Our new home addition: Schwinn 270

Schwinn 270 Recumbent Bicycle

We have a new addition at our home. It's a Schwinn 270 recumbent exercise bicycle. It consistently ranks at or near the top of recumbent exercise bikes for seniors. We bought ours at Dick's Sporting Goods. The Schwinn 270 was listed for $799 but reduced to $599 everywhere we checked. Using a coupon, we received an additional $20 off the price. So we are sure we bought a reliable piece of equipment at a fair price.

We need it. In a previous post, I discussed the amount of walking my wife and I have been doing since the coronavirus ran us away from our gym, 24/7 Workout Anytime Cary. We were regulars there, using the treadmills, the recumbent bicycles, the ellipticals, the free weights, the weight machines, and everything else offered.

As seniors, we took advantage of the Silver Sneakers program through our health insurance policies and paid nothing; not a joining fee, not monthly dues. 24/7 invoiced the health insurance companies once a month for the number of days we visited. My wife went more than I because I play golf two or three days a week and walk the golf course, about 8,000 yards at Lonnie Poole Golf Course on the N.C. State University campus. At 24/7, we were regulars.

Schwinn 270 Control Panel

Until COVID-19 hit and the gym closed. It's still closed as of this writing even though part of Phase 2 in North Carolina is underway. The biggest news from that is about restaurants re-opening at 50 percent capacity with adequate table spacing. Gyms remain closed, but I doubt we would return anytime soon. I can't imagine adequate spacing of the equipment and for adequate aisle space to move about. And then there's all that airborne sweat.

We had pretty much dedicated our exercise to walking about five miles a day, but then came temporary foot issues which made it harder to keep up the daily jaunt around the neighborhood. We started searching the internet for an alternative and focused on recumbent bicycles which led us to the Schwinn 270 with lots of bells and whistles. And, that led us to Dick's Sporting Goods and the Schwinn 270.

The Schwinn 270 is very quiet. It has a built-in fan, the ability to increase resistance, and several built in programs. I prefer to set it on the second level of resistance and pedal away. It also has a heart monitor. We set it up in our office/bonus room. I had to put it together but the directions were clear, and I accomplished it in about two hours without saying one bad word. It's in front of the television. Watching anything on TV helps pass the time which for me is about 55 minutes, about 12 miles on the Schwinn 270.

We might return to street walking one day. We enjoy being outside. Or we might just stick to the recumbent bike, especially in the colder months, but it'll be a long time before we return to 24/7 Workout Anytime Cary. We like the management, the equipment and the nearby location, but, besides it not being open right now, we're just not sure our comfort level will allow us back. Maybe one day...maybe.