XTERRA SB4500 Recumbent Bike

Based on reviews of this bike and others I expected the box to beaten up and i was not surprised. When the Fedex driver pushed it to the back of the truck the box was upside down with red "this side up" arrow pointing down. The bottom tape seam was open about an inch, one of the two plastic straps was missing and the left side of the box had a huge gash in it and I could see parts. Amazon suggested accepting it and to open it and inspect the contents. All of the parts are in little compartments in the sides of the packing styrofoam. It would have been so easy for parts to fall out. Double boxing or adding more plastic straps I think would be a good idea. The first thing I did was to inventory the parts. I opened the bag with the bolts in it to compare to the pictures in the manual. BTW the manual is available online. The printed manual has very small pics and the online version can be enlarged. I was concerned at first looking at the bolts package that half of the pictured bolts and washers were not in the bag. As it turned out the ones not in the bag are screwed into the various parts of the bike. The assembly was very straight forward. All of the pieces and parts were accounted for and there was zero damage. Every part fit very well. They even included a pull wire to fish the wiring harness up through the console mast. I assembled it by myself being a big guy. After bolting the two frame halves together the bike gets pretty heavy and some might need a second pair of hands to hold the bike up while bolting on the front and back stabilizers. I put a block of wood under the frame while bolting the stabilizers on. The only difficulty I had was tightening the 6 bolts in the seat back and handle bars. The nyloc nuts took a lot of effort to tighten down. You can assemble the bike with the supplied tools but I would recommend getting a set of the folding metric hex wrenches and a 14 and 15mm closed end wrench or sockets. Once assembled I was very pleased with the feel of the bike. My biggest concern was leg room. I tried another recumbent bike at a local store and with the seat all the way back I could not fully extend my legs and on the up stride my knees were very high and my lower leg was well beyond 90°. Being 65 with bad knees I could feel too much stress on my knees at even a minimal resistance. I set the Xterra seat all of the way back and climbed on. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my legs fully extended. I am 6' 2" and even had to move the seat up two settings shorter. I also like the seat locking design. It is a spring loaded screw knob that locks a pin into a hole in the frame. I had this on my previous bike and it is very sturdy. I have only had one session on the bike but I am pleased so far. At 290 lbs the seat is very comfortable, does not wobble when peddling and is smooth and whisper quiet. And my 65 year old eyes have no problem seeing the display which is very bright. This bike seat seems a bit more reclined than my previous recumbent bike which will take a bit of getting used to but overall it is very comfortable and I feel no stress on any body parts. I think the manual recommends unlugging the bike after using it which I think is a pain. An on/off switch might be better. I did leave the bike on after using it. After checking later the display turned itself off. When I hit start it all the values were reset to start. In summary I am very pleased with the bike. I was originally looking at a $999 bike that supposedly had the best customer service ratings. I discovered that the Xterra 2.5r was also made by the same manufacturer and distributed by the same company. A local company 50 miles away had the bike on the floor for $449 on sale. I almost went there to try it out but when I found it on Amazon at $328 and Prime eligible I decided to buy it. It was drop shipped from the company in Arkansas and took about a week to get here which is a bit long for a Prime purchase but at that price I am not complaining and the longer shipping time is noted on the website. The only negative I will give the bike is for the small transport wheels on the front stabilizer. I was hoping to store the bike across the room and move it nearer to the TV for use. To get the wheels to roll you have to raise the rear of the bike very high which is not that easy since this is one heavy duty rascal. Some small people might need help moving the bike. I just hope the bike is durable and that the customer service will be there if needed. 5 stars so far.