jo.com's Full Review: Schwinn Airdyne Exercise Bike
The Schwinn Airdynne bike is one I have been using for years in the fitness room of my mom’s condo. I really though it was a dinosaur and was truly surprised when I gave it a shot and found that it was still being made and still being sold.
General Information:
The first thing to understand is that the Airdynne is unlike any bike you’ve used unless you have used one whose resistance is via your own power. In many ways rowers work the same way however on many rowers you can set resistance levels. The reason I compare them is because the harder you work the faster you go in either case.
The Schwinn Airdynne is perhaps the easiest stationary bike I have used. The display which I’ll get into is simple and you don’t have to worry about moving arrows up and down for speed or resistance. The faster you pedal, the more you generate resistance. The slower you pedal the less resistance. It is that simple. In a sense anyone can use it because it can’t be too hard or too easy.
I remember the first time I saw it. I thought it looked like an old fashioned machine from the 80s. It has a huge wheel in the front makes it look different from the bikes you are used to.
The bike measures 50 inches long by 22 inches wide by 48 inches high. It weighs 96 pounds. Although it may not look at stable as other bikes it is as stable as any upright stationary bike. The maximum user weight should be no more than 300 pounds.
-The frame has a 30 year warranty. The parts have a 3 year warranty; labor has a 1 year warranty.
Let’s go for a ride:
The first thing I will do is set the seat to my height. There is an easy pull out knob that allows me to pull up or push down the seat until I am comfortable. When setting the seat on a bike remember that it is best if there is a slight bend in your knees when your leg is extended. The seat is comfortable. It has nice padding. I also liked the fact that it is contoured so my butt was less likely to fall asleep. Unlike the Star Trac my butt never hurt me after riding the Schwinn. The seat is also a bit wider than many stationary bikes on which I have been so if you are a bit larger you may find this more comfortable.
The bike has a couple of unique features which I am impressed with. The first is that the arms move. For many this is a real plus. If you are someone who doesn’t weight train, having moving arms is a nice feature. It is great to get the cardio vascular workout and wonderful to gain strength and tone your legs but you really need to work your upper body as well. The Schwinn Airdynne gives you that feature. Having said that I must inject my own weight training philosophy especially for those who may be new to exercise and are weight training and thinking about a bike.
It is fairly well known that if you are weight training you do not want to work the same muscle group 2 days in a row. There is a simple reason for this: During weight training, assuming you are using heavy enough weights, you are making small tears in your muscles. Your muscles are not getting stronger during your workout, but after your workout during the healing of the tears phase. Thus you must give your muscles a rest and give them a chance to heal and get stronger.
If, for example, I work my biceps on a Monday and again on Tuesday, the small tears that occurred on Monday didn’t have time to heal. Essentially some may say my workout on Tuesday was a waste of time; it is counterproductive and I can end up injured.
If I work my upper body on Monday and work it hard and then Tuesday work my upper body hard on the bike, I am using the same muscle group two days in a row. If I work my upper body as hard as I should be, I shouldn’t have the energy after weight training to be able to row efficiently. So in either case the rower can be counterproductive if you are a weight trainer.
So now you know that and I can put it aside because it is a nice feature. The handles are comfortably padded. In addition you do not have to bike to get an upper body workout which is a really nice feature. On machines that have moving arms this is not the case. With the Schwinn I can put my feet on short posts that stick out from both sides of the wheel and do no leg movements. I can work my upper body by itself eliminating my concern about working body parts two days in a row.
The display is simple. You will not be programming hills or intervals. You will not be putting in your weight or age (which some would claim is important for an accurate heart rate measurement). What you will see are two LCD windows which easy to read numbers that show the time you have gone, the distance you have covered and the calories you have expended or are expending per hour.
LCD display with time, distance, calories, calories per hour, RPM, workload,
So what could be wrong? Well there is no heart monitor which I feel very strongly about so I would encourage you to buy one. There is no bottle holder or magazine rack. It seems that a bottle holder can be attached just as one can be attached to a bike but this Schwinn at my mom’s did not have a bottle holder.
This machine costs in the $500-$600 range depending on where you buy it and if it is on sale.
Jo, Your Personal Trainer’s Final Thoughts:
The Schwinn Airdyne is not a bad choice and surprisingly I liked using it and I like it. I think it is a great option for the beginner who doesn’t want to bother with programs and who may not be working the upper back. For the money you are really getting three workouts in one (upper body, lower and cardio). The lack of the heart rate monitor can be remedied and perhaps the lack of a water bottle holder can as well. Popular a couple of years ago were bottle holders that went around your neck. In fact I have an insulated one that I can put on my shoulder so there are ways around the lack of this feature.
I like it and am recommending it.
Please feel fee to leave me question or comment. Thanks for reading. jo
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