Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Overall Good Value, November 5, 2008
So you know where I'm coming from I'll tell you up front I am a male in the baby boomer generation. In the summer time I enjoy riding my bike around the neighborhood at least a couple times a week. My bike is in the genre called a comfort bike, and I'm comfortable with about 10 miles per ride, though my goal is to get back up to the 16 or more that I used to do before I took a couple year hiatus. I also bought my wife a bike for neighborhood rides this year, but she has not ridden for quite a while and so has a long way to go to get up to even get to be able to do a 10 miler.
We bought the Pro-Form 450 UR so we could stay on it through the cold snowy winter months and be ready for next spring. We bought it from someone who had owned it for a while but never even broke the seal on the box. Our bike was built in December 2006, and assembled and used for the first time in November 2008.
As of this writing, we've only had it for a few days, and only put a few miles on it. I'm sure you know that one of the features of this bike is that it has games on it. For me the games are a good diversion even though they are very rudimentary. I played the "Tetris" style game and the "Destroyer" game years ago, but even then I was playing them in color, where as this display is an extremely low resolution monochrome. I don't know how the younger generation would be attracted to these games when they are used to what they have now. Maybe they'd stick to the blackjack and Texas hold-em card games. The obvious point of the games, and as I said above, it worked for me, is to keep your mind off the exercise routine. Of course you could always watch TV or a movie. The machine is very quiet and I found I do not have to increase the TV volume at all to hear well.
The other features seem to be fairly comprehensive, though I have not owned another exercise bike, so I have nothing to compare it to. It uses the SMR (Silent Magnetic Resistance), which I like much better than cranking some dial to cause friction, and it seems to work very well with 16 resistance levels. By the time you get to level 16 you are climbing one heck of a hill, at least for a baby boomer. It has 10 built in programs which I have not tried, only looked at. There appears to be a good variety keeping in mind that I have no comparison. The readouts are large and easily readable for speed distance, time and heart rate. I'm having to assume they are fairly accurate, I have no way of checking.
The bike is very solid. Heavy, strong metal is used, and it gives you a feeling of stability. The seat post and glide are very substantial. The seat is large and soft, though I have thought of wearing my padded biker shorts anyway with my bony [...]. It's even quite a good looking machine in case you have it where others might see it. Speaking of the seat, it can be adjusted a great distance in height and some in horizontal. My wife is about 5'8" and she has to set it almost to the bottom setting, so I wonder about a short person. Maybe by bringing the seat forward they would be okay. On the other hand, I think a person of 6' 6" or even taller could use it comfortably with the maximum height.
All in all I would say it is a good investment. However, there is one major flaw that you should know about before you make a purchase. If you want to use an exercise program on the machine you cannot also play a game while you go through it. The instant you start a program or switch to a game or vice versa you start fresh. Even if you go from one game to another, or you've been in manual mode and you decide to play a game, you start all over. All the time info, miles, calories burned, starts from scratch. So, if you do want to keep track of any of that information you better not make any changes once you've started. Or, if you want to switch around, then just forget the calorie, or distance count and look at a clock or set a manual timer.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
I'll never buy Proform again!, August 27, 2009
I purchased a Proform bike because I had such good luck with my proform treadmill, which lasted me 16 years! The bike is another story. It did not operate correctly from day one. I finally contacted profom, who sent out a tech. He fixed the problem. Not three weeks later, I heard weird noises, and the bike just stopped working. Proform said it was out of warranty....which, I might add, was only 90 days. I think if you have confidence in your products, you would at least offer 1 year! But, they don't. I privately contacted a tech, who came out and said it was a broken belt. In fact, the belt had not been properly installed from the factory! I notified proform, and told them what the tech said, they offered to sell me an "extended protection plan".....I told them what they could do with their extended warranty, and expected that they would offer me SOMETHING since I paid out of pocket to have their mistake fixed. I have not heard from them since. They are unresponsive, don't care about their consumers, and have no product confidence.
Oh, by the way, now something else is wrong with the buttons on the game console. I can't afford to have someone come look at it AGAIN. My recommendation: BUY ANOTHER BRAND!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
great ride, needs a better seat, February 24, 2009
The bike is great and is pretty quiet. I can't seem to find a comfortable spot to put the seat in. The seat came backwards, but we just turned the bracket around. The games keep you busy, and they help pass the time. The heart monitor seems pretty uselessinaccurate, but the bike helps to work up a sweat and burn some calories. Just consider what you're really looking for, and you won't be too disappointed.
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