Schwinn 250 Recumbent Exercise Bike Review & Rating

schwinn 231 Recumbent Exercise Bike Review The Schwinn 250 recumbent exercise bike is the upgrade to the popular Schwinn 230. Both models have an excellent reputation for being one of the best values for a budget exercise bikes. In fact, they have won several "Best Buy" ratings, including one from a prestigious consumer magazine.

There are better bikes on the market, but plan to pay considerably more to get better quality and durability.

Note: As of 1/31/12 the Schwinn 250 Recombent Exercise Bike was selling for $425 with shipping at www.Amazon.com.* There are also a number of very positive customer reviews.

Features on the Schwinn 250 Recumbent Exercise Bike

Heavy Flywheel - The weight of the flywheel plays a significant role in the smoothness and the natural feel of the pedaling motion. The Schwinn 250 has a fairly heavy flywheel that will simulate riding a regular bike. This exercise bike is also known to be very quiet.

Walk Through Design - Many people buy recumbent exercise bikes because they are older or have injuries. It is easier on the back. The walk thru design makes it also easier to get on or off the bike. You do not need to lift your leg over a center post. It is like sitting in a chair.

Stable Weight - The Schwinn weighs 117 lbs. This gives it a fairly stable feel, although it may wobble slightly during a hard ride. They put the user weight limit at 300 lbs., I might suggest the limit be around 250 lbs.

Comfort Seating - Seating is one of the most important parts of a recumbent bike. The Schwinn 250 comes with an extra-wide seat with dual-position lumbar support and slide bolsters. It doesn't wear on you for those long rides.

Warranty - As with the Schwinn 230, the warranty on the Schwinn 250 is rather light. You get 1 year - Mechanical and Electric; 6 months - Wear items and 90 days - Labor. To protect your investment you should consider an extended warranty - 1-2 year more.

The Schwinn 250 Upgrades Over the Schwinn 230

Seating - Adjustable lumbar support. It is also nice to have your lumbar supported.

Display - You get a blue LCD display that which provides a robust readout, making it easier to read. The console also has a 3 position angle adjustment.

Schwinn Advantage - Workout tracking, an easy way to set fitness goals and measure your progress right on the console

Heart Rate - Telemetry-enabled, integrated grip heart rate system for easy fitness monitoring

17 Workout Programs - The Schwinn 250 programs include time, interval time, RPM, watts, distance, pulse, speed, calories, and resistance

Our Review - Schwinn 250 Recumbent Exercise Bike

The bottomline is that the both the Schwinn 250 and 230 are excellent values for budget exercise bikes. For the price you are getting a durable and stable bike. The numerous customer reviews and the "Best Buy" ratings reinforce this fact.

The 250 comes with several features that may make it a better value over the 230, depending on the difference in price.

Customer Reviews

Most of the reviews on Amazon were favorable, averaging 4.5 stars out of 5. Considering this is a budget exercise bike, that is an impressive rating. A few people had issued with the delivery and fulfillment, however the majority were satisfied with the quality, customer service and fulfillment. Comments included...

Easy to setup and use. Very sturdy piece of equipment. Gives one a good workout. Comfortable and useful like some of the thousand dollar bikes. Slightly better than Schwinn 250 with additional programs and bigger console to rest your reading materials or Kindle/ipad etc. I was originally looking to buy Schwinn 250 but since 250 was getting discontinued decided to buy Schwinn 250 to make full use of warranty and service. I could not find a better price for this in local stores, Amazon had it delivered in three days with free shipping and no tax.

This bike is built to last. All the parts are beefy. The MP3 port is really not what it is ad. as. All it is a 2 speaker port. No amp or vol adj. I have to have my MP3 turned all the way up to hear it. But the bike is extremely quiet. The only thing that you hear is when it changes the resistance levels and that is a very quiet motor sound. The display large and easy to read. If you have the display tilted all the way forward it gets in the way of the handle bars that are up front. You will not be able to put this in front of you tv and be able to see it since the display is right there. The fan is kind of a joke. It moves very little air even on high. But i guess that something is better than nothing.

The assembly went smoothly took a little over an hour but I did it by myself. The bike is heavy so you may need a helper when unboxing\assy. The seat adjustment knob have to be lossened all the way before the seat will slide. I would have changed this with something that is a little quicker (coarser threads). None of these little drawbacks takes away from the quality of the bike. I would still recommend this to anybody that wants a recumbent bike.