MERACH Recumbent Exercise Bike – Comfort & Tech Combined

Highly Recommend-check out my accessibility review
I have had this bike assembled and in use for a week. It was easy to assemble, seems very sturdy, and looks far more expensive than what I paid. It is easy to move around with the handle on the back. Being there are plenty of great reviews, I will now focus on accessibility.I have a condition that causes extreme foot drop, knee drop, and hip drop on my left side. I also have balance challenges as well as reduced core and arm strength. I walk with a mobility walker. I am 67 years old. I am hoping this will help slow the progression of my symptoms from my disease. The seat is far more supportive than many bike like seats used. The handles that pivot up and down make for easy sitting and provided stability as I can hold them while cycling or standing up to get off. The center bar rests on the floor and makes it very easy to get on and off without having to raise my leg much at all. I can literally slide my foot over it. The control panel is easy to figure out and gives a nice size font. The seat has quit a bit of range moving forward and back and is easy to adjust while sitting. I started day one on resistance level 2 and went twice that day for 5 minutes. Keep in mind, my leg strength is very poor and my muscles are breaking down. I was able to work up to 10 minute sessions twice a day on resistance level 4. I am working towards two 20 minute sessions at level 5 or 6. I feel safe, stable, and enjoy the comfort. I do wish the back of the seat would sit just a bit straighter up, but it is fine at the same time. I also have osteoarthritis in my knees and the pain level has already improved, as an added bonus. I am 5’5″ and 138 lbs.This cycle runs on batteries. There is no option to plug it in and I do wish that was an option. I highly recommend this bike for anyone. If you have any kind of mobility challenges, this may be a good place to safely start your exercise journey. I can do this alone and I feel safe and I am already seeing good results after just one week. It fits easily in the corner of my small home office, so I take my work breaks on this now instead of doing nothing. It is progress.

Solid, easy to build
This was relatively easy to put together as advertised. The back mesh is comfortable. There was some initial “grinding” noises when I first used this as I pedaled, but that has gone away (?). Display works great, but it’s hidden when I have my iPad Pro on the stand (which fits nicely actually), so I have to lift the iPad out of the way to check my distance, speed, etc.). The side/pulse handles can be lifted out of the way when riding, which is good because when they are down, my phone in the side leg pocket of my bike shorts sometimes hits the handle when pedaling…so even though I’d like to, I almost never have the handles down. So that’s annoying, and it mostly leaves me with nowhere to put my hands (the handlebar handles are just a bit too far for me to be comfortable for any length of time). My biggest complaint though: the seat pad is ROCK HARD. There is no cushion whatsoever – you might as well be sitting on a board. I’m using a chair cushion when I ride this and I’m still getting tailbone pain after 20 mins or so. If I’m on for 45 mins or more, I’m pretty much in agony. Not sure it’s less comfortable than any other stationary bike given that I have a “flat butt” lol but..ouch. I’ve recently upgraded to a more expensive universal gel cushion and that seems to work better.I’m still using it because I paid decent money for it, and I’ve logged over 600 miles on it since I bought it about a month ago. It gets the job done, but honestly it’s not a very comfortable ride.UPDATE 1/5/25: I’ve managed to lose 100 pounds largely with the help of this bike, which I ride daily (usually twice per day). I’ve lost track of the miles I’ve logged since last July because the batteries to the display died and needed to be replaced (and the display reset) but it’s at least 5000+ miles so far.Because of the weight loss I fit better on it now and I’ve moved where I keep my phone to the top of my thigh, so the pulse handlebar issue above has been resolved for me (I use the handles all the time now). If you’re wondering, I use my phone to track movement for virtual challenges, which is why I need it on me when I ride. I also moved the machine to a place where I can watch TV (or even play on my PS5!) without using my iPad, so I’ve got a clear view of the bike’s display now, which is nice because I can watch and keep a consistent (ish lol) speed throughout my ride.I am still giving it 4 stars because even after my weight loss the seat is still ROCK HARD unfortunately; I’m still needing a really thick cushion on top of the gel cushion mentioned above to get through a 45+ minute ride, but I’m no longer in pain after my rides and haven’t been for months. It helps that the seat has a chair back that looks like a desk chair, I stuff part of the cushion between the seat and back to keep it in place and it mostly works. Looks like crap, but works. 😉Also: someone asked how easy this is to move and here’s a funny: when putting this together I managed to put the bottom base bars on reversed, so the handle is at the front (meaning you’re lifting the heaviest part of the bike when moving instead of the lightest) and the wheels are on the chair end, and I STILL found it relatively easy to move the few times I have moved it so far – and I’m not by any means super strong. Maybe one day if I become more enfeebled I will take the time to put the base bars where they belong to make it easier to lift, but my experience so far is that it’s easy to roll into place once lifted – at least on bare concrete and low pile carpet – so I’m going to leave it as is. Given my experience I imagine it’s SUPER easy to move if you’re not an idiot like me and put the handle on the chair end where it belongs lol!I will also say that I agree with some other reviewers, the resistance choices do leave something to be desired. I keep mine on 6; anything less feels like no resistance at all, anything more feels like churning through cement. If I ever decide I need a higher resistance I’m not sure this bike will be the one for me moving forward because of this, but so far I’m happy with where I have it. But user preferences are obviously different for resistance settings, so I guess that isn’t a legit criticism that applies to everyone.I’ve had to be out of town a couple of times since I’ve gotten this thing and used the bikes in hotel fitness centers while away. I can honestly say that I missed my bike dearly during those trips, even when another recumbent bike was available to me at one of the hotels; I guess that’s actually a big positive for this bike!