As a way to monitor my increased fitness I'm going to perform a weekly fitness test every Saturday and log the results (see side bar).
From the owners manual of the Schwinn 140 exercise bike.
Fitness Test
The Fitness Test measures the improvements of your physical fitness level. The test compares your power output (in Watts) to your heart rate. As you become more fit you will produce more power (Watts) at a given heart rate.
When the test starts, the power (Watts) slowly increases. This means you will work harder, and as a result, your heart rate increases. The Watts continue to increase automatically until your heart rate reaches the “Test Zone.” This zone is individually computed to be near 75 percent of your maximum heart rate. When you reach the Test Zone your machine holds the Watts steady for 3 minutes. This lets you reach a stable condition (where your heart rate becomes steady). At the end of the 3 minutes, the Console measures your heart rate and the power output (Watts). These numbers, along with information about your age and weight, are computed to produce a “Fitness Score”.
Note: Fitness Test scores should only be compared to your previous scores and not other users. Over time, you will output more Watts of power at a certain Heart Rate. Compare your Fitness Scores to see your improvement.
If you find this Review helpfull and want to purchase this bike please purchase it through this link so I can get a little credit:) Enjoy your bike
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
I'm a proud owner of a Schwinn 140 Upright Bike - Initial Review
I ordered my Schwinn 140 Bike through amazon on Black Friday (Nov 27th) I chose free shipping, and paid $349.99 It arrived the following Tuesday 4 days! WOW not bad for free.
The box was in very good condition and seemed to appear to be handled very well (UPS was the carrier). I removed all the contents and inventoried all the parts, it appears this model does not come with a heart rate telemetry strap as that is optional (although Schwinn doesn't sell it or tell you who does). The manual barley mentions it and the only way I figured this out was by looking through the "trouble shooting" part. Looks as I will have to use the on board HRM sensors.
It took me about 1 1/2 hours to assemble the instructions were average at best. The most difficult part I found was when mounting the handle bars there is a "square nut" that according to the picture appears to go on top of the square tube, it made no sense as the bolt doesn't reach and it just seemed wrong, after ample tinkering and swearing I finally figured out nut actually goes inside the square tube..after which everything assembled fine. I would also caution you to be very careful with the cables as they can be crimped somewhat easy if you are not paying attention.
I love all the adjustments on this bike, as I'm 6 foot tall 185 lbs, I was able to find a good seat height (I have two slots left so it would work with a taller person) and the seat is adjustable as well. Which is very important to me as I try to ride the bike in a "tri position" to utilize quads and save hamstrings, it seems I can do that with this bike. You can raise the handle bars and tilt the screen as needed as well.
I finally plugged it into the wall and the console lit up immediately, the display is very bright and requires you to Angle the console so you can see it the best.
I hit the "quick start" button and started pedaling the bike is really quiet in fact only thing I could hear is an occasional knee crack or shoe lace slapping the floor, neither which relate to bike. I then cranked the resistance up to around 10 I heard a low buzzing sound as the bike adjusted and the resistance was good and hard. I then cranked the resistance up to 16 which was very hard. My RPMs dropped way down and it was obvious to me that this bike provides more resistance then I'll ever need.
After my initial test I decided to mess with the programs, the first thing I had to do is add a user profile..it took a bit of playing to figure it out but it was pretty easy. After entering name,age, weight, goal weight I was presented with "custom program" you can make up your own routine..very cool..I hit enter 30 times to get through this and I was done.
The bike was all set to go..so far very good experience.
If you find this Review helpfull and want to purchase this bike please purchase it through this link so I can get a little credit:) Enjoy your bike
The box was in very good condition and seemed to appear to be handled very well (UPS was the carrier). I removed all the contents and inventoried all the parts, it appears this model does not come with a heart rate telemetry strap as that is optional (although Schwinn doesn't sell it or tell you who does). The manual barley mentions it and the only way I figured this out was by looking through the "trouble shooting" part. Looks as I will have to use the on board HRM sensors.
It took me about 1 1/2 hours to assemble the instructions were average at best. The most difficult part I found was when mounting the handle bars there is a "square nut" that according to the picture appears to go on top of the square tube, it made no sense as the bolt doesn't reach and it just seemed wrong, after ample tinkering and swearing I finally figured out nut actually goes inside the square tube..after which everything assembled fine. I would also caution you to be very careful with the cables as they can be crimped somewhat easy if you are not paying attention.
I love all the adjustments on this bike, as I'm 6 foot tall 185 lbs, I was able to find a good seat height (I have two slots left so it would work with a taller person) and the seat is adjustable as well. Which is very important to me as I try to ride the bike in a "tri position" to utilize quads and save hamstrings, it seems I can do that with this bike. You can raise the handle bars and tilt the screen as needed as well.
I finally plugged it into the wall and the console lit up immediately, the display is very bright and requires you to Angle the console so you can see it the best.
I hit the "quick start" button and started pedaling the bike is really quiet in fact only thing I could hear is an occasional knee crack or shoe lace slapping the floor, neither which relate to bike. I then cranked the resistance up to around 10 I heard a low buzzing sound as the bike adjusted and the resistance was good and hard. I then cranked the resistance up to 16 which was very hard. My RPMs dropped way down and it was obvious to me that this bike provides more resistance then I'll ever need.
After my initial test I decided to mess with the programs, the first thing I had to do is add a user profile..it took a bit of playing to figure it out but it was pretty easy. After entering name,age, weight, goal weight I was presented with "custom program" you can make up your own routine..very cool..I hit enter 30 times to get through this and I was done.
The bike was all set to go..so far very good experience.
If you find this Review helpfull and want to purchase this bike please purchase it through this link so I can get a little credit:) Enjoy your bike
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
