An Overview Of 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.

You can look up any major manufacturer in the residential fitness market and find a nice selection of recumbent bikes today. There are many different models selling at different price ranges, but the Schwinn 240 Recumbent Exercise Bike is a great example of a mid-range recumbent bike that offers a nice array of features.

Schwinn is a reputable brand name in the fitness industry and they currently offer an impressive line of the recumbent bikes designed for residential use. The Schwinn 240 model sells for well under $1,000 and is one of their most popular products because it offers all the basic features consumers expect from their home fitness equipment.

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 240 Schwinn bike is suitable for all users, even those who have difficulty stepping over that middle bar on regular bikes. The frame is a step-through design where you just step into the middle and sit down. There is no bar to lift over.

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.