ProForm  Whirlwind 280 Upright Exercise Bike

This appeared to be the perfect machine for me. I needed both an upper and lower body workout at a reasonable price, and this bike offered this at a great price. I purchased the bike in the store after trying it out. After assembly (I am very mechanically inclined) the bike appeared to functioning perfectly, and the workout was just as I had hoped for. However, after only 3 weeks of daily use (20 minute workouts) it started to make a squeaking noise and I felt a vibration in the left pedal. Because I had read the reviews for this bike I knew that this was the beginning of the end for the bearings. But this is where it gets good for Sears. Their online return procedure is exemplary (return or exchange in 5), provided that you can get the bike back to the store (no problem for me). A very simple and painless return to the store. I am now getting the Schwinn AD6, the quality and build are superior.

This was the perfect bike for me. But the quality is awful. A pedal just broke off, the steel shaft broke!. Pay a bit more and get something that might last

I am riding every day! It is so easy! The bike doen't take up much room and, when I pedal backwards the fan cools me off. Yes, I like this!

Bought 3 of these bikes, First one back in 1996 and love using them. Perfect for my needs; love the upper and lower mobility. They do have a problem; after some use the pedals do brake off. Cheap metal rod that is screwed into the pedal arm. Had to change it couple of times. Can't beat the price for what you get.

I bought this bike in Feb 2010. Right after the 3 months warranty has expired the Electronic Display started to malfunction, but I wasn't too concerned since I'm using my own heart rate monitor to calculate the calories burned. I used it on average 2-3 times a week for 30min or so. in March 2011 one of the pedals just broke, had to order a new one - $45, few months later the other pedal broke had to buy it again - another $45. Then couple of months ago I started to hear clanking noise and resistance was getting too strong on and off, until it got to the point where it was impossible to move the pedals. And now I have a useless piece of junk taking up space on my backyard! The biggest joke is the warranty on the frame! What can possibly happen to a frame? Stay away from this product, don't waste your money on this junk! It doesn't even deserve the one star rating, Sears need to create a speacial negative star rating for this product!

Daily use of the Whirlwind 280 is worth the time spent spinning. The monitor informs you of your speed, miles ridden, time elapsed, and calories burned as you are riding. Even after you have completed your workout, the monitor keeps the information long enough for you to record it on a chart if you choose to seriously gage your daily activity. It then resets itself to a clear screen for the next participant. The adjustable seat makes the bike family friendly for long and short legs to reach the pedals, by just loosening one knob to raise and lower the post below the seat. There is no up-keep from day to day. Just get on and begin your exercise routine. The longer you ride, the more miles you'll accumulate, burning more calories. Your legs become stronger as you pedal away the pounds.

The ride is very smooth and does not strain the muscle structure and instead will test it to tense up muscles to improve my exercise performance.

The hardsest part of using this bike was putting it together.  You are given the option of home delivery and having someone put it together.  I think having it put together by a store employee is well worth the cost.

The hardest put of putting it together were the pedals.  The first time out my husband stripped the screw trying to screw it in.  I had to order a new pedal it cost $49.

After waiting a week for the new pedal he was able to screw them both in a little bit.  It was as if the screws on the pedals were too big for the openings.  You need superhuman strength to screw them in.

With them partially screwed in you could not screw on the bolts to hold them in place so everything was slightly loose.

Despite the drawbacks, I started using the bike.  It took leg strength to pedal.  I discovered I could only pedal for 5 minutes at a time then I would need to rest.

I used the bike for a week pedaling 5 minutes at a time and resting 10 minutes.  All in all I used the bike 36 minutes a day.  It was a good workout.  I felt it in my legs and rear.

After one week I noticed that the pedal felt funny, then the rowing arms came loose.  The pedal was completely bent in the hole.  My husband removed it and discovered it too had become stripped from use.

Now I have no bike to use.  I have a broken piece of junk.   I hate to say it but that is what it is.  It is a $350 piece of junk.  It was poorly constructed.

My husband went out yesterday and bought a new exercise bike.  It is a Schwinn.  It cost the same but is a better construction.  It doesn't give me the burn that the Proform did but at least it won't break.

I do like this exersize bike. It's half the price of the Schwin Aerodyne. The Profoms frame fits me comfortably and I like the lever-arm action it provides as well as the upright console for viewing progress and resting my arms. I felt the frame was substantial enough, yet conveniently sized for moving about in the room for a guy my size ( 5'8" height and about 280 lbs). I need the daily workout for cardio-weight loss and improvements in my breathing quality, which this does for me. I use it twice per day, 20- 30 minute in the morning & evening, and I am slowly loseing weight and improving my other aspects of health and strength as a result. The flaw to this bike lies in the manner that the pulley belt drive wheel and the axle are affixed to each other, and the bearings that this axle rotates on. If you are somewhat mechanically inclined and able to work with a few hand tools, you yourself can fix this bike so it works trouble free. As to the pulley belt drive wheel-axle assembly flaw, I found that they were tacked to each other with just 3 spot welds- not good, as they could -as in my case- fracture at the weld points and break loose from each other. However, I solved this problem by removing the pulley belt drive wheel-axle assembly from the exersize bike and bringing it to a local neighborhood muffler shop to have them arc weld an outside bead around the entire contact perimeter where the axle flange meets the pulley belt drive wheel. This will give you a solid assembly that should last. This cost me $35.00 cash. As to the bearings issue, I removed the old bearings and their components (bearing cages, cups, cones lock washer, washers and nuts) discarded the old parts (except the locking washers & thin nuts, I saved these), cleaned out the bottom bracket chamber, bought a new bottom bearing kit (old fashioned American (Ashtabula style) bottom bracket bearing kit for an adult sized bike complete with bearing cages, cones, cups, washers, and nuts). I bought this kit from a local bike shop. This bearing kit cost me $10.00- buy the grease tube/pouch also from the bike shop, you wont need much ( I already had my own tub of grease to use at home). You will also need a gear puller to take off the pedal cranks after removing their bolts. Any inexpensive pulller should do- this is about the only specialized tool you will need. This bike has a three piece crank assembly- two cranks and a tapered square ended axel like some bikes have. Take your digital camera and photo document each step of dissassembly so you maintain an accurate record of how everything goes and fits. When you go to take your pulley belt drive wheel-axle assembly to the welders and the weld joint had already failed so the assembly was loose as mine was, I used a 1.25" diameter by 3" long galvanized threaded nipple pipe fitting from ********** as an alignment spacer for the assembly. I took the new threaded cone and installed it onto the axel to press the pully firmly against the axel flange, then slipped the nipple over the axel, and then placed the other cone onto the opposite end of the axel to tighter the nipple against the first cone. This helped me because my threds were stripped and could not properly seat the cone next to the pully. This for me eliminated any wobble issues with the pulley belt drive wheel-axle assembly for welding purposes and acted as an alignment clamp. The nipple seats nicely onto the flat outer ring area of the cones. Use the cones from your new bearing kit. This galvanized theraded nipple cost me about $2.50 at **********. Remember, normally when you thread a nut and bolt the addage is-righty-tighty, lefty-loosey so you thread properly. BUT HERE YOU ARE THREADING A REVERSE THREAD FOR THE BEARING CONES AND AXEL SO ITS REVERSED. AS A RESULT YOU MUST THREAD IN THE FOLLOWING MANNER: LEFTY-TIGHTY, RIGHTY-LOOSEY, REMEMBER THIS SO YOU DONT STRIP THE THREADS. Youtube has a good two part video on servicing/replacing an american bottom bracket bearing for an adult bicycle you will have to look bit for it, but its there and very helpful- the guy works on a silver bike. Unfortunatly, I do not remember the name of the posting, but it will show you the steps involved in taking apart and reinstalling the bearings. It helped me a lot. Dont forget to use the grease and get the grease inside the bearing cages, also wipe grease onto the riding surfaces of the cups and cones. Make sure when you install the bearings that the ball side faces inside to the cups (The cups get tapped onto the bottom bracket housing-use a block of wood and a hammer or mallet to tap and seat them onto the housing), and the back side of the cages face against the cones (the cones have the threadings on their insides and are threaded onto the axle) The total cost for parts for me to fix the problem flaws on this exersize bike was just under $50.00- Good for another 10 years. I hope you find this helpful

Love love love this machine! I've been using it for a week and have noticed an improvement in my mood and sleep. I did pay for delivery and assembly, extra $ but worth it. I also opted for the 5 year maintenance plan as it was reasonable and it looks like I'll be giving this bike a workout! I am a mature woman, not planning on running any marathons but want to stay in shape!