Top Spin Bike Reviews
Indoor cycling has certainly come a long way since its infancy. Where there used to be only a select few indoor cycles, most prohibitively expensive, now the market is booming with so many options. So much so that some companies have multiple models with varying features to choose from so figuring out which will be right for you has become even more difficult for the average consumer or newbie to the cycling scene.
But having options is a good thing! Especially when you can find an indoor stationary exercise bicycle that is just right for you lifestyle. In this article, we’re going to take a look at the four different offerings from Echelon—the Connect EX-1, EX-3, EX-5 and EX-5s—and hopefully help you determine which of their bikes could be your next ride to fitness and fun!
Table of Contents
Connect EX-1
Admittedly, it’s not easy being the baby of the family and that’s kind of what the Connect EX1 is. It’s more spartan in terms of features, bells and whistles, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its own virtues.
For instance, the EX1 is a high-caliber bike of a certain echelon (see what we did there?) but one that won’t break the bank. If you’re thinking of dipping your toe into the waters of home cycling, this might be a good place to start and, if it turns out you’re a veritable fiend for fitness, you can always upgrade your ride later on down the line.
Just the Facts:
- Ergonomic handlebars
- Comfort-style seats with dumbbell holders (bonus!)
- 32 levels of magnetic resistance
- Precision resistance motor
- SPD Compatible with fully adjustable toe cages.
- Adjustable console for a tablet or device but no fixed display
Why We Love It: The price. At just around $800 the Echelon EX-1 is one of the more reasonable bikes of its caliber. We also really appreciate the footprint. At 22” by 42” it’s one of the smaller Echelon bikes and can easily find a place out of the way even in a studio or one-bedroom apartment.
What We Could Love More: Even though we know it keeps the price low, we’d still appreciate more or improved features like competition-style seats or precision indexing adjustment for resistance. Still, we’ve got to give it up to Echelon for having a great, reasonably priced bike without sacrificing too much in terms of quality.
Connect EX-3
If you’re looking for a bike that’s a bit more robust than the standard EX-1, we invite you to step on over to the EX-3. Actually, take two steps. (Get it? 1 + 2 = 3? Never mind). We like this bike because it’s a marked improvement over the EX-1 but still somehow remains just over the $1k price point (and it’s really just over, like, barely above). We’re not quite sure what the formula is that Echelon is using to keep these quality bikes so reasonably priced but we are happy to celebrate their fitness (and business) alchemy!
Just the Facts:
- Ergonomic handlebars
- Competition-style seat
- Indexing resistance adjustment knob with 32 levels of magnetic resistance
- Motor for precise magnetic resistance
- Lightweight triangular tubing
- SPD Compatible with fully adjustable toe cages.
- Adjustable console for a tablet or device but no fixed display
Why We Love It: Two words: customizable colors. Okay, this probably isn’t the biggest deal to some people but for others it might be the thing that swings them from one bike to another. Especially if you live in an apartment or small home where you probably don’t have additional, dedicated space for an exercise bike, getting a color that fits your—how should we put this—Feng Shui is important! It’s basically like selecting furniture, y’know? As far as we’ve researched, the Echelon is one of the few (if only) bikes of this caliber that allows you to choose your bike’s color. While the options are, admittedly, limited, we really like the all-black model and think it’d look cool as heck in the same room as your flat screen and leather couch.
What We Could Love More: If it’s hard being the baby of the family, like the EX-1 is, than it might be even harder to be the middle child, like the EX-3 is. We love so many of the features, love that it’s a leap in quality but not in too much in terms of price, but we also think that for just a little bit more money you could upgrade to the EX-5 so why wouldn’t you?
Connect EX-5
While the EX-5 is probably more for competition-style riders—those of us who might be training for a triathlon or cross-country bike race—it shouldn’t scare away casual riders either. It’s still got all of the same great features of the previous bikes, but improved, plus some very cool new features like Aero handlebars (more on those in a bit) and an hyper-adjustable competition-style seat.
Just the Facts:
- Super cool competition-style Aero handlebar system providing fore and aft adjustment for either performance or comfort
- Competition-style seat with 6” lever-style adjustment
- Indexing resistance adjustment knob with 32 levels of magnetic resistance
- Motor for precise magnetic resistance
- SPD Compatible with fully adjustable toe cages.
- Weight rack behind seat (two 2lb dumbbells)
- 2 handlebar mounted bottle holders
- Adjustable console for a tablet or device but no fixed display
Why We Love It: We can’t say enough about the Aero handlebars. In many ways, they’re kind of a game changer. If you’re not plugged into the cycling world then maybe you haven’t heard of them, but Aero makes some of the most sought-after professional-grade handlebars in the business. When we saw that Echelon was using Aero handlebars, we just about fell out of our competition-style seats. What are the Aero handlebars on the Echelon EX-5 like? Well, it’s kind of like a thick pad of compound butter on top of a perfectly cooked steak. It’s kind of like finding a hundred-dollar bill wrapped around a pearl necklace. It’s such an awesome deal that it almost feels unnecessary but, once you wrap your hands around them and start going, you realize they’re totally necessary.
What We Could Love More: While it’s still far below the $2k-plus-price of other bikes of its caliber, at this price, we might expect to find a fixed or mounted display. But, to be fair, we’re of two minds about this aspect: on the one hand, it’s obviously much more convenient to hop on the bike, find your class on your fixed display and get going. On the other hand, not having a fixed display is keeping the price of the bike depressed. And we’d assume that the vast majority of people investing in home fitness equipment like the Echelon Connect EX-5 or its brethren are also the type of people who already have tablets or devices they can use. Furthermore, with the technology where it is, quality tablets can be bought for next to nothing. You could buy a totally usable $50 tablet and just keep it on your console as a dedicated display thereby keeping your overhead for a bike of this quality low.
Connect EX-5s
Now we finally get to the Big Daddy of the family. The Echelon Connect EX-5s is the pinnacle, the crown jewel some would say, of the Echelon family of fitness bikes. It boasts all of the features of the other connect bikes but now with a state-of-the-art 21” fixed display. Like we said, while we don’t necessarily have an issue with a stationary bike not having a mounted display, it’s nice to know Echelon provides you with the option to choose which direction you’d like to go in.
Just the Facts:
- Super cool competition-style Aero handlebar system provides fore and aft adjustment for either performance or comfort set up
- Competition seat with 6” lever-style adjustment
- Indexing resistance adjustment knob with 32 levels of magnetic resistance
- Motor for precise magnetic resistance
- SPD Compatible with fully adjustable toe cages.
- Weight rack behind seat (two 2lb dumbbells)
- 2 handlebar mounted bottle holders
- A great 21.5″ HD Touchscreen that flips 180°
Why We Love It: Make no mistake about it, the Echelon Connect EX-5s is a top-of-the-line bike that can absolutely, 100%, beyond a shadow of a doubt go toe cage to toe cage with any other indoor bike of its kind and caliber. It’s got every feature the “other guys” do (and maybe more—we’re still drooling over the Aero handlebars) but the bike itself is damn near half the price.
What We Could Love More: Uh, to be honest, we’re having trouble coming up with anything. We’re absolutely crazy about the EX-5s, but, if we have to nitpick, the EX-5s is larger and heavier than its kin so you’re probably going to need a more dedicated space for the bike but the size difference is admittedly marginal so even that might not be a problem in the end.
Bonus: The FitPass App
It’s important to bear in mind too that Echelon’s app, their “FitPass” featuring trainer-led yoga, stretching, pre-and-post workout sessions, meditation, pilates, kickboxing, Zumba and more, is, as you might imagine, available to use with each of these bikes.
Available with the app, they offer 30+ world-class, charismatic, high-energy trainers along with special guests and celebrity instructors who can lead you through your rides. These will, of course, cost you a small monthly or yearly fee but this subscription service-style is more or less standard in the industry. Overall we found the app to be supremely easy-to-use with a modern and clean interface, and varied enough to keep coming back without seeing the same classes again and again.
Conclusion
In the world of options, it’s hard to pick just one so we hope this review of Echelon’s four indoor bike offerings was helpful. For the most part, it’s up to you and what you think you’ll use, which is why we like Echelon’s business model: four different bikes for everybody and anybody no matter your fitness level or goals. Happy choosing!
