Here we are in x-mas shopping and exercise bike season already. I had some additional bike trail photos and information from some of my late season rides but since outdoor riding season is pretty much over for most of us here (in the mid-west anyway), I will save that info for next season.
Horizon Comfort-R
I get quite a few emails regarding different kinds of fitness bikes (this time of year especially) and I have decided to share some of my recent and most relevant fitness bike email discussions here since there is some good information exchanges in these email strings.*
All personal information, information not relevant to the recumbent bike discussion and time sensitive pricing information here has been removed…
The email string below is from late July of this year and although the manufacturer’s have come out with newer models just recently (I will be getting to that in a future post), you can currently get these models at very good prices.
OK, that is enough of an intro, here is our Recumbent Exercise Bike email Q&A discussion:
Subject: great site for exercise bikes…
Hello Rob,
need a good recumbent for my workouts.
Here’s what I gleaned from your site so far:
These products and links were referred to and included at the end of the email…
About me…biker/recumbent trips in Europe/injured knee so biking is good for the knee. 178 #s 6′ tall. All of the below are highly rated on your site and around the same price point. Do you have any that stand out? (ps my wife has a Horizon machine for elliptical workout. We had a problem with it and they fixed it for no cost, so the company sounds good too.
Thanks, John
My Initial Reply…
Hi John,
I do believe that the 4 recumbents that you listed below are all very good quality bikes at good prices.
The NordicTrack GX5.0 is from Icon Fitness (makers of NordicTrack and Proform among other brands) and the other 3 (the Livestrong and Horizon models) are from Johnson Fitness.
The NordicTrack GX5.0 is comfortable and has quite a few extra features including the option to load the iFit software if you like the latest technology options. The iFit option is pretty cool but it does cost $99 for a 1 year subscription. Even without iFit, the NT GX5.0 still has a lot of built in console options.
The Livestrong 6.0R is a very high quality and sturdy bike with a nice console that has a USB port allowing you to add more programs and workouts when you choose. The Livestrong bikes, from Johnson Fitness have always been great bikes but, unfortunately, since the Lance Armstrong scandal, Johnson Fitness has stopped selling most of these bikes in the US. This bike used to sell for $999 (before the Lance Armstrong thing) so it is a great deal at Amazon while it lasts. I like the ventilated seat back on this bike but some people prefer the more cushioned seat back like on the NordicTrack.
The Horizon Comfort-R is brand new this year and has a newer console display with graphical heart-rate wheel display to easily track your heart-rate and this bike has a comfortable, ergonomic design. The Horizon RC30 has been around for quite a while and has always been a popular model. This bike sells for a great price these days. The only thing that I would mention about the RC30 is that, since it is an older model, it has an older console and does not have a music player jack and speakers like all the other models that you’ve mentioned.
NordicTrack has good sales at this time of year and if you do choose one of the Horizon models be sure to use the discount code on my site to get 10% off on your purchase. This is a legit discount that I was allowed to use after I met with the managers and product specialists on a trip that I made to Johnson Fitness in Cottage Grove Wis. recently.
As for your trips, touring Europe on a recumbent sounds excellent! I have visited parts of Europe but have never had the opportunity to ride there. I have also ridden a few of my friends bents and I really like them. I almost got one last year but had to tighten my budget and have not gotten one yet. I still hope to though. If you have read a few of my blog posts, you know that I really enjoy the Tour de France which is going on now. Some of the stages on the TDF look spectacular. I love the mountain stage scenery although personally I like riding more in the flat lands.
Anyway, I hope you found some of the info above helpful. With the bikes that you mentioned above I think it is mostly a matter of deciding which features you prefer….
Follow-up 1
Rob, thanks for your information and website. Just back from a ride on my recumbent RANs bike…very nice and you can get them on ebay used…I highly recommend.
Just did a bunch of research and here’s what I found: … the Livestrong has a seat problem that they fixed about a year ago, but only place to buy is Amazon or Ebay (Johnson store). Probably not get that one….
The woman on the phone likes the Horizon RC 30 better than the comfort R but also recommended I look at AFG2.0AR since it is same pricing from Johnson as the Comfort R.
Last Reply
Hi John,
Thanks for the input on the RAN recumbent and eBay. I will put that on my list to check when I am able to finally get a recumbent.
… I also didn’t know about the seat problem on the Livestrong model. I hope they did actually get that resolved because the 6.0R is otherwise a very nice bike…
I would have a hard time making the choice between the RC30 and AFG2.0AR. They are fairly comparable in many ways. The RC30 sells for much less than the AFG2.0AR on my site but that is based on the price on the Horizon site (with my 10% discount) compared to the AFG bike at Amazon…
It would be best to try out both models side by side but both brands are a little hard to find in B&M stores. I tried both models at Johnson Fitness and the Horizon models are sold at HHGregg stores (if you have them by you) and the AFG models can sometimes be found in Sears stores. I thought that the AFG might just feel a little mode sturdy but that is pretty subjective. I liked the straight bar for the upper handle bars on the Horizon a little better than the curved bars on the AFG but personally I prefer the lower handlebars by the seat most of the time anyway.
Well, that’s about all the thoughts that I have on these bikes Sorry that I don’t have more details or insight but maybe something that I mentioned here could be helpful.
Good luck,
Rob.
Regarding the Horizon Fitness Bike 10% off coupon, this offer is still valid on any Horizon Fitness Bike. See the Horizon links above for information on this discount code.
I will be posting an Indoor Cycle (aka Spin Bike) Q&A Email discussion next so stay tuned…
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.