Air Bikes

[cpcnw]

Can anyone recommend from personal experience an air bike that will stand a decent amount of hammer. Something up to the C2 standard? Believe this is known as 'Commercial Rated' - more importantly not for 'Domestic' use.

I have been reading about Schwinn and how the older A3's where built like tanks but since they have been taken over the quality has gone down and you can't easily get parts for the older bikes [or find them easily 2nd hand in the UK]

Most reviews [Amazon and the like] by nature are mostly at the 'just purchased' stage of equipment life. A few years down the road I suspect opinions may well be different.

I'm in the North West and looking at the Tornado Air Bike vs say the Air Assault vs Airdyne AD6...

Gonna speak to these guys in the week https://www.fitnesswarehouseuk.com/prod ... o-airbike/ but until then any long term owners care to comment?

Cheers!

[Citroen]

How about the Concept2 one http://www.concept2.co.uk/bikeerg/concept2-bikeerg ?

[cpcnw]

Quality... but no upper body action

And not in UK yet...

[Drivetofast]

Rogue Fitness has the Air Assault on sale. I have this bike its a great bike seat adj up down and back and forth. I also have 2 airdynes 1 is 32 years old still works fine. I do not know anything aboutTornado I do know if I was in the market for a new air dyne I get the pro model. Most crossfit boxes have rogue assault bikes. One note I also own bike erg concept2 great bike but no upper body movement

[DBate]

Just saw this post, in case you are still looking, here's my oppinion.

I have personally tested the Assault Air Bike and the Xebex Air Bike (which is similar to the Assault Bike). After reading several reviews I finally decided to get a Schwinn AD PRO (it's the Schwinn AD8 in Europe, same machine) about a year ago and I am happy I did.

The built is much better than the Assault and Xebex Air Bike. The AD PRO/AD8 is built like a tank (commercial grade). Even after a year of use it's still like new. One of the advantages compared to the competitors is that it is belt driven instead of chain driven, so it is quieter which might be an advantage for home use (it is for me) and there is less maintenance to do on it in the long run. Furthermore, if you read up on the Assault Bikes - Crossfit Forums or the the crossfit subreddit on reddit.com are a good source of information - you will find out that many users have issues with the built quality and run into problems within a year or two. The only downside is, that the Schwinn AD8/PRO is a bit more expensive than the competitors, especially in Europe (I live in Germany). However I am glad I paid extra and got the Schwinn; buy once, cry once I guess .

If you are looking for further info, you can find reviews about the bikes here. Besides my own observations I found them helpful when I made my decision:

Xebex Air Bike

Schwinn AD8/PRO

General Air Bike comparison

Cheers,
DBate

[Dreadnought]

Quality... but no upper body action

And not in UK yet...

You will actually get a better workout if you get rid of that upper body action.

I had a Schwin Airdyne years ago. It was OK only for very low level training, but those upper body levers really got in the way when trying to do intense cycling. They actually prevent optimal positioning for an intense cycling workout.

[dcarr]

Hoping this is still helpful for anyone that comes across this post.

But here are my thoughts:

First off OP, you're right about the older Schwinn Airdyne's. They used to be pretty good quality but their manufacturing has changed and are a little unpredictable it seems these days. My experience with the newer models have been overall pretty good though.

The Schwinn AD7 (or AD8 for those overseas) is as good of an air bike as you'll find. I've ridden it consistently for the last year at my Crossfit gym and it literally feels indestructible. The belt drive makes a big difference in the noise level and the smoothness of the ride.

I know the Assault Bike was part of the 2015 Crossfit games - and at the time it was probably one of the better bikes on the market - but I'm not sure it makes my top 3 anymore. As someone who has been doing Crossfit for years and loves to push the limits, you really can't go wrong with the Schwinn AD Pro (same thing as the AD7 only it's geared more towards commercial use).

You'll find most of the reviews online say the same thing. The one I linked below is one of the better ones.

Best air bike comparison

[mdpfirrman]

I have an Air Dyne Pro and love it. Got it for the wife (she let me get the C2, so I had to buy her something she really liked) and she loves it. I would have considered the new one out by Rogue now (Rogue Echo) too had it been out at the time.

About the only negatives about the AD Pro are it's really limited in programming intervals. I think that intervals (max) go up to 99 seconds (two digit limit). Some of my intermediate intervals are up to 8 minutes. Can't program that on the AD Pro. I really wish they had just added an extra digit to allow that. Shame really, would have been an easy fix. Really solid. We've used daily for around a year. I use the rower more but when the body feels beat up, it's a good change of pace.

One other slight issue is the Air Diverter should come with it. It's cheap but mine was a bit of a pain to put on because the screws holding the fan together from the factory were in the wrong places. I had to figure out how to change these to align with the diverter prescrewed holes. Not too hard for anyone with any bit of handy knowledge but for someone not good with tools, I'd get one put on and pay for assembly.

[Bill]

Am curious ............... Can you lock the arms on these things and just use it as a bike ?

There would be less options and flexibility for the hand positions compared to the BikeErg ?

Bill

[DBate]

Am curious ............... Can you lock the arms on these things and just use it as a bike ?

There would be less options and flexibility for the hand positions compared to the BikeErg ?

Bill

No, it's not possible to lock the arms on a classic Airbike like the Schwinns or the Assault Bikes (and neither for the newer Rogue Echo Bike).