2/16/21 I had gym visits going on regularly for the past year and more and have avoided using this bike, thank goodness for that. I'm very serious about getting good cardio bike workouts so yes I've been visiting the gym. I've been using Startrac Recumbent bikes and those actually feel like they give me a hard workout, they get me sweating and I don't even go max level. This recumbent bike does not, it just goes high enough on the resistance that my legs will move kind of slow. When I go max level on this bike I don't feel like I'm getting a good workout at all. I think the model is the Star Trac E series E-RB because the ones I use have an extendable handlebar. I'm seriously considering selling this now because it's just taking up space and again the E-RB are getting me good recumbent bike workouts. I've added three more pictures highlighting areas where rust forms the most and showing the belt torn up, if you look you can see a thread has started to rip out. I've also added a video of the belt making a ripping noise. This gets worse every workout and there is no fix for it, I'll just hear a small tear noise every pedal. This happens within a few weeks to months. Sometimes I won't hear any tearing or noise but eventually when enough of the belt has broken apart the noise becomes very obvious. I'm so glad I've had a gym membership because I would have been so miserable dealing with this horrifying nightmare of a problem.3/31/20Since the quarantine is in effect I decided to take this bike out of the garage and not spend any money on a new bike. I had a new belt drive inserted and checked that the belt is properly centered. You can see in the second to last picture. I don't hear any strong rubbing now though there is still so much debris from the belt wearing down. I'm not going to resell this bike but I will instead put it to good use until the frame gives out. I'm probably going to buy more belt drives as I'm expecting to go through them quickly because I am very passionate about cycling. I counted 14 workouts so far with the new belt. If you are curious what kind of stats I have I added a pic of my recent workout. Stay safe!Update 4/21I had a replacement bike sent to me for free and less than 5 months of having it the belt drive started wearing out. I can't recommend this company for anyone serious about getting in shape or when it comes to reliability. If you buy this bike you are throwing away your money.Update 11/26/18I've run into multiple issues with the bearings that keep the pedals moving smoothly. If you wonder what those are they are the rings with balls in them. These fit into the sockets on the metal frame on the bike and are greased up. After a few months I started hearing creaking and grinding from the bearing area. This design seems very faulty. I've tried re-greasing several times and replacing the bearings at least three times. I don't recommend this bike for heavy long term use. I typically use it 5-7 days a week for an hour or more each work out at higher resistance (14+). So I've had it since May 2017. It lasted me fine but the problems are way too terrible and shouldn't be there. Maintenance is way too difficult and tedious. The first time I had bearing issues I had the feeling this bike wasn't built to last more than a few months. It's still better than a gym membership to me because I enjoy cardio and it's conveniently at home but I'm going to start shopping for a recumbent bike from a different company. At least I got in better shape and I'm glad for that.Older part of reviewI've had this bike for around 4 months and I'll say it's been worth getting. It has some issues I will address but I'm glad I bought it. I had a previous model from Schwinn from years ago which was also a 230. I'll be able to compare with that too to really make up how good it is, not just as a recumbent bike but as a newer model. Assembly was fine, I had help with another person so it didn't take that long. Alone it should be fun though even if it may take a bit longer. The first times I rode the bike the plastic coverings under the seat made creaking noises. I tightened the screws in them and after a few weeks of breaking it in the noises disappeared. I think there was also another noise under the seat, but it's been so long now I don't remember. If it was there it's gone since I sprayed that area with some WD-40. I did make sure to tighten screws around that area as well. There was also another noise on the left pedal that disappeared after I sprayed some WD-40 where the axle part goes in the pedal. The workouts are great. I like the resistance levels which are totally adequate for me. The higher resistances to me seem like they would be like having the weight of an extra person or more on a bike as I pedaled with it up a steep hill. But I don't really cycle outside. They feel heavy. I'm more focused on just getting through the current resistance level of 12 than straining through the heavier levels. Just trying to hit, much less sustain, high intensity pedaling speeds on this level feels similar to sprinting on the cardiovascular level. Not quite but close; it will definitely get me gasping for breath for a while, that is if my legs aren't rapidly losing power and burning from that high effort first. My focus is longer durations though, not so much speed bursts. These in my experience bring so much more results than just trying to workout more intensely for a much shorter amount of time. I like to workout a lot. This is why I got this bike. If I tried to do as much cardio by running on the pavement I would probably be in a constant state of extremely slow repair and progress in terms of increasing speed, strength and endurance. Sure the effort is there but that is so inneficient. With this bike I can save my joints from so much strain. So on to the computer. I like it, except for the heart rate monitor. The readings were so inconsistent and terrible that I just disconnected the cable that sends readings to the monitor. If I remember right, I think they would drop every few seconds endlessly. I'm very glad that there was an option to turn off the sounds. I didn't want to hear a beep every minute of working out. The last model I had did this and I quickly got tired of it. There are speakers to playback music from a phone or mp3 player but I don't really want the sound that close to me. It just seems too distracting. I do play music on some other speakers in the room which I prefer. I also like to workout in silence though. It actually focuses me as well and helps me push towards longer workout durations. There are handles by the sides of the computer but I don't care for using them regularly yet if ever. There's something about the height and angle of the seat that makes me not want to use them for the upright position. I feel like my knees go too high up and the seating isn't adequate enough. The front edge of the seat feels too high, and the seat's height feels way too low for the upright position. I actually used the front handles on the older 230 model plenty, the upright position felt comfortable enough and the height felt good. There was also thick cushioning on that model which probably played a big part in that. This bike's length from the seat to the pedals seems too close to me for the upright position when switching immediately from the recumbent position. And adjusting the height of the seat doesn't help at all. With the way the seat moves I'll just end up stretching my legs too much or having my knees go up higher. If the seat were at a much higher height, tilted down some more from the front and had some good cushioning I would consider the upright position on this bike more. I like that there are usb ports so that I can connect a tablet to maybe do some light reading while working out or charging an mp3 player, but I don't think I can get comfy enough on this seat to just put on some headphones and pedal away. I like that there are several buttons for quickly getting to a specific resistance level instead of just having to push and arrow up and down multiple times. I've tested the fan like once and probably won't use it. It's kind of noisy and I already use my room fan. The seat is better in some ways, that is it seems that it won't be quickly worn down by sweat. The seat of the last model had like a foam filling and wood layers under that to keep it firm. These wooden layers had gotten soggy and began to creak a lot. And that was annoying. This new seat does feel way harder but I've gotten used to it. When I say way harder I don't mean that I wouldn't want to get on it. The plastic material bends easily, has a fine firmness and shifts fine to my motion. At first after about an hour and a half I would start getting sore and want to stop. Now I can go for about 2 hours or even longer with minimal or no discomfort. It also keeps me from getting too comfortable and possibly bored. It'll keep me awake. I would like to get a model with thick cushioning again though. I don't like the friction aspect of this seat. Sometimes I feel like I don't seem to be firmly planted while I'm working out. This could be a problem because it could mess with me pushing a consistent effort. The workout would go well but I would want to readjust myself a few times so that I feel more comfortable or like I haven't slid back too much. Adjusting the seat height doesn't help a lot. I feel like I've found a really good height adjustment and still I'll have points like I'm not working my legs as right and hard as I want because of sliding. Or even the angle of the seat. I'm glad the back rest is where it is to help with this problem.The back support is fine. The biggest problem I've had with it is the logo on it. I've tried working out without a layer of clothes between the back rest and me and that has lead to really raw skin, to the point where pouring water on it burned. If the logo had some gel over it I don't think this would be much of an issue. The paint has already stripped off of it and I still have some dark markings on my lower back from it. I'll prefer to look for a model where the seat and backrest have cushioning like the older model. I think that would fix the sliding problem a bit more and the comfort problem way more. The old bike easily wins on seat and backrest design. I can last much longer now but I still get noticeably sore after about 1 and a half hours. Reaching 2 and a half hours and I start getting sore to the point where I want to stop. I don't like that I'll have to end my workouts because of that. I do like the water bottle holder on the side, it keeps me going. Having water at a close length ensures my workout goes seamless and effort stays consistent. I do put other bottles nearby on the ground but it's a nice addition. The bike's durability seems good. I've put over 2000 miles on it and it seems to be holding up fine. There was one huge problem I experienced while working out during around the 3rd to 4th month. During the beginning of the workout, a small thumping noise would occur. It was very minor and didn't really affect the momentum of the workouts but it was getting bothersome. It would also occur when my effort increased. I could feel a subtle thump on my pedals and it sounded like it was coming from the flywheel area so after some time I eventually opened up the case and checked around. I eventually figured it was from a part above the flywheel that had a spring attached to it. When I pushed it it would make a really small clunking noise. I sprayed some WD-40 around the areas where screws and nuts went and metal touched for the spring thing and I haven't heard any thumping sounds like that again.UpdateThe thumping noise started coming back soon after so I opened up the flywheel case, readjusted the nuts and bolts around there and used some more WD-40. The pedaling seems to be going smooth and the thumping seems greatly reduced if not gone for now. The biggest problem I would have with this bike is the distance from the pedals when they come near to the crank arms where they bend and come out of the case. If my feet pronate the heels will hit the crank arm. It's a bit of a bother as sometimes I want to go high in intensity without thinking much about this. In my experience going high intensity usually means my feet will pronate naturally with very little effort. It's almost a necessity. That's just how my muscles work. I think this problem would be even worse if I wore thick running shoes which I don't. I would have liked the crank arms to have been more like the ones on the old model, and maybe have the pedals a bit wider apart. I don't remember having as much of an issue with this on the old bike. The curves of the crank arms for this newer bike just stick out way too much. Overall I would say this bike good for getting in shape or adding to workout equipment, but the crank arms are a deal breaker for me. I wouldn't recommend it off that alone. Still I will keep using it, probably for a long time.