Sunny Health and Fitness Indoor Studio Cycle Pro Exercise
Sunny Health and Fitness Indoor Studio Cycle Pro Exercise Bike with 18 KG (40 Pound) Flywheel and Chain Drive – SF-B901
From the brand
See More Exercise Equipment
| Weight: | 48.08 Kilograms |
| Size: | Small |
| Dimensions: | 118.11 x 45.72 x 116.84 cm; 44 Kilograms |
| Brand: | Sunny Health and Fitness |
| Model: | SF-B901 |
| Colour: | Silver |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | Sunny Health & Fitness |
| Department: | Unisex Adult |
| Dimensions: | 118.11 x 45.72 x 116.84 cm; 44 Kilograms |
| Size: | Small |
Bought this 6 years ago. It’s done the job. I had to replace one of the pedals after 3 years of low to moderate use. And just last week, the connector for the crank snapped off and that’s been a pain. But 6 years ain’t too bad right? Other notes is it’s heavy as heck, and can be somewhat noisy
Likes – Easy to assemble, fast delivery, build quality overall is nice for the price, good size and feels sturdy when riding
Dislikes – The bearing in the bike sounds like it’s either worn out, not greased or installed improperly. You can hear and feel the vibration thru that bearing and I use to be a car mechanic so I know about noisy, worn out bearings. It almost feels like 1 ball is missing from the bearing or it’s loose and causing improper rotations but you can feel it. It’s smoother at higher speeds but low to mid speed you can definitely hear and feel it. I’m sure I got that 1 bad one but its a shame since everything else was perfect on the bike.
Not going to return a giant bike but would still recommend this bike to anyone looking in this range price.
I’ve put a lot of miles on this bike and it’s held up really well. We did have to replace the pedals but I can’t complain about that for the price of the bike and for how much use it’s gotten. Also, the flywheel sometimes squeaks and has to be lubricated but that’s easy to fix. The biggest drawback is really the pedals breaking but the bike was pretty inexpensive and I do use it a lot. I used to have a commercial grade spin bike and I think this Sunny is just as good. Very happy with this product. No bells and whistles – very basic for a good spin workout.
So smooth to ride, not the noise that other reviews report, I did have the service that assembled it which was great.
From the moment I touched it, my expectations have been exceeded. The box is a combination of heavy (115 lbs.) and large rectangular box which made it difficult for a single person to carry. I recommend that you be prepared to have two healthy people available to carry this to it’s expected resting place from where it is delivered. I work out and believe I am fairly strong but this package humbled me.
I set it up in two spurts of approximately 15-20 minutes each. Total time is probably around 30 minutes. Each and every part on this bike, including the “travel” blocks which can be thrown away, are extremely heavy and well built. Solid steel (I assume) and painted if not stainless steel. If this were a real bike you would not make it very far. But once I got it set up and hopped on, it took a few minutes to make the appropriate adjustments to get the seat and handle bars to where they felt comfortable. I was a bit disappointed that you have to take the adjustment knobs completely out in order to make the adjustments but each and every knob and adjustment piece are very heavy and sturdy. Even the seat and handlebars seem extremely well built and of high quality. The fly wheel is heavy and looks pretty flashy. There is not a single item on the bike that seems like a corner was cut. Even the instructions use full sized pages, are clear and were easy to follow. The only item that I wasn’t quite sure about were the pedal nuts that came attached to the pedals and not on the base of the bike like the picture seemed to suggest. This bike seems NOTHING like any other Chinese manufactured item I have ever purchased and I seem to buy quite a few things from overseas. Mostly electronics though and in that space what could be metal is typically plastic. Not the case with this bike. What could be plastic seems to be metal.
I test rode the bike for ~5 minutes or so with the tension as high as possible where I could still get to a good speed and I was able to get heated up to the point where I was about to start sweating. There were a few small noises that prevented the bike from being near silent but everything seemed to be installed correctly (both what I assembled and what came pre-assembled).
In addition to the next Winter season, I plan to use this bike most days while I’m on conference calls via Teams, Zoom, WebEx, etc.. At some point, I plan to follow a few hacks from another review to add a tachometer/odometer and a few other bells and whistles.
I HIGHLY recommend this bike if you’ve been thinking about getting a well built but basic stationary bike and you’re able to get it at a good price. At least a price that is good for you.
As someone who has been stuck at home without a form of exercise (other than listening to tunes and dancing like a muppet in the kitchen) this bike is doing it for me.
If you want a professional A-grade spin bike like a Pelo- or Eche-, don’t get this one. HOWEVER, if you are like me and want to move your legs, get a good sweat on and have the option to keep up with spin videos, this is the bike for you. It doesn’t have magnetic breaks so there is a slight smokey-burney smell when I’m catching momentum from the friction – I can say that my out-of-breath butt does not notice it anymore.
It does not have a bottle holder or holder for your phone/device but those are easy accessories to buy on the side.
Assembly looked daunting until I realized that they set you up for success in that respect – a lot pre-assembled + easy to follow instructions + tools come with.
Bottom line, if you are an amateur but feel the urge to move and sweat during these ‘unprecedented’ times AND have a limited budget ($550-600 vs $3000) I strongly recommend you consider this bike so your neighbors will cease laughing at your dance moves through the kitchen window (*ahem*).
____________________
SO! A month into use and I noticed a high-pitched singing coming from the bike. I bought some WD-40 and did some lubing around the flywheel. Singing gone. Just a tip for anyone worried about noise.
Otherwise, it is doing well with daily use!
__________________________
Three month update:
Still going strong. I’ve used WD-40 on the fly wheel and bolts every few weeks and it eliminates the mild whistling.
I’m a little miffed that the price went down +$100 since I purchased but I suppose I bought it during the New-Years-resolution window where everyone is pressured into buying exercise equipment, oh well.
Si la usan para ejercicio cardio o spining, la recomiendo 100%, ya que puede aguantar a una persona de 1.63cm y un peso de 86kg.
La entrega excelente, en tiempo y forma. En su caja original, bien empacada y nueva. Sin detalles en la caja y en la bici.
La adquiri a un buen precio siendo excelente para relacin precio-calidad.
Por lo demas fue muy facil de armar y viene con todas las piezas y herramientas para armar la bicicleta, la he usado por 6 meses y esos han sido los unicos temas que le he encontrado, por todo lo demas es muy buen producto a un buen precio
2. Armar la bicicleta realmente fue sencillo el manual est muy claro e incluye la llave que se necesita para el armarla as como repuestos, en el caso del asiento le en varias reseas que se mova, creo que es cuestin de poner atencin a las indicaciones del manual porque si tiene su tcnica para que quede correctamente.
3. Llego en perfectas condiciones y est muy bonita.
4. En cuanto a la medida mido 1.66m y peso 67 kg, mi esposo mide 1.89 y pesa 110 kg se ajusta a la medida de ambos.
En mi caso considero que es importante seguir correctamente las indicaciones para armarla para que quede firme y no tengan problemas con el equipo, estoy muy contenta con la compra lo considero un excelente equipo.
Ahora bien con respecto a esta versin les comento mi percepcin; es un equipo realmente construido con materiales de calidad mismos que encontraras en equipos con el doble o triple del costo. No es un equipo lujoso, ni “detallitos coquetos”; pero si cumple perfectamente su funcin y lo hace bastante bien.
Creo que una de sus ventajas es precisamente esa sencillez, porque te permitir ajustarlo a ts necesidades, aadiendo lo que requieras, cmo sensores, ciclo computador, accesorios, etc., es muy verstil.
El valor costo-beneficio es realmente excelente; a mi me costo menos de $ 8,600 (pesos mexicanos), la vi disponible y al darle comprar me hizo un ajuste en el precio y en eso me sali; creo que tuve suerte. La compr el pasado 7 de Julio y lleg el 10 de Julio, slo 3 das.
PROS:
* Robusta y buenos materiales de construccin
* Mantenimiento sencillo y rpido
* Configurable a ts necesidades
* Excelente relacin costo-beneficio
CONTRAS:
* Asiento un tanto incmodo (nada grave, creo que es la falta de construmbre)
* Quizs para algunos muy muy muy sensibles al ruido prefieran la versin de banda (para m no es nada molesto, creo que hago ms ruido con mi respiracin en los springs )
Si ests pensando en comprar una bicicleta esttica, seas o no profesional (yo no lo soy) esta es una excelente opcin.
Anexo un par de fotos de como llega y de cmo qued, ms adelante les comparto cuando tenga instalados los sensores Garmin que ped para complementar mi equipo.
Espero les sirva mi comentario. Saludos.
UPDATE … A few weeks into it and I figured I’d leave an update. I am loving this bike! It is awesome!!! I’ve seen some of these reviews and no it doesn’t have a water bottle holder and it doesn’t have a calorie counter. If you’re looking for a fancy schmancy bike then go buy a Peloton. Or read the information before you purchase it. Don’t worry about how many calories you’re burning Just get on it and ride and have fun 🙂
Anyway if you’re a real biker (I mean biking outside) you don’t need a calorie counter. Just have fun! I found that I didn’t like the spin classes but I did find something else that I liked on YouTube even better. Garmin makes a ton of videos. It’s someone actually biking around with a GoPro on the helmet in the Italian Alps, German countryside, England, Hawaii. Wherever you want to go. So it actually feels like you’re out there on a real bike ride. I’ve been doing this for approximately 3 weeks now. I love it and I’ve lost the 7 lbs that I put on because of the Covid lockdown. I’m a very athletic person. I either like to ride my bike outside or go to a gym three four times a week. But since that’s not happening, I found the new love of my life and it’s my Sunny bike!!!
It was very easy to put together, and I’m kind of a mechanical klutz. Unless you’re really, really a mechanical klutz, I can’t see any reason to pay for the “expert assembly” Amazon offers. Most of it was already assembled. All I had to put on was the handlebar assembly, the seat and seat post assembly, and the front and rear cross-pieces of the floor stand.
I got the one with the chain instead of the one with the belt (SF-B901 vs. the SF-B901b, I think) because it was $30 less at the time. An important thing to note about this, which some people might view as a negative: It turns out that the chain needs weekly oiling, according to the manual (my guess is that it doesn’t need oiling quite that often unless you use the bike much more heavily than I do), and apparently the only way to do that is to take off the plastic chain cover, which has 14 screws that hold it together over the chain and sprocket wheels. It’s not too hard, but it took me 20 minutes. There’s a shorter piece of the cover on the inside of the front which is attached only to the outer piece. It will fall off and it takes a little bit of dexterity to get it repositioned when you put the cover back over the chain, but I did it, and like I said, I’m kind of a mechanical klutz. Also as the manual says, the resistance pads will need weekly lubricating with a silicone-based spray lubricant or they will start squeaking. This is kind of messy – the first time I thought I had to take the pads completely off, and that was pretty difficult. Since then I’ve just been spraying them between the rim and the pad as they’re on the assembly. The lubricant will drip down the rim of the flywheel – I hold a paper towel under the pad and then wipe the rim, and make sure I have something covering the floor when I do that.
FINAL UPDATE:
Since the process outlined below, the customer service department did, in fact, send me out the replacement part free of charge, and I installed it with no problem and the bike now functions fine. As long as no other parts break, I can confidently recommend this bike.
(And no, the company did not ask me to do anything with regards to this review. To my knowledge they’re not even aware of its existence.)
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I’ve had the chance to use this bike for a few weeks now, and while it has generally seemed to be okay enough quality, during my workout this morning the left pedal’s bearing (which allows the pedal to rotate on its shaft, allowing you to pedal) broke… and now the pedal sticks, making the entire bike all but unusable.
The bike has less than 10 hours of use on it.
Maybe it’s just a fluke (every supplier has the occasional bad part now and again), but now we’re going to see what this company is really made of:
I am going to contact the company’s customer service and we’ll see if they stand behind their product and send me a replacement part, or if they give me trouble. This company is either about to shine, or go down in flames.
Either way, I will be updating this review! We’ll see!
UPDATE #1:
The pedal broke on Thursday. I call didn’t get a chance to call the customer support phone number until Saturday. No answer, then a recording saying they are only open Monday-Friday 9-5. Oof. Well that’s a bad sign.
Okay, waiting until Monday I guess.
UPDATE #2.
Monday: I wait until after noon (since I’m ET and they’re PT) and call. A woman answers and expresses the deepest regret that this could possibly happen! Please take a *screenshot of your Amazon account order confirmation* (???) and email it to our support staff along with the part number you need replaced. Uhhh, okaayyy… Took the screenshot, emailed it in, along with the dates I ordered (which they can see from the screenshot), my mailing address (which they can see from the screenshot), and the part number (which I had to find the manual to look up).
Several hours later, email back from customer service, “Oh, we also need the serial number.” Thankfully I’m off of work today and at home. Okay… go down to the basement, take a picture of the serial number label, email them back with the number and the picture of the label.
[… another several hours …]
Another email from customer service, saying “we’re happy to mail you the part under warranty… please just confirm your mailing address, and we’ll get you the tracking!” Uh, I already did that… it was both on Amazon order screenshot you made me take and I also wrote in the email, “please ship the replacement part to …”. Okay, so I email back, again, re-confirming the mailing address and asking when the part will ship. This is at 3pm PT.
No response for the rest of the day. I guess I’m waiting some more.
Update 5/4/2019: I’m writing what I hope will be my final review on this product after receiving my replacement bike in March this year. I’ve had some time now to put the replacement bike through it’s paces and to get a good feel for it’s strengths and weaknesses. The first thing I checked, upon putting it together, was whether the frame was level this time. I literally took a level to almost every part of the bike, and this one was true. That was a relief after my last experience. Also, I’ve no longer been experiencing the back pain or knee pain caused by the previous bike with the crooked seat post tube on the frame.
That said, I’m sticking with the four stars, because the rest of my quibbles still apply – except the part about the crooked seat post, obviously. You can read about what I liked and what I didn’t like in my original review below. Despite my rather lengthy list of minor quibbles, it’s still a nice bike for the price and I don’t regret getting it.
Summary: It’s a good bike, and I like it. I plan to hang onto it and continue to use it as an indoor training bike during the bad weather months, or when I just don’t have time for road rides. There’s something immensely convenient about just hopping onto a bike in your own home, but not nearly as enjoyable as a road ride, of course. If you want a really inexpensive but very capable fitness bike, this is a great option. If you want something that’s quiet (and has a water bottle holder!), you should probably expect to spend a little more money and go for a belt-driven model with magnetic resistance. I might do that someday – we’ll see.
Speaking of which, in the original review below I mentioned that I would probably not consider a Sunny Health and Fitness bike again due to the quality issues with the first bike. Well, after my great customer service experience and receiving a solid replacement bike, that has all changed. If the time comes for me to consider a new fitness bike, Sunny with be at the top of my list. They didn’t have to replace my bike since it wasn’t under warranty anymore. I should have noticed the issue earlier on, but I didn’t because I used it so little initially. It seems that there are very few companies anymore that will stand by their products the way Sunny did with theirs. As a consumer, I appreciate that very much.
*************************************************
Original review (make sure to read the updates and summary too)…
I bought this bike after undergoing a pretty significant surgery back in 2016. I’m an avid cyclist and wanted a machine that could at least help me accomplish some minor workouts during my recovery. Since my original intent was for a temporary solution, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money. This bike seemed to be the perfect solution based on the reviews.
When I got the bike, I was genuinely amazed at the build quality for the price. If you’re old enough to remember those exercise bikes from the 80s that were completely flimsy and had a weird friction wheel adjustment that yielded an awkward pedal stroke as you added resistance…well, this bike is the complete opposite. It’s heavy, solid, and has an extremely smooth and realistic ride quality. The 40 lb flywheel is great, probably contributing to the ride smoothness and quality. Assembly was incredibly easy, and the fit and finish (at least initially) appeared to be quite good. There were no scratches in the paint and the joint welds and build materials were solid. It also just looks nice with the chrome finish on the flywheel and the nice paint job. I was really happy with the bike.
My only quibbles, until recently, were minor.
– First, it’s noisy. I expected this based on the reviews, and it wasn’t an issue for me since I use it in the basement away from the rest of the house. I’d prefer it to be quieter, of course, but I can live with a little noise for the price. If you’re in a shared living space or have sleeping kids nearby, the noise might be more of an issue for you.
– Next, there’s no water bottle cage on the frame or cradle on the handle. I have to keep a TV tray next to the bike to hold my bottle. Again, not a deal-breaker, but it seems like a bit of an oversight for a piece of fitness equipment.
– The handlebars and seat post are bit wobbly, even when fully tightened. But, it’s not a terrible wobble and I got used to it pretty quickly.
– Next, the tension settings are inconsistent because the felt pads will wear or come out of adjustment when the brake is applied. Because of this, it’s harder to find consistent gearing/resistance when you’re trying to follow along with a fitness video. Installing a cadence meter and bike computer helped me with that to a degree.
– In order to do chain maintenance, there are quite a few screws that need to be removed on the chain guard. It seems more time consuming that it needs to be, but the chain is soundly protected.
– My biggest annoyance is the seat attachment. I replaced the factory seat with something nearly identical to my road bike saddle, but such a task was not as easy as it should be. It’s hard to explain, but the short story is that there are a lot of moving parts when attaching the seat compared with a standard bike. So, trying to fix the seat wobble or fine-adjust my saddle position was more cumbersome and eventually resulted in a stripped bolt. That should be easy enough to replace at the hardware store, but it’s an annoyance if you like to quickly fine-adjust your saddle orientation. I really have nothing good to say about the way the seat attaches to the bike, especially compared with road or mountain bike seat attachments, which are far easier.
So, by now you’re probably wondering why I gave this bike two stars instead of three, four, or even five. Well, I’ve recently renewed my use of this bike as a trainer due to a tighter schedule and bad winter weather conditions. However, as I bumped up the intensity of my training, I hurt my back while riding my bike and was trying to figure out why. As I looked at the bike, I realized that while the bike itself was level, my seat was at an angle to one side of the bike. It wasn’t just the seat itself, it was the entire post assembly. In order to level the seat, I had to raise the entire right side of the bike about a half inch by adjusting the bike’s foot pads. So, now the seat is level but the rest of the bike is at an awkward angle — a half-inch angle! This orientation has taken the strain off of my back, but it is now bothering my knee since the pedals are also at an angle (along with the handlebars).
Regrettably, after looking at the Sunny Health and Fitness website, my bike is no longer under warranty, so there’s probably little, if anything, I can do about it. I did open an online claim anyway, in the off chance that the company might do something. But, I’m not holding my breath. In the meantime, I’ll be looking for a different training bike option, but it probably won’t be a Sunny Health and Fitness bike. My experience may be a fluke, based on all the other positive reviews, but I don’t know that I’m willing to take the chance on another at this point. Had it not been for this issue, which is very significant since I’ve had quite a bit of pain and several trips to the chiropractor, I would have been willing to give the bike a much better review since I otherwise genuinely like it.
Bought the Sunny spin bike in late September and use it 2-3 times a week quite vigorously. Here are a couple tips from a former bike mechanic and spinning instructor that may help extend the life of your bike.
1. Lubricate all the friction points, include brake cable inserts, brake arm mounts, all bolts and screws, tension knob threads, with tri-flow lubricant prior to riding and periodically thereafter—I do mine once a month.
2. Use bike grease on the slider components such as the seat post, handlebar insert and saddle insert. This will make it easy to adjust and prevent seizing.
3. Check the torque of all bolts and screws (use a driver) either with a tension wrench, or barring that, a socket wrench and appropriate metric sockets and allen sockets. Refer to Sunny customer support for torque specs, or if you’re comfortable, do it by feel–basically, you don’t want play in the pedal arms nor looseness (or over torque, for that matter) in the bolts and screws.
4. GREASE the pedal threads prior to installing your SPDs or regular pedals. Don’t overtighten the pedal. they should be on solidly (use a pedal wrench) or at least a good box wrench and give them a balanced tightening so that they’re really on there, BUT DON’T overdo it! Crank arms are easily strippable.
5.Grab each crank arm and pull side to side and check for any play. There shouldn’t be. If there is, flip the dust cap off and tighten the crank arms with a socket to the manufacturer’s specs. *I don’t know what the specs are, check with CS, or, if you’ve worked on your own bikes, torque a bit at a time until the play or wiggle is gone.
6. Lubricate the felt brake pads with silicon based lube periodically. I do mine every week. Wipe down the flywheel after each use. I haven’t had to lubricate the chain on my bike yet, but I think it’s probably a good idea. Just haven’t taken the chain guard off yet.
7. Check tightness of knobs, screws, bolts regularly. tighten and re-lube as necessary. Take the tension off the flywheel after each ride. In short, take care of the bike with regular light maintenance and it should be fine.
For 15+ years I have used my road bike indoors on a magnetic bike trainer stand, and I can state by my experience this exercise bike feels much like my bike on the trainers, or on the road, but I gain 2′ of space back in my exercise room (this is about 2′ shorter in length than a bicycle on a trainer).
This is an excellent indoor cycling bike, it has the same basic features of exercise bikes costing 4+ times as much, excluding electronics of course, but if you have a smart phone or tablet and a bicycle phone handlebar mount, you can access peloton-quality training apps and videos for little to no money through the app store or online videos. I use a bicycle phone handlebar mount with my smartphone and run a cycling app for a program to follow and use a metronome to keep my cadence steady.
The adjustments on this bike include seat and handlebar, for me, 5’10” male, I can adjust the seat (height and distance from the pedals) and handlebar height to a close duplicate of my road bike. If you ride a cruiser or mountain bike, you will have to get use to road-style handlebars, but this style handlebar is on most stationary bikes. You can also set the seat position to that of a cruiser with a more upright position closer to the handlebars.
The seat is like any road bike seat, to the novice it is hard and uncomfortable – like they are meant to be, but you can install a different seat or wear padded cycling shorts for comfort. I personally like the seat, it is not too different from my race and road bike seats. The seat has a double rail system for adjustment, just like a road bike seat and can be positioned for your comfort. Note: make sure the tongue of the seat is level with the floor, so you do not lean forward placing too much weight on your hands when riding or lean back too far causing unnecessary pressure leading to pain between the legs. Also, be sure to tighten the seat bolts thoroughly, then keep the tools out to retighten it after a few rides – just like any bicycle.
As mentioned, there are no electronics, you can simply use your personal heart rate monitor and app to log your workout.
If you look at the highly advertised stationary bikes with electronics packages, you’ll note this bike has the same brake pad tension control system. I was very skeptical of the pads but found it to work great. Each time I get on the bike I adjust the tension so it feels like I am on a flat street riding on the road, then use 1/8 to 1/4 turns of the tension knob to loosen the tension for spinning or tighten the tension for that climbing feel.
The heavy flywheel on this bike makes for a smooth ride. Note: if you are spinning fast, use the braking mechanism when you stop pedaling, or slowly stop, the flywheel with no tension on it likes to keep moving and may lift you to a standing position quickly.
My only complaint, and if you have thinner thighs you might not notice, but my inner thighs can rub on the square seat post which is square for stability instead of round as on a bicycle, so it is a bit larger than a bike’s, but quality cycling shorts about mid-thigh length make that touch less noticeable once I get going.
Some reviews speak of noises, when tightening the tension, you will hear some rubbing sound from the pads and friction on the fly wheel, but the sound lessens with time and wear. One review mentioned a thumping sound with each rotation, I had that once with a tight tension and slow cadence, after a few revolutions and pedaling at a higher (60 rpm) cadence, the sound disappeared. My wife’s office is in the next room and she cannot hear a thing when I am on the bike (other than me grunting when I sprint or set the tension for steep a climb).
There are no drink holders, I ordered a double water bottle holder with a saddle or seat mount for about $20, I have one of these on my randonneuring bike. You could also order a handlebar mount drink holder.
All in all, this is working out to be an awesome purchase and does exactly what I need it to do. I am really enjoying the ride and it does not feel like exercise (but I love cycling).
Sunny Health & Fitness Pro Indoor Cycling Bike
This bike is so comfortable for me to use as I stay on it longer than I stay on my mobile bike. I can adjust the resistance so it’s more muscle building rather than the lower resistance for those looking to lose weight. You can adjust the resistance to your own liking. The one issue I had was not the bike seat, but the petals where it has straps you stick your feet in with your shoes on. I realized that’s never gonna work for me as my foot doesn’t fit in it, so I just flipped the pedals around so the strap is in the other direction and it works perfectly.
This bike is very heavy in the box. The base for this is definitely strong and solid. Doesn’t move around as you bike. I feel bad for whoever is having to deliver these things, but I’m sure they’re used to it and have hand trucks. I wasn’t home when it was delivered so it was by my mailboxes. My unit is down the walkway in the back and up the stairs. The box recommends you have two people move this thing. I didn’t have that luxury, but still managed to do it somehow solo. I’m considered super fit and athletic, yet even I couldn’t lift this thing. Luckily there were straps around the box, so I used those as handles and rolled it like a wheel barrow down the walk way to my unit slowly, then up the stairs carefully. That was the hardest part of all this. It did zero damage as the bike unit is tightly packed and nothing was shuffling around. It all looked great and in tact once I opened the box upstairs.
I read the instructions carefully before I started. You open the box on one end then roll it right side up and pull the box up leaving the bike firmly planted on the floor. It took 30 minutes to carefully pull all the parts out and place them around the area I was going to put this together. It then took another 30 minutes to put the bike together. After that, I was off and biking with no problem. The front has wheels, which makes it pretty light for me to move from room to room if and when I need to.
This bike is $500 on the Sunny Health website, but I was lucky enough to find it on Amazon for $200, which is a steal for a stationary bike that also helps build muscle. The other bikes below that price were more basic and strictly for those trying to lose weight, which I’m not. I’m 5’7″ and 150 lbs. Keep all of the tools and instructions somewhere handy in case you ever have to re-tighten anything on the bike. Things move and become loose like any other exercise equipment.
As far as noise, nothing too major except a gliding sound of the wheels moving, just like my own mobile bike though. I noticed that the stronger the resistance I use for strength building, then the noisier the bike gets, but once again nothing too major. It does vibrate as you’re biking, but when you’re exercising you are going to making some kind of noise. That’s just the way it is. All in all I’m happy with this bike and have had no major issues. If I ever do, then I’ll come back and revise this, so you’re aware.
The only problems we had with the bike were with the screw on the tension knob on one. The bolt became a bit stripped and we had to order another one. The other issue with another one was with the brakes squeaking after about 8 months. This can happen if you don’t “oil” the flywheel periodically because the brakes get dried out. A bit of treadmill oil on the flywheel fixed this immediately. We service the bikes bi-weekly, and that involves tightening the bolts on the seats (just to make sure they stay put) and just doing a check on all the bolts and moveable parts. But again, keep in mind that these bikes get literally hundreds of hours a month, so that minuscule amount of service is -wonderful-!
If you’re looking for a cost-effective, very dependable bike, you should definitely consider purchasing one of these. Absolutely worth it!
Pros
Low cost
Very easy assembly
Sturdy, solid construction
Minimal maintenance needed
Very easy to move (we move these puppies a lot – even outside)
Shipping was quick (and cheap – Yay Prime!)
Cons
The brakes may squeak a bit after a while. This is resolved by oiling the flywheel periodically. (You should do this with any spin bike and make sure the tension is released after riding to ensure they don’t dry a bit and squeak.
This bike is really good for the price. It’s solid when I ride, and decently emulates riding a mountain bike or road bike. If you’re looking for an upright, home or gym style exercise bike, this one probably isn’t for you. If you’re looking for a rainy day trainer, or are living in a city that isn’t bike friendly (like me), this is a good fit. For a stationary bike geared towards people who go out on their road or mountain bike, it lacks the level of customization a normal bike has in its standard adjustments. However, you should be able to get close enough for light riding (<80miles per week), unless you're shorter than 5'6" (168cm). Short people will probably be unhappy with the handlebar thing. Also, if you spend much time on it, you'll probably want to replace the seat, but seats are such a personal taste that it's inevitable that any one seat style would make almost everyone unhappy. So in conclusion, it's not perfect, and it won't suit a decent number of people, but it's what I was looking for. It feels like I'm riding a weird wind-less road bike that I'm not used to. And at the price point, I'm quite happy.
The Good:
Solid construction, decent feel when riding (only have rode ~15 min).
Packing was good.
Easy to put together (if you can read English OR follow Lego/Ikea instructions, you're set)
It came with tools that are probably better than Home Depot's Christmas special tools.
Fits both me and my wife alright (5'9 male, 5'2"female)
The handlebars have both mountain bike bar, and a road bike like style w/ arms resting along the bars.
I like that it has a stop button to stop the flywheel when you're on low/no resistance.
The Bad:
The handlebars should adjust in and out, not the seat. It's fine for me, but my wife can't use the road bike like stance because she can't get the bars close enough for her short arms. Even the mountain bike stance is a little too far forward for the usual stance; she's sort of stuck between a flat road bike stance and an upright mountain bike stance.
I feel that the seat moving in and out doesn't work well; I think 3 of the 5 settings will put most people too far forward above the pedals.
I wish the seat had more incline/decline settings; I prefer a level that's between two settings. I believe I'll probably grab a replacement piece when I grab a new seat/saddle.
Other things:
It came with tools that I didn't use for initial construction...Odd. one of the pictures shows these along with the bolts and tubes I tossed.
It also came with some bolts and tubes that were only for shipping...nice stuff to be tossing into the trash.
Some Styrofoam adhered to the frame, and there were some loose zip ties that came undone during shipping. No harm done.
The seat is weird; the padding is too soft and mushy for a real bike saddle. It's also not soft enough to keep non-cyclist's happy. So neither me nor my wife are happy with it. Luckily, this is replaceable.
It may be that I haven't rode anything for a year, but it feels as if the crank arms are set an inch wider than a normal bike, so my feet feel that they're in a wider stance. Not bad, just odd, but that may just be me.
You'll probably want help moving the box, and putting the feet on during construction, but I managed just fine by myself (25 year old male that used to be in good shape).
Sobre la bicicleta:
– Tard menos de 1 hora en armarla sin requerir herramientas ya que vienen incluidas.
– Ya armada tiene sopoertes muy slidos lo cual mejora la experiencia del workout.
– La altura del asiento, manublio y resistencias son sencillas de operar lo que facilita que sea un equipo que se pueda compartir.
– No incluye ningn display de ejercicio, pero con un monitor de ritmo cardiaco es suficiente para medir tu esfuerzo.
– Su agarre al suelo es configurable, por lo que si estas en un piso algo irregular, an puedes ajustarlo para que est bien pegada al suelo.
En general se ve un producto de muy buena calidad, resistente (peso arriba de 100kg), compacto y facil de instalar y usar.
We received it on June 27 put it together, as promised in about 30 minutes. This did not include the time we took to make two customizations to the bike. We changed out the pedals and the saddle.
The pedal that came with the bike is fine if you do not want cleats. We actually reused the basket that came with the original petals because we deemed it to be of high quality. We wanted Cleats so we purchased (from Amazon) the Shimano PD-M324 Clipless/Clip Pedals. These are the SPD style dual surface pedals, one side accepts cleats, and the other side uses the basket. One issue with reusing the basket, it does block the screw used to adjust the cleat binding lock, this was not a problem for us, but you may wish to consider finding a basket intended to be paired with the PD-M324 pedals.
The saddle, which can be purchased from Amazon, that we chose, is the Bell Recline 800 Seat. We have now 3 hours of combined Spin on the bike with this seat and find it to be very comfortable. One additional note about the seat, If you have never installed one, the seat is separate from the saddle clamp, the one that comes with the Sunny is of inferior quality, when I removed it from the existing seat, the threads and bolts showed signs of rust. I am not terribly mechanical and so I took Sunny Seat Post, new saddle and existing saddle clamp to my local bike shop, they used some of the clamp and replaced some of the parts. I came home with an attached seat, made the final adjustments and re-installed it on the Sunny
To solve the problem of no water bottle holder we hung a water bottle holder very similar to the “Cool Stuff Neoprene Carrier – 32oz” by Nalgene. We attached it with a single zip tie to the center of the handlebar.
As for the lack of computer technology: we are using the cycle in conjunction with Studio Sweat ONDEMAND spin classes, they use the spinner cycles which also does not include a monitor and (so far) we find the lack of the monitor for cadence, heart rate and wattage manageable. There are solutions that we have researched but not tried. You may wish to consider the Polar watch FT3 or FT7 for heart rate only. If you want cadence and heart rate AND you have a smart phone, you may consider a solution from WAHOO. If you don’t have a smart phone you may also consider bontrager node 1.1 along with the cadence sensor from Wahoo and a heart rate sensor that is compatible. Bottom line adding technology to this bike is possible, but complicated.
We are extremely happy with our choice and have given it a 5 star rating. My wife is 66 inches tall and I am 69 inches tall. The cycle adjusts perfectly for each of us. The chain system is quiet and we cannot hear it over the streamed class. We are extremely happy with the pedal stroke, it feels natural and we prefer it to the feel of the Keiser M3. We hope this helps you in making a decision, home exercise equipment is extremely personal, and you must consider everything, for us this specific Sunny was our best choice and we plan on purchasing a second one.
UPDATE November 15 2015: Just wanted you to know we have used this bike for a while now and it has continued to work as it should. The only wear&tear so far is that the white arrow on the resistance knob has been completely erased from constant cleaning. (we behave as if we were at a gym and use hygene wipes on it after each use). The bike has definitely held up and in fact we bought a second one, this time from AMAZON. it is much newer but it arrived in perfect condition. OH the second time I was actually successful in changing out the saddle clamp on the replacement seat.
the bike is in principle fine. arrived in good time, was easy to assemble. It’s stable even when going hard on it. I also do not like too much technology on these bikes. The simpler the better so less can break or go wrong. This one is bare bones. But VERY heavy duty built. cranks, pedals etc. all build tough so I expect this bike to last. so all that is good. The problem is had was this: you have to screw two pedals into the cranks. the left one fit in very nicely and hasn’t budged. The right one did not really fit into the arm from the beginning. It kind of fit but I did feel that it wasn’t really right. It held up anyway at least for a while but over time started to get just a little bit wobbly, then more wobbly as I was using the bike and finally after now about a year of fairly regular use, came out completely and you can’t put it back in because it turns out the threading of the crank is gone. So now I have two problems, the pedal that isn’t the right one (btw, I checked the left pedal and it is actually a slightly different pedal so something was wrong from the start here). and a crank that needs to be replaced as well because the thread is gone. I will see if I can get these replacements and update later. But at the moment I am very unhappy that I was send a bike with two different pedals one of which ruined my bike.
Feb. 12 Update: I contacted amazon. They were very generous, suggested I return for exchange even though time limit for exchanges was exceeded. I did not want to go through that hassle so I managed to contact the manufacturer Sunny Health&Fitness. They were extremely easy and good to deal with. They shipped out the replacement parts the same day (but from California to Canada always takes a while). I fixed the bike myself and amazon refunded me for the new parts. Very happy with the bike, amazon, and Sunny.
Why? Because this bike is a great investment for the money. At $260 these days it seems like you can barely get a set of resistance bands when you’re trying to buy gym equipment but somehow you can get this high quality bike. The bike is mostly made of metal. You don’t realize that until it is delivered and you feel for the guy who had to lug all 100lb out of his truck. The only plastic you will find other than where expected is the chain cover guard and even that is high quality and fits in with the rest of the bike. If you’re concerned about the weight and moving it around, once the bike is assembled the designers were smart enough to put the roller wheels on the side with the fly wheel. Lifting the bike and rolling it out of the way is a cinch.
So you have this all metal bike that cost barely anything, you figure they must have cut corners in some other way, right? But I can’t find any way that they did! The bike has a 40lb flywheel, where many others skimp on this for their lower range models. The chain while isn’t dead silent like some belt bikes, is barely noticeable and not at all noticeable with music in the background. As I mentioned before, we sit on this bike and read and are not distracted at all. So if they didn’t skimp there, you probably think they skimped on the pedals or the seat and I can assure you they did not. The pedals are rugged and the straps that wrap around your shoe are high quality. If you’re someone who prefers their own pedals, it should be a piece of cake to use them. We are not big people but we go hard when we bike and the pedals hold up to it without rocking the bike heavily as some other models I’ve used in the gym do. The seat is changeable but I actually like the one they provided. It’s solid and doesn’t look like it will fall apart with much use. Obviously comfort is a personal matter but I find it quite comfortable.
So if everything is so high quality and well done, how can they possibly sell it for so little? Well there are a few downsides out of the box. For one, there is no computer on it. To some, this might not be an issue but I like to have something to “track” my progress. To rectify this, I bought a Cat Eye Velo 9, also from Amazon (<$20) and attached it to the handle bars. Attaching the sensor was a piece of cake as well as the wheel element is magnetic and sticks to the fly wheel perfectly and the computer sensor I was zip tied to the chain guard. You will need longer zip ties than what come in the package or you will have to double them up. I set the tire size to 18" and I was off and running. The other downside to the bike was no water bottle holder. I picked up a standard bike water bottle attachment the other day and zip tied that to the frame as well. Now the bike is perfect with only a minor investment on top.
As there are already hundreds of reviews saying similar things, I’ll stick to the important stuff:
* Yes, extremely, extremely heavy. I apologized to my UPS man four times as he struggled up the stairs to my third floor condo. He gasped only, “Please don’t return it.”
* Heavy is good. Rock solid construction, all metal except chain guard.
* Assembled in fifteen minutes. Hardest part was lifting front end to attach base. I guess all the complaints about the pedal installation were heard, because each one has its own tag explaining explicitly and in alarming bold letters how to attach them properly.
* My biggest concern, the noise: quieter than my rollers and my trainer. Didn’t even need the heavy appliance anti-vibration pads I used with those other devices. Because I couldn’t find a single video demonstrating the noise before buying, I uploaded my own. The flywheel has a small rattle that disappears with higher resistance, I’m going to try tightening some hardware (but can’t hear it with headphones on). Also the left pedal clicks, a problem another reviewer said went away after a few days on its own. But you can hear, the actual bike operation is as close to silent as you could hope, other than the chain. Can’t even hear it through the thin floor of our loft. Unbelievably happy about this, as worrying about my neighbors saps a lot of enjoyment from my indoor workouts.
* Workout intensity: No complaints here either. Can work up a sweat even on low settings, and I doubt anyone could outgrow the highest resistance. And getting out of the saddle and “running” feels great, no instability at all, just like the gym bikes. The upper crossbar of the handlebars is perfectly situated for this position too, very comfortable.
* Ah yes, the saddle. Yes, it’s uncomfortable, but not any more than a regular bike saddle (in fact, might be more comfortable than my regular bike). I love this because the worst thing about changing seasons is my butt getting soft and lazy all winter, and then the agony of getting back on the bike in summer. I anticipate this will make that problem a thing of the past.
* Easy to move. Just tilt forward onto the wheels and it can be rolled anywhere, practically with only one hand. Clever engineering.
* No bottle holder. I’m considering trying a stroller organizer Diono Buggy Buddy Stroller Organizer, Black so I can keep my phone/mp3 player nearby too, otherwise there are lots of bottle cages that clamp onto handlebars.
* Another minus is the position of the emergency brake. There is no mounting this bike without the brake becoming uncomfortably intimate with you. I thought I’d be able to remove it but got nervous halfway through, since it’s attached to the resistance knob.
I don’t give 5-star reviews often, but I am just blown away at how much of a value this is. I don’t understand why anyone would pay twice as much, can’t imagine you would get much more for the money. And for the peace of mind that a sudden storm system can no longer ruin my biking plans? Worth every penny. (I’ve only had it for a week though. Will certainly update if anything changes)
UPDATE: Still love the bike. The pedal click has vanished. The wheel rattle is still there, but still inaudible above headphones and not enough to disturb anyone else. Ready for next winter!
PROS:
The price was fantastic for something of this quality!
Assembly was a breeze. The body of the bike was complete. I just had to attach a few things (handlebars, seat post, etc). Shouldn’t take more than 15-30 minutes. The tools needed are included and sufficient. For anyone interested, I’m a woman and did it alone, no problems.
The description says “heavy duty steel frame” and I agree. It’s sturdy and strong. Nothing about the build of the bike says “cheap”. I’ve been riding for a week without issue. It’s smooth and consistent and the range of resistance is perfect. The heavy flywheel is a great asset. The bike is stable even when I ride standing up. The bike has knobs on the bottom for leveling.
I’m not getting the noise others described. I wouldn’t use it in the dead of night but it’s still nothing like what others are hearing. It’s a dull swooshing sound. Silicone lubricant on the pads should help if you’re having problems with friction noise or smell at high resistance.
Also, I can hear the chain but not like those who say it’s banging up against the case. To be sure, I removed the case (see pics) and I didn’t hear any difference so I put it back on. If you need to, popping the case off is easy. It has 9 screws, 2 bolts, all can be taken out with the tools provided without needing to take the pedal off.
CONS:
I’m 5’2 and the seat is too high. Some reviewers say customers aren’t adjusting it properly and others say it’s just not for short people. I agree with the second group. No combination of adjustments allowed me to ride properly and without being really uncomfortable.
I would have returned it for that alone but figured trying to modify it would cost less than shipping it back. I removed the knob holding the seat post in place (see pics) and let the post drop all the way down until it couldn’t anymore. Now I can ride it just fine.
The handlebars are too far forward and can’t be adjusted back. My arms end up too straight and it feels like all of my weight is jamming them forward into my hands. I rest a pillow over the handlebars to soften the feel and be able to sit more upright for now.
The seat is very hard and narrow, definitely more than my outdoor bike, but any cushion/cover adds to the height so I left it alone. I thought I’d gotten used to it but it was too painful so I just went ahead and replaced it with a Schwinn extra wide soft foam saddle I found at Target for $25.
I haven’t had the problem others had with the pedals coming off yet or with the resistance knob jiggling out of place. The flywheel had adhesive on it out of the box from the plastic it was wrapped in. I used white vinegar to clean that off, not a big deal. Note: I use Clorox wipes to keep the bike clean and Windex keeps it shiny.
ALTERNATIVES:
In case this is helpful, I was deciding between the Sunny, the NordicTrack GX2 (currently $399) and the Spinner Sport (currently $349). I chose the Sunny for three reasons. 1) It was the cheapest. It was only $280 when I bought it. At the time of this review, it’s $323. A higher price would have made the choice tougher.
2) I was told by bike pros that spinners with the single top resistance pad don’t have as broad a range of resistance as the ones with two side pads so I eliminated the Spinner Sport. I think Nordic’s shipping would have been much higher than Amazon’s if I had to return it and the product specialist didn’t know as much about the GX2 so that was out.
3) Sunny was the only one being sold on Amazon! I prefer to use my Amazon card when I can and Amazon’s customer service has been good with returns/replacements, which made me more comfortable about the possibility of having to return it. If all three were being sold on here, I would have been torn.
Anyway, if not for the seat height and handlebar issues, I’d give this bike five stars. I definitely think it’s a good buy and use it daily. Will update if that changes!
Now back to the original review:
I’m going to divide this review up into three sections for convenience, to address the bike itself; Some other reviewers comments; and a little something about spinning in general. But first, a little about me: I am a recreational cyclist who logs over 3000 miles a year on a road bike and I purchased this spin bike so that I can stay fit in the winter, when, due to weather and limited hours of daylight, I don’t get to ride my road bike as often. Prior to getting this spin bike 5 days ago, I’d never been on a spin or exercise bike in my life.
THE BIKE ITSELF: I am amazed at the quality of this spin bike; and for such a low price. I had looked at a number of spin bikes in B&M stores- even ones that cost substantially more- and this one is as good or better than most! It is simplicity in itself to assemble (I will eventually post some notes in the comments section of this review, on how to assemble for the mechanically-challenged, as the manual that comes with the bike is not very helpful for anyone who would need to use it. But the beauty is, this bike is so easy to assemble, a child could do it, without instructions).
This bike has a 40 lb. flywheel (A lot of more expensive bikes have lesser flywheels!) and having a heavy flywheel makes all the difference in smoothness; real bike feel and the ability to give you a good workout, even when you’re working with little or no resistance. The bike is rock solid (I weigh 190 lbs. and can thrash around and stand on the pedals without any worries at all). The quality, fit and finish are excellent. It even looks great.
I wanted a mechanically simple bike, to ensure durability and reliability- and this bike fits the bill perfectly. The resistance is provided by a simple knob, which actuates a brake caliper via 2 short cables, and causes a felt brake pad on both sides of the flywheel to move towards the flywheel or away from it. That, and a simple, sturdy chain drive, means this thing will last forever- there are no electronically-controlled switches and servos to malfunction, as on some much more expensive bikes.
Also, the crank arms (on which the pedals are mounted) are regular bicycle-type arms, and plenty strong- unlike many other bikes in this price range, which often have cheesy, thin metal rods as cranks. The pedals themselves are your standard-issue platform/rat-trap types, with plastic toe clips. The pedals are plenty sturdy and work just fine.
The bike is easy to move around- just grab it by the handlebars and tilt it forward (Which is easy, as it is balanced so that the weight of the flywheel helps, and you are essentially just lifting the lighter rear-end) and roll it along on it’s wheels! Everything on this bike is sturdy, and the adjustments are quick and easy.
You will not “out-grow” this bike if you are a beginner- as it will allow for the toughest workouts, and take all that you can give it. I much prefer this to a bike-trainer, as it is much sturdier- and plus you don’t have the hassles associated with attaching a real bike.
If you’re looking for bells and whistles (i.e. fancy electronics and displays) this may not be the bike for you- but if you want/need such things, I would recommend that you get a bike like this, and just get a real heart-rate monitor and/or cycling computer, as the electronic gadgetry on even the most expensive fancy spinning bikes is always woefully inaccurate, anyway.
Bottom line is: If you want a durable sturdy bike that will take whatever you throw at it, you can’t go wrong with this Sunny, nor get a better deal.
OTHER REVIEWER’S CONCERNS: I can not believe that some others are giving this bike less than 5 stars. To address a few of their concerns: First off, it seems that ANYTHING (especially large, heavy things) which require assembly, always end up getting some bad reviews simply because some mechanically-challenged types do not assemble it properly- even when assembly is extremely simple.
A few reviewers mentioned the left pedal “flying off”. Well…keep in mind, that just as on a real bicycle, the left crank into which the pedal threads is reverse-threaded (So you tighten it by turning CONTERCLOCKWISE)- Trying to force it on as though it were normally threaded can strip the threads. That, and they probably just didn’t tighten the pedal sufficiently.
I see some complaining about the seat. If you don’t spend a lot of time on a bike (real or spinning) it will take you some time to get used to sitting on a bike saddle. Also, you could go out and buy a five-thousand dollar road bike, and guess what? It’s going to come with a crappy saddle, because of the fact that all people are different- and no seat is comfortable for everyone- so manufacturers of any kind of bikes tend to put cheap seats on, to keep the prices low, since the vast majority of riders will replace the seat with one that is to their personal liking. No sense putting a $200 Brooks saddle on a bike, thereby raising the price substantially, when it still will not be to the liking of many buyers.
That being said, the seat on this Sunny is not so bad. I’m using the stock seat. It was a little uncomfortable the first two times, and then I got used to it. Some reviewers are suggesting getting a wider and/or more heavily padded seat- but, unless you are extremely obese/have a huge rear-end, that is NOT the thing to do! When it comes to bicycle seats, narrower is better; and with minimal padding- as wide/heavily padded seats may seem comfortable at first, but will result in chafing if you spend any time on the bike. If anything, the seat on the Sunny is too wide and has a tad too much padding- but it’s O-K. Best bet is to wear a cheap pair of standard road cycling shorts on this bike (or any other) with a chamois/padding in the crotch. (And you’ll see guys riding twelve-thousand dollar Venges doing that also). All seats require some break-in time…as does your bung. Give it some time!
Some have mentioned various noises. This bike is quiet. It is not SILENT! There is a bushing on the front axle which can make a little rattling sound- especially when you’re really cranking- which should not be a problem. Anything with a chain-drive will make a little sound- as chains are not silent. Also, keep in mind that chains stretch- or sometimes they are not properly tensioned from the factory- which means that you simply need to adjust the chain tension- and you WILL need to do this, as the bike breaks-in over time, even if it is very quiet at first. That’s just regular maintenance for anything with a chain- I will post in the comment section how to do it, since there is no mention of it in the manual.(These manufacturers could avert a lot of problems if their manuals were better-written and more thorough!)
This is the exact same bike as the Nordictrack GX2 Sport Bike, and a lot of others- which cost more money. All you are paying for with them, is the name…and in some cases, for a cheap plastic water bottle holder.
One valid point that some others have made, is that this bike is probably not suitable for very short people- due to the fact that there is no provision to bring the handlebars closer to the seat. Although, if you’re short and intent on getting this bike, that problem could be easily rectified by anyone with a welder. All the other adjustments on the bike (seat height, etc.) will easily accommodate you.
SPINNING IN GENERAL: I was hesitant to buy an indoor bike, as I thought I would find it boring and never use it (I HATE exercise just for exercise’s sake- You’d never catch me in a gym!) but I needed a way to insure that I keep my fitness over the winter when I can’t ride my road bike as much. Well, let me tell you……I LOVE spinning! Download a few of the spinning MP3 workout classes here on Amazon (Such as this: Rhythm Ride: Coached Cycling Workout Music Mix, Advanced High Intensity Interval Training Hiit, By Fitness Instructor Paul Katami or this: Cycleology: Coached Cycling Workout Music Mix, Interval Based Ride By Fitness Instructor Kristen James , and the time flies by! Not only that, but you get a GREAT workout. I sweat more riding this in a 55*F room than I do while riding my road bike when it’s 105*! (Put a mat under the bike, as the floor WILL get wet with your sweat!)- And the beauty of it is, I took my road bike out for a spin yesterday, and just after four sessions on the Sunny, my performance on the road had noticeably improved! I was 1.5MPH faster than my best previous time….and with a good wind blowing, no less! Amazing!
Interesting thing: I noticed, on the spinning bike, my legs seem to get a better workout than they do on the real bike (and I live in a very hilly area!)- but riding the road bike makes me breathe harder (Not that you don’t get a good cardio workout on the spin bike…it makes me breathe pretty hard too!)- and if you’re not a cyclist, but enjoy spinning, might I suggest that you also give real cycling a try?
Both activities really compliment and enahance each other…only on a real bike, you get to enjoy the scenery; make friends with the loose dogs; and enjoy the weather, while traveling many miles. (And you get to coast, too!)
This was money well-spent, and I am very glad that I bought this spin bike. And oh, yeah…..even though it came from 2000 miles away, free shipping was fast (ordered on a Monday and it came the following Monday) and it arrived with no damage.
I think this qualifies as my best purchase of 2012!
PS: One more thing about the seat: If your seat is “level”, understand that level for this type of seat means that the front of the seat will be sticking up somewhat- making it look like the seat is actually slanted back a bit. If you find your seat to be uncomfortable, try adjusting it into this position (the way it’s meant to be)- and it very well may cure your problem.
First, be warned. The box is heavy. I mean, really heavy. The shipping weight is listed at 112 pounds and the box is large. Believe it or not, this is a very good thing. The bike is solid, mostly metal with an absolute minimum of plastic. If the box was light, I’d personally worry. Additionally, the bike is mostly assembled when it arrives. Hence the large and heavy box.
A number of customers expressed difficulty in assembling the bike. I did not find this to be the case at all. The design has slightly changed since the official photo was taken (the bike is essentially identical except for the handlebars – more on that in a moment) and I wonder if the company improved the assembly process as well. It took me approximately ten minutes to assemble the bike, all of the necessary tools were included, and the assembly was incredibly intuitive and required minimal reference to the instructions. There are not a lot of parts that need to be assembled – it’s just after reading some of the reviews I was especially careful, thorough, and spent a chunk of that time studying the instructions and looking for the difficult part.
The bike is solid. (According to the description, the front flywheel weighs approximately 40 pounds on its own and that seemed about right to me.) To assemble the bike, you attach the pedals (they screw on), put the seat and handlebar stems into the frame, and attach the handlebars and seat to the appropriate stem. The adjustment knobs over the entire bike had been screwed in slightly too far at the factory so that the shaft of the bolt blocked the entry of the stems. Simply unscrewing each slightly solved the problem. The cross pieces of the base come with small metal blocks in place and they need to be removed and the actual wide cross pieces (the front piece has the small red wheels attached in the photo) need to be bolted into their positions. That’s it. Assembly is complete.
All of the parts (tools, nuts, and bolts) come shrink wrapped to a stiff piece of cardboard. Each part is clearly labeled on the board. Instead of looking for “Hexagon Flat Round Head Screw-Black M10X25mm” you simply find part “(66)”. This is an exact example from the assembly process. (The “Flat Washer-Black” is part “(67)” and the numbers are clearly referenced in the instructions.)There’s no searching for parts. You simply remove them from the board as needed.
The only issue that I had was that the tension control knob for the flywheel was stuck. The knob literally wouldn’t turn. Cranking on it really hard popped it free and it works fine. I’m not sure what happened – once it was unstuck, all was good. It works fine and just like new. It wasn’t a defect, it was just initially stuck and now works fine.
The handlebars are different than shown in the photo. Instead of two small bars that come out at 90 degree angles toward the inside of the handlebars, those bars are now connected with a large comfortable arc. In my opinion, this is a significant improvement over the original design and gives you a much wider range of options for hand placement.
I spent several years attending the 5 AM spin class at my local gym. Being the first to use the classroom space, we early birds took the bikes from where they were parked along the wall and moved them to their positions. Having spent a lot of time with those bikes, I’m confident in stating that there is very little difference between this bike and the professional models used at the gym. I would rate it low-end professional, very high end amateur, and an absolute steal at the price.
The ride is essentially indistinguishable from high-end gym spin bikes. Having ridden those bikes roughly 1,000 times, I can pick up on subtle (and I can’t stress the word “subtle” enough) differences, but they do not detract from the ride in the slightest. For instance, the knob to adjust the tension has a little more play in it (a half turn adjusts the tension a little, then a tenth of a turn adjusts it a lot) but it’s still very easy to get it set exactly where you want it, you just have to become familiar with it. The bike remains incredibly solid in both seated and standing riding positions and exceeds all of my expectations for a home spin bike.
To address a couple of reviews that I saw while considering my purchase.
The angle of the seat was mentioned by more than one person. I’m not sure what their issue was – it adjusts just like any other bike seat, including the angle. In other words, by loosening a bolt, manually adjusting the tilt, and tightening the same bolt once more, you can have the seat at any angle you wish. It’s literally a non-issue.
A couple of people mentioned the noise. It’s not silent, but I’m not sure what folks were expecting. It doesn’t make an unusual amount of noise and its mostly noticeable simply because there is no other unexpected sound in the room. I watch shows while riding and don’t have any trouble becoming immersed in the program. My wife and I can actually have a conversation at a normal volume while one of us is riding. The noise is much lower than I anticipated given the reviews that I read and very acceptable for this piece of equipment, perhaps even on the low end of the noise range.
At least one review mentioned an odd smell while riding. I did not experience that at all.
Spin bikes don’t typically come with odometers. With cardio, the duration of your ride is much more important than how far you ride. I realize that this may bother some people, but an odometer, in my experience, would have been out of place on this piece of equipment. A couple of reviews downgraded the bike because of the lack of an odometer, but I ride for a set period of time, not for distance. As one of my friends jokingly put it, “Why do you need an odometer on a stationary bike? Do you want to know how far you rode? You didn’t! It doesn’t move!”
This one gets five stars from me. Simply put, this is an extremely good deal for the price. An absolute bargain. There are little things here and there that could be upgraded, but only at substantial cost. After reading a large number of the other reviews, I can honestly say that the Sunny Health & Fitness Pro Indoor Cycling Bike exceeded my expectations by a wide margin. I highly recommend it.
When I was looking, it was down to this model, or the ProForm 290 SPX Indoor Cycle Trainer . At the time – it was $4 approx difference in the two bikes. If you look online, you see the proform gets very high marks, so why did I order the sunny? Was it just the color (the proform is black)? If you look at both, they both have over 100 reviews, and both are solidly positive. I think it came down to there being “more” reviews on the sunny, and the average of 4-5star reviews was higher than the proform. Maybe it was just silver paint, and the big star pattern on the flywheel?… I’m rambling
The box is large, prob 40″x35″ or approx and 110 lbs! – yes its heavy, but you want a stable bike with 40# flywheel, it has to be heavy. When you open the box, the main frame and flywheel are all attached in one piece. The bike is mounted to narrow “feet” for transport. You have to removed those temporary feet, and install the wider legs (which already have the front wheels for moving attached, and the adjustable feet underneath for leveling) – I should mention that these 4 screws you undo (allen with included tool) are not re-used – you get longer ones (silver) to replace when new legs. This is 4 of your 6 total screws. Installing the seat (already attached to bracket) to seat post, is just a matter of unscrewing knob, then pulling knob (spring loaded) and pushing down. Then do the same for handlbar bracket. Then you use the 2 black allen screws to attach the handlebars. oh, and screw in the cage pedals. I think they would be fine, had I not gone to clipless. I used a similar set Avenir Ultralight Pedals with Toe Clips and Straps, Black/Silver, 9/16 Inch Axle on my cannondale road bike for 1500 miles last year, just thought it was time to go clipless/SPD.
The one negative to the sunny is no cup holder, but I worked that out. Every other Sunny model even has one… I had a handlebar mount cage that my wife had gotten me years ago laying around – not sure if its schwinn or bell, but it was a walmart special. The included metal cage is long gone, but I did add one of my Topeak Modula Ex Bottle Cage , and it works perfectly. – BTW this does NOT work, due to the bracket being too small for the handle bars – Sunlite Handlebar Mount Bottle Cage – Black
I also swapped out the saddle to a clearance Nashbar Sport saddle with anatomical cut out. Its way to big to use on my road bike, but works well for this purpose. The included seat looks fine, I have just decided I need “man” seats from now on, but both are alot bigger than what I would want on a road bike.
I am also new to cycling shoes/pedals this year. Got a clearance deal on some lake mtb shoes from Sun and ski, and needed pedals. Got spd pedals – Shimano PD-M520L MTB Sport Pedals with Cleats , and for now will use these on the sunny. will transition to my road and mtb later as it warms up, or get another pair (or 2)
Lastly, and what might interest you the most – bike computer. As the majority of all spinners, there are no computers. I searched all over the web, and found very little information or suggestions on even how to rig on. I know, technically, you are going NO miles on the bike, but lets just leave that argument alone. “I” wanted to know how far I had “ridden” and how fast/distance/time for my workouts. I was in the local Sams club last week, and they had a proform in stock with a computer. After I saw how it was set up, I thought – this is easier than I thought. I purchased the Cateye CC-ED300 Enduro 8-Function Bicycle Computer . It worked even better than I expected, see pictures as to how I installed: the magnet is actually mounted backwards right on the front flywheel, and the sensor is mounted on the front of the chain guard with double stick tape (diagonally). Even the computer factory mount was large enough to fit the large diameter handlebars on the sunny.
I guess I will close with alittle more info on the bike – this model is the SF-B901 Sunny Pro Indoor Cycling Bike
Their website is sunnyhealthfitness.com, and they responded to my email questions in the same day. I was curious about the warranty (90 days parts, 1 year frame), etc
So, all I can say is buy it and ride it! Hope this help
One of the wheels for rolling the bike to different locations was cracked upon arrival, but so far we have decided to keep it and see if this creates any problem in moving it about the house.
Let me further say that assembly was NOT as easy as other reviewers had suggested, for us. The assembly guide is a bit of a joke, with tiny illustrations and poor instructions.
One of the pedals simply would not screw into the appropriate slot. After about 20 minutes of trying to screw it in, my husband had the bright idea of spraying some oil onto the screw, and into the hole, and this seemed to lubricate it enough to finally get it in there. All in all, it took us just over an hour to assemble the bike, but as the guide was not very helpful, we still have four screws left over that we have no idea where they go. I will have to call Sunny and find out why this is so.
Despite these mysterious four leftover screws, the bike felt pretty steady, so I rode the bike for the first time today, and it was a pretty good ride. It’s relatively quiet compared with professional gym bikes, although I did notice that it seems to go awfully quickly from no resistance to too much resistance. It felt steady, but I wish the handle bars pointed the other way. They point away from you, so unless you are really tall, you cannot reach the long parts of the handle bars (I’m 5’5).
About 20 min. into the ride, I was really wishing that it had a water bottle holder, and a more comfortable seat, so I am going to look into getting one of each.
Other than that, I feel that it was a good buy, but I wish I didn’t feel like I still have to call Sunny to find out about those left over screws. It shouldn’t be that complicated.
I would recommend this bike to people in the $300 – $400 budget, but hope that you are better than I was in assembling these things when not provided with a very good set of instructions. If I hadn’t had my husband to help me with the heavy lifting and tight bolt unscrewing, I would have felt very frustrated.