Schwinn 220 Recumbent Exercise Bike (2012 Model)

I recently bought this bike to replace a previous Schwinn recumbent bike (that broke of no fault of the manufacturer, mine entirely) I was very pleased with my previous Schwinn and wanted another one. It is comfortable and very quiet, the display can be hard to read in a bright or dark room as it is not back lit but seeing as how I just hit quick start, click up till I hit a good resistance level and then watch tv it hasn''t bothered me to much. However, those of you who want to keep track of your heart rate, time, resistance level etc I would recommend the Schwinn 240 as it has a very nice bright back lit display. The only two things I have noticed so far is the absolutely USELESS fan that it comes with. It is far to small and to far away to do anything. I turned it on and put my hands 2 inches away from the fan and could hardly feel it so to believe that it will cool your face as your pedal is a complete dream. A good Idea but poorly designed, a larger fan with a bigger motor would work but then you would be getting into noise and maybe they wanted to keep it quiet. Either way, don''t consider this a factor if you are looking between various models. The other think I have noticed is the connection between the two main body pieces, even though I have tightened all 5 screws home when I pedal on a high resistance level where I am pushing myself I do notice it tends to flex at the connection, not nearly enough to interfere with my workout but just something I noticed. Overall I am pleased with what I go for the money. I have had a good experience with Schwinn Recumbent bikes and look forward to having this one for a while to come.

This Schwinn 220 is my second recumbent bike, I had purchased the Marcy recumbent bike for under $150 several years back, which works great, very basic, just shows speed, odo, miles, avg speed. (I''ll get back to this later).

So now to the Schwinn 220, this bike works great as a recumbent bike, easy to adjust the seat height, easy to move around the house. Great features like the heart rate monitor, speakers, fan (does not work good), and training regiment is great, these items that I did not have with the basic Marcy. As everyone have complained, the display is subpar for the price of the equipment but not a deal breaker for me.

Now that I have used two bikes, the extra features are nice on the 220, but if you will be dependent on the display as a trainer, you might want to look elsewhere. If you want something on a lower budget, there are other options out there that would do better. I find just sitting in front of the TV and pedaling for about 45-60 mins will give me a good sweat, I rarely look at the display.

UPDATE:

We have gotten rid of our older Marcy bike (for space reasons), the Schwinn bike still works great, however, I''d like to mention some items that bugs me about the Schwinn.

1. Requirement for external power to adjust tension.

2. Display is really bad (already mentioned).

3. The display/fan module is too big for its function.

Positives:

1. Feels more stable than our older Marcy.

Buy Schwinn 220 Recumbent Exercise Bike (2012 Model) Now

I had purchased a Schwinn 213 around four years ago it only lasted 2 years before the electronics failed. I gave up on electronic recumbent bikes and bought a manual Resistance bike after that, the Stamina 4825. The Stamina is a good bike but I really missed the electronic programmed routines that come with the electronic style bikes and the heft of the Schwinn. Then I got a chance to get this Schwinn so I thought I''d give Schwinn another chance.

This Schwinn is just as heavy as my last one and the first thing I notice is that the design is a walk through style which makes it a little easier for maybe older people to get onto. This bike is more solid than the Stamina but you are paying one hundred bucks more for this bike so it should be heftier. When you get on the bike the seat is solid but very comfortable and you have a good view of the display and the controls are well within reach and the console is adjustable. the control panel is very easy to figure out, I do agree with another viewer that the display should be back lit. I''m not too bugged about the fan like some people are, I didn''t get this for the fan so it doesn''t figure into my ratings. I like the magazine rack and the Ipod port because it''s nice to be distracted when you work out. The heart rate monitor works fine, on my Stamina 4825 recumbent I would really have to grip to get it to work but the Schwinn you just have to hold it to get a reading. It has a heavy flywheel which I like because it makes you feel like you are riding a real bike and it makes the pedaling smoother. It has a eddy current brake system that helps you stop pedaling in a second if you need to stop quickly. They make this bike for every type of fitness level with 16 levels of resistance so you can start out with no resistance and work your way up. It has around 10 workout programs I''ve used only 5 of them.

For now I''m very happy with this bike, I wish they would give you a longer warranty on the electronics just to ease my mind from my bad experience from my first Schwinn recumbent bike. I''ll update this if anything happens along the way.

Read Best Reviews of Schwinn 220 Recumbent Exercise Bike (2012 Model) Here

Okay, so everything you''ve heard that''s bad about the bells and whistles is true. The fan is a worthless use of space, the display is so light you''d better wear your glasses, the bottle holder -I hope you have a small water bottle or don''t get thirsty, the speakers are awful, and why on earth is there a "magazine prop" on this? You''d have to be a giraffe to read anything that high up!

Bad things aside, that''s not why I bought this bike. Because I most certainly knew that all the "extras" were just thrown in by the manufacturer to make it look like you''re getting value for your dollar. I bought it because for the amount of cash I had to spend on this it didn''t actually get any bad performance reviews. The resistance is great and transitions so smoothly you''d never know it''s happening were it not for the additional strain you suddenly start to feel when you''re peddling. The seat is as comfortable as any piece of gym equipment I''ve been on. The heart rate monitor takes a few cycles to get an accurate reading but it gets as close to accurate as anything else out there. For those things alone, it''s worth the price.

I should add, that the manual was written without a lot of words but with diagrams that were actually easy to follow. I''ve put together a lot of gym equipment, and this was by far the one that had me scratching my head the least.

Two stars had to come off because the manufacturer really should remove the bells and whistles that are useless and market it honestly as a well-made no frills bike. Putting useless extras in there and not having them add actual value makes me feel like I''m being pandered to as a consumer.

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This bike was purchased for me for Christmas 2010. By January 2012 it was giving errors on the display and would not read speed, distance, etc. We had an extended service plan. The tech came twice but could not fix it. The holders of the plan have deemed the bike unfixable and are refunding our money.

Bottom line:

Bike worked just over a year and broke beyond repair.

Other: the bike needs external power, unlike others that run off the power generated by the flywheel.

Other than that the bike was okay while it worked, but we will probably not replace it with another Schwinn.

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