The ASUNA 5100 Magnetic Belt Drive Commercial Indoor Cycling Bike from Sunny Health and Fitness certainly looks the part of a spin bike that is ready to take the punishment and deliver a basis for serious low impact cardo training whether that is indoor cycle training or spinning.
Sunny Health and Fitness have a great reputation with affordable spin bikes for the home rather than with commercial grade bikes for home and gym. This bike certainly seems to have all the necessary parts for those wanting a higher spec bike to take their training seriously at home.
It does come with the premium features of belt drive, magnetic resistance and dual pedals at a reasonable price point too.
The handlebars have been designed for people who want to indoor cycle training rather than spinning as they have drop bars and no bullhorns for grabbing when out of the saddle but this more like a typical road bike.
In our review we look at all these factors and more to see just how it stacks up as a bike that you can use for intense workouts and training.
Sturdiness
The frame is made from heavy duty steel that holds you steady while you ride in and out of the saddle or transitioning in between.
There is no side to side movement leaving you to focus on your workout without concerns of falling off.
The 37.5 lbs flywheel made from the aluminum and steel provides a smooth pedaling motion at all speeds and resistance levels. It pulls the pedal through the whole 360 degree cycle promoting a proper pedal stroke.
This keeps it low impact preventing choppiness and an up/down stroke that happens with light flywheels. This can help in preventing injury and also in recovery from injury.
You can adjust the levelers under the stabilizer bars to keep the bike steady when using on a floor that is little uneven.
Adjustability
The seat is fully adjustable horizontally and vertically and the handlebars can only be moved vertically. The lack of adjustment of the handlebars can make it more difficult to get a proper fit for some people and can make it hard to get the bike to fit the bike to your outdoor bike riding set up.
There are markings on the adjustment poles which makes it easier to set the bike up for you if it has been changed since you used it. It is quick and simple to make the adjustment which makes the bike suitable for multiple users of different sizes.
To do it you loosen the adjustment knobs and slide the seat or handlebars to where you want and insert the pop pin in the pre-set hole and tighten in place. The preset hole can sometimes mean that you don’t quite get the sear or handlebars in just the right position but from safety point of view the pin does help to prevent the seat from slipping while you’re riding the bike.
The handlebars can be moved between 39 and 43 ins from the floor and the saddle can be moved to between 37 and 40 inches from the pedals.
Resistance
The magnets that provide the resistance sit either side of the flywheel utilizing the eddy current principle. The amount of resistance is controlled by the tension knob that is above the flywheel on the frame. You turn this to increase/decrease the resistance.
This moves the magnets closer to the flywheel to increase the resistance and further away to reduce it. The magnets never tough the flywheel. The change in resistance is incremental and continuous going from easy to very hard.
There is a little variability due to there being some increase in the resistance due to it increasing the faster the flywheel turns through the magnetic field. This is a little like you get on an outdoor bike as there is more resistance the faster you ride.
There is a guard at the front of the bike that protects the resistance and flywheel from the harmful effects of sweat which helps to prolong the life and prevent them getting jammed up.
Drive Type
The bike’s belt drive provides a different feel than a chain drive. It is smoother and feels less like an outdoor bike. It does have a number of advantages in that there is less maintenance, noise and dirt. You don’t have to worry about tension or lubricating it.
However, it will eventually, in a few years time, stretch and start to slip. It will then need to be replaced by someone that has the specialist skills and tools to do this..
The guard around the drive protects it from dirt and sweat and also helps protect your feet and clothes from getting caught by the belt.
The bike does have a fixed gear so there is no ability to coast when you want to recover, the weighted flywheel will continue to pull the pedals through with it. To stop the pedals you need to either push back gently with your feet or push down on the tension knob to use it as a brake. This arrangement is the norm for indoor cycles/spin bike and it helps with the pedaling motion and feel but can be difficult when not used to it if you want to coast to recover or get off the bike quickly when not used to it.
Pedals
The pedals are two sided – with fitting for SPD clips on one side and toe cages and strap on the other side for athletic shoes.
You can get a good grip on the pedals on both sides of the pedal and have feet properly positioned so you are able to ride out of the saddle and as hard as you want without your feet slipping.
There is no flexing of the pedals or crank arms even when stood on them pushing yourself hard.
ASUNA 5100 Magnetic Belt Drive Commercial Indoor Cycling Bike Comfort
Noise. This is a very quiet bike with your breathing likely to be the loudest noise. The drive makes very little noise at all and the magnetic resistance is silent. You could use this bike in the middle of the night and you would be very unlikely to disturb anyone sleeping. This would be great if you had small children and wanted to get some training while they take a nap during the day.
Handlebars. These are shaped more for indoor cycle training rather than spinning. They come with drop bars and hoods with imitation brake for the hand positions you’d use outdoors. It also has an oval loop for the aero position. This all makes the handlebars more comfortable and more like an outdoor bike to get the most out of your long indoor training rides. They’ve also been coated for better grip when your hands get wet. But doesn’t have bullhorns for gripping when out of the saddle for spinning.
Dust and Dirt. If you are using the bike in your home you don’t want it to be a source of a lot of dirt and dust leading to a lot of cleaning. Fortunately, this bike is relatively clean with little dust or lubricant due to the magnetic resistance and belt drive. There will be some but the biggest issue is likely to be from sweat. It is important to keep the bike clean so that the sweat doesn’t start corroding the bike. Also, you may want to protect your floor from this too with a rubber exercise mat.
Seat. This is described by the company as cushioned and comfortable. But Sunny Health and Fitness seats have a reputation for being hard and also if you’re not used to riding you are likely to find it uncomfortable at least at first as that is the way with bike seats. If you do find it too hard on your sit bones you can try a gel seat cover and/or padded bike shorts.
Storage
For shipping purposes the bike arrives part assembled only. The job of putting it together is not difficult and can be done easily within an hour.
It is straightforward and there are not many parts to put together. The tools needed to complete the job are included in the packaging. Everything is well labeled and the instructions are clear.
The hardest part of the whole thing is often handling weight. When it arrives in the packaging it weighs a total of 110 lbs. Therefore moving and getting it out of the packaging is hard due to the weight. To do these things and putting on the stabilizer bars it makes it a lot easier if there are two of you.
Assembly
This bike doesn’t come with a console and that isn’t unusual for these style of bikes. Many people are happy with this and use a workout DVD or music to keep their cadence (RPM) to help keep it at the rate they want.
If you are like me you may want to add a bike computer to keep you on track. There isn’t one that fits the bike but you can adapt one to fit the bike . It will need modifying. in particular the spoke magnet to get it to fit on the flywheel and away from the resistance magnet. There are videos online that show you how to do this on other spin bikes.
Console
This bike doesn’t come with a console and that isn’t unusual for these style of bikes. Many people are happy with this and use a workout DVD or music to keep their cadence (RPM) to help keep it at the rate they want.
If you are like me you may want to add a bike computer to keep you on track. It will need modifying. in particular the spoke magnet to get it to fit on the flywheel and away from the resistance magnet. There are videos online that show you how to do this on other spin bikes. You could also consider an RPM cadence sensor to work with your IOS or Android device.
Dimensions
The dimensions and weight of the bike are:
Height 47 ins
Width 21 ins
Length 49 ins
Bike Weight
Flywheel Weight 37.5 lbs
Max User Weight 300 lbs
Accessories
As is standard with these type of bikes (spin and indoor cycles) there is not in the much in the way of accessories.
It only includes 2 water bottle holders that sit on each fork putting them out of the way of the sweat zones.
They can be reached while you ride but you do need to slide them in and out which can get a little awkward when riding so you may need to check your pace when you need to grab the bottle.
There is nowhere to place a book or MP3 player or tablet.
Pros
- A very quiet bike
- Very low maintenance bike
- Bike comes with drop bars and hoods
- Easy to assemble
- The bike is stable and durable
- It provides the basis for intense workouts without any rocking
- Guard to protect the resistance and flywheel from sweat
- It can be adjusted for a range of different heights
Cons
- Does not come with a computer or pre-set workouts
- It is an expensive bike
- Doesn’t cater for all the spinner hand positions
- There are no resistance levels marked making it difficult to return to a previous setting
- The handlebars do not move horizontally making more difficult to get the most comfortable setting for you
- No confirmation from supplier as to the heights the bike is best for
- Q-Factor not confirmed by company
ASUNA 5100 Magnetic Belt Drive Commercial Indoor Cycling Bike Consumer Ratings
Currently there are no customer reviews for this bike. However, there are a load of reviews for Sunny Health and Fitness bikes for home use (not commercial grade) and they are positive on the whole. Most people are surprised at the quality of the bikes for the price.
There is nothing to suggest at this stage that this will be anything different especially as the 5 ASUNA 4100 (a commercial grade bike) reviews from Vine reviewers have been positive to date.
ASUNA 5100 Magnetic Belt Drive Commercial Indoor Cycling Bike Price
For the price you are getting a bike made to withstand the abuse of gym settings with magnetic resistance, belt drive, dual pedals and a heavy flywheel . Other commercial grade bikes like the Spinner NXT can be more expensive and it has a chain drive and friction resistance. This NXT has been a favorite of gyms for many years and has a great reputation. It does have one of the best Q factors at 158 mm making for better alignment of the legs which feels more natural and reduces risk of injury.
When I checked at Amazon it qualified for free shipping.
Review Summary
This seems a very well made bike that is durable and stable. The handlebars are designed for those looking for a more road bike experience than to do spinning.
This is for those who want to take their indoor training but can be used by beginners too. It can be used for people of different heights making it suitable for multiple users. It is quiet and low maintenance due to magnetic resistance and belt drive making it great for home use or apartments as well the gym.
As with most of these bikes my only real concern (apart from the handlebars for spinners) is that it doesn’t have a console but I appreciate not everyone is interested in having this.
Other than that this seems to be a very good bike for the home gym where you can get as tough a training or workout session as you want for many years.