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.