Marcy Recumbent Bike ME-709

I'm a 68 year old male who has ridden a long wheel base recumbent for 17 years now and this past summer and fall have ridden 20 miles a day until I had a bout of plantar fasciitis last week where I couldn't even walk for a few days. So looking towards another Wisconsin winter I wanted a recumbent exercise bike that I could ride because I won't be walking much at all. This recumbent fit the bill, was a good price, and had good reviews. Surprise! It came a day early and when the UPS driver carried it out I told him it's a day early and I would have met him at the curb to get it and save him a few steps. The box was maybe just over 60 pounds and not big, but I opened it outside and carried it in to put together in my bedroom. Only the front part with the pedals, the core of the bike was heavy at all. Everything was there, the parts, the hardware and tools to assemble it. The directions were clear and it was pretty straightforward and I had no trouble putting it together myself. I have absolutely no use for the computer since I do not count calories at all (I'm on a Keto diet--you keep carbs low, eat high fat, and don't worry about calories and I've already lost 50 pounds), I don't use a speedometer and I don't need to know my heart rate. I just want to ride it for an hour at a time at the pedal resistance and cadence I normally ride--that's it. So once I put it together and tried it out and was very satisfied with the ride and how quiet it was I went and took my recumbent out to go for a 10 mile bike ride on a fantastically beautiful and unusual Wisconsin November 5th day ("remember, remember, the fifth of November") with a sunny sky and the temp broke a record and got up to 73. Next week it will be a different story and I'll likely be riding my Marcy Recumbent Exercise Bike in the comfort of my bedroom while watching tv. Remember, this is an early first day review so it may change, but I hope not.

Works exactly as described. Easy to set up, good resistance, comfortable seat. Would recommend to anyone looking for an easy to use bike

To preface this review, I like the bike itself. The main issue I had was with the manufacturer. Amazon was generally helpful throughout my experience getting this bike set up, and the customer service representative who helped me did an excellent job. Now, I originally ordered this bike from Amazon, and delivery was exactly what you'd expect - a couple of days in transit and bam, big box on the front porch. However, when I opened the box to assemble the bike, I found out that the stabilizers (the two horizontal cylinders at the bottom of the bike, acting as "feet") didn't fit. They'd been cut wrong, so it was only possible to fit the screws through on one side. That's not acceptable for a product like this because if those stabilizers come loose, the user could fall and hurt themselves. Now, the papers that come with the bike ask buyers to contact the manufacturer for technical support, so I shrug and do that. Amazon probably doesn't have individual replacement parts in their warehouses, so yeah. I wait on the phone for a while and eventually get with a rep from the manufacturer, and they say that the parts I need are in-stock and will be sent out shortly. About two weeks pass, so I call again to see what's up. Oh, they're changing warehouses, they say, and my parts will be sent after that's done. The unassembled bike is still sitting on my floor, but I shrug and accept it. I call back a while later, and oops, my parts are out of stock now. I can't get a replacement for another few weeks. I sigh at this point, and call back in another few weeks. The rep tells me it's going to be another two months or so before they get the parts back in stock. At this point, I'm done. Amazon's policy covers 90 days and it's already been two months of this bike sitting unusable on my floor. I'm not waiting another two months, so I contact the manufacturer and tell them to cancel my replacement parts order because I'm replacing the entire bike. Amazon gives me no trouble with this, giving me the instructions and even having a truck come to my house to pick it up. So the second bike gets shipped out... and it's lost in transit somewhere between leaving Amazon and arriving at the USPS. Sigh. I wait a couple of days just to be sure it's not a regular delay in the postal system, then contact an Amazon rep. He took a look at the information and agreed it was probably lost in transit, so they sent out another one - this time with guaranteed delivery within a few days, probably paid for by insurance covering the lost bike. I get the third bike two days early, but not before the manufacturer sent out those replacement parts. ...You know, the parts I cancelled the order for because I didn't need them. The parts they shipped to me several days *after* I cancelled the order for them. Anyway, I finally have a bike (again). The actual setup, with parts that fit, isn't so bad. I think one person in reasonable shape can do it by themselves, although there is a point for connecting the computer and tension control bits that can be a little hard with just two hands. Once successfully assembled, the bike works pretty well. I've been using it for a few days now, and it's operated just fine. I like the bike itself. However, my experience with the manufacturer was delay after delay, and excuse after excuse, so I lost literal months of time I wanted to spend using this bike and improving my health. So far, it's a good bike if you want something sturdy and functional. It's also big enough to work with anyone except the most unusually tall people - I'm pretty tall myself, and there's a whole lot of extra space still. If you're looking for an affordable recumbent exercise bike, this is a good choice - but if you have any issues with the parts fitting together, I suggest ignoring the manufacturer and getting it replaced by Amazon. That's probably going to be a lot easier on you.

My Marcy ME 709 Recumbent arrived when expected and had no shipping damage. This is my 3rd exercise bike, and hands down the best one yet. My previous flywheel model with the chain drive was very noisy, and the tension adjustment system was just pathetic. The belt-drive tension adjustment on my more recent Walmart "bargain recumbent" never worked that well to begin with and went south in just a matter of weeks. Anyway, this Marcy was easy enough for me to assemble by myself in a little over an hour. However, there was a small problem with my unit which the factory may or may not have already addressed by now, but one nevertheless, which I thought I should mention here. Mainly, the u-shaped mounting brackets for both the seat and handlebars were a slightly too wide, and slightly too deep, hence both seat and handlebars could be moved forward/backwards, and from side-to-side when I finished the assembly. This was a fairly simple fix for me (probably not so easy for those of you without tools and/or mechanical skills, though); I just put each side of the brackets in my bench vise, and then carefully bent them inward until they matched the width of the mounting frame. Then I cut two rectangular pieces of black fiber gasket material (hardware store stock) and put them in the flat parts of the brackets. Using a little "elbow grease" to line up the bolts, I bolted everything back up, and eureka!—handlebars are nice and snug now. A big hammer might work too, although I would highly recommend using a couple of blocks of wood (one about the width of the frame) to avoid damage and uneven results. The bracket issue notwithstanding, this unit is very well made, very quiet, and the display not only works, but is easy to read too. I've been riding this machine three times a day, for about 15 minutes each time, on tension level seven and incorporating Tabata training at about the halfway point since day one—for about a month now. I'm very satisfied with this purchase. Bike's a very good deal at this price point! Update: I've been using this bike for almost three years now (up to level eight after a few weeks) and it's still functioning perfectly. I've been using it two or three times a week to warm up before doing some light weight training, and using it more often in the colder months when I'm just not in the mood for riding my real bikes in the snow. Being the occasional outside-the-box thinker that I am, I tried mounting the handlebars upside-down as an experiment, and much to my surprise ... discovered I really prefer them upside-down. Especially when doing Tabata on the 20-sec all-out-push cycle, because I'm able to push harder against the bars, thus achieving stronger contractions in upper-body muscles, pedal faster, and raise the overall intensity level of the workout.

*******UPDATE******* It finally died, now it has a loud clunk when pedaling. Overall the display is wonky and crappy, but for a cheap bike it lasted a while. As a guy who started around 280-290 6ft1, and pedaling my heart out for several years 30 minutes a day 4-5 days a week, it lasted a while. I sort of "outgrew it", I have been lifting and have been using it has a quick warmup and cool down tool, but cardio wise I've been doing more full body stuff and really lifting instead. During my warmup today it finally broke, and I think now I am going to move into a cheaper rowing machine for a more full body cardio warmup. Overall, I changed my review to a 5 star review, this little bike took several moves, years of abuse, and stayed consistent for a long time. For the price and cardio it supplied me for years, it more then earned it's rating. ********************* I've had this bike for a while, over two years now. Putting it together is easy. It's generally cheap but works. The seat and arms wobble slightly with any decent pressure. But again for a cheap bike it's fine. I would not expect this bike to be as solid as typical GYM equitment. My bigger issues start with the fact that it does not move that easily. The timer and info meter in the center is very inaccurate. Seriously I've been tracking it for a while now. I bike 30-60 minutes at a time, the timer is always wrong. At least 1:30-2 minutes wrong on 30 min runs. This was annoying because in the beginning, I scheduled my biking and set just enough time to get my work done and bike etc. So I kept having my timing off because this bike is always off. I compared the timer to my Amazfit Watch, my Regular mechanical watch, my new cell phone, laptop timer, and a standard timer for cooking/athletic timing. Those timers are all the same, bike is always different. Idk why it's always wrong, I never stop during my biking, so there is always power to it, it's just super inaccurate. This led me to believe the other measurements are inaccurate. The calories definitely are wrong, compared to my fitness tracker on my phone/Amazfit Watch. Which I get it's harder to be accurate because it doesn't take personal physiology into account. The distance measurement I hope are right, I try to do 10-20 miles a run depending on time, but idk if it's accurate, I don't know a way to measure it, but if I was a getting man I'd put the house on not accurate. The front handle bars are generally useless, maybe it's more my size? 6' 1", 235, started closer to 280, couple years ago. The tension controls when you change it feels off for a bit, then it seems to settle in after going for a couple minutes. The center loose knob is almost useless, the rear caps slip off all the time while moving and just riding sometimes, I super glued them into the correct position and it's fine. Overall, if you want a cheap recumbent bike, generally quite, and that's it, buy this. If you are expecting quality, any type of accuracy on the digital readout, or a gym style setup then don't buy this, you need to move into a higher price bracket. I would only buy this again if I was on a strict budget and/or this was my first exercise bike and I wanted to get into it first without breaking the bank (which is what I did). Initially it was nice to be able to bike inside during rough times of COVID and get into this without breaking the bank. When I move, I will probably just replace this bike with a more expensive, more solid, and more accurate one. I should also mention, I have back problems and neck issues, which is why I got this type of bike. Generally it's okay comfort wise on the back. At the end of my biking I get tight and gotta stretch after, but it would be way worse on a regular stationary bike or outdoor biking. Hope this helps

I've had this for almost 2 years, I use it every day, nothing vigorous, but I'm up to 6620 on the odometer so it is holding up well. Can't beat it for the price. I'm a small person, but other reviews indicate it is good for tall people as well. In fact, I use a back support cushion to bring me a little closer, and I have the seat setting all the way forward. I was able to fairly easily put it together myself, so that must mean the instructions are pretty good as that is not my strong suit! As a bonus, I set it up "rube goldberg style" so I could use my laptop as I pedal. The set up consists of 2 small side tables that hold a laptop desk, allwoing my legs free rein underneath, looks silly, kinda steampunk according to my brother who laughed when he saw it, but also fantastic. I also use arm weights while I'm on. It's a wee bit noisy, but that could be because it could use some tightening of the bolts, but I have earbuds in almost all the time I use it, and it doesn't bother me. I actually look forward to hopping on and pedaling to nowhere, it sets me up for my day. I break a sweat, what can I say. Highly recommend.

I received this last week and wanted to use it first before reviewing. The assembly is fairly straightforward, the hardest part was attaching the cables together. Instead of assembling them from right to left assemble left to right looking at the picture. It’s a solid machine and the different resistance settings click into place when changing it to your preference. For me the seat is comfortable and I’ve used for four days a half hour at a time. The operation is so smooth and quiet you can watch tv at normal volume, you don’t even know it’s running when in use. Overall we’re liking it so far. Other reviewers noted that the drive belt seemed rough when pedaling and had some wear prematurely. I checked the belt and pulleys on mine everything was aligned correctly. If you’re looking for a good basic recumbent to get a workout take a look at this one.

Update: I've downgraded my rating to 3 stars. After using the bike only 6 times the resistance broke. It took 5 weeks of emails and phone calls with the company and watching videos they sent me, trying to figure out how to fix it myself; only to have them decide it wasn't fixable and sending me a new main part housing the flywheel and belt. I'm not the handiest person around, but I was willing to try in order to have my bike up and running again as soon as possible, but in hindsight I messed with it far too long. While I appreciate that they ultimately sent a new mainframe and the bike is working now (fingers crossed) it really wasn't worth the hassle. Wished so many times that I'd bought it locally and could just take it back to the store. Instructions for putting it together were great. Took me several hours but I'm slow and weak and wasn't in a hurry. Even attaching the computer cables was able to be done by me alone, a 62 y.o. female. Just put it together yesterday so I've only used it twice but I love it so far. It has everything I need at a reasonable price. Only two things weren't perfect. Note the imperfection on the one side of the seat. The second picture is what it should look like. Since it doesn't affect the performance in any way I won't bother sending it back, but I'm a little curious that quality control would miss something so obvious. The other thing is that the instructions for using it are skimpy. It says the "Mode" button scans all options every 4 seconds. It did eventually do that for me but not at first, and I didn't have a clue how to trouble-shoot it. Also, I would think the "Set" button would hold it on speed, or distance, or time, or whatever is being displayed at the time you press "set" but this is not so. And there's nothing in the instructions as to how it is supposed to work. Since the instructions to put it together were so good I was surprised at the lack of help in its use. Neither of these two things changes my 5 star rating. It's what I wanted at a price I was willing to pay.

Estaba preocupado por los daños en el empaque y en la bicicleta que se leen en algunos comentarios de esta y otras bicicletas fijas. Me sorprendió gratamente ver lo bien empacada y protegida que viene las partes de la bici. Por otro lado, las especificaciones del acero empleado y tornillería se me hacían exageradas, pensaba que estaban sobradas, pero al ver el estrés al que se someten durante el uso, se justifican, de hecho hay que reapretar fuertemente las uniones de estructura al inicio. El único tema menor que veo es el cambio de largo para cambiar de persona grande a chica, tuve que lubricar largo guía por que resultaba difícil el ajuste , al igual añadí un par de cinchos (ver foto) para tirar de ellos y facilitar reducir el tamaño. La computadora no hay instrucción de uso, para resetear los contadores tiene que ser en “stop” darle reset. Fuera de eso se me hace una compra justa y buena.

This bike is ideal for me. Post-stroke it's got the ideal tension for me to rehab with. It's easier for me to get on as no real leg lifting is needed and I can get my foot into the pedals. It was delivered very quickly and I would definitely recommend. My husband says the bike was straight forward to build - not as easy as putting up a shelf - but good that it's not.

Very easy to put together. Some reviews state installation problems. Regarding wires being easy to install backwards, I would suggest the manufacturer place a white line on each half of wire connector to allow for easy matching when connecting wires. Some reviews also state it is difficult to adjust the seat forward or backward. I found if you screw the adjustment knob too tight it does make it difficult to move the bar when you pull the pin up. All you have to do is back the adjustment screw off a couple turns and then the seat floor bar moves quite easily when the pin is lifted. Adjustment is then easily accomplished by yourself. I have bad knees and found after 35 minute workout it does not bother my knees. I have only used the bike twice so far, but I am impressed with it so far, Especially the great price. It is very quiet, easy to move and takes up very little space. Some reviews state monitor scrolls from time to speed to calories constantly. All you have to do is press mode until you get the data reading you want. Then press the set button and it will stay on your selection. To reset the monitor you have to hold the reset button down until the reading turns to zero. It can take a few seconds. I have no problem giving it 5 stars.

I've only had this bike for a few days (about 4) but I've been on it 2x a day and all in all it works Fantastic. If you are looking for a stable, reliable and affordable option, this is a Great choice. I'm using it for rehab with knee issues, so it's one of the best all round, low impact exercise machines to use (indoor exercise bikes in general). It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of other more expensive brands like NordicTrack, Sole, etc., but it's about 1/3 of the price new. (or less) If you want bluetooth connection, or lots of bells and whistles than this is probably not the exercise bike for you. However, it meets all the requirements I'm looking for, and for music etc., I simply put on my earphones and connect with my phone. (or tv via bluetooth on my headphones etc). It has a large screen for calorie count, distance, time etc. Easy to read & straightforward. It's also much lighter (50 lbs I think) which is about half the weight of other machines out there, so a LOT easier to move around the house etc. Also it's very easy to get on/off, and comfortable with a well padded backrest and seat. You do have to adjust the length based on your height, but it's very straightforward, and as I'm primarily the only one in my house using it, I just leave it at the adjusted setting. I'd highly recommend this bike for those looking for a reliable, basic machine for rehab or exercise in general -- some people mentioned that the levels (tension) wouldn't be as intense as they'd like, but out of 8 settings, I have it set at a 3 right now and is MORE than adequate. I feel like I'm still getting an awesome work out. My one complaint is, like many manufacturers these days, the instructions are "ok" but I would highly recommend a YouTube video when it comes time to put the electronic part together. (tension control). There is one specifically for that -- and once we found it, it was easy peasy. Other than that particular part to put together, the rest was very straightforward.

I can not recommend this product and praise the company enough! The bike itself is great, especially for a wheelchair user like myself, it’s been a life saver for getting decent cardio sessions in. It’s very high quality and we had no problems assembling it as it was straight forward. After a month we had an issue with a peddle so contacted the seller. We had doubts about getting the issue sorted as we were in lockdown so thought we may have to wait a while for any support. However this was far from the case as the seller was fast to reply, more than helpful, and went above and beyond to rectify the issue. At such a difficult time for most businesses I very much appreciated her going the extra mile, her helpful friendly attitude and the level of contact from her. I am more than happy to highly recommend this product and seller.