Very Solid Bike ; heavy duty; some minor mods make it even better (for me)
This is an update after 3 1/2 months and over 50 hours of online spinning type classes. I am an outdoor cyclist and figure this bike has now seen the equivalent of around 800 miles on a road bike. I have been reading reviews and it seems that there is some quality inconsistency -- mine is great; other folk have problems. I find the bike to be sturdy and reliable. I ride pretty hard both in and out of the saddle (that's what spinning classes do) and use a variety of resistances from easy (high pedal rate/"flat road) to low pedal rate, high resistance simulating hill climbing. I have had one significant issue so far -- The display stopped working after only a couple of weeks. Schwinn support was good except they mis-diagnosed the problem. They felt is was a faulty sensor and sent a new one. Since the display began to work again a few days later I diagnosed it as sweat getting into the connector (I sweat profusely during the ride and the display and wiring get soaked). So I used duct tape to protect the vulnerable area and that worked. I never did swap out the sensor. More on the display later. I also developed a small noise in the pedals after about 30 hours. I tightened them up and was good-to-go again. I think it is good to check and tighten moving parts periodically to prevent problems. For those who are concerned about all of the complaints about pedal problems you should note that so many of them are concerning the left pedal. I think some people do not realize that the left pedal is threaded opposite direction. Screwing it in clockwise (normal direction) will result in cross threading and early failure! Now, back to the display. The electronic display would be much more useful if the cadence information was not alternating with the speed data. The only two true pieces of data are the cadence and heart rate — they should both be in their own area on the display. The speed, distance and calories are not at all accurate since they do not take into account the resistance of the felt brake pad. More brake pressure simulates a higher gear and, therefore, would result in a higher speed for the same cadence. Similarly, calories burned are a function of both cadence and resistance so are therefore not accurate (resistance not taken into account). My suggestion is to move the speed information to alternate with the distance information. Since the heart rate on the display only recognizes a limited number of HR monitors (and not mine) I devised another solution. I removed the display and for about $10 got the same bracket I use on my road bicycle to hold my iPhone (it clamps onto the handlebars). I now can use my heart rate monitor and my cadence monitor from my bike for an accurate display (my phone). AND it then gives me a record of the workout by time including calories burned. Using an app like Strava I can now keep track of my workouts in a way that I can see progress (or lack thereof). Another minor issue is that if you sweat a lot, the front fender needs to be a bit longer to prevent sweat from dripping onto the flywheel’s circumference. When sweat from my head drips onto the flywheel it changes the resistance generated by the felt braking mechanism. I made an extension using part of a Weber BBQ drip pan attached by duct tape. Read my "first impressions" review below for the multiple user issue I discuss -- not a problem for me but might be for some! Bottom line: Great bike at a fraction of the price of the well known "professional" bikes. I have gotten used to changing the resistance using the knob and find it easy to follow online spinning classes and get great workouts. I have had good experience with response to questions, etc. from Nautilus (Schwinn) customer service. Had to wait on hold for longer than I would have liked but I understand this problem since sales have been so strong that the customer service lines are swamped. Exercise equipment became the new "toilet paper" due to Covid-19. The warranty on this bike is great and I am thankful that I found a way to exercise vigorously to keep my sanity until this Covid-19 thing is over! -------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a "first impressions" review. The bike arrived on time, well packaged and in good condition. Assembly was straightforward (took 1 hour for me to assemble alone). There are two points in assembly where a second person would have been helpful -- getting the stuff out of the box (without destroying the box), and attaching the front and rear stabilizers (requires elevating the attach points). Both difficulties are because the bike is heavy with heavy flywheel and those become pluses for the riding experience. I have ridden it one time so far and the bike is extremely stable, smooth and quiet. It feels like the bikes in spinning class. One big drawback: If you plan to share this bike with another person (or several) it will be difficult for each to consistently set it the same way each time. There are four adjustments: seat height and fore-aft position; handlebar height and fore-aft position. Only the seat height can be consistently set (pin into holes). The other three settings have no specific position markings and the only way to re-set to the same position after they have been changed would be with a ruler or tape measure. Additionally, these three adjustments are secured by screwing in adjustment handles which cause pins to bear on the corresponding post. They have to be torqued down pretty hard to avoid wobble and, I believe, repetitive re-setting positions will cause failure to lock in the positions without wobble. Read more
