Horizon Fitness RC-30 Recumbent Bike Review

Overview:

To cut to the chase, the Horizon Fitness RC-30 Recumbent Bike has some nice features, but it lacks a lot of options provided on competitor models in this price range. This recumbent exercise bike is quiet and comes with eight (8) resistance levels, eight (8) programmed workouts and heart rate monitoring via stationary handle bars. In this prices range you’ll find that most competing bikes provide these same options and in most cases they offer a lot more for the same money. For example, the Nautilus R616 Recumbent Bike has 25 levels of resistance and 29 workout programs.
Click here to see the lowest price on the Horizon RC-20 Recumbent Bike.

Technical info:

Dimensions:

• Height: 52inches
• Width: 26 inches
• Length: 66 inches
• Weight: 106 lbs

Features:

• 8 levels of electronic resistance
• 8 workout programs
• 10 lb flywheel for a smooth, consistent workout
• Heart rate monitoring on handlebar grips
• Extra-wide seat with lumbar support for added comfort
• Water bottle holder to ensure the user stays hydrated while exercising
• Maximum User Weight: 275 lbs

Computer Features:

• LCD display
• Heart rate monitoring transmitted through handle grips
• 8 workout programs including fat burn, hills, intervals, manual, strength and
  custom settings
• Workout data includes:
  • Calories Burned
  • Distance
  • Heart Rate
  • Resistance Level
  • Speed
  • Time
  • Revolutions Per Minute

Warranties:

• Ten year warranty on frame
• One (1) year warranties on parts and labor.

Getting The RC 30 and Putting It Together:

Shipping:

Shipping cost for the Horizon Fitness RC30 Recumbent Bike will vary in price depending on where you purchase from and what type of delivery you prefer. However, if you buy through Amazon.com, shipping is free for this Horizon recumbent bike.

Assembly:

Assembling the RC30 Recumbent Bike is not the easiest thing in the world. There are a few complaints from users about the process. Some users claim they received broken pieces upon delivery and others report the assembly process is difficult. Just keep an eye out for this.  Assembly should take around one or two hours to complete.

Know Your Manufacturer:

Horizon Fitness is part of Johnson Health Tech, a leading exercise equipment producer throughout the world for over 35 years. They operate out of Madison, Wisconsin, but headquartered in Taiwan. They manufacture exercise equipment for the residential and commercial industries. Horizon Fitness makes a variety of exercise equipment including treadmills, elliptical, exercise bikes, rowers and accessories.

What We Love About the Horizon Fitness RC30 Recumbent Bike:

The Horizon Fitness RC-30 Recumbent Bike has some nice features. Most notably, it has a smooth, quiet movement and the console comes with programmed exercises. This machine is quiet enough that you can carry on normal conversation while exercising and you won’t be overcome by nuisance noise. The programmed workouts are nice because they create an enjoyable exercising experience.

Programmed Workouts

The Horizon RC-30 Recumbent Bike has eight (8) programmed workouts on its console. This is decent and probably what you would expect in this price range. However, it’s less than most competitor bikes in this price range like the Schwinn® 270, the Exerpeutic 4000 and the ProForm 315 CSX. The workouts on the RC30 Recumbent Bike are manual, intervals, rolling, weight loss, tempo, random and two custom programs. The programmed workouts are designed with different intensities in order to provide nice, intense exercises.

Quiet

Horizon Fitness equips the RC30 Recumbent Bike has a steel structure with a 10 lb flywheel to provide a smooth, quiet cycling movement. A lot of users comment on how quiet this machine is. This is nice because sometimes the flywheel can produce a lot of nuisance noise or a cheap design can cause a lot of squeaking sounds. You won’t find this on the RC30 Recumbent Bike. You’ll definitely be able to work out hard and still listen to your music or the television comfortably.

What Isn’t So Great:

Quality needs to be everyone first criteria when looking for a piece of exercise equipment. That said, the Horizon Fitness RC30 Recumbent Bike may have some issues.  According to some users, the problems seem to rear their ugly heads after two or three months of use.  Some commented on the console going out or that the heart rate monitor stops working. Others even commented on components breaking such as the plastic pedals. If this happens, you should be covered by the one year parts warranty, but it’s concerning that the RC30 Recumbent Bike doesn’t appear to be able to take too much heavy workout use.

Resistance

The Horizon RC30 Recumbent Bike only comes with eight (8) levels of resistance. That’s not a lot in comparison to other recumbent bikes in this price range. In fact, many entry level bikes costing a third of the price of the RC30 Recumbent Bike come equipped with eight levels of resistance. On top of that, there are quite a few reviewers who say that the resistance calibrations on their bikes seem off as many of the levels feel the same.

Final Word on the Horizon Fitness RC-30 Recumbent Bike:

Honestly, for the price, I’d expect a little bit more out of the Horizon Fitness RC-30 Recumbent Bike. The best things we can point out about this bike are that it’s quiet and has programmed workouts on its console. However, the drawbacks of this bike overshadow these good things. On top of some quality concerns, we want to point out that other recumbent bikes in this price range have a lot more options.  And options can keep you coming back for more workouts, which of course means you get more fit!  We recommend looking at the Nautilus R616 Recumbent Bike and the Schwinn 270 Recumbent, two bikes that are also in this price range and have more features.