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Sunny Spin Bike, Clip-in Pedals… [2021 Review]

Sunny Spin Bike

Sunny Belt Drive Spin BikeThe  Sunny Spin Bike is one of the few Indoor Bikes, I’ve found, with the Super Quiet, Belt Drive System and a much sought after Heavy Flywheel – Quiet/Safe to ride, Easy to Assemble, for under $400!

If only you could replace those pedals, with SPD Pedals that clip-in to your mountain bike shoes… Wow! that would be perfect! – we explain how to do this.

On the face of it… This Bike Is A Bargain!

But is it a one-trick pony?

What most Sunny Bike riders should appreciate right off the bat, and I personally love is the heavy flywheel, it tips the scales at an amazing 49 lb.

Why this matters is a little complex, best left for fitness geeks and those who need to know every detail? But It Is A Great Bonus Feature Few Low-Cost Bikes Offer!

One simple, but quite important reason for heavier flywheels is their high inertia ensures a smooth realistic ride very close to a road or mountain bike, as well as, Heavy Flywheels, will help you avoid knee injuries.

Add to this the almost silent Belt Drive with an Excellent Price… This Sunny Spin Bike ticks a lot of boxes!

Sunny Bike – Great Price!

Sunny Spin Bikes are often listed on Amazon for special prices… timing a discount will make this reliable cheap bike, a very cheap spin bike that has given great service to a growing number of happy owners…


Good Luck – finding a better deal?

CHECK  TODAY’S PRICE ON AMAZON!

Sunny Bikes – Smooth & Quiet

A  smooth, quiet indoor cycling bike that makes home-based exercise convenient and effective.

What do I mean by smooth?

The heavy-duty 49 lb. Flywheel and Belt Drive work together to ensure a smooth action when pedalling.

These are high-end features, normally reserved for top of the line spin bikes, selling at premium prices…

The heavy flywheel, crank and steel frame ensure it is a sturdy, stable, bike for everyone, including larger riders.

Fully adjustable seat and up and down adjustment for the handlebars.

A fairly basic easily adjustable resistance knob which also acts as the emergency brake when pressed down this is a common safety measure available on all spin bikes.

This is especially important if you often ride the bike around small children or pets.

Sunny Spin Bikes – Features

  • Equipped with a metal bottle holder.
  • Transportation wheels to ensure it is easy to move.
  • Maximum user weight: 275 LBS.
  • Frame warranty for one year.
  • 49 lb. flywheel.
  • Belt drive.
  • Fully adjustable seat – up/down – forward/backward.
  • Adjustable Handlebars – up/down.

Tension Adjustment

It’s a bit picky, but I don’t like the resistance tension knob, as it utilizes – continuously turning adjustment.

Turn right to tighten the tension (makes it harder to pedal), turn left to ease off and make pedalling easier.

It’s the way all cheap spinning bikes work…Sunny Spin Bike

With this method, however, there’s no way to “Index” or “bookmark” a location so you know you returned to the same point each time you ride.

In other words, you turn the dial to make it hard to pedal one day but there’s no way to know if you have turned the dial to the same spot when you want to repeat the same workout the next day.

As I said, that’s awfully picky…

But it is the one checkmark, I would have liked to put in the plus column for this spinning bike.

Despite this, when you take into account the small amount of money, you would pay for this bike! – it is an amazing bike to ride.

Compared to some of the cheaper Sunny Spin Bikes I have test ridden in the past – it’s light-years in front!

I don’t like to use the term often, but this a “Bargain Buy” at this low price – with the full feature list that is standard on this bike!

Pros:

  • Belt Drive – very quiet
  • Heavy flywheel – 49 lbs
  • Great  price – under $500
  • Emergency brake
  • Easy to assemble
  • Fully adjustable seat -up/down and forward/aft

Not So Great:

  • No fore or aft adjustment for the handlebars
  • The seat is uncomfortable for larger people – easy to swap out though
  • Pedals should be clipless – they supply straps only
  • Warranty 1 year for the frame. 3 Months for parts

I would choose the  Sunny Health & Fitness Belt Drive Indoor Cycling Bike over all others mostly because of its reputation and solid reviews from past buyers on Amazon.

The belt drive is a welcomed bonus.

Heavy Flywheel [49 lbs]

Also, this Sunny Bike has one of the heaviest flywheels in this price range.

For me, the heavy well-balanced flywheel is a must-have if you going to train often and long hours on your bike.

A heavy flywheel produces a smooth pedalling, especially if you are using cycling shoes, being clipped into spd pedals combined with heavy flywheel will help you keep correct form when spinning, this, in turn, reduces the chance of ankle or knee strain.

I find these bikes are similar to riding my mountain bike which is great as I mainly use spin bikes to maintain fitness if I can’t get out on a mountain bike trail.

Sunny Spin Bike With Belt Drive

The fact this spin bike uses a belt to drive instead of a chain is the main selling point to my way of thinking this a major improvement over previous budget models from Sunny Sports.

It just so happens, I have always wanted a belt-driven spin bike.

I still can’t believe I found one so cheap.

You will find them much quieter with a lot less maintenance needed to keep spinning for a relatively small outlay.

No more cleaning and oiling that noisy dirty chain.

Quick and Easy To Assemble

I’m always happy when things actually fit together and work straight out of the box.

It’s great to save money on stationary bikes when buying online, but they have to be simple and quick to bolt together and get riding.

I don’t have the patience for confusing complex instructions or dealing with a poor design…

The Sunny Bike being simple in design are very easy to put together.

SPD Clipless Pedals

A couple of things, I would recommend you do if you expect to spend a lot of time on your Sunny Spin Bike?exercise bikes

Is replace the current uncomfortable seat and swap out the supplied pedals with clip-in pedals.

Simply, install SPD Clipless Pedals, they screw straight in after removing the existing pedals on your Sunny Bike…then add a Specialized or similar saddle for extra riding comfort – You will notice the difference!

With a set of clipless pedals added to your Sunny bike and a set of matching SPD cleats fitted to your mountain bike shoes, or spin shoes you will clip straight into your Sunny Spin Bike… You will notice the difference a budget spin bike becomes a real performer!

I guarantee a couple of small changes like clip-in pedals and spinning shoes with cleats make all the difference to spin bikes in the Sunny Bikes price range…

You will be in spinning heaven for a very low price!


Adjusting The Saddle/Handlebars On Sunny Bikes

The saddle adjustment works well enough, as it went up and down and you can move the saddle fore and aft on its rails to get the right fit for your height and reach.

Sunny Bikes are easy to adjust for the average rider.

The handlebars only have an up and down adjustment which limits the bikes adjustment a little bit, it will only affect very short or very tall people (no adjustment fore or aft).

I’m 5-9″ and I’m very pleased with my fit on the bike it is very comfortable and I’ve had a few long sessions on it.

Summary

Sunny Belt Drive Spin BikeSunny Health & Fitness produce and sell some very nice spin bikes along with a couple of “cheap spinning bikes” in most cases you get what you pay for.

But with the Sunny Health & Fitness Belt Drive Indoor Cycling Bike, you get much more…

To get Belt Drive, Heavy Flywheel, Solid build like this would normally cost twice as much.

So I have no hesitation in recommending this spin bike to anyone looking for a well priced reliable spinning bike for your home gym.


About the Author Ian

Ian is the Chief Editor here at OnlineBikesShop, a reformed Cycle Traveler... now a dedicated stay-at-home dad of a very active 5 yr old, a keen mountain biker with a passion for all types of bikes, the outdoors, and keeping fit...