BARWING 16-8-2-3 Stationary Exercise Bike (Open Box)

Excellent bang for the buck. Have been using it for at least 2+ weeks now. The base is sturdy and stable. The seat is somewhat wobbly but it's because of its tilt adjustment nature -- any hinges that allows angle adjustment to the seat will tend to wobble. The wobble isn't that bad, just noticeable. I will point out below the relevance of this seat tilt feature, and why the "wobble" is a fair enough trade off for the "seat tilt" feature. The seat is usable enough for a 20-30 minute duration. Then the cushion becomes noticeably uncomfortable. But that's ok, I only need it for 20-30 mins anyway. More than 30 mins of cycling leads to muscle break down, so I keep it below 30. If you plan to use it beyond 30 mins regularly, you might want to invest on a seat cushion add-on. Equipment footprint is greatly understated especially when your trying to fit it in a small home gym set up. Assembly was pretty straight forward. Did it myself in about 2 hours. Resistance bands are a welcome bonus. The cycling motion is smooth, unstrained. Occasionally the left pedal will have a "sticky" point where it clunks, but sometimes it doesn't. I still have to figure out where it's coming from, although it does not take away from the function of the machine. It's just something I'm suspecting to be a potential problem in the future. I was looking through cardio/warm-up equipment for my home gym, and was deciding among 3 form factors: an elliptical, a stepper or stationary cycle. Most steppers for home set up use pressure valves. Smallest footprint between the 3 form factors. Unfortunately, most steppers have a very shallow step depth. The experience is not even close to stairmaster-type machines you find in the gyms. Most of these home units are the "in-front-of-the-tv" kind, not a set-up that's befitting an actual home gym, at least in my taste. Then there are the ellipticals. Ellipticals will take up the biggest amount of space in a small home gym setup between the 3, no matter how small of an elliptical it is. The bigger the elliptical, the more stable and reliable it is. If I had to choose an elliptical, it should have 3 things: a seat, a tablet/phone holder, and a smooth glide. The best way to find the right elliptical is to test it in store, then find the model online. Unfortunately with this COVID fiasco, store hopping to compare equipment isn't as accessible, so buying blindly online is obviously a higher risk. A few ellipticals online had what I was looking for, sans being able to test. Advantages of an elliptical is simultaneous upper and lower body motion while in an upright position, not just working extremities but also postural muscles. Then there's the stationary cycles: foldable bikes, spinning bikes, recumbent bikes, under-the-desk-cycles. A spinning bike was overkill for my needs, especially the price for well-rated spinning bikes. Recumbent bikes took the most space, just like an elliptical. Under-the-desk cycles, you spend more for what you're getting. Then there's the foldable bikes. Had to find the one that would fit my budget of under $200, and meet the basics of what I'm looking for: a tablet/phone holder, a small footprint, and a smooth ride. The footprint on this bike is great. Even when you open it up to "recumbent mode" the footprint is still small, compared to an actual dedicated recumbent bike, but you still get the recumbent seating profile. And the best part with this Barwing bike is that the seat has a TILT feature that allows you to levelize the seat so it can be horizontal (instead of tilted forward up) while in a recumbent position. MOST of these folding bikes DO NOT have this feature. And it makes all the difference in comfort. Imagine cycling for 20-30 minutes with the front end of the seat tilted and poking up -- sliding and pushing your tailbone back, curling forward the normal curve of your low back, and poking your inner thighs with that seat front protrusion. The backrest for this seat is also a great feature. You won't appreciate the value of a backrest on a stationary bike until you have one. For any bike that claims to be able to go into a recumbent position, a backrest is a MUST HAVE. Then there's the added resistance bands. These bands can now supplement upper body movements while cycling. Pretty much comparable to the purpose of upper body movements you get from an elliptical, but with more degrees of freedom: reach overhead, swing your arms back, to the side, do bicep curls, triceps kickbacks, shoulder flyes, etc. Obviously, you don't get postural muscle involvement in a stationary bike vs an elliptical, but this wasn't a primary consideration because it was just going to be a warm-up/cool-down and/or shredding phase cardio equipment. With this bike, I can use it in recumbent, semi-recumbent or upright, all in a small footprint. About the cycling resistance, I don't know yet. I should have tested the touted "magnetic resistance" but I have only used it on the zero setting for now, only because I use it as a warm up machine before I get into powerlifting/weight lifting. So far, a good product. A few improvements could have been made, but for about $179+ it's definitely a good buy for what you get. Highly recommended.