new workout. If you are often interrupted even briefly during workouts, this is very annoying. More cons: The seat is adjustable only in distance from the pedals, and for some users it would be helpful if the seat back could be adjusted. The console is unnecessarily high (17 inches.) That makes it impossible to view my desktop computer monitor over the console to watch videos while exercising, and looking to the side for a whole workout gets uncomfortable. In my case the solution was to mount a monitor on the wall high enough to see over the console. Also the seat doesn't stay put as well as it could. The clamp on the seat rail is a bit weak. The pulse sensors are not very sensitive. To get a consistent reading I have to moisturize my hands frequently, so I keep a water bottle handy for that purpose alone. It works fine with damp hands. There's also a loose plastic part of the body that just rests in place, and falls off if you so much as touch it. My review was at 2 stars, until that junky piece fell off one too many many times. I've taped it in place. Any product that needs tape to hold it together should lose at least a star for that. In this case, that made it a 1 star product for me. I contacted Schwinn to see if the timeout in the paused workout might be configurable, as my previous Schwinn bike would resume a paused workout after a much longer interruption. I swapped numerous emails with them and they asked me to call. I did so and the support person I spoke to said the full shutdown and ending a workout after a 5 minute pause is by design. Then they followed up with more emails, wanted another call so they could help troubleshoot. The second person I talked to suggested the speed sensor may be bad, which didn't make sense as it reads speeds correctly during a workout and pedaling will always wake it up, and it's just a question of what the console does when it wakes up after a longer pause. She eventually found the specifications and acknowledged that the shut down after a 5 minute pause is by design. That's not what I wanted to hear, and it was a roundabout process to hear it twice, but at least the service staff were really trying to help. It's common for me to be interrupted during a workout and resume a few minutes later. The console does keep a record of recent workouts and can show calories, time and distance, but due to poor design there's no way to resume the previous workout. For me that's a significant annoyance, and as an engineer I consider that to be poor design, and that was my reason for giving it a poor rating. I would have bought a different bike had I known about that issue. If you never step away in mid-workout, don't mind the oversized console blocking your view, don't mind taping on loose parts that fall off, then this bike is a decent choice. Otherwise, find something better.

This bike is just what the dr ordered. I am awaiting knee replacement surgery, and my dr suggested that non-weightbearing exercise would be good for me, both pre- and post-op. This bike, which I checked out at a local sporting goods store, is an excellent choice for me. The fact that AMAZON offered it for $50 less with free shipping on Prime, was the clincher. It arrived in less time than stated, and was in perfect shape when we unboxed it. Putting it together took about 35 minutes (with a 5 year old 'helping Granddad). It is very comfortable, and I have used it almost every day since we put it together. It offers two positions for saving consumer information, setting up goals, and exercising options. There are numerous resistance positions, and the bike is extremely comfortable. I am 5'10" and not too far from the recommended maximum weight of 300 pounds; my husband is 6'4". We both have long legs and strides, and the 230 accommodates us both very comfortably. I have back issues, and the recumbent seat is very comfortable. The worst part of the bike is that the user's manual is downloadable online, but as you go online to register it anyhow, that is not really a big thing. Overall, we are very happy with our purchase. I did see that some were not happy with bearing noises that developed after using their bike for a while; this bike was reissued a couple of years since, and hopefully Schwinn has corrected the problem with the bearings that were mentioned in the complaints. I look forward to using this bike for a long time.

I am so pleased with the purchase of this bike. I have been using a recumbent bike at the gym I attend. I decided I would like a bike for home on the days I did not go to the gym. I searched the web for the model they had at the gym. Well, I found it...at $3,495. Yikes! No way! So my search continued. After quite a bit of research and checking our local sports stores, I decided to order the Schwinn 230. I have to say I absolutely cannot believe what a nice bike it is for the money. My husband said it was a breeze to assemble and that it had some of the best assembly directions he had ever seen. The seat is comfortable and fully adjustable. I was able to figure out all the different options and how to program the bike for the various rides by just trial and error. The bike itself is sturdy, easy to get on and off since it has a step-through frame, is easy to program, and offers an excellent variety of workouts. The fan works great. I am not fond of the speakers but it really is not an issue for me as I use earbuds with my devices. I do not know how you could get a better value for your money.

Box was beat up but bike was well packed and in perfect condition and easy for one person to assemble. Rear adjustable foot assembly does not have a handle sticking out as shown. Well made with two clear weaknesses - the seat and the console. Those are the two changes from the Schwinn 270 model which after watching for a week or two on Amazon, was 1.5x the price I paid for this one. The seat isn't terribly comfortable and there's no excuse at this price point (see cheaper bikes on Amazon). I couldn't find spare parts for this bike on Amazon, but Sears has a great parts website. For $40, I ordered part number 8001311 (padded replacement seat bottom for the Schwinn 270) and it fit perfectly on the 230 model. I gambled another $10 on the upgraded pedals from the 270 but these had slightly larger diameter threads and do not fit the 230 model. The backrest looks the same on both models. If it feels like the lumbar support is too low, you might try removing the 4 screws on the back and slide the backrest up just a bit (beware not having enough support for the plastic). I just threw a towel over mine and it's pretty comfortable now in combination with the padded seat bottom. I design devices like this console for a living. Most (but not all) of the differences between the 230 and 270 are 'free' software features that the manufacturer only held back to differentiate the models. The user interface isn't intuitive and it will take you a few tries to remember if it's the up or right button that goes to the next setting without making you start over. The buttons feel cheap and will probably wear out over time. It has 14 custom buttons to set resistance. A numeric keypad (0-9 plus 'enter') takes less buttons and would make everything easier including entering your age, workout times, etc... The USB port didn't work for my Motorola (Android) phone and a Kindle Fire complained it could only charge at a slow rate due to low current output. Just as easy to plug it right in to the wall since the bike's power cord is only 6 feet so you need an outlet or extension cord nearby. Kindle Fire is slightly louder through the console speakers but not enough to make this a really useful feature.

Overall very satisfied and am happy with the purchase, it's a huge upgrade from our old exercise bike and I actually use this one more because it's so nice. Fan works good although a little noisy (has 3 different speeds, the middle setting seems to be adequate). Speakers help my iPhone to be heard above the fan and bike noise -although the bike noise is very minimal from others I've used. Seat is very comfortable and adjusts very quickly and easily to accommodate for my wife's petite size of 5'0" and my 5'11" 240 lbs. I hook my iPhone up to the speakers with the included 3.5mm jack, basically just makes it sound louder, I'd love some Bose speakers but wouldn't want to pay more for them. Bought this because of the great reviews. It's very heavy but I was expecting that. Super easy to adjust between users. I like the amenities, even tho I didn't consider them when buying the bike I'm happy they're there and use them all the time. I love the comfort of the seat, I wish the backrest had an adjustment (it's in a fixed slightly reclined position), I actually use a folded towel to prop myself up straighter at times which works fine. All the programs are user friendly and provide a lot of diversity. Start pedaling and the screen displays your user name, select programs and quickly start whatever workout you need with an emphasis on time, calories, or distance.