Schwinn Airdyne Bike Series

I have been a serious bicyclist for 40 years. I enjoy riding one of my six bicycles outside when the weather permits. But as I have gotten older, my enthusiasm for exercise riding outside in 45 degree rain has dropped. This describes the typical weather in Seattle for about five months of the year. So as to maintain my cycling fitness, I had put one of my surplus mountain bikes on rollers, next to my Concept C rower, and used that for my indoor bicycling exercise. I was never that happy with the roller, since it was not as fluid nor offered as much resistance as riding outside. For quite a few years I had used a Precor recumbent exercise bicycle but gave it away since I felt the recumbent position did not prepare me well for riding my upright road/mountain bicycles outside.I had used a Schwinn Airdyne at the Y occasionally and always liked it. I had looked for one on our local Craigslist and never saw anything I wanted. So when this came up on the Deal of the Day, I did some quick online research and snapped it up immediately. The shipping box was somewhat beat up and had a puncture in it, and it does weigh around 120 pounds in the box, so get some help bringing it into the house if you cannot handle that weight safely by yourself. I opened the box and inspected and laid out all the parts downstairs and brought them upstairs to my exercise room for assembly. The frame assembly is the largest and heaviest piece, weighing around 80 pounds or so. I thought the assembly instructions were simple and the assembly hardware and tools secured to a card was a great idea. It took me about 30 minutes to assemble, but then again, I do all of my own bicycle mechanic work. I do recommend taking the bicycle saddle clamp mechanism out of the saddle and putting the saddle post bracket separately onto the knurled saddle post. I used a small hammer to tap it down so that it was fully seated onto the knurled saddle post. I could not get the saddle fully seated while trying to mount the saddle with the clamp still on the saddle. The saddle does not slip once the bracket is fully mounted and the screw and bolt is tightened.The electronic monitor did get somewhat crushed during shipping and did not work. I have been waiting a little over a week and have not yet heard from Schwinn regarding a replacement. All other parts arrived in perfect condition.The Airdyne AD6 is a joy to use. It is built like a tank, is quiet and is rock solid during use. I use a Polar heart rate monitor and have no problem in getting my heart rate into the target zone. From an exercise standpoint, it is a bonus to be able to work your upper body with the handlebars which helps with my Tabata intervals. This feature was why I bought the Airdyne over a spinning bicycle. It would be great if there was a way to mount one of my road saddles on the Airdyne.I think the Airdyne AD6 will meet my requirements for cardio and general fitness, and will keep my legs in reasonable bicycling shape during the winter months. I would recommend this model.Edit on 1/19/13: I had to call Schwinn about the damaged electronic monitor since they were not returning my additional emails asking about the monitor replacement. It turns out that for warranty support, you have to first register your bike with them. Completing the electronic registration process online is insufficient. They also require a copy of your receipt or invoice. The website does not mention this nor did their initial email to me. I took a screenshot of my Amazon invoice and emailed it to them. This satisfied them, but if I had not called to ask why my emails were not being returned, I would have waited forever, apparently.Also, the Serfas bicycle saddle pad (exerciser), sold elsewhere on this site, does fit the Airdyne AD6 saddle.Finally, the bike continues to be a joy to use and is as solid as a rock

Airdynes/fanbikes are the best! You can't beat it for a short or medium duration cardio session, and the fact that you can mix in hard work with light work seamlessly without fiddling with settings makes it the best piece of home cardio equipment in my estimation. You could even use it without even turning the control pad on -- it's all mechanical and low tech.I, like many people, compared this with the Rogue Echo before buying. I got this one mainly because it was in stock at the time, but I'm glad I did (even accounting for the price difference), for several reasons.For reference, I have this at home and my main use is ~15 minute moderate intensity rides on off days from the gym with a few sprints mixed in. I use a Rogue Echo bike 4x a week at the gym, mainly for warming up.Anyway, the Airdyne Pro and the Rogue Echo are pretty similar and both great, but here's why I like the Airdyne more:-The fan. The fan has more blades which provide more resistance...the end result is that the bike has a very natural, smooth feel when riding, which feels more like actually riding a bicycle to me. The rogue bike by comparison feels more like you're riding a bike down a slight hill, to use an analogy.-The handles. I thought as a 6'2" person I'd only use the top handle position, but I use both top, bottom, and side (neutral grip). I find switching grips every so often keeps me feeling fresher and helps engage different muscles. For instance, I find a neutral grip, while being the least comfortable, gives the best scapular contraction.-The build quality. I remember seeing reviews saying the Rogue had better quality because it seemed to be "overbuilt" like a "squat rack" -- to be honest I think this is just the design aesthetic. The airdyne seems sturdier to me with the possible exception of the seat post, which has maybe a little more play than the rogue. But the key part is the splined shaft where the handles connect to the body -- the schwinn has zero play and the handles feel solid, while the rogue has a little play (but still feels fine to use). This may be in part due to the higher mileage on the rogue, which is at a gym.I find the displays to both be "fine" for my purposes -- all I need are a timer, some measure of speed/rpm/cal per minute (they're all the same, just different scales), and some measure of work (e.g. calories burned). I don't use the built-in interval timers on them -- the only use I'd see for that is if you were already warmed up and ready to just jump on and do some tabatas or something. If I did structured intervals, I'd use an app or a gymboss timer.I will say, I do kind of like the "gauge" style display at the top of the airdyne display...it leaves a hashmark at your highest speed of the session, and it's fun to see how high you can get it while sprinting.Anyway, I can't say if these factors justify the extra cost of this unit for every buyer, but I'm glad I got the Airdyne Pro, even if I would have been just as happy with the Rogue.