Schwinn 230 Recumbent Bike

04/14/14 - Hi. I am going to make this part 1 of a two part review. The 2nd part will come after I've had a few months of experience with this bike. My initial review is going to be about my order experience. Obviously, placing the on-line order was easy. What amazed me is that I placed my order on a Mon and the bike arrived on Wed. The box it arrived in looked okay. Just had the normal wear & tear of any product that is large & heavy being contained in a cardboard box in a warehouse. No big deal. I assumed there would be sufficient packing material inside to ensure the safety of my purchase. So I open the box, first thing I notice is a that the styrofoam is a little smashed. I begin to take inventory of parts since some assembly is required. About the 4rth item that I pulled out of the box, I noticed a crack. That was a bummer but not a deal breaker. I figured I'd call Schwinn for a replacement part ASAP. I continued to take inventory. When I got to the last piece, which is the already assembled base frame (and incidentally, the absolute heaviest part of the bike), I noticed some pieces of plastic floating in the box. Not good. I ran my hand along the frame and found a sharp gouge from where that plastic had fallen. Since that was a pre-assembled piece which is pretty much molded on, I knew I couldn't fix it. So I promptly called Amazon. I have to say, that was a good experience. No one gave me a hard time and within 5 to 10 min, the representative had a replacement bike ordered and arranged UPS pickup for the damaged bike. There was nothing more that I needed to do, other than repack what I had opened & to print a return label that was e-mailed to me. There was no additional cost to me. While it's disappointing that I would receive a damaged item at all, it's comforting to know how easy it was to deal with it.Anyway, the replacement bike arrived quickly, on Friday, and the damaged one was hauled away. Again, the outer box looked like it had normal wear & tear. But when I opened the box, I saw no smashed styrofoam. As I took out the parts, all seemed to be in great shape. It took me about an hour to assemble the rest of the bike. And so far, I love it. I love the way it looks! Everything seems to be working ... but the rest is still to be seen. I will update my review after I've had some time to test this puppy out! Fingers crossed!-UPDATE- PART 2 of my review: 07-22-14 ... Love this bike! It's pretty comfy though the back of the seat could use a little padding. My butt was fine but my lower back bone area hurt a bit during those first weeks of riding. I love that I can plug my iPhone into the monitor speakers and I love the fan. A girl works up a sweat! I wish we could program more than just two names into it but hey, for the price, who can complain? I've seen people also complain about how there is no back-light on the screen. Granted, that would be sweet. But if a $399 bike had a cushy seat, a backlight, unlimited programming, etc ... then who would ever splurge on a $1,500 bike? Right? There has to be something that makes a more expensive bike worth the cost ... they can't all be created equal. Though for the price that Amazon had this bike for, I think it was well worth it! Love this bike ... as does my husband who never impulse buys. He researches everything to death and he approves of my selection! Happy exercising!

I bought this bike to replace a Nordic Track that was three years old. I shipped it using Amazon Prime, it arrived on time and in perfect condition. The box was intact, and the contents were in perfect condition.The bike must be assembled. I did not do the assembly, my husband did, and was able to finish in about a hour. There was one step where he needed an extra set of hands for a minute.The seat is un-padded, but the contoured shape is very comfortable for me. I am not sure it would be comfortable if your behind is unusually large and did not fit into the contours. The back support is excellent. The step through design makes it very easy to get on and off. The cup holder is behind the seat instead of between your legs like most models, which some may find awkward. I appreciated not having it where it was easy to bump. There is a smaller cup included in the holder that is perfect for a small item like a lip balm.The control panel is easy to use, and easy to see. It includes several really nice workouts to change up your routine, or you can use it on manual. You enter your personal information, making the feedback as to calorie burn more accurate, a very nice feature.The fans are nice, work well, and don't make an undue amount of noise. I find the rack that is provided for a book or tablet to be too high for me. I have an acrylic book rack that I hook to it to bring things down to a comfortable level for me so I'm not straining my neck. Regardless of which way I use the rack, part of the display is covered, which I don't really care for, but I've never seen a design that worked any better.The instructions that came with the bike were completely inadequate, as they not fully explain the controls. I found a more detailed manual online at the manufacturers site. If you order this bike, go ahead and download the manual online before it arrives, you will need it. This manual should be the one included with the bike, it is ridiculous to have to go looking for better instructions.This machine is very well proportioned if you are short like me. On my old machine, I had to pull the seat as far forward as it would go. I do not need to do that with this machine, there is still room to pull forward for those who are shorter than my 5' 2".The pedal action is smooth, and very, very quiet. It can't be heard outside my gym room, and I don't have to turn the TV up loud to be heard over it. The body of the bike is sturdy and there is no feeling of it moving or shaking as I ride.Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with this bike, much happier with it than my last bike.