Schwinn Airdyne Pro/AD7 vs Assault AirBike

[radrd]

https://www.roguefitness.com/assault...nd-accessories

https://www.roguefitness.com/schwinn-airdyne-pro

Anyone recommend one over the other? I'm going to try them out, but thought asking here couldn't hurt. Primary uses will be warm up/cool down and HIIT. Wife might use it occasionally, but she's not making any promises. Leaning towards the Schwinn based on reviews. Probably go AD7 over Pro and save $100.

Reason I'm asking is I'm dealing with (what I hope is) a minor lower back injury and want to stay in shape while it fully heals. Headed to the chiropractor on Tuesday. Plus, I used to enjoy riding a stationary bike regularly and this seems like a great long term addition to my workouts.

[FlyingHigh80]

Highly recommend the rogue echo bike.

[etet1919]

I like the Schwinn (that's what my gym has; I became used to that resistance, but always find it challenging). But I read (if I remember correctly) that the Rogue echo is the latest bike recommended for boxes (and home gyms) and is a much more "quiet" and smooth ride?

[radrd]

I remember reading a couple quality control issues with the Echo bike. Maybe that's not a thing anymore. Adding it to the list for serious consideration.

[jreacher]

I bought the Echo a month ago. Awesome bike. Only complaint is that I had to tighten the arms a ridiculous amount to prevent a little wiggle. A common complaint.

It is belt driven which prevents noise and maintenance. Highly recommend belt driven no matter which bike you choose.

[CliveWarren]

I bought the AD7 last month from BestBuy Canada for $819 CAD which is about $600 USD. You should check the US BestBuy website just in case.\

It's great, but the monitor isn't the easiest to read in less than ideal lighting. i.e. any garage or basement. There are other eccentricities, you can see kms on the odometer but can't see km/h on the speedo. Bar graph for rpm is pretty useless. Build quality of the bike is great compared to my 30 year old model.

I did see a video of the Echo bike, but was really freaked out that the flywheel can stop on a dime. A flywheel on a stationary should store momentum. A real bicycle stores momentum in forward motion. To my mind a flywheel that doesn't keep moving will cause jerkiness during use.

[FlyingHigh80]

I bought the AD7 last month from BestBuy Canada for $819 CAD which is about $600 USD. You should check the US BestBuy website just in case.\

It's great, but the monitor isn't the easiest to read in less than ideal lighting. i.e. any garage or basement. There are other eccentricities, you can see kms on the odometer but can't see km/h on the speedo. Bar graph for rpm is pretty useless. Build quality of the bike is great compared to my 30 year old model.

I did see a video of the Echo bike, but was really freaked out that the flywheel can stop on a dime. A flywheel on a stationary should store momentum. A real bicycle stores momentum in forward motion. To my mind a flywheel that doesn't keep moving will cause jerkiness during use.

That’s a great price. There is nothing jerky about the echo bike. It stops quickly but smoothly. Simply more resistance and weight slowing it down. Not an issue.

I’ve had to retighten my arms once. Considered using loctite.

[Afo3]

If you have a back injury one thing to consider is the length of travel for the arms vs your natural reach.

I prefer the AD7/ Pro as the arm travel is shorter than the Airdyne and way shorter than the Echo and as a smaller person, longer travel will move my back into a bit of flexion which is bad for me. But perhaps you have much longer arms or are extension intolerant rather than flexion intolerant.

[leonard1]

I bought the Echo a month ago. Awesome bike. Only complaint is that I had to tighten the arms a ridiculous amount to prevent a little wiggle. A common complaint.

Second the Echo bike. Have had it a couple of months and it provides an extremely tough but time efficient workout. Going to sell the Concept 2 rower and rely only on the Echo bike for indoor cardio.

And, yes, the arms will loosen and wiggle initially. And, you will need to tighten down the screws more than you feel comfortable with to eliminate the play in the arms and fully tighten. But, calling Rogue about it, that's what they said one needs to do. So, it's a good idea to keep the allen wrench near the machine for the first few weeks to retighten. Even better, an allen wrench with a T-handle or other handle for leverage.

Otherwise, a great machine.

[radrd]

If you have a back injury one thing to consider is the length of travel for the arms vs your natural reach.

I prefer the AD7/ Pro as the arm travel is shorter than the Airdyne and way shorter than the Echo and as a smaller person, longer travel will move my back into a bit of flexion which is bad for me. But perhaps you have much longer arms or are extension intolerant rather than flexion intolerant.

Interesting. How tall are you? I'm 5-11". I'll talk to my chiropractor about whether I'm flexion vs. extension intolerant. I have no idea.

[radrd]

Assault AirBike is off the list. Went and tried out the Schwinn today and liked it a lot. As expected, it's not quiet, and while noise isn't a big issue, I can't imagine how loud the Assault Bike is with that chain. Will skip it based on that alone. If it were just me and I didn't have this stupid injury, then the Echo would be a no-brainer, but I think the Schwinn will work better for my wife and give me more flexibility for riding positions with my injury. The multiple hand grips aren't worth the price premium alone, but they are a really nice feature that Echo doesn't have. I also like that the Schwinn has a slightly smaller footprint. I'm going to keep researching a bit more though. Wish I could test out the Echo. Wonder if any crossfit boxes around here have it. Thanks for the input everyone.

[Afo3]

I’m only 5’8” but regarding flexion vs extension tolerance it’s easy to test. You can look this up with articles by Stuart McGill or just think about positions that are pain provoking vs relieving for you. For example slumped over in flexion vs upright in extension.

Interesting. How tall are you? I'm 5-11". I'll talk to my chiropractor about whether I'm flexion vs. extension intolerant. I have no idea.