Merit 710B Recumbent Exercise Bike
- Compact recumbent-style exercise bike keeps you in shape, takes stress off your knees
- Eight levels of manual resistance
- Four LCD windows show time, distance, and calories; thumb pulse EKG monitor
- Weight capacity of 250 pounds
- Three-year frame warranty, three years for brake
Amazon.com Product Description
Bring the gym into your home and get an efficient, affordable workout with the Merit 710B Recumbent Exercise Bike, which features eight levels of manual resistance. This recumbent-style exercise bike provides a more comfortable seating position that will help you exercise longer, as well as take stress off your knees. The leather-covered seat features a soft foam padding and two handlebars at the sides. It features an easy-to-operate computer console with four LCD windows showing time, calories burned, speed, and distance. You can also check your heart rate via the thumb pulse EKG monitor. Other features include seat adjustment, step-through frame, and free spinning flywheel. Specifications: - Resistance: Manual, range of 0 to 8
- Flywheel: 10 pounds
- Frame: Heavy gauge steel
- Weight capacity: 250 pounds
Manufacturer's Warranty
Frame - 3 years; brake - 3 years; parts and labor - 90 days About Recumbent 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. The term recumbent literally means "lying down." Exercising in a recumbent or reclining position allows the user to have full ergonomic back support, without causing strain on the arms, neck and shoulders, all of which can be common effects of using an upright bicycle. For many people, having convenient access to quality exercise equipment is critical to sticking with a long-term exercise program. About Merit Fitness
Merit Fitness is part of Johnson Health Tech, one of the largest manufacturers of fitness equipment in the world. They are committed to designing, engineering, and manufacturing superior products for health clubs and homes. Johnson's manufacturing facilities rank among the most sophisticated in the industry, with an intricate mix of robotics and skilled workers that maintain the highest standards of accuracy and quality. Every stage of manufacturing has a testing phase and 10 percent of Merit's products go through a rigorous quality inspection that includes completely taking them apart and reassembling them.
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Merit 710B Recumbent Exercise Bike
- Sports: 0 pages
- Publisher: Horizon Fitness
- Label: Horizon Fitness
- Studio: Horizon Fitness
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 3 reviews
- Sales Rank in Sporting Goods: #13360
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Avg. Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Perfect for nursing mothers, readers, web surfers--multitaskers! 2008-07-14
Comment: First, this machine is quiet, comfortable and sturdy. We picked one up after our elliptical bit the dust a couple weeks ago, and have been very, very pleased. (Between us we've logged over 6 hours and 60 miles.) We were open to virtually any cardio machine, but we went with a recumbent because it allows multitasking like no other. Here's some stuff we've done while riding this bike:
wife: pumped breast milk (with Medela Freestyle hands-free, though I assume other pumps would work too, since your hands are already free), read, surfed the web, and watched TV
me: read (complex stuff for grad school, writing notes on the margins), surfed the web, held our 7-week-old baby (I think I've fed him too, but I'm not positive), and watched TV
Now, the above would certainly be more or less difficult depending on your workout intensity, but I'm finding that peddling at around 20mph on level 3 or 4 (out of 15) works up a sweat, gets me breathing, and burns the heck out of my legs (mostly the front, but also calves if you use your toes on the pedal, backside, and butt). For an athletic guy (weight training and mixed martial arts), just pedaling delivers a surprisingly good workout. So with less oxygen to the brain than usual, some of the stuff I read doesn't compute as quickly as I'm used, but hey--that's an article I wouldn't have had time to read otherwise. Or that's a myspace update, or that's 30 minutes my wife would have spent pumping anyway. That convenience explains our newfound love for recumbents. As new parents, we're finding that every spare minute counts! And in case you're wondering, we just put our laptop on a wooden TV tray next to the machine. As long as you keep it back away from your moving legs, you can read, type, and surf without knocking it over. (Just don't sweat on your keyboard!) I saw where a guy had rigged a homemade platform mount for his laptop, but that's certainly not necessary.
Of course, the above are reasons to prefer recumbent bikes generally (over treadmills, ellipticals, rowing machines, upright bikes, etc.). Why prefer this model specifically? We went with the Merit 710B for four reasons: price, sturdiness, comfort and manual adjustment. We visited four brick-and-mortar fitness stores: Dick's Sporting Goods, Play it Again Sports, some over-priced shop in a strip mall, and Sears. The results? This bike was either as smooth, sturdy and comfortable as models two and three times its cost, or actually smoother, sturdier and more comfortable. It doesn't have many bells or whistles (speed, distance, time, calories, and heart rate when you hold your thumb right), but actually, who really needs a cheesy fan built into their console? Or speakers for your ipod? And from my experience with our elliptical, you don't need those workout programs either--as soon as the novelty wore off, I would just set the thing to one level and go.
And lastly, one thing we especially liked about this simple model was the manual resistance adjustment. Why? Because the electronic resistance adjustment is exactly what went out on our $1,000 Schwinn elliptical. It was a good three years, and we both lost weight on that thing, but it sure sucks that a busted servo motor can scrap such a fancy piece of equipment. With our Merit 710B, that'll never happen--your hand on that nob is the servo motor. You get the same smooth magnetic resistance, but without the potential for electronic failure.
The ride is excellent, the adjustment is manual, and the price is right. But the main thing we love is the multitasking. When it comes to using those spare 30 minutes as efficiently as you can, recumbents are where it's at, and there's no reason to get anything any fancier than the 710B.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Recumbent Excersise Bike 2007-10-05
Comment: Was easy to assemble, works great & is easy to use.Was just like it was described.Arrived when it was suppose to.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: bike review 2007-07-23
Comment: The frame was bent and is not level. The bike itself is not as stable as I would have hoped.
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Merit 710B Recumbent Exercise Bike
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