A Closer Look At Recumbent Bikes
There is a reason recumbent bikes are now more popular for residential use than upright exercise bikes. While upright bikes offer more of a challenge to muscles throughout the body, recumbent bikes are much gentler on the joints. These bikes are more like sitting in a chair and pedaling, though you can incorporate your arms to achieve a whole body workout without worrying about injury.
Recumbent bikes were originally designed to be used in physical therapy for patients who would benefit from working their muscles on a bike but could not stabilize themselves on the seat of a regular bike or who had difficult lifting a leg and climbing up onto upright bikes. Over time the technology evolved and the market for recumbent exercise bikes for the use of weight loss and fitness at home boomed.
It isn’t difficult to find a great recumbent bike today, since all fitness manufacturers are making them. The Schwinn 240 Recumbent Exercise Bike is a great reference for features found on a typical low to mid range recumbent bike.
The Schwinn 240 sells far less than $1,000, so it is considered a low to mid priced recumbent bike. While it is very affordable, it still offers all the features that you would expect from a nicely designed, durable piece of home fitness equipment. It is a great example of what you will find at the lower and mid price points of the market.
Let’s start with the design. The Schwinn 240 Bike has a reasonable sized seat and allows the legs to stretch out in front for a safe ride. It has a big console and both the seat and console can be adjusted to fit users of different heights. The design also includes a heavy 20 pound flywheel which makes the ride smooth and adds stability to the overall bike.
The frame on this recumbent bike is open so users can step through and sit down without stepping over the center bar that upright bikes usually include. There are some recumbent bikes on the market that do not have the step through design, but they are by far less popular than this design.
If your goal is to lose weight or get in shape, you will enjoy the wide range of workouts that are possible with this one bike. The bike has 16 levels of resistance and a variety of preprogrammed workouts in the console. This is fairly standard for recumbent bikes selling in this price range. The console can be used with wireless heart rate monitoring devices as well, but you don’t get the wireless strap when you purchase the bike.
The Schwinn 240 Recumbent Exercise Bike is the perfect example of a high quality bike that is being sold for very affordable prices. It has a lot of valuable features but doesn’t go overboard with extras that would drive up the price.
If you want to pay more, you can purchase exercise bikes packed with amazing technology. What about a connection port or docking station for your iPod? How about a computer or television screen that flips up on your console? All of this and more is possible in the higher ends of the recumbent bike market today.
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