In my last post I mentioned that I would be posting my recent Indoor Cycle (aka Spin Bike) Q&A email string and so here it is. This conversation was from November of this year.

Subject: Indoor cycle

hello , I stumbled across your site looking for a spin bike. I am rehabbing a broken heel/ sprained ankle and need a good value bike. I was looking at the proform 320 spx ($300) and schwinn ic2 ($500) or proform 315 ic   Which would you recommend   As I have no idea. Thanks.

 

My Reply

It looks like you have narrowed down your search to the best spin bikes in low cost range. As for the 3 that you’ve listed here there are a few things to consider.

Proform 320 SPX

 

The Proform 320spx does not come with a console (the other 2 do) so if you like to keep track of your stats, you would probably want one of the other models. If you don’t really need the stats then the 320 is a very solid bike in its price range and a good selection.

 

The Proform 315ic is a nice bike and has a nice console but the handlebar shape is different than the other 2 so if you have a preference on hand positions you might want to consider that. I have a view of the 2 handlebar types towards the bottom of this page: http://www.about-bicycles.com/exercise-bike-reviews/proform-320SPX-IndoorCycle.html

 

Finally the Schwinn IC2 has a nice console and has the pitchfork shaped handlebars (as I sometimes refer to them) but it is a little more expensive than the 2 Proform models (although you can get it online more like $400 instead of $500 see this page for the online sources: http://www.about-bicycles.com/exercise-bike-reviews/schwinn-ic2-indoor-cycle.html  Amazon is probably better then Bowflex though since they usually have better (usually free) shipping). I’m not a big fan of the plastic water bottle holder on the handlebars of the IC2 but some people like it right there and easy to grab (another personal preference).

 

Sorry that I don’t have 1 single best recommendation because it depends on your preferences. You have selected 3 very good low cost models though and I hope I have at least pointed out a few things to help you with your decision…

 

Good luck on the spin bike and with your recovery

 

Rob.

*Note: We do not give out any personal or confidential information in any form. The above information includes only the exchange of relevant product information between about-bicycles.com and one of our website visitors who shall remain anonymous.

Yep, the holidays are on their way and if you are like me you may already be getting tired of some of the commercials and of the tons of Black Friday Sales that are going on now ~ or on Friday.

On the other hand if you are looking for some good deals online this may be exactly what you are looking for (at least for the moment). Therefore, since I was just updating this website with all the latest prices, “deals and discounts” on fitness bikes, I decided that I would post a quick update.

The most significant Black Friday deals that I have found so far are on Fitness Bikes. NordicTrack has started an Early Black Friday sale already. Livestrong will be cutting the prices on their current line-up of Fitness Bikes by $100 to $200 off starting tomorrow (Wednesday 12/27 through Sunday 12/1). And we have a 10% Off Black Friday Coupon available on this site for Horizon Bikes.

For the specific details and more the information on these sales see our 2013 Black Friday, Cyber Monday Deals and Discounts page.

I will be monitoring these sales along with the latest fitness bike prices all season so check out the latest updates all week and weekend.

Recently I discovered that Proform has just come out with a new fitness bike that they have added to their Tour de France category on the Proform website. This got my attention right away since I know how popular the Proform Tour de France (TDF) bike has been and since it is in a unique fitness bike category.

New Proform GT

The new fitness bike, the Proform GT Training Bike, has some (but not all) of the features of the Proform TDF but sells for less than 1/2 the price. This is great news for anyone who has been interested in the Proform TDF but did not want to fork out the $2,000 that this year’s TDF model sells for. It has taken some time to research this product but I have found quite a bit of information on the Proform GT and have completed the review for this website. Our review also includes quite a few comparisons to the Proform TDF models since Proform has placed this bike in the TDF category.

One thing that I wanted to mention before I post the link to our new review on this bike is that I have used a few different “exercise bike” terms when describing this bike. Most exercise bikes fall into the categories of Upright, Recumbent, Indoor Cycle (or less accurately as SPIN® bikes although SPIN® is a registered trademark of Mad Dogg Athletics and should only be used when referring to their indoor cycling products) and Fan Bikes.

The Proform GT (like the Proform TDF) falls best into the Indoor Cycle category although traditional Indoor Cycling bikes are mostly mechanical and have a friction based resistance where the Proform GT has a magnetic resistance. This is why I also refer to this bike as a Fitness Bike (general term), Indoor Cycle or Training Bike. It is really in a fairly unique category so take your pick…

Our full review can be found on our new Proform GT Exercise Bike Review page.

This past weekend I did some traveling to Ohio, to drop my daughter off at college, and then on to Tennessee to see a good friend of mine. My friend has really been getting into scuba diving and since I was asking about diving and the equipment that he has we went downstairs to check out some of his scuba gear that he has in storage.

Aquarius 2000 from the 1980s

I learned quite a bit about scuba diving but if you are wondering how all of this relates to this Bike Blog it is because I saw this ancient, exercise bike ~ or probably more accurately Indoor Cycle, in his storage area that he has had since the eighties.This immediately caught my attention since I have reviewed so many modern Exercise Bikes and Indoor Cycles and this bike was obviously from another century.

The bike frame looked a little like the frame on the ironing board that was nearby, it had some rust and the fancy 1980s gauges did not work anymore but this bike had a very heavy flywheel which gave it a smooth resistance and it still worked!

This bike would fall into the Indoor Cycle category these days since it is mechanical and has a friction based resistance (rather than magnetic). The gauges included a color coded meter for RPM with a mechanical odometer at the bottom and a gauge for Watts and some kind of MPH calculation. The wheel cover says Ergometer which I’m not sure if that is a model name, some kind of feature or just one of the ways that they marketed the bike.

At any rate, it was kind of funny to see (and interesting to me) and amazing that the primary function of this  piece of fitness equipment still worked after all these years. I think that modern Indoor cycles have improved a lot and have come a long way but who knows if today’s bikes will last for 25 years or more as this one did!

Many of today’s higher quality Exercise Bikes and Indoor Cycles have Lifetime Warranties on the Frames and pretty good warranties on the mechanical and electronic parts. See our Exercise Bike Warranties page for a comparison of the warranties on most major brands.

Regardless of the warranties, I think that you will probably feel like you got  your money’s worth from your fitness bike if it lasts 25 years or more like this old Aquarius 2000 has!

I know that we are getting into peak outdoor bike riding season and a fitness bike blog post may be a little “out of season” but, as I had mentioned in my last post, I had just visited the Johnson Healthtech headquarters recently and wanted to post an update on my visit and to let you know about the 2 New Horizon Fitness Bikes that I will be available online and in stores this fall.

Johnson Healthtech is the maker of Horizon, Livestrong,  and AFG (Advanced Fitness Group) fitness bikes and other quality commercial and residential fitness equipment. I have been fortunate to have a good relationship with the people at Johnson and have been invited to see their new fitness bikes at their corporate headquarters, in Cottage Grove, Wis. (east of Madison), when new models become available.

Johnson is coming out with more new models of fitness equipment this year but since my speciality is bikes, I focus exclusively on their fitness bikes. I have always found the quality of all the brands that Johnson produces to be very high so I don’t have any problem recommending their products.

Moving right along into the 2 New Horizon Fitness Bikes that will be coming out in the fall. There will be 1 new Recumbent model and 1 new Upright model, which will be a nice addition to their line up since Horizon does not currently offer an upright exercise bike (other than the Horizon M4 which is technically an Indoor Cycle).

Both of these bikes retain the quality and popular features of the legacy Horizon bikes but have newer and more advanced designs and updated consoles. The emphasis on these bikes is to enhance the user experience from comfort to a better and more productive workout.

The New Horizon Comfort R

The Horizon Comfort R is the new recumbent bike from Horizon and what stood out most to me was how comfortable this bike is (as you would expect from the name (and from being from Horizon)) and how easy it was to adjust and to get on and off of. This bike has a complete step-though design and higher upper handlebars, which make it easier to get on and off and also give you plenty of room between your legs and the handlebars.

On top of the ergonomic design you get the new heart-rate wheel display on the console which gives you an easy to read graphic display of the of your current heart-rate workout zone.

The New Horizon Comfort U

The Horizon Comfort U is the new Upright Fitness Bike from Horizon. There are a few very unique features of this upright bike. The first thing that you notice is that the handlebars are designed like a typical flat-bar outdoor bike. If you ride a flat-bar mountain, hybrid or road bike this bike will feel very similar to your outdoor bike (only more comfortable actually). Just look at any other Upright Exercise Bike on the market now and note the difference in the handlebar designs.

The other very unique feature is the complete step-through design making this bike very easy to hop on and off of. Step-through designs are not new to fitness bikes but I do not recall ever seeing this design on an Upright Exercise Bike.

The Comfort U also has the the new heart-rate wheel display on the console with the easy to read graphic display of the of your current heart-rate workout zone and this model also has a telemetric receiver that can be used with a wireless heart-rate strap.

I will be writing up more complete reviews of these new exercise bikes from Horizon when they start to become available online and in stores.

If you like the quality and features that Horizon provides but do not want to wait until this fall to get your fitness bike then see our Horizon RC-30 Recumbent Review and/or our Horizon M4 Indoor Cycle Review.

Well that’s the latest “out of season” Fitness Bike update. I am recovering from my leg/hip injury and have been out there riding some decent miles once again so I hope to be hitting some new trails and getting some new trail updates and photo tours soon.

I’ve been riding my bike indoors on my Bike Trainer (indoor bike stand) quite a bit this year and experimenting with different entertainment options to make it more interesting and make the time go faster.

I have found various things that work for me that help keep me entertained and motivated and I am always crazy about keeping track of all my workout stats so I have also hooked up and used a couple of different devices either on my bike or in my workout room.

For example I have a small stereo in my workout room and I hookup my iPhone to it for music. The cable reaches my handlebars so I hook my iPhone up to my handlebars so it is handy. I have also hooked up a laptop in the room to watch videos things on the internet (unfortunately I do not have a cable-box for that room so I don’t have a tv in there).

I also use my wireless heart-rate chest strap and Bike GPS computer (Edge 800) to monitor my heart-rate (OK, it’s only a Bike Trainer but I have it setup with almost as many options as most exercise bikes!).

Well, this still wasn’t quite enough stats for me so I also hooked up my old bike computer, which is a wireless wheel-magnet type of bike computer, to my bike and moved the wheel magnet to the back wheel so I could monitor my MPH, Distance, Average and Time.

So far I have found that I like different options depending on my mood and how much time I plan to workout. For shorter workouts I just keep it simple and listen to music. If I want to do some extra time then I’ll use the laptop and watch something (like on Netflix or YouTube).

Anyone who has surfed the Exercise Bike and Trainer pages on this website knows that I have done a ton of research on exercise bikes and spin bikes over the years too. Although I have met with experts in the fitness field and have reviewed and ridden countless exercise bikes and spin bikes I am always looking for new information and a different perspective.

In the past I have ridden commercial quality exercise bikes at a fitness center and then gone directly to a retail store (the same day) and ridden the residential models in order to get a better comparison of as many models (in the different categories) as I could.

You can get some commercial grade (or at least light commercial grade) exercise bikes at retail stores and on the internet but it can be hard to see a really good selection of commercial and residential exercise bikes all in one place.

I was fortunate to be able to review and compare commercial and residential model exercise bikes at Johnson Fitness in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin on my last trip there but that is not usually an option for most people that are just looking for a good quality exercise bike.

Anyway, getting back to my quest for more information and a different perspective on indoor fitness bikes (and to the subject of this post), I decided to visit one of our local fitness clubs, XSport Fitness, to compare their commercial grade exercise bikes with my new home-made bike trainer setup (which I just used the day before).

They have a ton of Exercise Bikes (Uprights and Recumbents) at XSport but really only 2 brands, Life Fitness and Star Trac. Most of the bikes were in good working order although I noticed that one of the Life Fitness bikes had a clanking sound as I rode (so I switched to another bike).

All of the cardio equipment at XSport (Exercise Bikes, Elliptical Trainers, Treadmills, etc.) had small TV screens that were controlled a device called Cardio-Theater and had small controllers next to the monitors where you could plug in headphones and control the volume and channels.

I ended up riding some miles on a Star Trac Upright then I switched for some more time on the Life Fitness Recumbent.

So here are my thought after riding my Bike Trainer one day and the Exercise Bikes at the Fitness Center the next day. I usually prefer keeping my rides and workouts simple and don’t really like driving to a Fitness Club (XSport is about 15 minute ride for me) so that is a big plus for the Bike Trainer workout (or in-home equipment in general).

I also like that I don’t have to re-adjust everything on my Bike Trainer and I can keep track of my stats consistently (it’s always on the same equipment).

I wore my wireless chest strap and brought my bike computer with me to XSport so I was able to compare the HR stats from the Exercise Bikes to my wireless chest strap monitor. In this case, the HR monitors on the commercial bikes at XSport were very close to the wireless monitor and very accurate (a plus for the fitness center).

One of the nicer things about the Exercise Bikes at the fitness center was the Cardio-Theater TV screens that they had on all the equipment. I didn’t spend a long amount of time on each machine so I didn’t get totally involved in any of the shows that were playing but I did watch for a while and it was convenient and time passed much quicker while I was watching a show.

The other, most obvious, positive thing that you get with the Fitness Center, in general (not just the exercise bikes) is the huge selection of equipment that they had there. I also spent a little time on an Elliptical Trainer and on a Treadmill. That was plenty for me but they had plenty more if one has the energy for it.

One of the advantages that Exercise Bikes have over Bike Trainers is the built-in consoles with all the stats and workout programs. As I mentioned above, I have hooked up (and rigged up) some equipment to my bike trainer to monitor my workout stats but the built-in consoles are just easier and track more information.

Many of the Exercise Bikes on our Best Exercise Bikes page have consoles that allow you to upload and download your workout stats and additional workout programs to your computer or to and from the Internet.

Of course, if you want the convenience of an in-home workout and want to keep the costs down you may just want to check into a Bike Trainer instead.

You know that saying “If you’re going to talk the talk then you need to walk the walk” (or something like that). Well, I think I’ve earned a little more of the right to talk the talk after walking so much of the walk ~ or more accurately, riding the ride. Actually, I get a little wore out in the process sometimes! 🙂