Schwinn Exercise Bikes -- The Less Money Option

Schwinn exercise bikes come in many models and price ranges and newer models appear on a fairly regular basis too. One popular bike type is the upright stationary bike. Often first time buyers of stationary machines opt for an upright. Here's a review of what the uprights offer especially in comparison to other design types.

Your least expensive bikes is often an upright. A comparable, with the same features, recumbent often costs hundreds of dollars more than the upright bike. So, if you're looking for a quality machine, but don't want to spend a king's ransom, consider this type of design. Consider this too...

Uprights store much easier than a typical recumbent. The footprint of the upright is much smaller than other types. That means it's much easier to find a place to use the bike. What's maybe more important, it's also easier to find a place to store the thing. A recumbent exercise bike takes up far more room and almost demands a dedicated spot for it to sit since moving the machine may be almost more trouble than it's worth.

Also, a related feature. The uprights are often quite easy to move too. That's partly because of weight but partly because of the shape too. Uprights are generally a bit lighter but there is overlap in the weights of some uprights compared to some recumbents.

You need to watch the weight though. It's necessary to have a bike that's hefty enough to be stable, but overly heavy bikes are tough to move.

Therein lies one of the problems of really inexpensive bikes. They are light weight and literally self-destruct. What happens is the lighter equipment tends to sway and rock. That motion starts a series of events that often ends in cracked welds or joints and loosened fasteners. That leads to more swaying and rocking that causes even more damage. The construction is just too light to stand up to hard use. That means that mostly buying a lightweight bikes is just a waste of time and money.

But then at some point bikes have enough heft and quality to stand up to use. The Schwinn 120 upright is of that sort. It's still light enough to be easily moved however. Consider the bike features too. Look for one of those silent magnetic drives especially of you like riding in quiet. Quiet rides mean you have options of doing something else as you pedal. Even the less expensive Schwinn Active 20 series offers many of the same features...

Then it's programmable so you ride simulated road courses to keep it interesting. Making riding more interesting makes for more frequent and longer rides anyway. Many exercise bikes remain unused. That may be because pedaling a bike can be very boring. That's why the electronics on these bikes has such great value. It's about fighting boredom.

Schwinn exercise bikes offer value in the medium price range. Schwinn uprights can often work lesser bikes into the scrap heap. With a magnetic drive much like the more costly recumbents, the upright bikes just put the rider in a different position but there are few differences in the basic bikes other than ride position.

Check out our article about the Schwinn Airdyne, a proven design that's worth a closer look.


Popular, and a quality option, is the LifeCycle exercise bike.