Tunturi E90r Recumbent Exercise Bike Review

As well as being a high quality piece of exercise equipment for performing cardio workouts, the Tunturi E90R Recumbent Exercise Bike also features software which allows you to check your emails, browse the internet and even watch a movie while you exercise.

This product article is aimed at providing you with information on everything from the workout programs to quality of assembly instructions to help you decide if this is the bike that best meets your requirements.

Design features

If you are thinking about buying a new recumbent exercise bike, two of the most important design features to look for are adjustability and base stability.

In order to get the most out of your workouts, it’s important to be able to adjust the distance the seat is from the pedals to take into account different user heights.

The frame design of the Tunturi E90R is kept symmetrical so as to keep the weight balanced, with a base plate at the front and back to prevent any possibility of tipping.

There are also two sets of handles, one that wraps around the base of the seat and the other that wraps around the display console.

With the seat handles being the set you will use most often, this is where a set of heart rate hand sensors have been added. These are useful for if you want to workout using one of the heart rate controlled programs or perform the fitness test.

Ease of assembly

Being a recumbent exercise bike, the Tunturi E90R has relatively few parts to setup compared to some cross trainers or treadmills.

The main base unit is supplied already assembled, comprising of the flywheel housing and seat support, leaving just the seat, base plates, and handlebar unit to be put together.

Although the user manual provides no textual explanation to go with each step, there are a series of clear exploded drawings which are also used to tell you which parts you will need for that step.

Although the fully setup bike weighs around 60kg, there is no real heavy lifting required, making it possible for one person to set the bike up in around 20 minutes.

Tunturi E90r – Features Summary

7kg Flywheel
Transmission Ratio: 1:9
Electromagnetic braking system
For home or light commercial use
Workout Options: Manual, Constant watt, Heart rate control(5), T-road(3), T-Music, T-ride(5), Preset(10), User(100), race, fitness test
Media: iPod/iPhone Dock, Internet (WIFI) USB ports x 2, e-mail, e-books, web browser, speakers, 8 languages
Power: mains | Transport wheels | Heart rate chest strap
Warranty: 20 years frame, 2 years parts and components

Display console design

One of the most attractive features of the Tunturi E90R is the design of the display console with 10.2 inch full colour screen and wide range of available menu options.

While the comfort of the seat and range of cycling motion are certainly important, when it comes to stationary cycling it can be important to have something to keep your mind active.

While many commercial gyms will use rows of flat screen televisions hanging from the ceiling, the Tunturi E90R provides you with an option to browse the internet (if wireless connection available), send and read emails, and even read your E-books.

As with much of the top of the range cardio equipment from Tunturi, the display console is entirely touch screen, using icons and a simple menu system to adjust the different settings and start workout programs.

Due to the USB connector positioned on the side of the display, the built in computer is able to read various file formats including MP3 and MPEG-1.

This means that you can copy your favourite music or films from your computer onto a USB drive, connect it to the display and play the content while you workout.

Workout programs

Despite the recumbent exercise bike having a relatively small range of motion compared to cross trainers or rowing machines, the Tunturi E90R still provides you with a variety of workout programs for different fitness levels.

These include 10 preset programs, manual, target heart rate training, and even Tunturi’s own ‘T’ range of workouts; T-Ride, T-Road, T-Music.

T-Ride – Allows you to select a terrain to simulate riding a bike in different locations, then set a start and end point for cycle. During the workout you can change the gears using the slider and even watch as the altitude you are cycling at during your virtual journey changes.

T-Road – Similar to T-Ride but provides you with an on-screen image of the route you are cycling along.

T-Music – This particular workout program is controlled by your heart rate.
The difference between this and the heart rate controlled programs is that this adjusts the tempo of music playing to match the speed of your heart rate, compared to adjusting the resistance to keep you within a target range.

The 10 preset workouts vary from more gentle cross country programs designed to improve your endurance, to more intense interval training programs designed to improve your oxygen uptake capacity.

The ability to create user profiles also gives you the opportunity to create up to 100 user defined programs.

Fitness test

If you are looking for a way of measuring the improvement in your fitness level, the Tunturi E90R features a built in fitness test.

This test begins at a low level of effort which will increase steadily as you keep pedalling. The test ends when you reach 85% of your maximum heart rate, at which time the data collected during the test is used to calculate your maximum oxygen uptake capacity.

Based on this, a fitness score from 1 to 7 is then displayed on the screen and can be used as a way of monitoring the changes over a period of time.

This is one of the reasons why interval programs that increase your oxygen uptake capacity will be some of the most effective in terms of improving your fitness test score and overall fitness level.

Tunturi E90r Recumbent

The Tunturi E90r Recumbent Exercise Bike features a simple design created using heavy duty thick tubular framework to provide you with a strong, stable base for your workouts. This is backed up by providing you with a 20 year warranty on the frame and 2 year warranty on any parts and components.

The option of creating 100 user defined workouts, as well as the dozens of preset programs will provide you with enough variation to keep your training varied, effective, and interesting.

The console is equipped with Wi-Fi, which makes it easy to connect to any available wireless networks. With the state of the art display and 7kg flywheel, you can be sure the operation of the bike will be smooth and silent while you follow your workout progress or take advantage of the various multimedia entertainment options.

Product weight: 61kg
Maximum user weight: 150kg
Product dimensions: 171cm (L) x 70cm (W) x 117cm (H)