Horizon fitness 7.0 AE elliptical vs conept 2 bike erg

This is a comparison of the Horizon fitness 7.0 AE elliptical and the concept 2 skierg including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.

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Overview and review of the Concept two bikeErg

The Concept 2 bikeErg comes in at $999. In this article you will learn more about the product itself, its Pros and cons and alternatives you might want to consider. This article has originally been published in the overview "Which conditioning equipment to buy from Rogue".

Overview of the Concept 2 bikeErg

The concept 2 bikeErg is concept 2‘s take on bringing the real cycling experience to your home. Most bike parts are compatible with the bikeErg so you can attach your own pedals, saddle and handles to simulate your bicycle. The bikeErg also has been designed with increasing resistance the faster you go. The mechanics simulate shifting gears to get you ready for the real ride. All of this comes with poly groove belts instead of a chain. This ensures a smooth ride which does not produce too much noise. The bikeErg comes with the following specs:

Assembled in the US
Color black
Length 48”
Width 24”
Weight 58lb
Made of Aluminium

Concept 2 has a long history of building machines for cardio. The bread butter machine is the concept 2 rower and recently the company has added the skierg and bikeErg to their portfolio. The bikeerg is the machine for you if you want to cycle at home and can not always take to the road to do your training.

Pros of the Concept 2 bikeErg

The pros of the bikeErg are

Lightweight construction
Adaptable
Simulated gears
PM5 monitor

The lightweight aluminum construction is an advantage for what this machine wants to achieve. Real world bicycles are usually built as light as possible. If you want your home training to be specific for cycling in a triathlon or the gourde France, you can not have a bulky Airbike to replace the experience.

If you want you to take all of the sports you touch as a driver apart and swap them for your own. This way you can get very close to riding your actual bike from the comfort of your home.

The bikeErg simulates the switching of gears during the ride so you get as close to the real experience than you can.

Finally, the PM5 monitor will enable you to race against others in parallel on multiple bikeErg. This can result in great fun for spinning classes.

Cons of the Concept 2 bikeErg

The cons of the concept 2 bikeErg are

No full body work out
Not for the big guys
It’s indoors

The concept 2 bikeErg will mainly focus on your legs. Therefore you will not get a lot of an upper body workout from your session. If this is important to you, you might want to go for the Rogue Echo bike instead.

The concept 2 bikeErg is lightweight and therefore build for cyclists. If you have a lot of football players on your roster you might want to go for one of the bigger Airbikes to make sure they don’t fall off.

Last but not least, nothing is like the real experience. If you want to compete in cycling you also must put in the miles on your bike outdoors. Otherwise, it is very likely that you will fail on race day.

Alternatives to the Concept 2 bikeErg

Alternatives to the concept 2 bike erg are

If you are buying equipment for your home gym and you are more on the extreme side of things you might prefer the Rogue Echo bike. This is the solid all body workout for the weekend warrior.

The concept 2 skierg is a great variation from concept 2 for anyone who skies. It simulates the upper body movement of skiing. Thing of it like a marathon version of a lat pulldown machine.

If you are shopping for a commercial gym you also might want to throw in a couple of rowers to mix things up. Avoid getting all of the same. Concept 2 actually has a mix pack on offer at Rogue where you can buy a skierg, bikeErg, and rower in one go.

Overview and review of the Horizon fitness 7.0 AE elliptical

This is an overview of the Horizon fitness AE 7.0 elliptical including pros, cons, and alternatives. This article was first published in Which Horizon fitness elliptical to get?

For the most up to date information and asking direct questions you can follow me on Instagram.

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Overview of the 7.0 AE elliptical $999

The 7.0 AE elliptical is the best value for money option in the Horizon elliptical lineup. This is mainly due to the most modern console out of all the Horizon ellipticals. The size and layout are more than enough for home gym use. In a commercial setting, you might want to bet on something with a bigger frame and different warranty options. The full specifications are:

Frame Type: Six Star Non-folding

Flywheel: 23

Stride Length: 20

Incline Range:20 Levels 0-100%

Resistance Range: Magnetic, 20 levels

Step on height (inches): 10 3/4"

Extras: Built-in Speakers, Fan, Tablet rack, Water bottle holder

Electrical requirements: 120V - 60Hz

Weight: 194lbs

Assembled dimensions: 76" x 24" x 65.5"

Max user weight: 325 lbs.

Warranty - Frame: Lifetime

Warranty - Brake: Lifetime

Warranty - Flywheel: 1 year

Warranty - Parts: 3 year

Warranty - Labor: 1 year

Pros of the 7.0 AE elliptical

The pros of the 7.0 AE elliptical are:

Price
Compact design
Console

This is a great elliptical for under $1000 to put into your home. The updates to the console to make it YouTube friendly and more compatible with the devices you already own is a big step forward for Horizon fitness. We hopefully see more of that in their treadmill and bike products to catch up to Peloton in terms of gamification of workouts. This is the Best Buy from Horizon in my opinion if you are looking to get an elliptical for your home.

Cons of the 7.0 AE elliptical

The cons of the 7.0 AE elliptical are:

It’s an elliptical
Not best for commercial use

There is not a lot I can find wrong with the 7.0 AE for an elliptical except ... that it is elliptical. I personally prefer something that can really hit hard for my cardio like an Airbike or even the BlazePod system. Ellipticals are great and easy on you but just not the preferred choice for cardio. But, if you are into a good workout that does not put you at risk of injury, this is it.

For commercial use, the 7.0 AE frame might not be the best. Go a bit upmarket for $1500 upwards to get an elliptical that is not foldable and has a bit of weight on it so it can take some of the weirder crowd that comes with running a big commercial gym.

Alternatives to the 7.0 AE elliptical

Alternatives to the Horizon 7.0 AE elliptical are:

The Horizon Evolve 3 is bigger than the 7.0 AE and foldable. If you are invested in the idea of a foldable elliptical this is the better choice even though the console is not as up-to-date.

The Nordictrack SE7i is currently the low-end option for entering the elliptical market with this brand. This can be an option when you want something fast and Horizon is out of stock.

The Rogue Echo Bike is in my opinion the best solution on the market for someone who does not want to pay a leg and an arm and have intense cardio workouts on a small footprint. The Rogue Echo Bike is high quality at an affordable price. It will kick your butt I’m a good way. The copycat lower-cost competitor of the Rogue Echo bike is the TITAN fan bike.

Conclusion for the 7.0 AE elliptical

If you like Horizon fitness as a brand and want an elliptical for your home, the 7.0 AE is the best choice for bang for your buck as long as you have the space to place it in.