XTERRA Fitness MB550 Indoor Cycle | Low-Priced Indoor Bike

The XTERRA MB550 Fitness Indoor Cycle is an excellent choice for people who want a low-priced indoor bike to help them meet their fitness goals, no matter how extreme they might be. The MB550 Indoor Cycle with Wireless LCD Display delivers a fast cardio indoor cycling and strength workout featuring a felt-pad dial and infinite micro-adjustment resistance.

It is designed with a resistance knob located conveniently on the frame, allowing easy resistance adjustment. Flip the knob to adjust (increase or decrease) the intensity of your effort. The small flip change permits swift and smooth transitions to higher or lower intensity levels. Likewise, the braking system activates quickly and safely by pressing down on a similar knob.

The fully adjustable seat and handlebars of the XTERRA Fitness MB550 indoor cycle help you proper bike fit to fulfill the necessity of your fitness workout. This MB550 Indoor Cycle’s adjustable seat and handlebars allow a customizable fit for ultimate user comfort and compatibility.

Thanks to its heavy 48.5 lb precision balanced flywheel and smooth belt drive system, the pedal motion is enjoyable, and the sound of operation is minimal. Even more importantly, unlike chain bikes, the belt system requires very little maintenance.

Learn more in my complete review below!

Product: XTERRA Fitness MB550 Indoor Cycle

Price: For a great deal on this bike, merely go here to XTERRA Fitness.com

Warranty: Frame lifetime/parts and labor one year

My rating: is 9/10

Affiliate Disclosure: As an XTERRA Fitness Affiliate Program participant, I earn commissions on purchases made through links in this post. Full disclosure

Details and Specifications

• Max User Weight: 250 lbs.
• Height: 39″
• Width: 23″
• Length: 46″
• Bike Weight: 105 Pounds
• User Height: 4’9″ to 6’2″
• Transport Wheels: Yes
• Adjustable Base Levelers: Yes
• Water Bottle Holder: Yes
• Power Requirement: Battery (included)
• Warranty: Frame lifetime/parts and labor one year

MB550 Sturdiness and Flywheel

Featuring a 250 pounds weight capacity isn’t impressive, but considering the price point and the fact that it is a home-use indoor cycle, it is not too bad. Furthermore, XTERRA Fitness shows confidence in the build quality with its lifetime on the frame.

As far as rust and corrosion go, you have nothing to worry about, as the XTERRA Fitness MB550 indoor cycle has a multi-phase paint process & stainless steel components to prevent rust and corrosion.

Unlike cheap spin bikes that usually rock when you ride off the seat, the Xterra spin bike is stable as a mountain. Thanks to the broad base and the 4-point contact with adjustable levelers. XTERRA Fitness MB550 indoor cycle has durable quality wheels to make it easy to maneuver around and store after you finish working out.

The MB550 has a 48.5-pound flywheel, which adds to the bike’s overall weight and sturdiness. It is a precision-balanced chrome-plated flywheel for a smooth ride. In addition, the bike flywheel is kept dry and protected by a sweat protection guard.

MB550’s solid structure and balanced flywheel translate into momentum, speed, and a lower-impact workout. The stable machine design guarantees that you will have a smooth and close-to-real road bike cycling experience.

As I have always said, the flywheel’s weight is an important feature when buying a spin bike, especially if it has friction resistance. Thankfully the MB500 has a smooth, enjoyable exercise.

The flywheel and resistance sweat protection are significant design features I like about the MB500 bike. To keep the felt pads and the flywheel dry, they have designed a sweat guard on top of the wheel, which reduces maintenance.

Handlebars and seat

Earlier in this review, I talked about micro-adjustment and comfortable user bike fit accommodation. Again, it is thanks to the infinite fore and aft adjustments seat and handlebars. This XTERRA Fitness bike has a fully adjustable seat and handlebars, which are both exceptionally comfortable and easy to adjust.

There are several hand-grip positions to reduce stress on your wrists and allow you to ride the bike in different areas. The XTERRA Fitness MB550 handlebars are 4-way adjustable. The handlebars feature the Aero, Cross, and Bull-Horn grip positions. But not drop bars.

The XTERRA Fitness MB550 seat is also up/down for/aft adjustable. Furthermore, It is a narrow, high-performance spinning-style saddle. Equally important, the seat post and handlebar stem are stainless steel.

MB550 Pedals and Q-factor

The aluminum alloy caged pedals provide slippage-free comfort pedaling, which is high quality, but they are not compatible with clipless cycling shoes. So, if you want to use cycling shoes or have a safer and more efficient pedal stroke, you will need to spend another $50-100 to buy SPD pedals and replace the MB500 pedals.

The XTERRA MB500 cycle has a standard bike pedal thread size (9/16″), so you won’t have trouble changing the pedals.

Regarding the q factor, the XTERRA Fitness MB550 indoor cycle beats most bikes in this price class. With a 181 mm q factor, you will have a safe and comfortable ride. The q factor is the distance between the two pedals if you are new to indoor cycling exercise.

If there is too much distance between the pedals, your feet cannot stay aligned with your knees and hips. As a result, your knees will be under stress. Thankfully, you won’t have this issue with the MB550 Indoor Cycle because it has a bio-mechanically correct narrow q factor of 181 mm.

Resistance and Drive

I am not a big fan of friction resistance bikes because they make noise and require a brake pad changing every few years. But this XTERRA Fitness spin bike’s felt pads are high-quality, making them relatively quiet and durable.

Unlike most magnetic bikes, the friction brake offers infinite resistance. Therefore, no matter your fitness level, you can do a challenging strength workout and a cardio workout on this bike. In addition, it has a micro-adjust resistance knob with an emergency safety stop.

But if you want a silent bike because you live in a small apartment or, in general, don’t want to bother your partner with the noise, then a magnetic resistance bike might be your best choice.

The XTERRA Fitness MB550 indoor cycle has a near-to-silent drive mechanism. In addition, the MB550 indoor bike features a high-quality belt. The belt type is not (disclosed), but giving a 1-year labor warranty is a sign of excellent quality.

The MB550 has a top-notch quality belt that does not stretch. So you don’t have to adjust the belt every few weeks. And unlike chain indoor cycling bikes, this belt is smooth and does not require lubing. Therefore, your floor and hands stay clean.

MB550 Console

The XTERRA Fitness MB550 indoor cycle comes with a wireless console. Unfortunately, it is not backlit and doesn’t track the RPM, which is one of the main disadvantages of this cycle compared to other budget bikes.

This computer will track the average of your speed, distance, calories, and time. Unfortunately, it does not monitor the watts and is not Bluetooth, or ANT/+ enabled.

Therefore, you can not save your progress on fitness apps or join virtual cycling competitions. Thankfully there are other encouraging and motivating options if the watt/power and workout tracking is something you want. The cheapest option would be a Wahoo sensor. While it does not track the watts, it tracks your time, distance, and RPM.

Wahoo sensors have Bluetooth and ANT+ technology that allow you to join cycling apps online and track your smartphone or tablet’s fitness progress.

Warranty

• This XTERRA Fitness indoor bike is for home use.
• The home use warranty includes:
• Lifetime Frame
• 1 Year Parts
• 1 Year Labor
• You will need to register the bike to claim parts under warranty.

MB550 Assembly and Shipping

According to the consumers, the XTERRA MB550 exercise bike arrives packed with minimal parts to assemble, thanks to a lack of bells and whistles. Shipping box dimensions are 43″ Long x 10″ Wide x 38″ High.

The few parts that need assembly should be straightforward and fast to assemble the MB550 spin bike. First, you will need to tighten a few things. Next, you’ll need to install the pedals, seat, handlebars, stabilizer feet, and a water bottle holder.

The bike comes with the XTERRA Fitness MB550 Indoor Cycle Manual and the required tools for easy assembly. The construction is effortless and should take about 30-40 minutes.

Pros

• The heavy-duty steel frame gives a cross-country cycling experience.
• Multi-grip 4-way adjustable handlebars offer various riding postures for complete workouts.
• Fore/aft versatile adjustable seat with high-end density padding.
• Portable wheels on its base are highly stable, ensuring hassle-free transportation without damaging your floor or carpet.
• A quality brake pad provides a low-maintenance smooth, and quiet exercise.
• Aluminum alloy caged pedals provide slippage-free comfort pedaling.
• 48.5 Pounds balanced chrome-plated bidirectional flywheel to provide momentum while resisting abrasions.
• A small wireless LCD monitor allows you to track your burnt calories, time, and distance.
• Belt drivetrain with low maintenance and less noise compared to the chain system.
• AA protection guard prevents dripping onto the pad and flywheel.
• Easy to assemble.
• Affordable price.

Cons

• A tablet holder does not come with the bike; however, you can purchase it separately.
• The pedals are toe-caged, but they are not SPD.
• Resistance levels are not marked, making it difficult to return to previous settings.
• The handlebars do not have the drop and elbow rest for upper body workout variety and comfort.

XTERRA Fitness MB550 Indoor Cycle Summary