Precor UBK 815 Commercial Series Upright Exercise Bike Review

Product Description

Used in fitness centers worldwide, this commercial-grade upright exercise bike from Precor offers a variety of programs and features for comfortable, low-impact cardio workouts. The UBK 815 is notable for its upright, over-molded handlebars that offer three riding positions (upright, cruising, and road) and dual heart rate contacts along with comfort and durability. The overall width of the handlebars places you in a better ergonomic position, with your forearms more directly under the shoulders. In the road racing setting, the handlebars put your wrists in a natural, neutral position. Six workout programs and 25 resistance levels are complemented by touch and telemetry heart rate monitoring with Smart Rate. When you enter your age and weight, Smart Rate helps you stay in your fat burn, cardio, or peak target zone for a more efficient and cardio and weight-loss workout.

Our Review

The Precor UBK 815 Exercise Bike is one of the more expensive exercise bikes available, and, as its Commercial Series name suggests, is designed for use in commercial venues, namely fitness centers and gyms. As with most of Precor’s commercial products, they are designed to withstand years of continual rigorous workouts, and as such come with a lifetime warranty on frames and welds, with a generous 5 year warranty on parts and wear.

This unit, the UBK 815, offers three riding positions – upright, cruising and road – as well as two heart rate monitor positions on its ergonomic handlebars. The handlebars do feel very natural, especially in the road race position.

There are a total of 25 resistance levels and six workout programmes. Its Smart Rate system allows you to enter your age and weight then be guided by the software to ensure you stay in your cardio, fat burn or peak target zone for a more efficient workout that works on the areas you want to target. It’s easy to keep track of your workout with a clear LCD panel display that can display information such as calories burned, distance, speed, time completed and remaining, and percent complete.

The bike is easily customizable – while it comes with a comfortable tapered saddle, which can be easily adjusted to 14 different positions, the saddle can be easily replaced with one of your choice. The included saddle has a simple seat adjustment lever, allowing you to adjust the seat with just one hand, whether on or off the bike. Similarly, the pedals can be removed and replaced with any standard road or mountain bike pedal, attaching into the 170mm crank arm. The included pedals are wide to accommodate the vast majority of feet sizes, and they are designed to encourage correct pedaling form.

The UBK 815 makes starting off easy, with its two-stage drive system. It gives a lower start-up resistance and consistently progresses up to the desired resistance, a great improvement over traditional one-stage drive systems. It has the advanced features you’d expect from a commercial-grade exercise bike, and it’s easy to see why Precor is a worldwide leader. It is designed using the company’s biometrics knowledge, and as such the seat is positioned so as to encourage the knee to move directly over the ball of the foot, reducing shear force on the knee, meaning even beginners will be able to safely use the machine with little to no tuition on correct cycling form.

The steel frame will remain rust free thanks to the two-step powder coating, and the silver cosmetic outer coating ensures that the Precor UBK 815 Commercial Series Upright Exercise Bike will be an attractive unit for any commercial gym or fitness center. Its Belt Drive System results in a smooth, quiet operation, so it’ll keep your gym noise free. This exercise bike has the build quality and  engineering ingenuity that you’d expect from Precor, and we highly recommend it.