Schwinn 220 Recumbent Exercise Bike

Get in shape at home with the comfortable Schwinn 220 recumbent exercise bike, offering a compact design and the feel of a more traditional outdoor bike while relying on core, stabilizing muscles to balance your body weight. Features include a 13.2-pound flywheel, 16 resistance levels, 12 programs, adjustable seat, magazine rack, and contact heart rate monitoring built into the handlebars. It also includes the following exclusive Schwinn features:

The Schwinn 220 recumbent exercise bike for the home.

BioFit Comfort:

Ergonomic pedal design for efficient and comfortable pedaling
Adjustable console and seat
Convenient step-through design

BioDyne Performance:

Perimeter weighted flywheel for a true road feel, and smooth, consistent workouts
Oversized stabilizers and levelers that are built-in for a solid workout platform

BioConnect Feedback:

12 workout programs, including 6 course profiles, fitness test, and custom workout
Integrated grip heart rate system for easy fitness monitoring

Features & Specifications:

16 resistance levels
13.2-pound flywheel
Eddy Current Brake (ECB) resistance system
Fore and aft seat adjustment
Magazine rack
Transport wheels
Switchable from miles to kilometers (KM)
Maximum user weight: 300 pounds

The Schwinn 220's exercise console (see larger image).

An adjustable seat allows multiple users to exercise on the 220 comfortably.

Manufacturer's Warranty
5 years on the frame, 1 year on parts and electronics, 3 months on wear parts, 3 months on labor

Compare These Recumbent Exercise Bikes
	Schwinn Active Series 20	Schwinn 220	Schwinn 230	Schwinn 240	Nautilus R514
Resistance Levels	8	16	16	16	16
Resistance System	Magnetic Eddy Current Brake	Magnetic Eddy Current Brake	Magnetic Eddy Current Brake	Magnetic Eddy Current Brake	Magnetic Eddy Current Brake
Number of Programs	11	12	6 preset, 10 courses	17	17
Heart Rate Monitor	Grip Heart Rate Sensor	Grip Heart Rate Sensor	Grip Heart Rate Sensor	Grip Heart Rate Sensor	Polar heart rate system with chest strap
Display Type	LCD	LCD	LCD	LCD	LCD
Display Readout	Time, distance, pulse, watts, speed, calories, RPM	Time, distance, pulse, watts, speed, calories, resistance	Time, interval time, RPM, watts, distance, pulse, speed, calories, and resistance	Time, interval time, RPM, watts, distance, pulse, speed, calories, resistance	Time, interval time, RPM, watts, distance, pulse, speed, calories, resistance
Dimensions	58.5 x 26 x 36 inches (L x W x H)	56 x 25 x 38 inches (L x W x H)	63 x 25 x 46 inches (L x W x H)	63 x 25 x 46 inches (L x W x H)	67 x 25 x 52 inches (L x W x H)
Product Weight	58 pounds	97 pounds	103 pounds	117 pounds	119 pounds
Weight Capacity	275 pounds	300 pounds	300 pounds	300 pounds	300 pounds
Warranty	Frame: 3 years, non-expandable mechanical and electric parts: 6 months	Frame: 5 years, mechanical and electric: 1 year, wear parts: 90 days	Frame: 10 years, mechanical and electric: 1 year, wear items: 6 months, labor: 90 days	Frame: 5 years, mechanical and electric: 1 year, wear parts: 90 days	Frame: 10 years, mechanical: 2 years, electric: 1 year, wear parts: 6 months
Other Features	Transport wheels, fore / aft seat adjustment	Reading rack, rear stabilizers, transport wheels, switchable from miles to kilometers, fore / aft seat adjustment	Reading rack, water bottle holder, rear stabilizers, transport wheels, switchable from miles to kilometers, fore / aft seat adjustment, oversized pedals	Reading rack, water bottle holder, rear stabilizers, transport wheels, switchable from miles to kilometers, fore /aft seat adjustment, oversized deluxe pedals	Reading rack, water bottle holder, fan, rear stabilizer frame levelers, transport wheels, fore / aft seat adjustment, oversized pedals, oversized saddle

About Exercise Bikes
Despite the competition from trendy new fitness inventions, exercise bikes continue to be popular options for home exercise. They offer the same aerobic benefits of riding a bicycle at any time, in any weather, without leaving the comfort and safety of home. Exercise bikes don't take up much space, require little or no balance or coordination, and can provide an effective workout for all levels of users, from beginners to serious competitors. While the same could be said for a number of other types of home fitness equipment, the exercise bike is one of the few that allows you to watch television or read a magazine while you work out. For many people, having convenient access to quality exercise equipment is critical to sticking with a long-term exercise program.

Schwinn 220 Recumbent Exercise Bike Features

Ergonomic pedal design for efficient and comfortable pedaling. adjustable console and seat
Integrated grip heart rate system for easy fitness monitoring
12 workout programs, including 6 course profiles, fitness test, and custom workout
Recumbent exercise bike for the home with 16 resistance levels and 13.2-pound flywheel

Price: $348.54

User Reviews about Schwinn 220 Recumbent Exercise Bike

Assembly took about one hour and was quite easy. One point that would have made assembly faster: Instructions list and reference the bolts, screws, washers, etc. as A, B, C, D...but on blister packaging they are listed by size 'mm'. If the blister pack also contained the A, B, C, D designations - it would remove any doubt as to which parts to use and speed up assembly.

I've only used the bike for a couple weeks now and am very pleased with its quiet, smooth operation. The seat adjusts easily and is quite comfortable-even on long trips! It's so quiet I can watch TV or a movie as I exercise. I no longer have to rely on weather conditions as to "when" I can exercise. So far, I'm well pleased and haven't found anything that I dislike about the bike. A couple friends and family members have been by to try it out and are considering getting one as well.

The free shipping was fast and incident free.
-- Exercise with a Schwinn in any weather!

There have been a good number of reviews on this bike already, and I generally agree with them. I've only used the bike for a half-hour, but it does feel solid and runs smoothly and quietly. Better than I expected given the modest price. The electronic interface is klunky, I can't seem to get into the factory preset programs without entering a bunch of user data every time, but the "Quick Start" mode works well enough. Some others have commented that their units "freewheel" for a short period when the difficulty level changes, but I have not noticed this yet on my unit.

I have large feet, and with shoes on, sometimes the inner back part of my shoe rubs or catches on the hub of the crankshaft. If the cranks were angled or extended another half-inch or so away from the hub, so the pedals were a smidge farther out from the centerline, this would not be an issue.

I had two significant problems during assembly. At Step 2, where you connect the two large sections of frame at the center joint, the manual clearly shows that you connect them using 5 bolts with 5 flat washers. If you do this, you will run out of the flat washers and won't have enough for the rest of the assembly. I believe you are meant to use the curved washers for Step 2, then the parts-math works out. This cost me some time as I had to re-do Step 2 to use the curved washers.

What was the most difficult step, for me, should have been simple. One of the last steps of assembly (Step 9) is to connect the data cable that comes out of the front wheel assembly to end of the data cable coming from the monitor unit. It took an alarming amount of brute force to get the connectors to snap together. For quite some time I suspected the connector(s) were broken because I couldn't get them to join, until eventually I got to the point where I was like--eff it, I'm going to force them together as hard as I can, and it's either going to work, or it's going to break. Fortunately this worked. But it's bad design to have electrical connectors with lots of fragile wiring that takes that much force to clip together. I easly could have damaged the wiring or broken one of the connectors.

-- Solid bike, a few annoyances

I've owned this bike for about three months now. I bought this bike locally. I had initial problems with noise, but the customer service folks at Schwinn Fitness were friendly and helpful. It's been quiet ever since. I ride it a minimum of 45 minutes a day five days a week and sometimes more. It's a great workout that lets me read or pay close attention to radio or videos.

I consider myself to be in slightly better than average shape. I'm not an athlete, but I'm not recovering from surgery.

The only thing that keeps me from giving this bike five stars is the shifting between gears. My normal workout is to set the resistance to 11 and just ride. But the few times I've tried using the programmed workouts, I've experience the bike going to essentially zero resistance between level changes. It doesn't last long, but it is disturbing. But for my normal, steady workout, this isn't an issue. I'm not as frustrated by the computer as others are. As long as I get readings of time, resistance, miles ridden, calories burned and average watts, I'm happy.

I would buy this bike again. -- Great for people who want a quiet and steady ride

For the price I don't think you can beat this bike. As everyone has said, it's very quiet and very sturdy (so far - I've only had it for two weeks). The assembly manual is much better than the user manual, that's for sure. It's recommended that two people assemble the bike since some of it is quite heavy, but I managed to do it on my own with not much problem. Everything came intact and in good shape, which was mainly due to the styrofoam they use to pack it. The box is a whole different story. Very weak and held together with very strong tape surrounding the box on all sides. I don't think it would hurt them much to use a stronger box in the future.

After assembly, I tried to setup the console and discovered that the backlight was not working. (The instructions say that you can set the backlight intensity from 1 to 5). After calling the company and double checking various wire connections as they suggested, when it still didn't work, it seems the only thing the company can do is send you another whole computer panel and wire to solve the problem. Well they did, but it didn't solve the problem. Then I get online and read elsewhere in other reviews that there is no backlight in this model. Strange that the "Console Setup Mode" would have an option in the computer program in this model to set the intensity for something that didn't exist in this model, and that the company would send me another console, but maybe it's cheaper to them than changing the computer program for this particular bike or taking out the mention of the backlight in the manual. In any event, I know now that it does not have a backlight due solely to my own research on the matter and not their support help. I went to Walmart and bought an LED angle-adjustable battery-operated tap light for about $5 and stuck it high on the wall behind the bike pointed down at the LCD display, and this surprisingly works out quite well.

Speaking of the LCD display, the cord for the AC adapter to power it plugs into the front of the bike instead of the rear, and it will just barely, reach all the way to the rear of the bike to reach an AC outlet behind the bike. I would suggest using an extension cord instead. As other reviews here have mentioned, the user manual is poor, and it will drive you stark-raving mad trying to add yourself as a user (it only saves one user and allows one guest user) Even the people here who figured it out didn't tell you how to do it! Well, I'm going to tell you how to do it.

Everyone who has the Schwinn 220 should do themselves a favor and go to [...] and download the users manual for the Schwinn 240 bike as well. It explains much clearer how to add a user. It also has explanations for "View" Edit" and "Delete" functions that the 220 manual doesn't have. The only difference is that you use the "Increase/Decrease" buttons to cycle through users and the "View" Edit" and "Delete" buttons, while on the 240 you use a special Schwinn button instead.

Another thing I also noticed is that the 240 manual says "Backlit LCD display" while my 220 manual says simply "LCD display". The 240 manual will also talk about extra features that the 220 doesn't have. But just ignore those and go to page 13 and "User Setup", but remember on the 220 you can only add one user and not two as on the 240.

Follow the 240 instructions. It is step 5 where 220 users and myself got lost. When it says "Custom 1", hit the "Start/Enter" button twice. You will have a resistance level of one all the way across the display. Use "Increase or Decrease" to put the first column on the far left to the level of resistance you want. Press "Start/Enter" to save it. Now here is the important bit of information they leave out in the 220 instructions so you understand what is going on. "The completed columns move off the screen to the left, and the next column is active. Continue until ALL 40 COLUMNS are set." The screen says "User Added", push "Start/Enter", and you have added a user. The time is set at a default time of 30 minutes and can be changed when you start your workout, but NOT when setting up a user as the 220 manual says under #2.

So that's right, even if you set your resistance to just one in each column, you have to push that "Start/Enter" button 40 TIMES to save 40 columns in your custom workout before you can also save yourself as a user even though the display only shows you 10 columns at a time. No wonder everyone got so frustrated! Nowhere in the 220 instructions does it say you must save 40 columns to save your custom workout.

So no fan, no basket, not backlit, only one user, no chest strap heart monitor and light, no extra "Schwinn" button, no deluxe pedals, a few less things monitored, along with a poor user manual and you have saved about $100. Decide if the extra things are worth it to you or not over the 240 model. Now that I finally figured out how to add myself as a user and that I know now I have no backlight, I'm still very pleased. Again, it's very sturdy and very quiet. I would have given it five stars if not for the lack of a backlight in the LCD display and the bad user manual.
-- Highly recommended but user manual not user friendly at all