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The Schwinn 270 provides the benefits of an upright bike but with a more comfortable seat. Like an upright exercise bike, you can burn a lot of calories through peddling the Schwinn recumbent bike. However, unlike an upright bike, the Schwinn 270 Recumbent Bike feels comfortable with you are doing it.
Upright bikes often force you to work your abs and arms in order to stay in position. Sometimes that's great, but, oftentimes, I simply want to sink into that comfy seat and let my legs do all the work. My legs can pump through 29 workout programs while the rest of my body just relaxes into the seat.
It's obvious that I want this in my living room, but I have a hard time committing unless the warranty is good or great. I am sacrificing a whole corner of my living room to this behemoth. If it breaks down, I will not be pleased to have such a large hunk of junk in my living space. Finding a good warranty was key for me because of these reasons.
If I'm going to give up hundreds of dollars and tens of square feet to this equipment, I want it to be worthwhile. The 10 year warranty on the frame appealed to me.
Schwinn 270 Recumbent Bike
Design
Size
Price
Features
Warranty
I love the idea of having a recumbent exercise bike in my home gym. Some days it's just easier to plop into a comfy bucket seat rather than force myself through a treadmill or elliptical workout. It's a workout that feels lazy as you recline, but it burns as many calories as an upright bike.
Recumbent exercise bikes are also one piece of equipment that I can use when my kids are sleeping. The slight swish-swish sound doesn't pull them from their slumber. Mommy can get a late night workout without any fuss.
However, a recumbent bike is also a big commitment. I have to say goodbye to 10 square feet of my living room. These 80 lb pieces of equipment don't easily move (nor do they typically fold.) It's hard to find space among all the toys scattered across my living room floor.
Also, although you can find recumbent bikes on sale for less than $500, they are often priced between $500 and $1000 at full price. I want to commit my floor space and my money toward the right bike, so I did an obsessive amount of research focusing on the Schwinn 270 Recumbent Exercise Bike. Here are some of the pros and cons:
PROS
CONS
If you want to check out the other features, this video gives a quick overview of every awesome thing about the bike, from the water bottle holder to the heart rate monitor grips. Note that the video is for the 2013 model, so it doesn't talk about the Bluetooth capabilities available in the 2017 model.
Great Features
The first feature that pulled me toward the Schwinn 270 was the ridiculously comfortable seat. It's padded and has cut-outs for your legs. Not only can you easily pump your legs up and down in a hard workout, you could also probably comfortably nap in it. (Not that I've tried it...).
The seat back is also nice because it provides arch support for my lower back, which often aches from hauling a two year old around. Unlike the seat, the seat back is not padded, but the idea is to keep your back straight, not sweaty. I also like the Schwinn bikes in general because the company has a pretty good pedigree.
Schwinn has been making exercise bikes for over 100 years. They have a warranty that covers the frame for 10 years. Admittedly, the mechanism is only covered for two years and the electronics are only covered for 1 year. But it's still a pretty great warranty. If you decide to have a professional assemble the recumbent bike for you, you even get a 90 day labor warranty on that!
SPECS
- Padded seat
- 29 exercise programs
- 4 user settings
- Adjustable 3 speed fan
- Sliding track for height adjustments
- 25 levels of resistance
- Heart rate monitor with chest strap
- Dimensions in inches 64W x 27L x 50H
- Max user weight of 300 pounds
- Transport wheels
- USB Charging Port for Devices
Detailed Review of the Schwinn 270 Recumbent Bike
If the Schwinn 270 Recumbent Bike could fold up into a suitcase-sized lump and be shoved in a closet, I would have given it a five out of five for design. Everything other than the size is awesome. I love the whisper-quiet wheel that doesn't disturb napping kids.
Even the track for adjusting the height is pretty smooth. Basically, the bike is loaded with clever designs and features. It has heart rate monitoring with chest strap compatibility, Bluetooth connectivity, killer speakers, and more exercise programs and fitness tests than I know what do with. The features are top-notch.
The design is too, but I still wish it could fold up or somehow shrink in size.
My reservations about the Schwinn 270 revolve around the size and the price. Pretty much all recumbent bikes take up more space than I would prefer. The Schwinn is not exceptionally large. But, as a piece of equipment, recumbent bikes rate low for size because they take up a lot of space and are impossible to move.
My husband hates when I press him into service moving all this home gym equipment around. Committing to adding another home exercise machine to your living room is a big deal, especially when you take the price into consideration. Sale prices on recumbent bikes can be reasonable, but the initial price is pretty high for a piece of exercise equipment.
The warranty on all Schwinn equipment is what drew me to that brand for my recumbent bike. A year 10 frame warranty is pretty unusual, considering how much weight they can support and how often they are typically used. It's a complex piece of equipment that uses phrases like "eddy current" resistance. I want a good warranty on this strange mechanical wonder and Schwinn seems to provide one.
How Does it Compare to Alternatives?
Schwinn 230 Recumbent Bike
The 2017 Schwinn 230 is a scaled back version of the 270. It's a little bit cheaper, but it has most of the same features. The 3 speed adjustable fan is still there to keep the sweat at bay. But there are fewer workout programs to play with, only 22 workout programs instead of 29 for example.
Also, my husband and I can easily share with two user profiles, but when my four year old gets old enough to reach the pedals, there won't be a profile available for him. (The 270 has four user profiles). If the padded seat is a draw for you, the 230 might come up a bit short. The seat itself is not padded, though it is contoured to your bottom. Think of the 230 as the 270 minus the comfy seat and Bluetooth.
Is the Schwinn Recumbent Right for You?
If you have decided to spend the money and floor space on a recumbent bike, do you want the Schwinn 270? If you like to have a lot of features, like heart rate monitoring and exercise programs, and fitness tests, the Schwinn could be a good choice.
If you love automatically syncing workout data between your smartwatch, phone and computer, the Schwinn 270 is the only one that I saw with Bluetooth.
These features are useful for many people, but it's still a basic recumbent bike. It's possible to save money by focusing on a cheaper or scaled down model, like the 230, if those fancy features don't appeal to you.
Whatever recumbent bike you choose, make sure that it's one that you will love because it will dominate your living room space for years to come. I figure that mine at least does double duty as a tiny playground for my four-year old son.
