BowFlex Indoor Cycling Exercise Bike Series

I bought this to strengthen up in preparation for a knee replacement (the elliptical was getting too hard with declining knee health). The magnetic resistance is ideal; some of the journey trainers opt for super-light resistance with higher RPM workouts, which suited my bone-on-bone knee… The variety of workouts on jrny app were sufficient, I opted for a year subscription after the 2 month trial. UPDATE: so far, I’ve experienced Jrny app issues - 3 times (in months) in mid-workout, it stops reading things like resistance setting and RPM speed (which it app workouts use for “effort” guide). I’ve reported the bug - getting “function” back is as simple as stopping, restarting the workout - which seems like an unnecessarily simple software bug. I hope they get this straightened out soon (it basically makes it impossible to continue w/ the workout, as you can’t track nor get effort feedback). I put this upstairs in a spare BR so after surgery, workouts and shower would be on the same floor. I chose to put exercise matts down under the cycle, on top of the carpet. Even with the “core muscle engagement” of the “leaning”, this is fully stable (I’m 6’3”, 225lbs… so I had concerns - but no problems). Delivery, shape of everything was fine. With my knee, I got the frame upstairs on a hand-truck, still attached to its foam packing, with a neighbor’s help just in case. No drama, simple. The price through here definitely was a factor of not ordering through Bowflex, but the device I like quite a bit better than our son-in-laws (much more expensive) Peloton. 2 nits about the product: - handlebar adjustment: I would like some forward/aft adjustment. I’m tall, but unusually so in the torso, so the “lean-over” I wish was a tad less, would prefer the handlebars back an inch or so… - Bowflex heart rate monitor: I have an Apple watch, didn’t care to swap it with the Bowflex device every workout. Fortunately, there’s an app which connects to the device (ignore what Bowflex and Apple say). For free, it provides 20 minutes of monitoring HR over your apple watch (you’ll use your phone - I have iPhone - as an intermediary connection device). I liked it enough, that I didn’t hesitate to purchase the unlimited “pro” version for $20-some (don’t recall now: 24? 22? - whatever, well worth it). Each workout, fire the app in your phone, connect in the jrny screen, and go. There were reviews here which recounted “clicking” in the Bowflex. I paid a LOT of attention, and thought I heard something the first days - in careful inspection: **it was my bad knee!!!** The bike operation is unflawed for me. Good value. Good quality. I like the workout programs and options (so many - actually quite nice options). I’m really happy with this purchase.

I wish I could have given this bike 6 Stars. I've never been able to say this before about a complex piece of exercise equipment. It was EASY to assemble! Taking my time, I was able to assemble it alone in under an hour. However, it might not be a bad idea to have a second person just for safety. The instructions were very helpful (another thing you don't hear very often). All of the parts fit together perfectly without any force. Just be sure to pay careful attention to how the pedals thread. One of them tightens counterclockwise. Once assembled, there are three well-designed adjustment handles for setting (then tightening) handlebar height, seat height, and seat distance. The angle of the VERY large screen can also be adjusted. Every part just feels solid and well-made. All of the moving parts such as the lean mechanism works well without sticking or jamming. I did a lot of research before purchasing, and in terms of features, quality, and subscription content, this Bowflex bike easily won over Peloton and other brands. It has the double drink holders, the double dumbbell holders, the heart rate monitor, the pedals that work with cycling shoes, the lean feature with easy lock/unlock system, the massive screen with pre-designed auto and guided workouts including an initial assessment workout. The ability to store multiple profiles for all members of your household as well as the companion app that works with other Bowflex products. To top it off, sometimes, when you don't want a guided workout and just want to catch up on your Netflix, Amazon, or other streaming shows, this bike has those streaming apps built in and watchable on the very, very large screen while you ride (and even has a discreet workout overlay so you can track your workout while you watch without obstructing your show). Hands down, the best exercise bike I have ever used, seen, or even heard of. I HIGHLY recommend.

I got this for a great price which is what prompted my to buy it. Both myself and my wife use the bike regularly and we like it a lot. I bought a cheap pair of cycling shoes and attached the included peddle clips and it works great. The bike is well built and the ride is smooth. While you can easily change the resistance by turning a knob while riding, this is manual only and the various pre-programmed workouts don't change this, they just display the target cadence (cycling speed) on the screen and you need to peddle harder to speed up. The bike took some time to assemble but was not overly difficult. The thing is heavy so make sure you unpack it first and move it in sections. However, the main bike is still very heavy even when disassembled. The weak point of the bike is the low quality android-based device which provides the display. It is very slow, not very well designed from a UI perspective and needs constant updates. It even periodically kicks you out and requires that you log in again with a username and password that you have likely forgotten since it is just an exercise bike in one's own house!! The speakers ae poor and it DOES NOT WORK WITH THE ANDROID PELATON APP. This is probably the fault of peloton being too lazy to build a proper android app but it doesn't work with this bike. So overall, if you find this thing for a good price, buy it. It is a quality exercise bike with a poor android phone bolted on to it.

Got this on clearance for $699. Easy to assemble, enjoy the tour the world rides with and without the workout coach, good music selection, sturdy for weights, water, towel. No issues with heart monitor or JRNY but haven’t been able to connect Bluetooth for iPhone or pandora music, but it looks like maybe it’s not compatible. I’m good with the bike, monitor, and JRNY as is. Was never a bike rider, but working from home, have limited space, and weather hasn’t been good to get out and walk. Loosing weight with this bike 3-5 x week 30-45 min rides, and Noom changing food habits. 15 pounds in 3 weeks between the two. I did have to get a gel seat cover because the seat was too hard for me, I’m 200 pounds, but probably depends on your size. I have the seat at the lowest position, handle bars at highest and farthest back toward me, at 5’3” I’m very comfortable.

I purchased this bike on an extreme discount and Amazon delivered it in to my garage. I got help from a friend of mine to assemble it. I will say that the bike itself is very sturdy and the assembly is quite easy. Bowflex definitely put a lot of thought into the instructions and a positive out of box experience. The immediate problem we noticed with the bike is the seat. This bike has the most uncomfortable seat of any bike I have ever experienced. After a few workouts, I still could not get used to it and had to stand half the time. Nautalis sells an "Extra Comfort" seat for this bike on their website. Unfortunately, I didn't keep the bike long enough to give it a try. The electronic screen on this bike is very, very cheap. The picture and sound quality are nice enough, but it's immediately evident that this is where costs were cut on an otherwise fine product. The thing performed a software updated three times for me. Updates are good, but they only happen when you wake up the screen. So, when you're ready for a workout, turning on the screen could trigger an update that takes 10-15 minutes. You cannot select to perform the update at a later time. The buttons for the screen are on the back of the bike. There is no reference to what they do on the front or side of the bike. If the bike is against a wall, you will have a hard time until you learn their position. The feel of the buttons is extremely cheap. They sometimes have to be pressed more than once to register. The most serious problem with the bike occurred less than a week in. All of a sudden, crackling sounds were coming out of the speakers while the bike was in standby. It sounded like someone endlessly trying to tune an AM radio. Rebooting the bike did not help. Reorienting the cable that comes up the support tube did not help. The only thing to get the crackling to stop was to unplug the bike and leave it unplugged. The moment you plugged it back in, the crackling would resume. This tells me it's a hardware fault since the software hasn't even had time to boot yet. I looked this issue up online and you can see for yourself that there are a bunch of people experiencing this defect. Everyone I see complaining about it claims that replacement screens are also defective right away or eventually begin to exhibit the same problem. I don't know what to make of this, but I decided that I didn't want to deal with this problem for the next 5-10 years of ownership and send the bike back to Amazon. It was a tremendous pain to disassemble and box it back up, but it was worth it to save my sanity. Thankfully, the return process from Amazon was quick and easy. Based on my experience with this bike, I am now very suspicious of any exercise equipment with "advanced" electronics. When I look at the MSRP of this bike and then feel the hollowness and cheapness of the screen, it doesn't add-up. For sure, I will avoid such products from Bowflex / Schwinn / Nautalis in the future.

A friend had one, and now I have one. Very sturdy and comfortable to ride, even if you have more than one rider. Finally got my wife to ride and she has a blast traveling around the world riding. The lean feature is no joke, after cycling in the outdoors for several years, putting in150+ miles a week, wasn't ready to move inside, but due to where we now live, this is by far the safest option. This bike will do everything your road bike will do, except for one thing: you have to realize you can not free spin, that takes a bit of getting use to. If you are quick with tension knob, you can back it off to zero and hold a pedal position, or just power thru it. The graphics and audio are great, as are the videos of the places you can travel. You can also do the peloton workouts on this machine with your journey membership. This gets used 4-5 a week by each of us, and we are glad we got it.

Firstly, even though I'm only giving 3 stars, I do love this bike so far, but I think some things should be better/different because of the price. Firstly, the seat is uncomfortable. I realize you should be trying to keep your butt off the seat for most of the exercise, but I have some old Army injuries and I'm trying to get back in shape, so I need the seat at the moment. There's an upgraded seat you can buy on the Boflex website, which I'll have to get, but for the moment I have a thick folded towel rubberbanded to the seat for some extra cushion. Secondly, the adjustment handles should be knobs, especially the one for adjusting the seat height. The handles should be flush with the frame after tightening, but mine are askew. I've found that this is especially problematic for the seat height adjuster because if the handle is sticking out to the side and not flush with the frame my leg hits it. I have to overtighten it to make sure it's straight and keep the seat from sliding down. The same goes for the adjuster for sliding the seat forward and back, but the problem there less in that it hits the frame when you're trying to tighten if you have the seat further forward. Next, I wish I could put the handlebars higher I find myself putting them higher than the point that says stop because I like to sit more upright due to past injuries. Maybe I'll be able to lean forward more when I'm in better shape, but it would be nice to be able to safely put them higher. It would be great if I could change the angle to lean them more toward me as well. Finally, if you want to use third-party apps you must have a paid membership. You get a complimentary paid membership for the first year at no cost, but after that, you're on the hook. The Jrny workouts are cool and all, but tbh I just want to watch Netflix or whatever while I work out. I borderline feel like I should have gotten a cheaper bike with a tablet holder and a tablet because of this. We'll see how it goes with this whole Jrny thing, but Boflex shouldn't be shocked if I or anyone else jailbreak their bike's computer or replaces the operating system entirely to use it as a regular tablet that can access the third-party apps they want at no extra cost. Oh, and one last thing - I'd like to have the choice to plug the bike's power adapter in from the front or the back. Right now it can only be plugged in from the front. It reaches my outlet just fine, but I have the bike facing away from the outlet, so the cable is stretched across the floor along the frame of the bike. I'll probably tape it on the frame to be extra safe and avoid a tripping hazard. Other than that, it's a great bike. The only thing that doesn't have me returning it over the third-party app issue is the lean feature. Some people say it isn't worth it and it doesn't add that much to the workout, but I like it. Even if it doesn't do much for the workout itself, I find that it makes it more interesting and engaging.

This is a great cycle. For the money vs. others, I am truly pleased. + Easy to assemble + Simple to use + Whisper quiet + Comes with 3lb weights and heart rate sensor + Dual pedals (I like to clip in) + Looks elegant + Super sturdy + Connects with phone and plays music through speakers (no service required) + Compact footprint - Prepare for paint to scratch as you adjust seat and handle bars - All features require subscription; Guest mode available, but limited functionality - Must share your personal data with company (Privacy Concerns) - Seat not the greatest I have not subscribed, even though it is free for a year. Don’t feel the need to pay for a service and share my personal data when guest mode gives me the workouts I need. Apple Watch collects all the data anyway.