DKN AM-E Exercise Bike – Black Review

Product Description

The DKN AM-E exercise bike is a rather good-looking exercise bike features magnetic resistance at 32 computer-controlled levels, an 8kg flywheel, pulse grip sensors, 12 pre-set ride workouts and, of course the option of manual settings.  The bike itself is lightweight (around 33kg) and has a small footprint (87 x 52cm) but can nevertheless be used by those weighing up to 140kg. The seat is fully adjustable both in height and pitch.

Our Review

Although the upper resistance settings are challenging and we have heard of competitive road bikers using it to keep in fit over winter, this bike is more suited for beginner to intermediate fitness levels.

The magnetic resistance is steady, but it does take a few revolutions of the pedals before an increase in resistance kicks in – but rest assured it does get there in a few seconds! The ergonomic design helps the less agile to get into the saddle easily without having to scramble. That’s a nice touch because this form of low-impact exercise is ideal for those with joint problems who would like to increase their mobility.

In terms of looks, you can’t fault this sleek little beauty from manufacturer DKN, and and it doesn’t take up much space. Plus, it’s light enough to move out of the way with ease if needed.

Build quality

Build quality on the DKN AM-E bike is excellent. The overall finish shows attention to detail and careful design. Looking at the maximum recommended weight of 140kg for riders, it seems that DKN are confident that their machine is sturdy enough to be safe for most people to use.

The seat is well-padded and quite comfortable, but obviously some people have a preference for gel seats, which this doesn’t have. But it’s easy enough to swap the seat out if this is your preference. If you have no preference, the seat included with the DNK AM-E exercise bike will do just fine. Despite its light-weight construction, the bike is stable when being used, even when the workout starts getting intense.

Settings and action

The magnetic resistance on this exercise bike is a good feature that delivers a nice, smooth resistance throughout. The reaction time to changes in settings could be faster, but it’s not a big issue once you get used to it. It runs fairly quietly and the various pre-set rides add an extra element of fun. You can save user mode settings for one user. It would be nice if one could do this for multiple users, but setup doesn’t take long anyway.

Feedback display

The blue LCD screen is fairly basic, but it has all the basic information you’d expect, namely: RPM, speed, Watts, pulse, recovery, time and distance. Some of the information is presented in quite a small format, but once you get used to where everything is, the screen is easy enough to interpret.

Setting it up

On the whole, setup is fairly easy, but installing the electronics including connecting up the heart rate sensors and connecting up the console is slightly fiddly. Expect assembly to take around an hour. All the necessary tools, instructions and fittings were supplied and apart from the two tricky bits (not difficult so much as awkward), assembly is relatively easy.

Overall

The DKN AM-E is an excellent exercise bike for beginner to intermediate levels. It’s attractive enough not to look out of place in the lounge and doesn’t take up much space.  It’s a fairly basic bike, and we would not advise choosing anything under this price range since most of the super-cheap bikes don’t have magnetic resistance and give you a lot of variation in resistance through the pedal revolution.

What we have here is a good-quality bike that has more than enough get up and go to keep all but the very ambitious fit and challenged by their workout. All in all, this is a very worthwhile purchase for the average person.

What do others think?

Get the best price