BFSB5 Chain Drive Indoor Cycling Bike

Was looking for a solid, well built, inexpensive indoor bike, with a warranty longer than 1 year (frame), and this seems (so far) to fit the need. After 5 rides everything seems to be working good. The bike arrived about as well packaged as could be expected with a 40lb hunk of metal sitting in a metal frame and a total package of over 110lbs. Just attach the front/back horizontal feet, slide in the 2 seat posts, attach the seat, slide in the handlebar mount and handles, thread on the pedals, and done. I about destroyed the last indoor bike I had but after several repairs on it I think I know what to look for. The brake pad is a piece of cowhide glued and screwed onto a brake mat, and rides on the outside edge of the 40lb flywheel. Presume any similar thickness piece of cowhide will replace, or go to www.bestfitness.com. The crank is not a 1 piece, so bearings are rebuildable. Pedals look sturdier than most, maybe rebuildable (bearings don't last forever). Pedal thread is a standard 9/16 20 tpi so you can put any kind of pedal on you want. I'll probably put on 1 of my clipless pedals soon. Simple adjustment for tightening the chain once it stretches too much; same w/ replacing. Although I haven't taken it apart, I presume the bearings on the flywheel are a standard size, and should be easy to press new ones in once those fail, but the axle is a good size diameter, so shouldn't happen soon. The seat is a standard mounting 2 rail type. Seat adjustments can be finely adjusted. The pins, adjust in 1-3/16" increments. Then the seat clamp can be fine adjusted on the the horizontal seat bar, up/down & front/back. Its a bit too wide at the back for me, and has too much padding, so may switch it out sometime. So overall I think a worthy choice. No experience with the other ones more popular, but this seems to be a good buy.Update:After 3 months, still very happy with this bike. The pedals needed a re-lubing. Easy to take apart; bearings are not sealed, just keep track of the ball bearings and don't loose any. Replaced the seat with an old road bike seat, which also lowered it a bit and offered a better riding position.Update after 1 yr 2 months: Had to replace the resistance pad on the flywheel. Best Fitness sent it for free. Was tired of repacking the grease on the ball bearings in the left pedal, and just bought a new pair with sealed bearings. Broke a chain a month ago. New single speed chain was easy to install. Using about 4-5 days per week, 45-55 minutes each. So far, still a good bike for the price.

Very little play on the adjustment knob. Goes from too loose to barely able to move the wheel with the slightest touch. The seat was extremely cheap and plastic pieces broke within a year. I have tried several times to contact this company to no avail. Look elsewhere for another bike

This is a beautiful and heavy-duty bike! The industrial green finish is excellent. The frame is constructed with impressive (large dimension) tubing, with very attractive bends, for example, in the "front fork" tubes. The "drag" mechanism has cowhide rather than felt, so it should be very long-lasting. The handlebar gives you plenty of options for hand placement without going overboard like some handlebars you see with loops and bends all over the place. When I adjust the bar height and the seat (horizontal and vertical), this bike reminds me of the feel (posture-wise) of my old 24"-frame Schwinn Paramount road bike. The 40lb wheel spins very well on good bearings, so the momentum is there to emulate the road-bike experience.To make the reach less for my wife, in addition to setting the seat to the most forward position, I reversed the clamp in the seat so that the seat is as far forward as possible (as well as sliding the seat on its runners max forward). So, with her being about 5' 3", this works well, with the seat height set to the 2" position and handlebars at the 3" position.This bike is clean, with no extras -- that is part of the appeal for me. We in the Muskegon bicycle club back in the day didn't want anything on the bike that wasn't absolutely essential. We were in love with the design of the classic road bikes and didn't want to clutter them up. So no electronics on this bike. You want to work harder? Turn the knob a little to the right. Want to do more reps? Turn the knob a little to the left.One thing I would say is that ordering an object of this size and weight is a little risky. The heavier something is, the more possible stress it receives during the shipping/handling process. My bike arrived with no scratches or dents, but the PLASTIC SLEEVE in the massive "head" tube was chipped along the top edge and the handlebar stem wouldn't slide into it because a little plastic tab (part of the sleeve) that keeps the sleeve stationary inside the head tube was sticking-out and taking-up too much room for the handlebar stem to slide in. I called the company and they are sending a replacement sleeve.* In the meanwhile, I was able to pull the sleeve out of the head tube by grabbing the plastic tab with the flat surface of a small smooth-jaw monkey wrench I just happened to have in my tool box. Once I got the sleeve out, I tried a few times to put it back into the head tube and get the little tab snapped into position, but there was still not enough room for the stem to slide into place so I used my hand-grinder to burr-off the ridges on the outside of the plastic sleeve. That created enough space so I was able to slide the stem into place and it adjusts easily. Although this was a bit of a pain, I am COMPLETELY happy with the bike. This is not the kind of purchase you want to have to mail back for some little problem -- too heavy and a major job packing and shipping.*Update: The parts department sent a sleeve made a little differently without the little tab to snap into place in the head tube. The new sleeve has a 3/4" cut-out running top-to-bottom on both of the wide sides. I am going to keep it as a back-up, while continuing to use the original sleeve I modified.

I bought this for my wife and she can't ride it. She is 5 feet tall. The minimum height for this bike seems to be around 5'4". It should have been stated in the description. Don't but this bike is you are shorted than the height I referenced!

I've been looking for an alternative aerobic exercise rather than simply walking when there is inclement weather. I settled on this item and here is my review....1) Sturdiness: Its beefy! There are no issues with that at all. 5 of 5 stars2) No Frills: There is no electronics, no water bottle holder. Since its not advertised as having such, there is no rating that I will give on that.3) Quiet operation: Its fairly quiet, but it does make a slight vibration and noise when operating. 4 of 5 stars4) Assembly: It is very simple, not even a need for the instructions.5) Comfort during operation: Everything is good except the seat - I purchased a replacement. 4 of 5 stars6) Adjustments: All adjustments are good and make it comfortable to ride.Optional things to consider:* I highly recommend the seat be changed out for this one on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005GHVJX4/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1* Cell phone holder: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007FHCR20/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1* Cup holder :http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EOZK32W/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1