Buddy’s Fitness News

My Review: The Schwinn 231 Recumbent Bike

THE DECISION TO BUY A BIKE
I discovered the joys of riding a recumbent bike when I had my gym membership.  I know there’s a lot of naysayers out there who insist you can’t get a real workout on one, but as far as I’m concerned, they’re full of crap.  In terms of cardio, as long as you get the heart pumpin’ and you’re workin’ up a sweat, what’s the difference if you’re standing up or sitting down?

A recumbent bike had been on my wish list for quite some time, even before I made the decision not to renew my gym membership.  The first thing I did was to look up info on my favorite bike at the gym, the Nautilus NR3000 Vertical Commercial Recumbent Bike, but for the Amazon sale price of $1849, it was a bit out of my price range.  So I shopped and read reviews of other brands, non of which compared to the features of the NR3000, that was until… I stumbled upon the Schwinn 230 at Dick’s Sporting Goods.

One of my biggest beefs about any exercise bike, whether upright or recumbent is the comfort of the seat.  I hate the crotch buster effect that uprights give, and I have no interest in developing calluses down there.  On the other hand, you’d figure any recumbent bike would do, but after trying a few out for size, I discovered that the manufacturers don’t always have fat chicks in mind when building the seats.  Then I sat on the Schwinn 230 and had an instant flashback of the Nautilus NR3000 bike.  “This is the ONE!” I exclaimed, then I looked at the price tag and said, “mmmmmaybe not!”

The 230 had a price tag of $449 plus tax which is hefty chunk of change for me.  So I decided to do some research on the bike and read quite a few online reviews.  For the most part, they were pretty positive, but the few negatives had me thinking I didn’t want to spend that kind of money on something that I was going to be annoyed with.  Two of the common negative comments were complaints about the control panel not being backlit and difficult to see, and also the seat tended to be a bit wobbly during higher intensity workouts.  So I went back to Dick’s to take a closer look at the bike, and discovered that the seat wobble would be an easy fix with a little cardboard, but that still left the control panel problem.  Another issue was expense.  The guy at the store told me I could get deferred payments if I signed up for a store credit card, but the last thing I needed was a credit card burning a hole in my wallet.

I went home empty handed once again, as I hate making regrettable impulse shopping decisions.  I decided to think on it, and looked up the product on the Dick’s Sporting Goods website when I discovered that they also carried the Schwinn 231 recumbent bike, a step up from the 230, which had a fix for the control panel complaint.  The 231 had an upgraded backlit control panel with more features and riding programs than the 230.  Essentially, it was the same exact bike but with better electronics.  It also had a price tag of an additional $100!  Yikes!  BUT, and here’s where it gets interesting, Dick’s also offers another type of financing on their website which doesn’t involve signing up for a credit card.

So I bit the bullet, and bought the Schwinn 231 using the Bill Me Later payment option.  I owe no payments for 6 months, then at that point, if I haven’t payed off the bike by then, the interest from date of purchase is tacked on and payments begin.  After discussing things with Jen, we figured that the two of us pooling money together, we could easily get the thing paid off before the 6 months.  I opted for the quicker 3 to 5 day delivery which was $10 more than the standard 5 to 10 day delivery.  Another bonus with the bike is that it came with Silver Service Delivery which meant that they would carry it up the stairs and into the room of my choice.  Cool beans!  All in all, with tax and delivery, the bike cost me $652.47.

DELIVERY AND ASSEMBLY
The bike was delivered by a freight company in a single 120-something pound box.  I was informed by email that the bike was shipped from the warehouse to the delivery service, and that I was to expect a phone call from them to arrange a delivery time to my home.  Within a few days the call came, a two days later the bike was delivered on schedule.  I must admit, I’m glad I opted to buy the bike online and payed for the delivery.  There would’ve been a lot of complainin’ had I bought one at the store, and then tried to cart it into the house on my own!

I had the bike assembled in less than 2 hours.  Other than removing the main frame from the box, assembly is a one man job.  It came with 2 instruction manuals, one for assembly, the other for operation.  The 22-page assembly manual was 99% idiot proof as each step was clearly laid out in written form with accompanying diagrams.  All the components (nuts & bolts) needed for assembly, as well as the tools, came in a labeled blister pack.  (I mention all this as a contrast to my upcoming review of the Powertec Leverage Gym which I also bought.)

OPERATION AND PERFORMANCE
I have yet to explore all the program options on the bike.  But from what I’ve used of it so far, I’d have to say it’s very comparable to the much more expensive models at the gym.  It’s extremely stable, even for a fat chick like me, and I have yet to experience the seat wobble problem which was a complaint in the reviews.  But then again, I tend to crank things down when I assemble, so that might have something to do with it too.

As long as you keep the unit plugged in, it retains the previous rider’s info in the memory.  Like the bikes at the gym, you go through the whole thing of entering your weight, the desired program, length of workout, and resistance level.  I’d have to say the electronics are pretty much exactly like the higher end bikes.  Everything is automatic, all you do is set the program and start pedaling.  I’m glad I opted for this bike rather than the $120 model I was looking at at Walmart.

A couple of the options I like that the Schwinn 231 has that others don’t is the speed and strength interval programs as well as 2 programs which you can customize yourself.  I’d found that the custom programs only stay in the memory so long as the bike stays plugged in though, oh well.

There are 15 levels of resistance, but I have yet to go above level 8.  I’d have to say then that this bike would definitely provide a challenge to even the more serious athlete.

Once assembled, the bike is easy to move around as it has wheels on the front end and a handle on the back.  Just lift it up and roll it to where you want it.  It’s also quiet enough that you don’t have to blast the tv volume while you’re riding it.

I’d have to say my only gripe about the bike is the built in fan unit just above the control panel.  It’s the biggest waste of space as 1) it’s so tiny and weak, that you don’t feel a darn thing when it’s turned on, and 2) it’s annoyingly loud.  They really have to rethink the whole fan thing.  As of now, all it does is obstruct the view of my tv set.  Unfortunately, it’s part of a molded unit, so it can’t be removed.  I don’t know how much of the extra $100 bucks I paid went towards the fan unit, as the 230 model doesn’t have it; I’d like to think that the extra money I paid went entirely towards the upgrade in electronics.

MY RECOMMENDATION
Overall, I’m quite happy with this bike.  I suppose time will tell.  The best bet is to ask me a couple years from now if everything is still working.  But out of the box and freshly assembled, this is a nice unit.  Plus, while the floor models in the store can give you an idea of what it is you’re buying, keep in mind that the teenager they hired to assemble it most likely did a half-assed job.  This bike, properly assembled, is a lot sturdier than the 230 I sat on in the store… not that it was all that bad to begin with.

If you’re looking for a decent home model recumbent bike, I recommend the Schwinn 231.  Yeah, it’s a little expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Here’s what’s funny about this whole thing.  As it turns out… much to my surprise, the Schwinn bike was manufactured by Nautilus!  No wonder it was so similar to my favorite bike at the gym.  The Nautilus brand is the commercial line for gyms, and the Schwinn brand is the scaled back model for home use.  Cool!

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 13th, 2008 at 11:35 pm and is filed under Exercise. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.