Horizon fitness Evolve 5 elliptical vs Schwinn airdyne pro

This is a comparison of the Horizon fitness Evolve 5 elliptical and the Schwinn airdyne Pro including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.

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Overview and review of the Schwinn airdyne pro

The Schwinn Airdyne Pro comes in at $999 - $1200. 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 Schwin Airdyne Pro

Schwinn has been in the game of producing bikes for over a century now. The Schwinn Airdyne pro is their flagship take on the Airbike market. The special features of this design are the handles and how the fans are formed. This machine will blow some serious air into your face. Great if you train in a hot environment. The handles of the Airdyne pro give you many options to vary your ride and burn calories.

Air bikes are unique as the resistance increases the faster you go. This makes for very intense workouts which burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time. You also have less impact than on a treadmill. The Airdyne comes with the following specifications:

Length 42”
Width 20”
Height 52”
Color black

This is a solid option for your gym which looks a little more space than comparable products. If you care about looks, that is, but why have a gym otherwise.

Pros of the Schwinn Airdyne Pro

The pros of the Schwinn Airdyne are

Noise canceling design
Handles
Design
Experience
Price

One of the biggest pros of the Schwinn is the noise canceling design. Schwinn was one of the first Airbike companies in the market to look into belts rather than chains to propel the wheel on the Airbike. This makes the bike more reliable and silent. Since then it has become an industry standard.

The new handles are clever and take a leaf out the treadmill and elliptical industry. Most Airbikes have simple handles which leave fewer options. I personally liked and some might say this can get in the way of a very intense workout.

Design is always a matter of taste. I personally like the Schwinn. It looks spacey and tasteful and might even make it even a little interior design statement if out in the right spot. I don’t see that happening with other, more down to earth, models in the market.

Schwinn has been building bikes for a while now. You can be sure you will get a top-notch product with a great finish.

For the quality, you are getting it is aggressively priced just around the $1000 mark. Most other Pro/elite/sport models are usually priced nearer to the $1200 to $2000 mark.

Cons of the Schwinn Airdyne Pro

Specificity
Price

What you do on an Airbike is not specific to most sports. Most bikes do not have self-moving handles or blow air in your face while riding them. A gym which trains athletes who compete in team sports will still have to invest in equipment like treadmills and run rockets to offer specific training.

If you only want an Airbike and don’t care that much about design or noise canceling there are cheaper options which can be had to get an Airbike into your place.

Alternatives to the Schwinn Airdyne Pro

Alternatives to the Schwinn Airdyne Pro Are:

Concept 2 bike
Rogue Echo bike
Concept 2 Rower

A concept 2 bike will come in a little cheaper than the Airbike and is more specific for cycling indoors when you can not get out on the road. It will not burn as many calories in the same amount of time but offers you a solid alternative.

The Rogue echo bike is a very solid alternative if you want an Airbike. It sells like hot cake and is very popular in the CrossFit community. It is built like a tank and comes in at a good price. Like everything from Rogue, it is designed to work, not to look pretty. In some gyms, it might look displaced.

The concept two rower is solid, time tested machine to build cardiovascular endurance. If you are a fan of water sports this is probably the better option for you than any of the bikes and treadmills. The only downside is that it takes a bit more space than other options.

Summary for the Schwinn Airdyne Pro

The Schwinn Airdyne Pro has a good design at a good price point. For a flagship product, it is reasonably priced and comes from a vendor with experience in the market. If you are budget conscious there are also solid Airbike options at a lower price.

Overview and review of the Horizon fitness Evolve 5 elliptical

This is an overview of the Horizon fitness Evolve 5 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 Evolve 5 elliptical $1,399

The Horizon Evolve 5 elliptical is the current flagship elliptical in the Horizon lineup. It’s main distinguishing feature is the big flywheel which provides a smoother ride and lower need for maintenance. This is the right choice if you like Horizon and the idea of an elliptical and do not want to compromise. The full specifications of this machine run as follows:

Frame Type: Sic Star Folding

Flywheel:23

Stride Length: 20

Incline Range: N/A

Resistance Range: 20 Electronically adjustable

Step on height (inches): 10

Extras: Built-in speakers, Energy Saver Mode, Passport ready, Tablet rack, Water Bottle holder

Electrical requirements: 110 lot and 220 Volt

Weight: 181 lbs.

Assembled dimensions: 69" x 28" x 69"

Max user weight: 300

Warranty - Frame: Lifetime

Warranty - Brake: 3 years

Warranty - Flywheel: N/A

Warranty - Parts: 3 years

Warranty - Labor: 1 year

Pros of the Evolve 5 elliptical

The pros are the Horizon Evolve 5 elliptical are:

Big flywheel
Foldable

This elliptical has all the bells and whistles and the biggest flywheel that Horizon currently offers. With the finding mechanic, it takes up considerably less space when it is not in use. If you want the most amount of elliptical money can buy from Horizon, then this is the model for you.

Cons of the Evolve 5 elliptical

The cons of the Horizon Evolve 5 are:

Price
Console

With $1400 the Horizon Evolve 5 is the highest priced elliptical in the Horizon lineup. For that high price, I think you get not a lot of extra compared to the Evolve 3 or AE 7.0. The only thing the Evolve 5 has going for it is the big flywheel. This is only relevant when you either go very hard at it or intend to be a lot of mileage on it in a short frame of time. The console is not internet-ready and only gives you updates about the preloaded workouts.

Alternatives to the Evolve 5 elliptical

Alternatives to the Horizon Evolve 5 are:

The Evolve 3 is in my opinion the better option if you buy into the idea of a foldable elliptical. It costs less and almost does the same as the Horizon Evolve 5 except for a smaller flywheel.

The Nordictrack SE 7i is the entry-level elliptical from Nordictrack. If Horizon is out of stock or you want to compare prices you can go with this one too.

The Rogue Echo Bike is is my opinion the best option for homeowners who want to go hard at it on a small footprint on a bike. Its low-budget competitor is the TITAN fan bike.

Conclusion for the Evolve 5 elliptical

The Horizon Evolve 5 is great when you like to buy the best and have berthing for your home gym elliptical. For commercial use I think the folding approach to the frame is not a great idea as it provides too much opportunity for things to break. For home gym users I think that the AE 7.0 Elliptical is a better value for money.