Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After seeing this bicycle in Paragon Sports in Manhattan, I knew I had to purchase it. The solid construction and compact design demonstrated a leap forward from the original Schwinn Airdyne. At approximately 95lbs, it was solid enough for a health club/rehabilitation center setting but light enough for a consumer. While I have multiple gym memberships, I thought this would be a good item to have at my parents' house both for their use and when I visit. Unfortunately, the purchase turned out to be mistake due to the incredible hassles created by Schwinn Fitness' poor quality control. Basically, what Schwinn Fitness (i.e Nautilus) has done is improve the time-tested air-resistance concept. The original Airdyne, which is 20+ years old uses a large 30" diameter fan with flat blades. The Airdyne Evolution Comp uses a much smaller fan that is wider and has contoured blades, which increases resistance. This leads to smoother operation with less vibration. Combining traditional bicycle pedaling with an arm swinging movement, it allows for a great cardio workout - with some limitations. My one gripe with the fundamental design is that it lacks variable resistance and only one gear ratio. In an object moving through air, the resistance increases exponentially with velocity. So, instead of increasing the level of resistance electronically as you would on a multi-thousand dollar Life Fitness exercise bicycle, you merely need to pedal slightly faster to get a big jump in overall energy expenditure. Hence, all of the resistance comes from air movement affected solely from the velocity and not from friction or magnetism. This leads to a tradeoff between simplicity and flexibility. While the design and construction are very solid, it appears that Schwinn/Nautilus needs to carefully oversee their Chinese fabrication facilities. Basically, the internal mechanisms have not been fully tightened down. This has led problem with the bottom bracket, which requires special bicycle tools unavailable at the local hardware store. In my case, after about three hours of use, the bike became useless as both rings in bottom bracket unscrewed. This is a major aggravation because to correct the problem, two special bicycle tools are needed: 1) crank puller and 2) Shimano bottom bracket tool. These are only available online or at very well stocked bicycle stores. After several exchanges with both Schwinn Fitness and the distributor, I learned that there were known problems with the bottom bracket. I was told to use Loctite when reassembling it. Perhaps they should explain why this wasn't done in the first place. As a former engineer and bicycle enthusiast, I was reasonably well equipped to deal with such problems. I can't imagine how someone without a large set of tools or any mechanical ability would correct the problem. Moreover, sending a 100 lb package back to the manufacturer would be a hassle in itself. In the end, I fixed the problem. Given the aggravation tracking down the tools, I can say it simply was a bad decision to purchase. Pros Solid construction Innovative design Low center of gravity Cons Major quality control problems Cheap pedals (need purchase aftermarket pedals with toe clips) Computer lacks data to properly calculate calories such as weight, age, gender, body type