One thing leads to another and after adding over 100 fitness bike reviews to this website I have just completed our fourth Recumbent Elliptical (aka: Seated Elliptical) Review.

For those of you who are familiar with the history of this website, we started out being all About Bicycles (of course) with an emphasis on bikes, bike accessories and bike trails in the Chicagoland area (and in Wisconsin).

Well, cycling is all about fitness too so we moved into fitness bikes (Indoor Cycles and Upright and Recumbent Exercise Bikes) and I have been fortunate to have a close friend who is an expert in fitness equipment (formerly a VP at a major fitness company) and I have also met and consulted with other exercise bike product specialists in the industry over the years. I focus more on fitness bikes in the winter and I love supporting fitness and good health in general.

For those of you who ride a lot outdoors, you may have noticed that Recumbent Bikes are getting more popular. There are quite a few different kinds of recumbent bikes (and trykes) available these days although they share some common features. They are very comfortable to ride, are easy on the knees and provide great back support. A friend of mine has owned 2 recumbents (a SWB (short wheel base) and LWB (long wheel base)) and I have ridden many miles on these bikes and can confirm how comfortable these bikes are.

OK, getting back on track with the subject of this blog post, in the process of reviewing numerous Recumbent Exercise Bikes, I ran across some Dual-Action models (with either levers or pedals for your arms and upper body) and eventually started looking into Recumbent (or Seated) Elliptical Bikes (or trainers). Sorry if gets a little confusing with the various names but even though these machines have been around for years, I still see them referred to using the different names that I’ve used here.

I have also received emails from visitors to this site who were looking for Dual Action Exercise Bikes or Recumbent Bikes (or ellipticals) or both so I needed to become more familiar with these kinds of fitness products.

What I have found is that there are quite a few different configurations and kinds of Exercise Bikes and Elliptical Trainers that are Dual-Action and/or Recumbent and they are designed and used for different purposes.

Some people prefer a dual action fitness bike to stay in shape for riding season and to get an upper body work out too. I have found that many of the people looking for this kind of fitness product have special needs and use them for Rehab, Physical Therapy, Weight Loss or just a good low impact aerobic exercise.

The first Dual Action Exercise Bikes that I looked into (many years ago) were Dual Action Fan Bikes. The most popular are the Schwnn models like the original Schwinn Airdyne and the newer (less expensive) Schwinn Airdyne AD2. Fan Bikes use a pedaling motion (like a regular bike) and have levers for your upper body workout.

I could not find any other dual-action bikes that used a regular pedal and crank (like an outdoor bike) and that also had an upper-body exercise mechanism although there are quite a few models that use an elliptical design for your lower body workout and also have either levers or pedals for your arms and upper body.

I have seen quite a few Octane Recumbent Ellipticals at some of the boutique fitness stores around here but did not find as good of a selection online. I also reviewed the Inspire CS2 Recumbent Elliptical but that model is no longer available online.

The Smooth V2300 is a very popular Recumbent/Seated Elliptical Bike, which I still have listed as active on our site although they are currently out of stock (I have talked to my representative at Smooth and have been told that they should be available again in mid-February). The Smooth V2300 uses elliptical pedals for your lower body workout and a pedaling device for your upper body exercise.

Some of the models that you can get online now are the Proform Hybrid Trainer, which is a dual-action elliptical that can also be used as a seated or recumbent elliptical. The arm levers for your upper body exercise are only accessible, however in the standing elliptical position.

And finally, I get to the Recumbent Elliptical that I have just reviewed and that is available online now which is the HCI PhysioStep RXT Recumbent Elliptical (I saved the best for last).

This product is truly a Dual-Action Recumbent Elliptical Trainer with a Recumbent/Seated Elliptical Trainer, for your lower body, and adjustable Arm Levers for your upper body exercise.

One of the things that really impressed me about this fitness product is the overwhelmingly positive and consistent customer reviews on this product.

See our HCI PhysioStep RXT Recumbent Elliptical Review for more detail on this product, the customer reviews, our review and the best place to get this Recumbent Elliptical online.