Schwinn460 Variable Stride it's great
Strong structure, great workout, excellent touch panel.
Instructions for assembly are great, too easy.

We Love It!
My wife and I decided it was time to start a low-impact exercise program, and had tried a Precor elliptical machine a friend owns. The Precor is a very nice unit; also very expensive and takes up a lot of space we didn't have to spare. We wanted something that would be convenient, fun, and compact enough to fit in our town home. I had previously owned a Schwinn Air-Dyne, and had no hesitation in selecting another Schwinn product. We've been using the 460 for 2 weeks, and we agree with all of the positive comments you will read here. I am 6'4", 220 lbs, and wear a size 13 shoe (the foot pads on the 460 measure approx. 13 1/2" long x 6" wide). When in use, it is extremely quiet but not "silent." The only sound I hear comes from the rollers as they travel along the track. I am an "over-builder" myself, and I am very happy with the solid build of this unit. Every piece of metal has the heft and strength of an industrial machine. With regard to lateral stability, the unit will wobble slightly if I lean way-out from center during a workout, but it never comes close to tipping over. As others mention, the touch screen display becomes somewhat obscured (due to my height), but I can still read all the data. We highly recommend the Schwinn 460.

GREAT!
This is my first Elliptical. I didn't know what to expect. I am impressed. Everything from start to finish was pleasant. It gives me a great workout. I can't do alot because of a back injury and out of shape. I think it is helping. I just do a little at a time. I am glad that I got it. Thanks.

Best value for the money
I was recommended this machine by a co-worker. I did my reserch, and for my use, a great value for the workout I'm looking for. The 460 is pretty easy to put together, but some parts are heavy and it would be easier with help of another person. I'm still learning the capabilities of the machine. But so far it is easy to use.

Makes Irritating noise
Unit works well, but is makes a very irritating noise. Sounds and feels like fly wheel inside base is rubbing at one point as it goes around.

Assembly was a bit awkward, best if use your own tools. The tools provided are very cheap and difficult to use. Note that the base where irritating noise comes from is pre-assembled, so not much you can do about it.

Solid Unit
I bought this to strengthen my knees, lose weight and just increase my over all fitness level. Assembly was easy, all tools were included and it took about an hour. The front wheels for mobility are a nice touch, though I rarely move it.

The bike has a constant creek from the frame while I peddle, but I am over the weight limit for the bike so I can't really subtract for that. Otherwise, the bike is very stable. I think the creek could be fixed if you insert some rubber washers between the frame and the foot crossbars. Right now I solve it with music earbuds.

The different courses with varying resistance levels are actually pretty fun. The resistance changes could be a little smoother; I typically experience 2-3 rotations of no resistance while the new resistance level kicks in. The high resistance levels are very challenging. The computer also tells you when to increase pace, hydrant, etc. However, the unit must also be used on Schwinn's ellipticals, because sometimes it says to work your arms or lengthen/shorten your stride, which doesn't seem to apply to a recumbent bike.

The water bottle holder is kind of useless. It's too small to fit mine and fairly inaccessible while peddling. I don't use the wire basket...seems to me that if you can read while riding than you aren't working hard enough.

I don't know if the unit is worth 0, but it's much nicer than all the other ones I tried out at 3-4 sporting good stores. If you don't need a high weight capacity, you might find something cheaper that will work for you. But, it's much cheaper than a decent elliptical; the Sole E35 (B00275R23E,300) is what I considered the cheapest worth buying.

Deb - Madison, WI
After reading consumer report and customer reviews, I decided to purchase the Schwinn 240. Like others have said, it is very sturdy and super quiet! UPS delivered it to my garage within two days of ordering and the box was intact. I found it easier to bring it inside piece by piece to assemble. All parts were provided-none missing and assembly took only and hour with my husbands assistance. I have yet to read the programing manual, so I can comment on the programs another time. But the quick start is easy enough to set the level of difficulty and you can pedal for as long as you want. I will do the programs when I've worked up to increased difficulty levels.
So far, I have been very pleased with the bike overall, prompt shipment and reasonable price.

Great bike
The bike is great. Quite, convenient, good looking.
The display is not perfect. May be it makes sense to have the previous model of this bike which does not have a colored screen.

Great Bike
This is a solid exercise bike with many options for a good workout. The only negative I would have is the assembly instructions are some what vague when putting the seat assembly onto the sliding channel.

Customer Service is Horrible
Bike came without the seat and the electronic display.
I was on hold with the Schwinn customer service line for 30 minutes, and couldn't take it anymore so hung up. I called back and requested sales; no wait at all, but they were rude and unwilling to help. So great at taking orders, but poor with serving customers.
I will update with actual response from company when I finally get a hold of them.

Terrific machine for the money
When my new job made it too difficult to get to the gym on a daily basis I decided to invest in my own equipment. This is an excellent machine--sturdy, quiet, dependable and challenging. I had read that the set-up could be difficult and was dreading it until I learned that a local Sears franchise would accept the delivery from Amazon, then deliver it to my house and set it up for 0!

I did get a little confused about how to access the custom programs that are preloaded on the machine but I muddled through and have been fine with them ever since. The direction manual is hopeless as has already been stated in other reviews, and the intervals are a little longer (40 seconds) than I am used to, but for the money, I give this product top marks.

Great purchase!
Quiet and easy to use. Took a few hours to put together and even the low settings are pretty difficult but overall a great purchase!

Love It!!
I bought a Nordic Trak E7 in December and it was AWFUL!! It made a horrible banging noise and squeaked like no other! The calorie and distance counters were also WAY off. I got go frustrated that we took it back to Sears with no problems. After doing more research - I decided to go with the Schwinn 420 and LOVE IT!!! It is super smooth and quiet and gives me a great work out! I do with it had a water bottle holder and a place for my ipod but that is minor to me because of the great work out I get! Definately no complaints from me! TOTALLY worth the money!!

Not Designed for Short Folks
I bought one of these, was quite pleased with the quality and have not encountered any "squeaking". I was also able to assemble the unit alone. The only problem I had was that one of the parts did not appear on the cardboard sheet holding the nuts, bolts and washers with the correct letter. Letter F refers to two phillips head screws. If you look in the manual on page 6 , F is shown as a washer, but appears much larger in the picture than it really is. That part (there are 4 of them) is a small black washer.

My reason for giving this unit three stars is that the proportions will challenge many shorter than average riders.

If you look at the picture of the man using the machine, he easily stands straight with his hands on the uprights. Judging from the height of the machine, he is also at least six feet tall, and has reasonably long arms. Standing on the machine in the same position I would barely reach his shoulder (I'm 5'3") and have to reach slightly UP to grab the uprights. His scale makes the machine look to be a good fit for everyone. It isn't. It is interesting that they don't show the woman rider from the side in the additional pictures and instead use an odd angle. She is rather tall but even with her height you can notice a slight forward lean.

At 5'3" and well proportioned for my size, I am forced way too far forward onto the uprights, so much so that my body has to twist with each step and reach out. My face ends up about 3 or 4 inches from the computer console (which is not particularly entertaining at that level of magnification!). Since I am leaning on the uprights and have a limited ability to pull them, this limits my ability to get a full upper body workout. It also prevents me from varying my body position enough to work different parts of my legs while using the uprights. I am forced to favor standing on the ball of my foot with body fully extending.

It is much more comfortable to use the center grips but then you don't get any upper body exercise at all. The upright handles need to have a greater range of curve to accommodate smaller riders and there is no way to adjust them. Depending on your build you might not have a problem, but I would try one of these out before buying. I noticed several other reviewers have mentioned this issue. If you aren't as concerned about the upper body then you can do just fine using the center grips, but I got rid of my treadmill because it didn't offer any upper body development.

Perhaps if enough people complain to Schwinn they will offer an alternate set of uprights. It would be very easy to change out the top portion of the upright and insert new ones that have more a of backward curve.

Update: Since I wrote this, several women friends have come over and tried out the machine. The tallest one was 5'7" and ALL complained about the forward lean without being told anything about my issues with it. Not one woman felt comfortable on the machine.

WOW Workout - GREAT Results
I am an "over 70" diabetic who needs to exercise daily-the Schwinn 420 is a great buy for an entry level machine and beyond - I don't think I'd have to up-grade at all - I also have a Schwinn Recumbent Stationary Bike, so between the two machines plus a daily regimen of good food, my diabetes is under control, and, I've made my doctor happy as well !!!

Good bike for a good price
I put this bike together in forty-five minutes, flat. It has the best written how-to manual of any product I have assembled in the recent past. All screws, bolts, washers, etc., are mounted on a card with shrink-wrap along with the tools you need for assembly. Each separate component has a label under it with total number of pieces supplied, so you can see in an instant if you've been shorted. Only the screws for the computerized console are not on the card. They are already in the back of the console and must be removed to mount the console to the bike frame. This is not mentioned in the instructions. There is an issue with an odor that you may perceive as you work at the maximum resistance. Other reviewers have mentioned it as a strong negative. I am not crazy about it, but with the fan going in my work-out room, everything is fine, for me. If you are using a resistance-type bike, something has to damp something else to provide the resistance. With this bike I believe a braking pad, of sorts, rubs harder on the inner flywheel to increase resistance. In the future, it would be a good idea for the manufacturer to try a different material for that pad. I can only hope that the pad contains no asbestos, as some car brake pads have, in the past. I would imagine that asbestos would not be needed as the friction would not produce temperatures similar to car brakes. Then again, it might if you go for the peak resistance over a prolonged period. I may contact the manufacturer to get peace of mind. The smell is of a burning rubber type, so that material is probably being used. Again, it is no big deal, with a fan running. Another design negative: The pedal straps are of a material that is fairly inflexible. When it comes to adjusting them on the pedal nubs, you honestly need a ring-opening pliers to stretch them to fit. Otherwise, you will drive yourself nuts trying to get them to go over the nubs.
As far as the exercise value of this bike: The work-outs are well designed, and I can break a good sweat if I dig in, hard. All features on the console make sense, once you get the hang of using them. The pulse monitor is not the greatest, and the manual tells you the same. Use your own chest strap monitor if you are needing more accurate readings.
All in all, this is a good bike for a good price.

Awesome Exercise Bike
It could have been packaged better. The LED console had a piece broken off the side, it's still useable, but I didn't pay full price for a exercise bike with a broken console. The bike is very easy to assemble with little mechanical ability and as long as you follow the directions. I was very skeptical to buy this bike due to many other reviews, but those people either have no mechanical sense or don't know how to follow instructions. Some of the complaints in the reviews were burnt rubber smell. I have used it for a total of about 3-4 hours and have had no smell come from the machine. Another complaint was that the seat will not stay locked. After you have the seat in the desired position push down the lever until it is parallel with horizontal bar, all of this is in the instructions. Other complaints were that the resistance isn't what they expected, I'm in very good shape and I exercised for about 10 minutes on the highest resistance and had my heartrate up pretty high in no time. Would recommend this bike to anyone. Very good deal for the money.

I love this bike!
Man this bike is fun...well as fun as exercising can be. It rides smooth, it's comfortable for long rides, and it was easy to put together. I've used this bike more this week than I have used any of the equipment I've owned for years! Don't be stupid. Get one!

I Have Had This Bike For Years and Enjoy It Now More Than Ever For Low-Impact Exercise
So many of my friends have blown-out knees, something I certainly want to avoid by making wiser exercise choices. I am committed to consistent workouts and this is a good exercise option. I have a treadmill, elliptical, weights, you name it. When I get on this bike, it's low-impact exercise, doesn't stress me, and I get a good workout from it.

Recently I discovered bike-o-vision videos (DVDs) where you can travel down roads and highways, either on your exercise bike, your treadmill, elliptical, or any forward-moving machine. I've bought a dozen or so of them and it makes exercising on a machine like this so much fun! You can push yourself or, like me, go at a pace that is comfortable and non-competitive.

I've had this recumbent exercise bike for years now and have had no problems with it. I don't especially like it when a visitor changes the settings, but that's really not a big deal. You just change them back. It takes less than a minute. The recumbent bike works best for me because it exercises the parts of my legs that otherwise don't get exercise.

I recommend this product.

Burnt Rubber smell
If you don't ever plan on doing a hardcore workout on this bike then I suppose it would be ok. Took me a few weeks to get omfortable at a high resistance level. The 1st time I went over ten minutes at that high resistance at a steady and fast pace, there was a strong burnt rubber smell coming from the front where the wheels are.

Other than the smell...good bike. Buyer beware.

Good value for the money now that I've fixed it. Poor quality control.
I just took delivery of a Schwinn Active 10. While it is at the low end of the price scale for exercise bikes, initial impressions are not good regarding Schwinns quality control. Upon unboxing I immediately noticed that the main cover has an area on top, between the two upright tubes, where the paint is flaking off. I suspect that there was some grease on the plastic that prevented the silver paint from adhering properly. I decided that didn't warrant sending it back, so I continued the assembly only to find that the bike made a scraping noise once per revolution when being ridden. I decided to investigate rather than immediately sending it back and after removing the covers (easy after prying out the back inserts that surround the crank) found that the main crank gear is bent and rubs against the handlebar upright tube. A small amount of brute force to reshape it, and a slight loosing of the main bearing, and I now have a quiet bike. Operationally, the bike has everything I need, so I'll be keeping it as long as nothing else goes wrong. The controls are easy to use and I think that the 8 resistance settings more than enough. If you don't have the QC problems that I had, then this bike is good value for the money. 3/5 (would have been 4/5).

Great value for the money
This bike with six programs with varying resistance is a great value for the money. Bikes can cost 6 times as much as this one. It's easy to move around and takes up little space. Lest I forget, it is very easy to assemble. I think it took me 30 minutes and I took my time to do it.

Solid performer at affordable price
It's been a month now since i've been using this product so I decided to review it.
The bike was easy to assemble and I had it ready to go in about 20 minutes. On the downside the packing tape was sticked to the mechanism housing and upon removal the silver housing paint came off in few places but it's not something that i'm too concerned about.
Overall the bike is nice, doesn't take too much space and is easy to ride with a lot of programs to chose from.
The menu is somewhat difficult as others mentioned but after couple of times you'll be able to figure it out. Basicall you need to press menu once to pick with +/- buttons between programs then press the menu again to go into program and adjust the distance or time. Not really intuitive but can be done.

Now to the problems: as others mentioned, the seat is really uncomfortable. I do have regular outdoor mountain bike and I do ride it frequently. It doesn't have special comfortable seat, it's just your standard mountain bike narrow seat with minimal padding but that seat is much more comfortable than what the Schwinn stationary bike has. Schwinn's seat does feel OK when you're riding it and does not suggest what you will encounter once you get off the bike. I personally experience a rather sharp pain in my backbone rather than in the usual crotch place. I don't know if this is due to the fact that the rear portion of the seat is really wide or what but it is uncomfortable to get off the bike.

Second problem is that the bike has been squeacking from teh day one when you pedal. Now after a month it has diminished but when I let off the handle bars to have a drink of water or just to change the position for a while it starts squeaking again.
When it doesn't squeak the bike is really quiet.

Third, the display is really hard to read without a solid source of light. If you're riding after dusk you need to have source of light directly above the bike to be able to read display. This is a serious design flaw and i'm really disappointed in Schwinn for not thinking about this.

Lastly, it would be really good to have programmable weight as i'm suspecting that the calorie counter is not accurate. I'm an advanced biker but doubt that 45min of biking with hearth rate around 140 allows me to burn about 900 calories per bike's display.

Overall, I'm satisfied with this product as it absolutely covers my needs for stationary excercise but I'm giving it 4 stars as there are obvious imperfections that could be fixed.
That said, I would not hesitate to buy it again or recommend it to a friend with simmilar fitnes needs and no desire for too many bells and whistles.

Quiet, compact, and easy to assemble.
I didn't know how terrible I had it until I got this awesome exercise bike.

I just moved to a new apartment which could not fit my huge old exercise bike so I had to purchase a more compact one. Boy, I didn't know how loud my other bike was until I got this one! This is so quiet you can barely hear it. You can even use it early in the morning next to a room of sleeping children. (Which is what I do).

This bike was pretty easy to assemble and it is really easy to drag around and move room to room if you so wish. Just make sure you install the bottom legs correctly. (the part with wheels should go infront by the handlebars.)

This has several different workout programs and you can customize the duration for each and the awesome thing is you can make them as hard or as easy as you want because you can always manually adjust the tension. My old bike definitely could not do this and I paid at least 0 for it. And for those wondering if you'll get enough of a workout, trust me, you will. I regularly bike outdoors uphill and this exercise bike definitely gives me a workout.

Overall I am extremely happy with my purchase. I highly recommend to anyone looking to purchase. Don't be fooled by the price. This time, you get MORE than what you pay for.

A good bike for the price
I bought this bike last summer because I wanted a way to get exercise and lose some weight. So far, this bike has let me do both. I chose this bike based on other reviews and price. I know many people have exercise equipment sitting around their homes unused because their good intentions didn't have any staying power. Since I was unsure how seriously I was going to take my exercise program, I didn't want to sink a lot of money into a product that sat around unused. However, I didn't want to buy a piece of junk either. After reading reviews, this bike seemed a good compromise between price and quality. I have not been disappointed.

The bike was pretty easy to put together - I believe it took me about 45 minutes. The bike has several different resistance levels and exercise programs. Honestly, I just use one program, so the variety is wasted on me. The computer console measures speed, time, distance (in miles), and calories burned (there are a couple of other units of measure, but I don't worry about them.) I can set any of these factors to determine my exercise program. For example, I can set it for me to ride 30 minutes or to tell me when I burn off 500 calories. The programs change the intensity of the ride to make it harder and easier.

My main complaint is that occasionally on the hardest setting the pedal resistance feels like it is slipping. It also doesn't have a drink holder although it seems to indicate that it does.

Quiet, smooth and solid
Elliptical arrived in a timely manner. Husband put it together is a couple of hours over two evenings. It is extremely quiet and smooth in operation. I knew the control panel wasn't lighted before I bought it, and that is a problem at night, but one I can live with for the price. The programs are easy to figure out. Overall a good price for a solid piece of exercise equipment.

Recent concern, but still a great bargain.
I noticed some folks here have asked to hear from anyone who has used the Schwinn 430 for an extended period of time. I purchased this product in October 2008, so that's nearly a year and a half of use. I probably spend about a half hour on it six days a week, and I go about 210 lbs. So far no *major* problems. I will say however that there may be something to the squeeky issue that has been raised by some others.

First, I can recall that when I first assembled the unit there was a squeek where the arm-bars pivot on the main mast. (It may help to refer to a photo of the 430 as I try to describe various parts.) It was because I over-tightened the screws. After loosening a half turn, no squeek. So that's really a non-issue.

However, in the last month I've noticed a different problem. I started hearing a squeek, or more accurately a clicking noise in the lower half of the unit, along with a slight wobble, or bumpy feeling to what otherwise has been a very smooth range of motion. In fact, the smooth ride was one of the big improvements I had admired about this unit compared to another low-budget (Precor) unit I used to own.

I noticed that the 430's plastic wheels that run on the track had deposited a graphite-like powder build up, the depth of a few mm at the back of the track. It was easy to clear away and it did run smoother afterward. However, even then I am getting some of that wobble/squeek sensation that will begin to appear about half-way through my workouts.

In trying to decipher why, one thing I have noticed is that the feet plates are fairly wide and that I actually place my feet so they are as narrowly spaced as the plates allow. This means that my weight is not centered directly above the leg-bars that hold the foot-plates. If I space my stance farther apart, more centered directly above the leg bars, or outside them, the noise and slight wobbly effect is lessened. It's a bit awkward, but I have become more used to it with practice.

Still, I cannot find the direct source of the problem and I do worry that it signals a problem that will only worsen. My guess is that the weight distribution is torquing the joints a little bit, probably inside the casing that holds the flywheel. But I'm not going to open the case and poke around. I'm worried, but so far no catastrophes.

All in all, it has been a reliable product and a good value.

great quite machine, perfectly does its job, sold as described
I didn't do much research for buying this machine. I just started looking for an elliptical home exercise machine. And then found out on google that amazon has this machine, and over 400 people have already wrote review. Well, i read the reviews and decided that this is it. I usually take a long time to make a decision in purchasing the big ticket items. But, i decided about this machine within 45 minutes. I truested and liked the other folks who have used it and shared their experiences.

The machine is really quite (except for a few bearable squeaks) and the display is not bad at all. I can see the display without any problem. Usually I have the room light on when working out. Assembly was OK. It took about two hours between me and my wife putting it together. Make sure not to loose any washer, locker, or nuts. Schwinn did not a supply a sigle spare assembly nuts. The only thing that I wished that the machine had was a fan. I can turn the ceiling fan which works fine for me, but there may be other users who may not have the fan facility at the location where they want to put the machine. But, i will still recommend this machine to anyone. There are numerous options available for cooling off. The machine has flexible programming, it's up to individuals to choose whatever fits for them.

Best mid-priced elliptical out there
Our new Schwinn 430 arrived last night. The delivery company called me Tuesday to schedule a day for delivery and told me the driver would call an hour before arriving. We got hit with another snowstorm on the scheduled delivery date and the roads were becoming treacherous throughout the day. I received a call at work around 3:00 in the afternoon to let me know the lift had broken on the truck and the driver was running a little late, but I was assured he would be there between 4:00 and 5:00. The truck arrived at 4:30, despite the broken lift the very friendly driver brought the heavy package into our living room.

It took my husband and I about an hour and a half to assemble the elliptical. We did read the other reviews and bought some lithium grease before delivery. The directions were clear, and assembly was easy and straightforward. We both got on the machine just to try it. The machine was very smooth and very quiet.

I came home after work tonight and did my first workout on it. The machine was as solid and smoothe as the ellipticals at my gym, it kicked my butt. I wasn't expecting that intense of a workout on a home machine.

We researched and tried out many machines before deciding on this make and model. The Schwinn 430 feels solid, is well engineered, and has a small footprint. Awesome machine for the money!

Directions were missing pages
Over-all this product is great for the price and it does provide a good workout for people who are just starting to get back into shape. My problem with the product was the directions. I had pages from the English version missing so it was very hard to put together. I had to rely on the Spanish directions and French directions to put this equipment together. Being a single mom I really did not have time for this and was very frustrated. However, I did do my homework and found that reading past reviews that there was major problems with the equipment making squeaking noises. Luckily had no problem in that area. Do suggest to people to make sure that the pieces are properly lubed before assembly. I did try to call the company to get proper directions and was on hold several times for long periods of time. I even made sure I called in the right time zones. Long story short if you buy this product make sure you are prepared and read all the reviews first.