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A more compact version of the popular 900XL, the Exerpeutic 400XL folding recumbent bike also features a folding frame for easier storage.
With hundreds of reviews already awarding the full 5 stars, we wanted a closer look at what makes this exercise bike stand out.
The following product review looks at the design features, display console functions, customer reviews, and makes a quick comparison with the 900XL. This is to help you decide if the 400XL is the best recumbent bike for your own home gym.
Design Features
When it comes to choosing an exercise bike for your home gym, two of the most common issues are storage and mobility.
While the larger upright bikes will often provide a wider range of exercise programs and features, they aren’t always the most practical option if you are limited on space.
In order to solve these issues while still keeping the price close to entry level, Paradigm Health and Wellness have created the Exerpeutic 400XL semi recumbent bike.
Although this isn’t a true recumbent due to having an angled frame, rather than a horizontal seat and pedal position, this is still an excellent form of low impact exercise.
Lower priced, lighter, and more compact than a treadmill, this makes it safer for your hip and knee joints, as well as a great choice of rehabilitative exercise.
But it isn’t just the low profile of the frame and your body positioning when cycling that makes the difference.
The padding on the seat and back support help to provide an extra level of comfort and support for your lower back, with the adjustable seat position adapting the bike to fit a wide range of user heights.
When you finish your workout, simply fold the frame up and carry the bike to wherever it needs to be stored. At just under 40 lb in weight, this is a task that is considerably easier and safer than moving some of the larger pieces of cardio equipment.
Exerpeutic 400XL – Features Summary
- Foldable recumbent exercise bike with quiet V-belt double-drive transmission system
- Precision-balanced flywheel
- 8-level adjustable magnetic tension control system
- Easy-to-read LCD display tracks your distance, calories, time, speed, and heart rate
- Semi-recumbent design for easy entry and exit
- Large seat cushion and backrest
Display Console Design
Despite its simplicity, the display console for the Exerpeutic 400XL is still surprisingly effective at providing your important workout information.
In a similar way to most recumbent and upright bikes in this price range, there are no complicated button layouts and large LCD screens.
Instead, a single display scrolls through each of your workout statistics, including calories burned, time, pulse, speed, and distance.
A single navigation button has been provided to allow you to manually scroll through these values yourself, with the angle of the console mount keeping the screen in view at all times.
Although the resistance setting relies on being manually changed rather than electronically, this is easily achievable even in the middle of your workout.
Just below the display console you’ll find the dial for the magnetic tension control system, complete with its 8 clearly marked settings.
This gives you plenty of options for warming up and cooling down, as well as varying the intensity of your workouts as your fitness level improves.
Exerpeutic 400xl vs. 900xl
Before making a final buying decision on any exercise bike, it’s important to find out if there are any other options at a similar price point that will be better suited to your style of workouts.
Being another of the exercises bikes in the highly popular Exerpeutic range, we decided to make some quick comparisons with the Exerpeutic 900XL, to see just how much they differ in terms of functions.
Without the ability to fold the frame away for easy storage, it’s no surprise that the 900 XL measures slightly larger than the 400 XL.
The lower profile of the frame to create more of a traditional recumbent bike design extends the length, while the width and height are also marginally larger.
Despite some fairly minor differences in display console design, both bikes also have a number of similarities.
To provide a quick overview of these differences and more, we’ve put together the following comparison table:
 |  |
|
| Model | 400 XL | 900 XL |
| Heart Rate Hand Sensors | Yes | Yes |
| Resistance Settings | 8 | 8 |
| Dimensions | 19" (W) x 33" (H) x 46" (D) | 22" (W) x 34" (H) x 54" (D) |
| Warranty | 3 Years | 3 Years |
| Foldable | Yes | No |
| Adjustable Foot Straps | Yes | Yes |
| Weight Capacity | 300 lbs | 300 lbs |
Quality of Assembly Instructions
Aside from the actual design and display console functions, it can still be important to know just how easy it is to put together the 400XL before buying.
Two of the best ways to find this out are the customer reviews, and having a read through the Exerpeutic 400XL instruction manual.
Based purely on the customer reviews, it seems like most people found the user manual easy to follow.
That being said, there were also a few reports that there were actually too many pictures, which overcomplicated the process and made it take 10 to 15 minutes longer.
The great thing is that with the user manual available online, you can have a quick read through and get yourself used to the setup process before the bike is even delivered.
As well as your standard step-by-step instructions, there’s also a detailed parts list, hardware packing list, and tools list (all tools required for the assembly are included).
Customer Reviews
Before you buy any new piece of fitness equipment, we usually recommend using the following 4 point checklist:
Written Product Reviews
It’s important that these are high quality. A short list of bullet points or description copied straight from every other shopping site just isn’t useful.
Try to find a review that writes about all aspects of the product in detail, as well as covering the positives and any negatives.
Customer Reviews
These will only be available through shopping sites, but are excellent for building up an overall opinion of people’s thoughts after using the product.
Amazon tends to have the best collection, with over 800 reviews for the Exerpeutic 400XL alone.
Videos
If you can’t get to a store to look at the product in person, try to find a video online.
Whether it’s an in-depth review or even just a commercial, they often provide a short clip of the product actually being used, with more to see than in pictures alone.
Pictures
Most good quality product reviews and product listings will have no shortage of photos, but because they are limited in the information they can really provide, we’ve put them last on our list.
The following lists of pros and cons have been put together from the most frequently mentioned points in the customer reviews. For more information, you can currently find the full reviews on Amazon.
Pros
- Quick and easy to assemble (30 to 45 minutes)
- Much more cost effective than a full commercial gym membership
- Compact design takes up little space when working out
- Folding frame makes it much easier to store than the 900XL
- Sturdy design prevents any unwanted movement when cycling
- Low profile frame makes it easy to get on and off the bike
- Challenging range of resistance levels
- Quiet to use
- Wide seat and cushioned lower back support create a more comfortable workout
- Lightweight frame and transport wheels makes it easy to transport
- 3 piece cranking system provides a smooth pedalling motion
Cons
- Heart rate and calories burned statistics aren’t always accurate. This tends to be a common theme among any machine that doesn’t let you enter some basic personal information, such as weight and age.
- Despite the range of seat settings, the 400XL tends to be better suited to users under 6ft tall
- No preset workout programs
Review Overview
Overall Review Rating
4.5 / 5
Even with a smaller footprint than the 900XL, the 400XL still manages to provide the same level of resistance options, high weight capacity, and beneficial low impact exercise.
The precision balanced flywheel and V- belt drive have also been designed to provide a smooth and quiet operation, meaning your exercise won't prevent you listening to music.
Although there is a lack of preset workout programs, it's difficult to find any bike that offers those features at this price point.
Designed with space efficiency in mind, the lightweight and ergonomic design ensures this is a bike that is both easy to move, and comfortable to use.
Product dimensions: 19" (W) x 46" (H) x 33" (D) Product weight: 39 lbs Weight capacity: 300 lbs Warranty: 1 year limited
USA Home Gym gives in-depth insights into gym equipment, supplements, and fitness training methods. The motivation behind USA Home Gym is to provide you with information that goes beyond what you can find in any user manual, customer review, or other online review sites.
We go to great lengths to ensure that our reviews are completely comprehensive, usually covering everything from the design features to the warranty coverage and exercise options. This is all to help guide you towards the home gym equipment that’s best suited to your goals and budget, whilst also being the highest quality option in your chosen price range.
