We recently purchased a Pro-Form GL 50 exercise bike. No, I never heard of this make, either, before we bought it as Sam's Club. As a discriminating, longtime exercise bike rider, I was skeptical. $300 just seemed too cheap. But Beth insisted.
The first surprise was a good one: when the local Sam's finally had it back in stock, it was down to $240. Shockingly cheap--but then again, that didn't feel all to the good.
Brought it home and started assembly. Not too bad. Lots and lots of steel--no plastic where there should be steel. A good sign. Things fit together well, for the most part, with no significant Murhpy visitations. Well, Wal-Mart Corp. does have a reputation for being very demanding of their suppliers, and in my experience, Sam's generally does not sell junk.
The "road test" confirmed these impressions. The mechanical action was reasonably smooth. Not as smooth as a brand new club-quality cycle, but certainly better than many under-maintained club bikes I have ridden. The resistance was plenty strong enough--I don't think I could do my usual half-hour ride at more than a consistent 7 of 10. Did I mention it is "recumbent"? What recumbent really means in this context is--a nice, big, wide seat, not a crummy little saddle. A must-have feature.
Not that there aren't a number of small quibbles...There are 8 different programs, but no "random" mode. The seating position is a little weird, lower than normal, so it works the muscles a bit differently. The placement of the water bottle interferes with the magazine shelf. The display is lame, it only shows 1 piece of information at a time, so it has to rotate through resistance, time, miles, cals, heart rate. Yes, it has a heart rate monitor, though that seems mis-calibrated.
Still, all in all, these are minor quibbles, since it performs its core function very well at an unbelievable price. It's like being able to buy a perfectly reliable mid-size sedan for $5000 (why doesn't Sam's Club sell cars? <joke>), and then complaining that it didn't have leather upholstery, heated seats, keyless entry, etc.
10:17:27 PM 
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