On top of that, if the bike isn’t connected to the app and engaged in a class, the resistance isn’t adjustable, and you lose a lot of riding potential. The number of daily live classes is on a par with Peloton’s (and the on-demand library features more than 3,000 on-demand workouts both on and off the bike). But Echelon’s overall app organization isn’t as clean as Peloton’s, and—though the instructors are enthusiastic and some are very solid—the rides, workouts, and trainers can be hit or miss.
And Wirecutter has twice now had more than half a dozen bikes simultaneously parked in the office, most recently in the summer of 2022. Along the way, 15 volunteer testers—from indoor-cycling schwinn 3 wheel bike beginners to aficionados who brought their own shoes—have taken some of the bikes for a spin. I was Wirecutter’s staff writer of fitness coverage from summer 2019 through summer 2022.
Schwinn is a brand that produces top-of-the-line bike products, making the company one of the most reputable brands on the market. The Schwinn Boundary has a limited lifetime warranty for solid parts, such as shock forks and frames. The inclined bar in the Boundary’s frame provides two installation areas where a kettle rack (drink holder) can be mounted.
Unlike the other bikes above, this is a full-suspension mountain bike and not only has front forks but a rear shock. It wasn’t until around 1986, when Ned Overend won two Mountain Biking National Championships for the Schwinn team, that people really started to notice how excellent the mountain bikes had become. When it comes to cycling, Schwinn is an entry-level brand you will hear a lot about, and they have schwinn exercise bikes an incredible heritage when it comes to bikes, especially mountain bikes. We took note of whether we felt any unsteadiness when seated or when we stood out of the saddle. We most often encountered wobbles in the handlebars, sometimes even after tightening them thoroughly. A bike should sit flush with the floor; most of the bike models we tested had leveling feet, which helped to provide an even base.
It boasts front and rear mechanical disc brakes that provide crisp all-condition stopping out on the trail. In our tests, the bike easily connected to the Peloton app, showing real-time cadence, though it doesn’t indicate watts (a measure of power output). Since the IC4’s resistance range doesn’t match directly with Peloton’s, riders have come up with various conversions to help match the resistance numbers.
We noted the breadth of adjustability for each bike, including the seat-post height and whether the seat and handlebars moved fore and aft. We noted the recommended height range and the maximum ride weight for each bike (though admittedly we were not able to test with as wide a range of testers as we would have liked). We also assessed the ease of adjustability and noted whether a seat post, for instance, had easily identifiable markings to record our sizing.