NordicTrack FS10i vs Schwinn Airdyne Pro

This is a comparison between the Nordictrack FS10i elliptical and the Schwinn Airdyne Pro. Follow the links for more details.

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 FS10i Free Stride $3999 - $2999

This is a review of the Nordictrack Fs10i model. You will learn about the specifics, pros, cons and alternatives of this elliptical to ake a deicison. This article was originally published in "Which elliptical to get from Nordictrack".

Overview of the Fs10i

The FS10i free stride is the newest addition to the center drive elliptical product line of Nordictrack. In 2020 it comes with a hefty price reduction of $1000 which makes it an attractive buy on the high end of the portfolio. As long as this remains, it is definitely the better option over the FS9i model. The main features of this machine are its center flywheel, the 10% incline option, 10-inch monitor and the free moving ellipticals which make it a stepper, ellipticals, and treadmill in one machine. The full list of features includes:

10" Smart HD Touchscreen
Includes 1-Year NordicTrack iFit® membership**
Bluetooth® Audio Capabilities
Two 2” Digitally Amplified Speakers

AutoBreeze™ Workout Fan
SoftTouch™ Upper Body Grips
Oversized Cushion Pedals

Center Drive
20 Lb. Effective Inertia-Enhanced Flywheel
SMR™ Silent Magnetic Resistance
32" Auto-Adjustable Stride
24 Digital Resistance Levels
0 – 10% Incline
OneTouch® Controls
Commercial Solid Steel Construction
Oversized Levelers
375 Lb. User Capacity

Transport Wheels
Water Bottle Holder
58.5" L x 29.5" W x 74" H Footprint
10-Year Frame Warranty
2-Year Parts Warranty
1-Year Labor Warranty

This is the newest machine in the line up for free stride from Nordictrack in 2020 with a killer price. Observe how it will develop in the future as this value for money offer might not extend to the future.

Pros of the FS10i

The pros of the FS10i are:

All bells and whistles
Three for the price of one
Long stride
Free adjustments
Low impact

The FS10i still has all the bells and whistles in the Nordictrack Free stride line up. You or your clients will have little to desire when you opt for the FS10i as your free stride machine of choice.

The concept of the middle flywheel for your elliptical enables that you can move more freely. This makes the FS10i a stepper, treadmill and elliptical in one machine. If you were considering getting all of these different machines the FS10i is still a bargain in terms of price and footprint which is being used up compared to getting three instead of one machine. Never mind the maintenance and energy consumption of the other machines.

With 32 inches of stride, the FS10i provides longer stride than the Front and read-drove ellipticals from Nordictrack as there is no flywheel in the way. This will especially help your larger athletes or clients.

The free adjustments of the movements will be beneficial for homeowners with big families or commercial gym owners with a wide variety of clients. This is the main engineering idea behind these free stride machines which move the flywheel to the middle of the machine, rather than having it in the front or back.

The low impact on knees and ankles is one of the main health advantages of ellipticals compared to treadmills. If you have an underlying condition or work with a lot of clients with weak hips and legs, this is a better machine for health reasons than a treadmill with a higher impact.

Cons of the FS10i

The cons of the FS10i are:

High price
No big screen
No remote control in the handles
Floating experience
More prone to error
Low-calorie burn

Even when the price is reduced to $2999 the FS10i is still a considerable investment. There are lower-cost options for free striders in the Nordictrack portfolio. Especially if you are not bought into the free stride concept as you do not have to provide a lot of variety or comfort with the machine you buy, definitely look somewhere else. $2999 can buy you a rack, barbell, and plates for a full gym setup if you invest it somewhere else. It depends on your goals, available space, and training preferences.

As the flywheel is in the center of this design the FS10i has no real stand or option to attach a big screen as other treadmills or ellipticals would have. In a home gym, this can be solved with a screen on the wall or no screen whatsoever. In a commercial setting, a screen on the wall can become quite small for individuals who are for away or want to do their own thing while they are exercising. If you think that entertainment options are a must for yourself or your clients over the experience of the free stride than opt for a front-drive elliptical or a big treadmill where a big screen can be attached.

Compared to the FS9i Nordictrack model the FS10i has no controls to adjust resistance and incline in the handles. These are positioned in the console. This is the only main advantage I can see for the Fs9i over the FS10i. If you like this convenience, go for the Fs9i instead.

While the fleeting experience is great when you have great body awareness and like to experiment, it can be stressful for someone who just likes to have a stable, repeatable experience. The many options you have with the FS10i which require a bit more fine motor skills than on a traditional elliptical might not be for everyone.

Moving the flywheel from the front or back of an elliptical to create more options and a longer stride poses two engineering challenges. One is that the flywheel can not be as big as with front- and rear-drive options, as you have less space. Second is that you need more moving parts to make the machine go in multiple directions at different angles. The smaller flywheel and the more intricate design make the Free stride models more error-prone than the front and rear drive options. While it is unlikely that you will break this as a home gym owner by yourself, the commercial gym owner should consider how much mileage each machine will go through depending on where it is positioned in the gym and how many machines you have.

General consideration for elliptical machines is that they burn fewer calories on average compared to bikes and treadmills as the exercise is less intense. If you are generally healthy and want to maximize the calorie output per minute, the elliptical machines are not the right buy for your need.

Summary for the FS10i

The FS10i is the best buy from Nordictrack in 2020 for a free stride elliptical with all bells and whistles. As long as it is cheaper than the FS9i this will hold. This is a good machine for the home gym owner with a big wallet and some health issues, who still want to exercise regularly. For commercial buyers, the price will be too high for someone who is thinking to buy more than 5 units at a time. Boutique gyms that work with a lot of clients with very specific needs will find this machine useful.