It was a rainy day here in the Chicagoland area yesterday and I headed out with a couple of goals in mind. I wanted to get a workout and I also wanted to checkout the commercial exercise bikes at our local park district workout center.

I succeeded at both goals and found that I was able to do a great side by side comparison of 5 different commercial exercise bike brands. I also went to a local Dick’s Sporting Goods store afterwards to check out the latest retail in-home exercise bikes and indoor cycles (while the commercial exercise bike workouts were still fresh in my mind).

Life Fitness 95RI Console

This was an excellent experience for me since I got a good workout (although different than how most people would workout (mostly on one machine)) and since reviewing exercise bikes is a major part of what I do for a living.

The exercise bikes that I tried out at the park district workout center were:

• Star Trac  RBX Recumbent
• Star Trac UBX Upright
• Precor C846 Recumbent
• Life Fitness 95RI Recumbent
• The Classic Schwinn Airdyne Dual Action Fan Bike

All of these exercise bikes are brands that have been reviewed on this site (although we have not reviewed all of these specific models). See our Exercise Bike Pages for detailed reviews of exercise bikes made by each of these manufacturers.

All of the exercise bikes that I used (other than the Airdyne, which I will review later) had a Self Powered Generating System and a Quick Start Button. The basic functions on the consoles were all pretty easy to use  but considering that I was checking out so many different models, I was not able to really get into the advanced functions on each bike.

In my opinion the Life Fitness 95RI Recumbent Bike felt the best overall. For some reason this bike just seemed a little more comfortable and smoother than the others. This is not to say anything bad about the other brands because all of these bikes were high quality and performed very well.

As you might expect, the recumbent bikes were a little more comfortable but the upright bike felt more like riding my outdoor bike. The only upright model here (other than the fan bike) was the Star Trac UBX bike.

With the Star Trac UBX upright, there were basically 2 riding positions. You could sit straight up and use the bottom part of the handlebars (with the heart rate sensors) or you could lean forward and grip the top parts of the handle bars. The upright position was a little more comfortable and was the only way that you could use the heart rate sensors.

I liked the forward leaning position since this is more like my outdoor road bike but it was not a very comfortable position (and you could not use the heart rate monitors in this position).  It would be much better if there were more seat and handlebar adjustments for this but that is not all that common on traditional upright exercise bikes (although the additional adjustments are common on Indoor Cycle/Spin Bikes). Unfortunately, there were no Indoor Cycle, Spin Bikes at this fitness center.

As for the Recumbent Exercise Bikes, the Precor C846 and the Life Fitness 95RI both had upper handlebars (by the console) and lower handlebars, with the heart rate sensors (by the seat),  whereas the Star Trac RBX had upper handlebars only with the heart rate sensors and arm rests by the seat. I preferred the lower handlebars with the heart rate sensors but I must admit that the armrests on the Star Trac were pretty comfortable.

Schwinn Airdyne at Park District Workout Center

Getting back to the Classic Schwinn Airdyne, I didn’t really think that you could get a very serious workout on this kind of bike, but after riding it for a while and really getting the RPMs up, I found that you can actually get a pretty decent workout on this kind of exercise bike. On top of that, you get the upper and lower body workout and also the cooling effect of the fan (which was great since the fitness center was pretty warm for people working out).

One thing that I don’t think is mentioned a lot with the Schwinn Airdyne is that there are footrests at the lower end of the handlebars which you can use in order to power the fan with your arms alone for a good upper body workout.

Well, that’s my take on the commercial exercise bikes that I checked out yesterday, and on the Schwinn Airdyne. My next stop was to do a comparison to the In-Home exercise bike models at Dick’s Sporting Goods.

I was actually hoping that Dick’s would have some of the newer in-home exercise bikes that are coming available, but they still just had the models that have been out for quite some time now. It’s still a little early for peak fitness equipment season.

Anyway, I checked out the following exercise bikes at Dick’s:

• Schwinn 140 Upright
• Schwinn 240 Recumbent
• Schwinn A20 Recumbent
• Livestrong LS9.9IC Indoor Cycle
• Proform ZX2 Upright
• Proform ZR3 Recumbent

I have tested and used all of these exercise bikes in the past, except for these specific Proform models, so there were no real surprises here (except that I was impressed with the Proform models).

As you might expect, none of these in-home exercise bikes had the same feeling as the commercial bikes that I had just ridden. I still liked the Schwinn 240 Recumbent the best out of the Schwinn models.

As I mentioned, the park district workout center did not have any Indoor Cycles but I still also liked the feel and the multiple seat and handlebar adjustments available on the Livestrong LS9.9IC.

I do not believe that I had actually tried the 2 Proform models that they had at Dick’s in the past, but after checking them out yesterday, I thought that these 2 exercise bikes were more comfortable and felt much more  solid than the Schwinns.  Both of the Proform exercise bikes were older models that used the iFit Card technology.

Most traditional Upright Exercise Bike models have seat adjustments but do not have handlebar adjustments. The Proform ZX2 Upright at least had handlebars that move forward and back although they do not lock into any additional positions.

Well, that’s if for the Commercial and In-Home Exercise Bike Comparison experiment from yesterday. I also got some new skins (i.e. tires) for my road bike in preparation for our upcoming trip to Wisconsin, but that is a whole new subject that I will probably write about here soon. So stay tuned!

Sorry, I had meant to write a more complete blog post here about my trip to the Johnson Fitness headquarters in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin (near Madison, Wi) last month but have been so busy with the about-bicycles.com updates (primarily indoor cycles and exercise bikes right now) that I have not been able to get to the blog update until now.

Johnson Fitness

If you are not familiar with Johnson Fitness (aka Johnson Health Tech), they are  a large and reputable company that designs, manufactures and sells fitness equipment worldwide. A few of the brand names that Johnson makes are Livestrong, Horizon, Matrix, AFG, Vision Fitness, Merit, Tempo and Treo.

You may not be familiar with all of the brands but we have had Livestrong and Horizon products on this site for years now and I have recommended the original Livestrong Indoor Cycle (the LS9.9IC) for years also.

I can tell you that Johnson is committed to quality and customer support and their contributions to the Livestrong Foundation are another example of their commitment to overall health and fitness. This year alone Johnson will be donating a minimum of $4 million to the Livestrong Foundation. That amount will also be increased with the sale of additional Livestrong fitness equipment. For example, an additional $1,000 donation will be made to the Livestrong Foundation for each LS28IC Indoor Cycle that is sold (they do not actually make a profit on this limited edition model).

Johnson Headquarters in Cottage Grove, Wi

OK, I don’t mean to make this sound like a corporate commercial (although it probably does at this point) but I really was impressed with the knowledge and integrity of the people at Johnson. Personally, I learned quite a bit about their exercise bikes and indoor cycles and had I an excellent opportunity to meet with the product specialists in these areas and review quite a few of the Johnson Fitness products.

I have updated many of the Exercise Bike and Indoor Cycle pages on this website with the relevant information on each product that I reviewed while I was at Johnson. I have also added some NEW Livestrong and AFG reviews including The Livestrong LS28IC Limited Edition Indoor Cycle, the AFG 4.0AR Recumbent, the  Livestrong E-Series and Livestrong S-Series Indoor Cycles, and the Livestrong LS7.0B Recumbent.

So, as you can see I have been very busy applying the knowledge that I picked up on my trip to Johnson to this website and I am not done yet! Johnson is revising the LivestrongFitness.com website and adding quite a few NEW indoor cycles and exercise bikes to this site. Some of these models have not been released yet so I can not release the details on them until the new LivestrongFitness.com site is up and the new models are for sale online. Johnson will also be opening a new AFG website this fall.

I am looking forward the revised Livestrong Fitness website, the new Livestrong Indoor Cycles and Exercise Bikes and the new AFG site!

Although this is prime time bike riding season, I have so much to do with fitness equipment updates (Exercise Bikes, Indoor Cycles, etc.) that it is a little hard to keep up with the regular cycling side of the website (but I am working on it).

Well, if you are looking into training or fitness equipment now or maybe will be later in the fall, be sure to checkout the updates here and on the new Johnson Fitness websites.

—– This post is from about-bicycles.com blog reader mfsmith —–

I read reviews and most were positive.  I waited patiently for our new Spinner TV bike and when it arrived I quickly assembled it for my first ride.  This is were the dissatisfaction began.  The bike does not adjust to a 6’2′ rider as the seat accommodated my height but not the handlebar.  Then when you put the handlebar to the highest setting, it rocks back and forth.  Even more disappointing,  I had a LOUD clanking within the chain housing cover.  After removing the cover and determining that there were no loose parts, I determined the chain had to much play and was striking the plastic housing.  For now, I removed the outer piece of the housing cover to minimize the noise.  The worst was yet to come.  I called Customer Service and they said my issues were Technical Support matters and they gave me the phone number.  I called and asked to be put on hold…for 30 minutes when I finally hung up and called back.  This time I agreed to leave a voicemail mesaage and left my issues and contact number.  I left another message the next day and got a callback but to the number I called from which is not the number I left in the voicemail.  I called back several more times with no response and then went back to Customer Service.  I shared my frustration and they said Upper Mgt would call me back in 48 hours…that was 4 days ago.

The bike has potential to be a quality product but the customer service is nonexistent.

I just updated the prices for all of the exercise bikes available online at this site and also did some offline research yesterday.

I visited one of the Sports Authority stores by us (Chicago suburbs) and spent quite a bit of time reviewing the exercise bikes that they had on display and also talked to a pretty knowledgeable sales guy (you don’t always get good people to talk to at SA).

First, here is a summary and comparison of the latest prices, of some popular models, that were available at the Sports Authority store and that are available online.

Uprights:

• Schwinn 120 – SA Price: $300 – Online Price (Amazon) $278.54 ***
• Proform 290SPX (spinner style (I still really like this bike)) – SA Price: $300 – Online Price (Wal-Mart and Proform) $300

Recumbents:

• Schwinn 220 – SA Price $350 – Online Price (Amazon) $349.99

See the About-Bicycles Exercise Bikes pages for quick and easy links to these models.

The local Sports Authority also carried their own Bodyfit brand bikes and Healthrider bikes. I was not impressed with the SA Bodyfit brand but the Healthrider bikes were very nice. Healthrider is an Icon Fitness brand.

The sales guy that I mentioned above had also visited the Icon fitness plant in Utah and was very impressed with their products (They sell a lot of other fitness equipment in addition to exercise bikes).

So to sum up this latest review and the comparisons, I see that the Schwinn models (120 upright and 220 bent) are still very popular and still a good choice if you are looking for a good solid magnetic resistance bike with a nice electronic monitor to track your stats and workout. The Schwinn 120 has a better price online but the Schwinn 220 price is the same (online and brick and mortar (I just had to use that term again! 🙂 ) .

The Proform 290SPX  remains an excellent low priced spinner bike and the online prices are about the same as offline at this time.

Most online sites offer free shipping (to your home or to a store (if they have one)) so you can compare the online and offline prices pretty easily.

And finally, just as a refresher, here’s a brief summary of some of the benefits and trade-offs of the various styles of exercise bikes.

• Upright Spinner Style Bikes (like the Proform SPX) – Most like a regular road bike, very durable, easy to set caliper brake style resistance, very little if any electronics. The sales guy said that most serious cyclists usually prefer this style of bike (I would tend to agree with that).
• Upright Magnetic Resistence Bikes– Still very similar to a regular outdoor road bike, but usually have more comfortable seats, need to be plugged in to set resistance and for monitoring stats, many models come with heart-rate monitors (usually built into the handlebars), most have electronic displays for speed, distance, workout time, etc.
• Recumbent Exercise Bikes(magnetic resistance) – The biggest advantage here is comfort, need to be plugged in to set resistance and for monitoring stats, if you ride an outdoor recumbent bike then this style will compliment your outdoor riding workout also,  most models come with heart rate monitors (usually built into the handlebars), most have electronic displays for speed, distance, workout time, etc.

Other Exercise Bikes and Bike Trainers (stands for your outdoor bike) – Well there are still quite a few other styles of exercise bikes out there (fan style, dual resistance bikes, trainers, etc) but I’m just going to limit the review here to the major types of exercise bikes described above.

As additional note on spinner bikes (or indoor cycles), as I mentioned above, most of these bikes have little or no electronics which is good in some ways but personally, I prefer tracking my workout stats so I do prefer having an electronic console. This is one of the reasons that we list the Livestrong LS9.9IC Indoor Cycle on our Best Buy Exercise Bikes page. All of the current Livestrong bikes have electronic consoles, are very durable and well built and I love that these purchases will ensure ensure a contribution to the LIVESTRONG® Foundation for the fight against cancer.

See the About-Bicycles Exercise Bikes pages for more information on most exercise bike types, lots of reviews and quick and easy links to many popular models.

Later, Rob.