Life Fitness Lifecycle 9500 HR Review

The LifeCycle 9500 HR upright bike was formerly a staple of commercial gyms and fitness centers. As such, there is a plentiful supply of these pieces of equipment on eBay and at used fitness equipment outlets. The going price on eBay is about $400, plus or minus. This is a fraction of the original new price.

These are rock solid commercial machines which are very durable. Unlike the home models which utilize a drive belt, these use a drive chain which is unlikely to ever break. An additional plus is that parts are simple, cheap and readily available at fitness equipment merchants on the internet. These ingenious machines use a automobile type alternator powered by your pedaling and do not have to be plugged into a wall outlet.

The seat is adjustable to fit anyone from about 5 foot to about 6 foot 5.

The pre-programmed fitness programs are manual, hill, fit test, heart rate, race and random.

 Initially I used the "hill" routine which includes warm up, cool down, and a series of progressively more difficult hills. You can adjust the overall intensity from 1 to 7. Eventually I found this routine limiting because the routines are limited to 24 minutes and with warm up and cool down this makes the period of intense workout very short.

I have now come to love the "heart rate" routine which is not limited to any particular duration. The machine has a built in heart rate monitor which is activated by simply gripping two metal sections of the hand grip. You can put in your desired heart rate (which it will select for you based on your age or you can enter manually) and the machine will select the resisitance level required to keep your heart at the desired rate. Pretty slick. I find that for a 45 minute workout, my heart rate takes a while to increase while doing very strenuous exercise but by the end of the 45 minutes it is at a high rate with very little resistance.

 The "manual" setting is also not limited in duration and allows you to burn the most calories in the least amount of time due to continuous even resistance. However, you will either decrease your resistance level manually as the workout progresses, or you will find your exertion level and heart rate increasing throughout the workout despite using a fixed resistance level.

 Overall this machine is a rock solid pleasure to use. It does not feel like a toy or home machine. Eventually (after years) you will have to replace the small lead acid battery, especially if you do not use the machine for weeks or months as your use of the machine is what keeps the battery charged. This battery is readily available on the internet for $22.