True Manufacturing Company ES9.0 User manual

truefitness.com / 800.426.6570 / 1.636.272.7100
ES9.0 Recumbent & Upright
Bike
Owner’s Guide

In 1981, Frank Trulaske launched
TRUE Fitness®, and began
manufacturing hand-
crafted treadmills.
His team’s obsession with
quality has propelled
TRUE to the top of
the fitness industry
and has created one of
America’s oldest, largest
and most respected
fitness equipment
manufacturers.
Over the years, TRUE
has designed, developed,
patented and fabricated
many new cutting-edge
innovations for their products. Such
advancements include ground-
breaking new features, state-of-the-
art manufacturing components, and
technological breakthroughs.
While TRUE has expanded
its line of products,
intensive quality control
standards guarantee
excellence in every
phase of production.
This results in the finest
products available in the
marketplace.
TRUE is the choice
for workouts among
beginners, rehab patients
and top athletes world-
wide.
Today TRUE Fitness
offers a full line of
premium elliptical
trainers, treadmills, upright and
recumbent bikes, and flexibility
equipment.
Thank You For Selecting True
“Our original
goal was to build
the world’s best
fitness equipment,
and today we
believe we’re
doing it!”
-Frank Trulaske

ES9.0 Bikes Owner’s Guide 3
Review for Your Safety
I S I
When using this exercise machine, basic precautions should
always be followed, which includes the following:
Read and understand all instructions and warnings prior to use.
Obtain a medical exam before beginning any exercise program.
If at any time during exercise you feel faint, dizzy, or experience
pain, stop and consult your physician.
Obtain proper instruction prior to use.
Inspect the bike for incorrect, worn, or loose components and do
not use until corrected, replaced, or tightened prior to use.
Do not wear loose or dangling clothing while using the bike.
Care should be used when mounting or dismounting the bike.
Read, understand, and test the emergency stop procedures before
use.
Disconnect all power before servicing the bike.
Do not exceed maximum user weight of 350 lbs.
Keep children and animals away.
All exercise equipment is potentially hazardous. If attention is not
paid to the conditions of equipment usage, death or serious injury
could occur.

ES9.0 Bikes Owner’s Guide 4
Quick Start
Just Get On
and Ride!
Starting Up
Pausing
Your
Workout
Change
the Data
Display
The best way to learn to use the ES9.0 bike is to keep pressing
keys to see what happens — explore it at your own pace.
Remember: the bike must be plugged into a wall outlet using
the supplied wall transformer. The power input jack is located
on the lower right side of the bike.
• Beginpedaling.
• Thedisplaywillwakeupandpromptforyourweight, 
workout selection, and workout time.
• Enteryourworkoutparametersandpress , or
immediately press for a quick start into a manual
workout.
The bike will retain your workout data for about 15 seconds after
you stop pedaling.
Press the key to change the workout data display.

ES9.0 Bikes Owner’s Guide 5
Table of Contents
Quick Start ....................................................................................4
1.RidingYourBike......................................................................6
 BasicOperation(exceptconsole)
2. The Display................................................................................13
Describes each key and data display feature
3. Pre-Set Workouts.....................................................................17
Details on basic exercise modes
4. Heart Rate Control...................................................................20
Foolproof heart rate feedback workouts
5. Designing an Exercise Program.............................................25
6.CareandMaintenance.............................................................34
AppendixA....................................................................................36
Target Heart Rate Chart
AppendixB.....................................................................................38
 BikeSpecifications
Specifications/Features/Software are subject to change

Chapter One
Riding Your Bike
In This Chapter:
Getting Comfortable
Using the Chest Strap
Using Contact Heart Rate
For Best Results
Chapter 1: Riding Your Bike
Chapter 2: The Display
Chapter 3: Pre-Set Workouts
Chapter 4: Heart Rate Control
Chapter 5: Designing an Exercise Program
Chapter 6: Care and Maintenance

ES9.0 Bikes Owner’s Guide 7
Getting Comfortable
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Setting Your
Weight
Seat
Adjustment
Upright
Bike Seat
Adjustment
The body weight setting does
not affect the calorie expendi-
ture calculation. Unlike tread-
mills or other weight-bearing
exercises, calories burned
during exercise biking does not
change with
different body weights.
Adjust the seat so that
when your leg is fully
extended with your
feet in the pedals, your
knee is slightly bent.
While standing next to the bike, pull out the
seat adjust knob and lower the seat to the
lowest position. Next, get onto the bike with
one leg fully extended in a pedal, supporting
most of your weight. Grasp the horn of the
seat and pull it up under you to a snug fit,
letting the ratcheting mechanism lock the
Variations in human
exercise efficiency are
another potential source
of error, with differences of
plus or minus 10% common
in the population.

ES9.0 Bikes Owner’s Guide 8
Foot
Position
Pedal
Cadence
Breathing
Riders are most efficient if they place
the ball of their foot in the center of
the pedal.
Other riders are more comfortable
if the arch of their foot is against
the pedal. Riders are encouraged to
be as efficient as possible, but use
your own judgment in the comfort/
efficiency trade-off.
Mostriderswillfindacomfort/efficiencysweetspotata
pedalcadencearound80rpm.Moreseriousridersdesiring
maximum performance typically pedal at around 100 rpm. For
electromechanical and safety reasons, the bike will not provide
the fully requested workload when your pedal cadence falls
below 55 rpm.
Breatheinaregularandrelaxedmanner.Manyexercisersdo
not breathe enough, which reduces their exercise capacity and
comfort. You might want to try breathing deeper and more
frequently to see if it helps your exercise regime.
Getting Comfortable
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ES9.0 Bikes Owner’s Guide 9
The ES9.0 bike has two ways of monitoring your heart rate:
1.Byusingacheststrapthattransmitsyourheartratetothe
bike via radio.
2.Byusingthemetalcontactheartratepadsonthehandlebars.
Although your bike functions fine without using the heart
rate monitoring feature, this kind of monitoring gives you
valuable feedback on your effort level. Chest strap monitoring
also allows you to use Heart Rate Control, which is the most
advanced exercise control system available.
Using the Chest Strap
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Monitoring
Your Heart
Rate
Upright HRC Pads Recumbent HRC Pads

ES9.0 Bikes Owner’s Guide 10
When you wear a Polar® or compatible transmitter strap, the
bike will display your heart rate as a digital beats-per-minute
(bpm)readout.
The transmitter strap should be worn
directly against your skin, about one
inch below the pectoral muscles/
breastline(seepicture).Women
should be careful to place the trans-
mitter below their bra line.
Some moisture is neces-
sary between the strap and
your skin. Sweat from your
exercise works best, but
ordinary tap water may be
used prior to your workout
Examples of Heart Rates
Found in Daily Life
An average 30-year-old might have
a resting heart rate, when sitting
totally still for several minutes, of
65. During hard exercise that can
be sustained for 10 to 15 minutes it
might be around 140 continuously.
A maximum heart rate that requires
maximal exercise for several minutes
to attain is 185.
A 30-year-old in good shape might
have a resting heart rate near 55, and
might exercise for 20 minutes at a
heart rate of 160.
A world-class distance runner or pro-
fessional cyclist might have a resting
heart rate near 45.
Chest Strap
Heart Rate
Monitoring
Using the Chest Strap
 O: R Y B

ES9.0 Bikes Owner’s Guide 11
Contact
Heart Rate
(CHR)
Using Contact Heart Rate
 O: R Y B
The contact heart rate system lets you monitor your heart rate
without wearing a strap.
Gently grasp the contact heart rate pads as shown below.
When the system detects your hands, a red heart will appear in
the Heart Rate field of the data display and will flash in time with
your heart beat. During this time, the system is analyzing and
locking in your heart rate. Within about 15 seconds, your digital
heartrateinbeatsperminute(bpm)shouldbedisplayed.
A Note on CHR Accuracy
CHR monitoring may be a bit less
accurate than a chest strap, since
the heart rate signals are much
stronger at the chest.
About 5% of the population cannot
be picked up by any CHR system.
This is because their heart is po-
sitioned in a more up-and-down
manner in their chest, as opposed
to leaning over to one side.

ES9.0 Bikes Owner’s Guide 12
For Best Results
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For Best
Results
1. Exercise with smooth body motions. Avoid excessive body
motion, especially in your arms and upper body.
2. Breathesmoothlyandregularly,andavoidtalking.(Talk-
ing will cause unrepresentative heart rate spikes of 5 to 10
bpm.)
3. Grip the pads lightly, not tightly.
4. Makesureyourhandsareclean,freeofbothdirtandhand
lotions.
WhenusingaHeartRateControl(HRC)workout,itisbestto
use chest strap monitoring. These workouts work best with the
extra accuracy gained from a chest-contact heart rate monitoring
system.

Chapter Two
The Display
In This Chapter:
Your Display
The Upper Panel
The Lower Panel
Chapter 1: Riding Your Bike
Chapter 2: The Display
Chapter 3: Manual and Pre-Set Programs
Chapter 4: Heart Rate Control
Chapter 5: Designing an Exercise Program
Chapter 6: Care and Maintenance

ES9.0 Bikes Owner’s Guide 14
Your Display
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The bike display has two jobs: to let you control the bike
operation, and to give you feedback about your workout. The
controls are simple and designed to be foolproof; it’s hard to press
a “wrong” key. You can monitor eight different kinds of
physiological data, and your workout progress is tracked
graphically with the center matrix display

ES9.0 Bikes Owner’s Guide 15
The Upper Panel
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Time: The amount of
time remaining in your
workout. If you press
, this becomes
elapsed time: how long
you’ve been working out
so far.*
Work Level: The
selected workout
level.
Distance: An
estimate of how
far you would have
traveled on an out-
door road bike.*
Watts: The amount of mechanical
power the bike is receiving from
your exercise. This is not the same
as the amount of power your body
is using, since the average person is
only about 20% efficient at generat-
ing mechanical power. *
RPM: Your pedal
cadence. *
METs: Your
METsrate.*
Heart Rate:
In beats
per minute
(bpm).*
Calories: An es-
timate of your
calories burned. This
doesn’t include your
basal metabolic rate,
which is about 72
calories per hour for a
150-pound person.*
*Pressing the “Change Display” key switches the readout from
the top values to the bottom values and will light up the LEDs of
the values now being displayed. If you press and hold the “Change
Display” key for one second, the display will enter “Scan Mode”
and switch between the two sets of values.

ES9.0 Bikes Owner’s Guide 16
The Lower Panel
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Start: Starts
a workout
Workload: Adjusts work-
load up and down. Keys
repeat if held down.
Enter: Accepts
the current
data entry.
Pre-set Workouts: Selects
desired workout profile.
Random: Generates
a different program
profile each time
Clear: Zeros-
out current
data entry.
Numeric: Used for data
entry in workout setup.
During a workout, used
to change workload
by entering a numeric
value and pressing .

Chapter Three
Pre-Set Workouts
In This Chapter:
How These Modes Work
Workout Profiles
How Your Bike Controls Your Workout
Chapter 1: Riding Your Bike
Chapter 2: The Display
Chapter 3: Pre-Set Workouts
Chapter 4: Heart Rate Control
Chapter 5: Designing an Exercise Program
Chapter 6: Care and Maintenance

ES9.0 Bikes Owner’s Guide 18
How These Modes Work
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Manual
Mode
Manualcontrolmodechangesworkloadin10-wattincrements.
Theworkloadstaysthesameatanypedalcadence(calledcon-
stantpowercontrol)unlessyoudropbelow55rpm.Below55
rpm, workload is reduced along with pedal cadence, to prevent
the sensation of the pedals “locking up.”
Three different pre-set workouts are available:
• Cardio Challenge, with the workload gradually rising
until you reach the middle of your workout time, then
gradually decreasing to the end.
• Fat Burn, with a warmup stage increasing to a
steady-state workload for the majority of the workout,
then a cool-down at the end.
• Hills, with four work intervals separated by four
rest intervals.
The Random program creates a different workout profile each
time you press the key.
Sixteen different levels are available to change the difficulty of a
workout. The workload intensities expand and contract
depending on the level.
Pre-Set
Workouts

ES9.0 Bikes Owner’s Guide 19
Workout Profiles
 T: P-S W
Workout
Profiles
Cardio Challenge
FAt Burn
Hills

Chapter Four
Heart Rate Control
In This Chapter:
Introduction to HRC
Types of HRC
Heart Rate Control workouts
Important Points About HRC
Chapter 1: Riding Your Bike
Chapter 2: The Display
Chapter 3: Pre-Set Workouts
Chapter 4: Heart Rate Control
Chapter 5: Designing an Exercise Program
Chapter 6: Care and Maintenance