Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I just received and assembled my Exerpeutic 400XL folding recumbent bike, and I am impressed. The build quality is at or even a bit above what I was expecting for a $149 piece of exercise equipment. The only thing that makes it look a bit cheap, in my opinion, is the way the wires are routed outside of the bike, however, it does make sense for easy access to the various connectors. My bike arrived undamaged, but the plastic cover surrounding the flywheel was misaligned at the bottom on the front side. I was able to pop it back into place by loosening nearby screws. Assembly took about 30mins at a leisurely pace, and was easily completed by one person. The instructions were simple to follow, and tools are provided, though I used my own in some instances for a more comfortable grip. A couple things to note about this bike: - It is extremely quiet, even at high speed or on the highest resistance setting. It makes a soft whisper/hum kind of noise. - it is very stable, but does wiggle a little while pedaling when placed on padded carpeting (might not after settling in place for a while). - It does *not* require the computer to function, the resistance is set manually. - The computer is powered by two AAA batteries, turns on when you start pedaling, and can only be turned off by waiting 4 mins for the auto-off function (or removing the batteries, which will cause you to loose any stored odometer data). There is no option to get a wall adapter as far as I can tell. - The pedal cranks are 6" long. Many full size exercise bikes have longer cranks (~8"). This means you are pedaling in a slightly smaller circle than what you may be used to. While I didn't find it to be a problem, you may notice the difference. I find it an acceptable tradeoff for a folding/somewhat portable bike. - Some have complained of pedals loosening during use. The pedals are threaded so the the right pedal goes on clockwise and the left counterclockwise. In addition to screwing into the crank securely, each pedal has a locking nut which screws on in the opposite direction to further secure the pedals. The pedals spin freely, so there should be no reason for them to come off during normal use, but I will post an update if anything happens. I bought this bike primarily to use with my standing desk so that I can get some extra exercise on days where I'm stuck working for several hours straight. It fits nicely under my 44" high desk, and there's plenty of room to pedal even with my keyboard tray at 39". I have the seat set to the max height (about 27 3/4" high), which is a little low for my setup, but is certainly usable. If you have a height-adjustable desk you should have no issues. I'm easily able to type while pedaling on resistance levels 1-3, which provide a pretty good workout. Be aware, Level 1 still offers a fair amount of resistance, and there is no level 0. There is a nice range, and the highest levels are definitely a challenge. Folding and unfolding the bike is fairly easy, there are two safety pins which secure the bike in either position. On the one hand, the bike is smaller overall than I was expecting, which was a pleasant surprise. However, you can't push the legs closed all the way when collapsed and still use the safety pin to keep it locked in place. From what I can tell, the wider stance is to keep it balanced while folded, but it means it has a larger footprint. There are wheels on the rear support leg which allow you to roll the bike around when folded. This works great on hardwood, tile, berber, or other flat surfaces, but it becomes more like dragging when on carpet. The bike is light enough to pick up and carry around, but it's not so light that I'd want to have to do so often. I had no issues with the computer or pulse monitor. I made sure the connections were tight and left slack in the pulse monitor cables when assembling the bike. You do obviously need to have both hands on the pulse sensors for them to work, and I found that it does not give a good reading unless your hands are slightly damp (sweat works fine). Even then it's really only good for giving you a general idea of where your heart rate is at, I would not count on it for accuracy. As others have noted, if you intend to regularly adjust your seat height, be careful that you do not disconnect or pinch the pulse monitor wires. The seat is not uncomfortable, but as some have noted, depending your size you may find the front edge of the seat irritates your thighs. I think this is due to it being a semi-recumbent bike, and the seat is really more for a fully recumbent bike. The seat cutaways should be more pronounced to allow a full range of motion. (While you shouldn't have to do this, solutions to consider if you run into this problem and want to keep the bike: Adjusting the seat height, sitting on a yoga block, adding a beach cruiser style gel cover, or even making your own custom seat that will fit the mounting plate.)