MaxKare Stationary Bike Belt Drive Indoor Cycling Bike with Quiet Flywheel & Pulse Sensor/LCD Monitor/Ipad Mount Pro Exercise Bike w/Adjustable Handlebar for Home Cardio Gym Workout (Black)

This Maxkare indoor stationary bike (black, with computer) is probably exactly what you are looking for.Unless you want to have a remote instructor on a touchscreen lead you on a virtual tour of the Alps, this bike has all you need. Let's be honest, most of us are just trying to get rid of the Covid-20 (i.e., the 20 pounds we gained while sitting on our butts during Covid-19) and don't need the frills.Assembly: Really easy. It takes some time, and the bike is heavy (shipping weight is about 100 pounds) so if you're not strong you might want a partner. But really, it's four bolts to attach the stabilizing legs, put in seat post and attach seat, put in handlebar post and attach handlebars, put on pedals, four screws (and two wires) to computer, two screws to attach optional water bottle holder. They supply "tools" but if you have a decent set of metric wrenches and a Phillips screwdriver you'll probably be better off using those. 13, 14, 15, 19 mm should be all you need.I'm using mine on carpet, so I took off the four leveling feet (they screw right off), removed the tip-forward wheels (which would make it easy to roll on a hard surface, but will push into the ground if you take the leveling feet off) and removed the the toe clips from the pedals because I didn't find them useful and they were bugging me.Riding/Usage: The bike is really very quiet. Unlike a bike with friction resistance (like a strap), this uses magnets, and there's a worm gear you can turn to adjust how close the magnets are to the flywheel. With the magnets at their farthest, the flywheel spins very easily. At their closest, it takes a huge amount of effort - more effort than I would ever want to do for an extended period of time, and I'm a fairly strong rider (about 1000 bike commute miles a year at 16-19 mph). Some people are concerned about the weight of the flywheel - I doubt it's 40 pounds as claimed, but it doesn't matter. This bike will give you all you can handle. The worm gear lets you dial in exactly the effort level you want, but does make it difficult to change between levels precisely if you want to do that (can't go from 7 up to 13 and back to 7...it's continuous, and unmarked).The bike is super sturdy and heavy, made of solid steel with a low center of gravity and good stabilizing legs. This thing will not warp or buckle or anything like that, and you couldn't tip it if you tried. There are several usable handlebar positions. The handlebars and seat are adjustable up-down and front-back (though the front-back range on the handlebars is only maybe four inches).The bike really is very quiet. It's not silent silent, but you can easily watch TV while exercising without having to turn up the volume. Try doing THAT on a friction resistance bike! As much as I like the sturdiness, the low noise level is my favorite part as workouts fly by faster if you've got entertainment going.The computer is relatively simple, with six readouts and a setting that will scan through all six. I only find three of the six readouts terribly useful - time, RPM, and heart rate. Heart rate only works if both hands are on the handlebar pulse contacts, one hand isn't enough. There are also "speed" and "distance" and "calorie" readouts but as these don't seem to have any relation to the resistance setting they're kind of arbitrary numbers.Customer Service: My bike (unfortunately) came with a defective belt. Customer service was friendly and made it good under warranty.Overall: Couldn't be happier. I looked at a lot of exercise bikes online before choosing this one. With a purchase of this size I always want to convince myself I'm making the right choice. Reviews on this bike were good enough to make me take the plunge. It was the right call, this bike is a great value for the price and has all the features I need.

I'll try to break this down into different categories based on what I was looking for in a bike:First, assembly: Took my boyfriend and I ~30 minutes to put together. Directions were clear and easy to understand, parts are all easy to find. No issues whatsoever.Seat/handlebar adjustments: Easy enough. I wish they had knob adjusters vs. the little handlebar adjusters, but it's worked fine. I am 5' on the dot and my boyfriend is 6' - we both have been able to find comfortable adjustments for our rides.Pedals: I swapped the pedals out so I could use my SPD shoes. As other reviews have said, as long as the pedals are 9/16" you're golden to do this. I find it makes a world of difference in my rides.Seat: Super comfortable. I usually wear padded bike shorts for spin classes, but they are not at all necessary with this seat. perfect amount of cushion!Accessories: It took a couple rides to get used to the water bottle location (on the front/right side of the bike). I'm used to them being on the main bar or up on the handlebars. But it's an easy enough grab. I do wish I could find a holder to go on the back of the seat for 2 dumbbells. Computer is easy to use. I tend to keep it on the cadence screen, so I haven't paid much attention to the others, but it's within reach during rides.Compatibility with Peloton app: Aside from some technical specs (magnetic resistance, flywheel weight), this was the most important thing for me when choosing a bike. I didn't want to splurge on a Peloton, but wanted to use their app for classes. We have a TV in our basement gym, added the Peloton app to the Roku & it's working out great. The MaxKare computer shows you your cadence, which is the most important piece of information for Peloton classes. You don't know your resistance level, but it's easy enough to figure out if you need to be lighter or heavier. Because it isn't fully connected to the app, you won't be on leader boards or have any significant class data available, but I'm happy enough to just have my Apple watch workout data & completed class data in the Peloton app (just shows that it was completed & the total kCal).Overall, a great affordable option, especially if you are looking for a Peloton alternative. Oh...it's also super quiet. That wasn't as big of a deal to me, but it's still nice.

1 week in: It definitely is helping me shed the pounds and now when I'm walking i feel lighter on my feet. There's just a few things I wish were better...the length of the pedal cycle, the placement of the phone/ipad holder, and adding a display for the resistance adjustment to see how much resistance you are on.Install: Instructions were kind of hard to understand because of the way they key'ed the parts. Just use common sense and put it together. Any stubborn man who doesn't use instructions can figure it out.Product = Price: For the Price its a great bike! the main parts are really well made. Had to tweak the stands to make it level so the bike doesn't shake but over all, the bike is amazing and serves it purpose. DEFINITELY rescrew all the screws on it including the ones in the leather seat.Use: I'm 5'10 and the bike is fairly comfortable to ride. But around the 3 mile mark, if i was sitting the entire time I HAVE to stand and pedal. Legs and butt begin to start hurting.INSANELY QUIET :DThe "pedal crank" is a bit too short for my liking. I feel like I'm on a kids bike because the rotations are smaller than i prefer.The adjustment bars of the handle and and seat don't seem right. They need to be designed to be utilized without it being stopped my the bar or seat itself.Also the "MODE" button is horribly touchy. it's very loose and switches with the slightest touch.Overall: If you're just looking to save money, burn some fat and get in shape, while having a decent looking and fully functioning cycling bike that's so quiet you can hear pin drop...This is the one!