Just a rant / warning about Gold's Gym exercise bike

[RP]

Take it back, and get a Schwinn recumbent...

[Jcamp]

I’d send it back and list the reason as false advertisement. Apparently you have internet access but I know a great many folks that do not so if they bought it they’d never be able to use it

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by RP

Take it back, and get a Schwinn recumbent...

Love mine. Got it via Amazon.

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by imwjl

What I thought. I suggest getting bikes from bike companies kind of like most here would probably get guitars from guitar companies.

It's an interesting point, but that thing has as much to do with a bike as the iPhone has to do with a phone. Not much.

Peloton, for example, makes a great trainer. They don't make bikes.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

It's an interesting point, but that thing has as much to do with a bike as the iPhone has to do with a phone. Not much.

Peloton, for example, makes a great trainer. They don't make bikes.

I thought about that example but chose to keep it simple. I have associates with those machines and some with quality trainers who use what I think is Zwift. All of them are first tier products that will hold up.

Saturday was a bike community fundraiser at a great bike shop. Training was a topic because of the winter remnants. One associate nailed it telling someone new to town and interested that you don't want it if a shop like that does not sell it.

[rokdog49]

I had to look up "recumbent" to see if it was a real word... Sounded odd.
Low and behold, it is.

I read it and it immediately made me think "Schwinn Revenant", "Schwinn Incumbent", " Schwinn Redundant" ad nauseum.
That's just how my mind works...I know weirdo.

[DenverSteve]

Not pleasant I'm sure but even if you activate the bike, what happens after you cancel the service? Do you keep the programming capability? I would do what XYRN suggested. Go to 7-11 or Wal-Mart and buy a prepaid Visa card for $15 and activate the bike. Then in 3 weeks cancel the service if that will allow you to keep the programming. Obviously (at least to me) there's no reason to keep the bike if you're shackled to a monthly payment to use it. Or order another bike from wherever, keep using the Gold's bike so your wife can exercise, and return it in a week when the new bike arrives. There's no loss of exercise and you should be able to return it during Wal-Mart's return period.

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by imwjl

I thought about that example but chose to keep it simple. I have associates with those machines and some with quality trainers who use what I think is Zwift. All of them are first tier products that will hold up.

I wasn't really recommending Peloton, as I'm sure it's a service and it's 10x more expensive than what the OP purchased. I just meant that I wouldn't be worried about buying an exercise machine that wasn't built by a bike manufacturer. They're a completely different beast.

I'm all about Zwift but I don't think it's a solution to the OP's issue.

[agfsteve]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

This physical therapy has taken over our every waking moment right now (half an hour of every hour that wife is not sleeping is supposed to be dedicated to exercising / icing), so we're going to live with the bike as it is (because of ironically working out fine in its stupidly limiting way) until we have time to return it. I'm glad of Walmart's liberal return policy.

[DenverSteve]

I would double check their return policy if you haven't lately. Over the past 2 years they've been tightening up the policy.

[guitar george]

Sounds like most features are disabled unless you sign up for the activation. Cancelling after 1 month disables most of the features again, so, that is not what you want. I think there is too much technology in the world today! My recommendation is to return it ASAP and get one that doesn't have a user fee of $15.00 per month for the rest of your life..

[cjrmnf]

Originally Posted by agfsteve

My wife is recovering from knee replacement surgery, and the place where she gets her physical therapy has her use a recumbent bike, so we decided to get one and do the bike exercises at home (in addition to doing at physical therapy).

So we bought a "Gold's Gym Cycle Trainer 400 Ri", and after assembling it, I turned it on, and I discovered that in order to use the basic features (e.g. setting the pedaling resistance level), I had to first visit www.ifit.com/activate to activate it.

And you know what? It won't let me activate unless I enter my credit card details, and sign up for a $15 / month membership ("First month free--cancel any time!").

So I have a useless piece of junk recumbent bike with no basic usability unless I give out my credit card info, which I refuse to do.

It should be illegal for a company to require credit card info at any time before any actual payment is required. Or it should at least be an opt in/out thing. The sign-up process states "First month free, cancel any time", so the logical, ethical way to do that is to require credit card info after the first month, in order to continue, cancelling if you do not enter credit card info.

OK, rant over, deciding whether to disassemble and return the bike, or use it in one-resistance-fits-all mode.

I found out how to unlock it.

Press the iFit button for 20 seconds and it will unlock the bike without activating it with a Free Trial.

[agfsteve]

Originally Posted by cjrmnf

I found out how to unlock it.

Press the iFit button for 20 seconds and it will unlock the bike without activating it with a Free Trial.

Holy cannoli, that worked!

Thank you so much!

How did you find this out? I didn't see it in the manual anywhere.

[Lkristians]

Originally Posted by agfsteve

Holy cannoli, that worked!

Thank you so much!

How did you find this out? I didn't see it in the manual anywhere.

And there's another happy customer on the AGF! Something for everybody.
Happy Sunday, all.
LarryK.

[FLRon]

After the free trial, however long that is,I'd still send it back just because of the recurring CC payment issue. Which was hidden from you prior to purchase.