Customer Reviews

Schwinn 201 Recumbent Exercise Bike

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My exercycle (Schwinn 203: same as 201 but with larger display) was purchased in Jan. 2005 to supplement my road and mtn. bike rides whenever there were time limitations or inclement weather. It has worked well in maintaining my cardio, leg strength, and overall fitness levels.

This exercycle is HEAVY so I'm glad UPS didn't cause any damage. It was relatively simple to assemble by carefully following the instructions. The base is stable and has small wheels in the back cross bars to provide some mobility for storage. Quality is average but that's expected at this price.

Likes: Comfortable reclined sitting position easy on the lower back and perineal regions. Great for maintaining cardio and leg strength. Watch TV, read a book, chat, etc....during workouts. Exercise anytime at home without the chance of cross contaminations from public/health club equipment.

Dislikes: Heart rate monitor gives erroneous readings occasionally and only works with both hands on the sensors. Flimsy wiring. The magnetic resistance unit developed some thumping noises after repeated uses at high cadences. Speed doesn't correspond with power output, e.g., level one (90watts) at 100rpm ~23mph; level six (260watts) at 100rpm ~23mph. Lower power output (watts) should equal slower speeds. Stock platform pedals not smooth and required bearing adjustments.

Overall: Very useful adjunct to regular outdoors training. NOT a true ergometer but good for simple evaluations of one's cardio and strength fitness levels. Fair price but questionable long term durability.

My doctor told me to get off the climber and onto the bike to help my knees out. I'm 51 and play tennis everyday as well as national tournaments. Here are my comments:

This inexpensive bike solves many of the problems of past units - it has magnetic resistance, quality build and a usable computer console.

However, although the bike has 8 included resistance levels, 6 are unusable as toooo resistant, the second is borderline and the first is a good warmup. This from the number one name in bicycles is a little hard to believe.

As any trainer or rehabilitation clinic can tell you, the range of training and keeping your knees healthy is 80 to 90 revolutions per minute with slight to medium resistance. On the $3,000. Lyfefitness machine at our gym for example, I use level 6 as warmup and 9 thru 12 for about half an hour (out of 20 levels I think).

On this unit, 1 is a good warmup, but level 2 is MUCH more resistance. To the point of wanting to go back down to the first level after 5 minutes or so. To put another way, going from level 1 at a heartrate of 70 beats per minute, level 2 rampted me up to 101 beats per minute. Another speed inbetween would solve the problem.

It's a shame Schwinn missed the boat on resistance so completely, when all else seems on the mark!

I'll keep the machine and togle between the first two speeds, but watch out folks who want to grin and bear it, as your knees may/will pay the price of inappropriate resistance.

I've had my Schwinn 201 for a little over a year now, and I am very satisfied with it. I ride it an average of 5 hours per week, and it is still going strong. My previous bike burned up 2 sets of bearings in a little under 4 months.

Likes: relatively smooth ride, quiet operation, comfortable seat, stable, durable

Dislikes: heart rate monitor doesn't respond quickly, it occaisionally develops squeeks when ridden for a long time (although they always seem to disappear), calorie burn rate is probably too high

The bike goes together easy enough, but the 1st one I took delivery of had an electrical problem and made a loud clunking noise which transfered a bump to the left pedal. I returned that one and the 2nd one also developed the loud clunking sound after only two days, but this time it transfered the bump to the right pedal.

Also, you have to plug this bike into an AC, which many other brands do not. Finally, the jumps in resistance from level to level are too great.

It's too bad because the price, size, and comfort of the exercise bike is excellent, but the problems with this model would make me think twice about buying another Schwinn exercise product.

I did quite a bit of reading of other reviews and consumer reports before I put down the money to purchase this bike. I was happy I did the investigative work up front. The bike came sooner than was promised (5 days sooner!) and was easy to install if you can read the easy directions that came with the packaging. All the parts are numbered, so you can not mess this one up! All the needed tools come with it as well to set it up. Once set up, the instruction manual was easy to read and understand as well. They did a fine job of technical writing at Schwinn. For those of you that are against reading the manual, this bike is easy to understand as well and it comes with "quick setup" instructions on the console that anyone can follow to use the programs. There are just enough programs for me to not get too confused as to which one I need to do, which made this one appealing to me.
When I first bought this, my wife said she would never use it, but since it is setup and I am using it, she has found that she wants to use it too. Here is the one downfall for the bike... it is NOT built for shorter people! My wife is 5 foot nothing, and she can not reach the pedals on the bike unless she puts a sofa cushion between her back and the back of the bike. She does this and doesn't seem to mind, but I can't see how it would be as comfortable. For me, it is very comfortable, but I am 5' 11", and have to move the seat back quite a bit after she has used it. The heart rate monitor is a nice feature, I don't know how accurate it is, and it only works if you have both hands on the bottom handgrips. This can be hard when you want to get a drink, change a program, or wipe sweat away.
All in all, this was a great buy, and no regrets, no problems, and Amazon did better than they stated for shipping (and it was free shipping!)

Very quiet, it does not take much space, and easy to adjust. Maybe I wouldn't recommend for somebody shorter than 5'2'', otherwise the legs won't reach and fit the pedals comfortably.
The package was extremely heavy, and it didn't come with the manual or the instructions. I had to call Schwin and ask them to mail it to me. No big deal there, but I thought it was weird that it didn't come with the instructions because, with no instructions, no way to put the bike together. It took me about 4 hours to put it together. Also, Amazon never gave me instructions on how to receive my package, and it is not listed anywhere on their webpage. I waited for the package for about 3 weeks, and then I contacted the delivery company (Eagle), and they said I had to make an appointment for the delivery. But again, nobody told me that. How could I guess? If I hadn't contacted them, I would probably be waiting for the package to be delivered til today...

I love this bike! It is sturdy, durable, very comfortable and very quiet. The only negative I see is the settings. I'm 5'4 and have it set on the last hole, the seat can't go any further and I JUST make it comfortably. If I was another inch shorter I would be stretching to pedal this bike comfortably.

The bike is great use it 5 hours a week, but the seat is so uncomfy, I have found myself going to my condos workout room more often now because of the better comfort while doing my cardio. If you are going to use it allot dont save like I did get the 213 or better model.

If your heart wasn't pounding out of your chest from the workout, you wouldn't hear anything from this bike!

I contemplated buying the higher priced Schwinn's for the added programs, but opted for this one instead. Afterall, what I was after was something to get my heart pumping and the 6 programs on this bike are more than adequate. Great bike and good experience with Amazon!

I am on my bike three times a day and I am really impressed. I had one question about a fitness number I got from my computer. I called Schwinn, they were great, applogized for the misprint and also offered to send me out a new seat to replace mine that got scuffed in shipping.

I am amazed at how silent it is. I have mine in the living room, lack of space, I swear my nylon pants are noisier then the bike. This is not the wobbly, noisy exercise bike of the past. It's a joy to get on and use. I really enjoy using the integrated heart rate monitor. And the computer has big numbers for older eyes.

I do not have any problem with the resistance, it moves up gradually for me. And I have Muscular Dystropy, there is no way I could keep up with the strength of a competing tennis player. I start my warmup on setting two because I find the first setting too easy. I find the recumbent position comfortable. It's very gentle to my injured knee.

My only dislike is a lack of lumbar support. A small pillow behind my back solved the problem. but I did not feel it was enough of a problem to loose a star over. the bike is made in China and I suspect there maybe some quality contol issues.