But AC Sport Schwinn indoor cycling bike has two big water bottle holders on the handlebars. The IC4 is built around a beefy steel frame that is impressively stable, even under the hardest of out of the saddle pedaling efforts. The frame supports a belt-driven schwinn spin bike 40 lb weighted flywheel which has 100 levels of magnetic resistance. With so many levels of resistance, you can micro-adjust it to exactly the level you want during your workout, and there is ample range for riders of all fitness levels.
Both the seat and handlebar have loads of adjustability both up and down and fore and aft. It comes with a performance-oriented seat as well as a large multi-position handlebar. Below the handlebar are two bottle holders with cradles to hang the included 3 lb hand weights. It comes with dual-function pedals that have cages on one side and SPD clips on the other, so you can choose the footwear that’s best for you, plus they come with SPD cleats. The front stabilizer has integrated transport wheels that make it easy to move this heavy bike around, and all of the feet have independent levelers to help stabilize it on uneven surfaces.
Spin workouts are typically high intensity and focus on cadence and resistance as opposed to distance or power. The Peloton app is a bit different since their studio workouts are based on spin bikes using cadence, resistance level, and perceived effort. The Schwinn’s resistance levels aren’t an exact match of Peloton’s, although there are helpful tips online for converting resistance from Peloton to the IC4. That said, it is up to the user to dictate the resistance level and effort they put in when following along with a Peloton class anyway. Schwinn is a big player in the home fitness market and the IC4 is the top of the line model in their range of indoor cycling bikes. In addition to its sturdy build, 40 lb weighted flywheel, and 100 levels of magnetic resistance, it is a smart bike with connected features.
I experience occasional buffering issues with the Peloton iOS app (and trust me, you don’t want to run into that during the middle of a heavy climb) but preloading classes before starting fixed this issue for me. If you don’t already have a tablet and cycling shoes, you may have to factor those costs in as well. The Schwinn IC4 Indoor Cycling Bike retails for $899, which can be paid for with Schwinn’s interest-free financing plan of $49.90 a month for 18 months.
But again, if you’re new to exercising, haven’t yet experimented with any cardio equipment at the gym, and are assuming a spin bike is a good place to start, I wouldn’t recommend the IC Pro. Instead, look at recumbent bikes or regular upright bikes depending on your fitness level. Indoor cycling bikes are really built and designed for serious cyclists. If you’re a first-timer or are new to exercise altogether, I would recommend spending some time at the gym to get some experience under your belt before forking over the cash for a spin bike. Several years ago, a company named Gates introduced a concept never before seen on outdoor bikes – a belt drive that performed like a chain.
Fore/aft up&down adjustability of handlebars and seat on Schwinn AC Sport allow riders with different heights and arm lengths to get in the right positions. Users from 5.2 feet to 6.7″ height shouldn’t have any problem riding this indoor cycling bike. The Schwinn IC4 is a great exercise bike choice if you want the Peloton experience without the high sticker price. For a spin bike under $1,000, its 40-pound drive, wireless telemetry, and Bluetooth connectivity for interactive training is impressive. Its 40-pound drive is heavy enough to suit a wide variety of trainees, including serious spinners. What’s more, the 100 levels of quiet magnetic resistance allow for ultra-precise challenges.
So, if you want to track your overall data, you’ll have to take a photo with your phone or write it down from the display at the end of your workout. Assembling the Schwinn IC4 is relatively straightforward, but the process is not without its challenges. The bike comes mostly prefabricated, with the heavy flywheel and frame already built in the box. Stationary exercise bikes like Peloton are a popular pandemic purchase. In fact, we’re big fans of the brand, and named the Bike+ our top pick in our test of exercise bikes.
There are 5 buttons below the screen that control all of the functions of the display, including Bluetooth, start/enter/reset, and up and down arrows. The Bluetooth button is used to pair with compatible devices and the included heart rate sensor, while the others are used to start a workout or input a time, distance, or calorie goal for a manual workout. The 100 levels of magnetic resistance are controlled by a knob below the handlebar on the main frame of the bike.
During testing, we rarely turned the resistance above 70, which was plenty challenging for quad busting intervals. The resistance is controlled by an adjustment knob below the handlebar on the frame, and the rider adjusts it manually whether you’re doing your own workout or following along to an on-demand studio class. The Schwinn IC 4 is among the most expensive exercise bikes we’ve ever tested, but we still feel it is an excellent value. This bike is much less expensive than the big-name home-studio competition, yet it provides a similarly excellent exercise quality with connectivity that makes it compatible with the most popular training apps.
Yes, it does connect to either app easily and it works, it’s just far from perfect. First, we noticed that the speed and distance readings on the bike’s own display seemed too high, in fact, they were way off. We like to think we are fast, but we also know that we average mph on an actual road ride, not even close to the 27 mph the IC4 recorded. If you base your indoor training rides on speed, distance, or calories burned, this bike will not be giving you accurate readings.