A friend told me about buying a SitNCycle and how much it had helped him keep in shape. Looking for anything that would help combat my expanded presence, I went online and saw what I thought was going to be a way to exercise my way through my favorite TV shows.
I ordered the $245 machine ("Full Refund" if it didn't work for me) in my favorite color, aqua, and it arrived about 10 days later. Cool, I'll see if I can get this set up and lose a few despicable pounds. The commercial looked promising. An elderly woman (older than me, anyway) was pictured using the bike in front of the TV (yes, that's for me!) and easily carrying it from the living room to a hall closet.
But I think there must have been hidden wires in that video that help lift the bike off the ground to make it look so easy to carry around. My experience wasn't so cool.
For one, it was delivered to my porch, an easy walk to the garage. I could barely lift one end of the box off the ground. I finally dragged it to the garage, displacing all the pea gravel in the path. I cut the box open and found about a dozen pieces that I, presumably, could put together with help from a small-print booklet. First thing I found was a sandwich bag full of washers, bolts and nuts. That alone weighed a pound. I disassembled the parts, separating everything from the thick styrofoam packaging. I better keep this, thinking maybe I might have to return it.
There was no "might" about it. The base of the bike was too heavy to lift out of the box to set it upright to begin assembly. I stood over the mess. considering asking my "friend" to help me put this together. But even if he did assist me, I would still have to carry the thing around whenever I wanted to cycle. I carefully put everything back in the box, less the packing foam, and slid it onto a handcart, which i could use to move it.
Two weeks later I went out to look at it again. No, it wasn't my weak muscles that are to blame, but I could barely maneuver the cart. Another week went by before I decided that I wanted to return it to the company for my refund. I carefully packed it all in the box to (somehow) get it from the floor, into my car, and take it to the FedEx office. I accomplished this task, and shipped it back for my "Full Refund."
However, the cost of shipping was my problem. The company wouldn't provide a mailing label. The guy at the FedEx place asked me if the company would reimburse me for the shipping because it was going to cost $110. No, the shipping was my responsibility, so I'd pay it.
About two weeks later I got the $245 deposited back into my bank account. So this misadventure resulted in a true refund of $135, less the shipping. The company did offer me $35 if I'd just keep the bike, but at that point I didn't want to see the thing again. And what would I do with it if I did keep it? In a couple of years it would be still shoved in the corner of the garage being used as a clothes rack, the destiny of most exercise bikes.
But probably not still in the boxes they came in.
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