Nordictrack Grand Tour vs Assault airbike elite
This is a comparison between the Nordictrack Grand Tour and the Assault airbike elite including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.
Overview and review of the Assault airbike elite
The Assault Airbike elite comes in at $1299. 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".
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Overview of the Assault airbike elite
Air assault has been around a while in the world of
Air bikes. The elite is their take on taking it tongue next level. Compared to the basic version you will get an upgraded LCD, bigger seat and sturdier steel frame. The
Air Assault Elite comes with the following specifications:
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Color Black
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Product weight 140LB
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Length 51“
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Width 27“
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Height 55“
Airbikes are a great option for your cardiovascular training. The resistance increases naturally the faster you go. This makes it a great tool for interval training. In addition, you also address your entire body. With the
assault bike, you also have the option to only focus on the upper or lower body by keeping the feet or arms engaged or out of the loop. If you want something else from a treadmill and find cycling not challenging enough the
air assault elite is the best you can get in the market.
Pros of the Assault airbike elite
Compared to other air bikes the assault bike elite has one of the most advanced computers. If this is important to yourself or the image your gym want to convey, this is a great option. Quite a few other vendors are behind when it comes to this. Still, keep in mind that most options will never be used.
The Bluetooth capability is nice in the age of the internet of things. You might want to combine the output of the air bike with other technology you are using for analysis or your clients just want to hook your phone up.
I personally admit that I like overbuilt gym equipment. I lift comparatively heavy and like to abuse any kind of cardio machine I am on. That I weigh 90kg does not help the machines. If it rattles and I feel like it will break right under me, I am not too impressed. If you have a team of rugby players to entertain, maybe spent the extra money so that they feel like they are safe.
With the Assault, you are hooking up with a company that has been around the block. You can expect good customer service.
Cons of the Assault airbike elite
The main point against the elite is the price. When you compare
Airbike to
Airbike the elite comes in at almost double the price compared to other
Airbike options. Are the extra features worth giving up on one extra
Airbike for the same time? Most of the times probably not unless you are 7’ 10” tall and weigh 250kg. You can also make an argument for this if your marketing strategy is to never ever be seen to be cheap because you charge your clients a fortune for your services (well to them it is peanuts, but that is precisely why you have to give them the best of everything).
The other downside to the
Assault Air bike elite is that the movement pattern is not specific to most sports. Except cycling, the carryover will not be as high as with a treadmill or
run rocket when you train athlete who competes on their feet on a pitch.
Alternatives to the Assault Airbike elite
Alternatives to the Assault Air Bike elite are:
The
TrueForm runner is the best you can get in the realm of self-propelled treadmills. It will put you back considerably more than the
Assault air bike elite. However, if you consider the Elite budget is probably not one of your main concerns.
What goes for the
TrueForm also holds true for the
Versaclimber SM. The SM is the top of range product of
Versaclimber with all the bells and whistles and a generous warranty for commercial use. If you want the workout that burns the most calories per square foot over time this is the way to go.
The
Rogue Echo bike is the reasonable choice if you want an Airbike at a normal price tag. The
Echo is overbuilt and Rogue took the best ideas from the existing mass products and offers them at a very competitive price tag for the amount of bike you get.
Summary for the Assault airbike elite
The
assault air bike elite is a great option for you if you train big athletes or only want the best of everything. It is also one of the cheaper options for top equipment when you want to offer your clients or yourself that special care. If you are budget conscious you can save about half by getting solid alternatives from the mid-market price range which are under $1000.
This article discusses the pros, cons, and alternatives for the Nordictrack Grand Tour.This review was originally posted in “Which Nordictrack bike to get”. Follow the links for more details.
The
Grand Tour from Nordictrack addresses the spinning classes market for NordicTrack in the US. The other model is the
Grand Tour Pro. The main features of this model are a 7-inch smart touch screen, a freewheel clutch, and a 10% incline. This makes it a good model to buy in bulk for spinning classes. The full list of features includes:
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Upright Articulating Cycle
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3 Piece Crank
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Freewheel Clutch
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SMR™ Silent Magnetic Resistance
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24 Digital Resistance Levels
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-10° to 10° Incline and Decline
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OneTouch™ Controls
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Oversized Levelers
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350 Lb. User Capacity
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Included 3 Lb. Dumbbells
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Integrated Handle Controls for Incline and Resistance
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Front-mounted Transport Wheels
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Water Bottle Holder
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59.2" L x 23.3" W x 56.2" H Footprint
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10-Year Frame Warranty
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2-Year Parts Warranty
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1-Year Labor Warranty
The
Grand Tour is a great option when you want to take your spinning classes to the home. A commercial buyer might want to get spinning bikes with fewer multimedia and casing options to save some money to buy in bulk.
Pros of the Nordic track Grand tour
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10% incline
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Freewheel clutch
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7-inch touchscreen
For a bike including a touch screen and incline option the
Grand tour is reasonably priced for a Nordictrack bike. The
Grand Tour is great value for money as long as you like the way it works for biking. Some might prefer the inertia of a flywheel for use of use. The 7-inch touch screen is the cherry on the top to round up the picture.
Cons of the Nordictrack Grand Tour
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Small screen
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Freewheel clutch
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No Bluetooth
The
grand tour has a relatively small touchscreen compared to the wider Nordictrack portfolio which reaches up to 32-inch. If you want a bigger screen with the experience of a spinning class you can go for the
Grand Tour pro. This bike has a 10-inch instead of a 7-inch touchscreen.
The freewheel clutch might not be liked by every user. If you are used to spinning classes this will be the preferable bike option for you. If you usually use flywheel bikes on the general gym floor, go for the
VU19 or GX line instead.
As with most Nordictrack bikes you do not have the option to use your Bluetooth headphones to follow the instructions of the Ifit classes. This is a little irritating when you spend more than 1000 bucks on a piece of equipment you can not hook up to your wireless headphones.
Alternatives to the Nordictrack Grand tour
The
Grand tour Pro is the big sister of the
Grand tour bike. For an additional $200 you get a bigger touchscreen than with the
Grand Tour. If you are shortsighted or use the Ifit classes a lot, get the
Grand Tour pro instead of the Grand tour. If you think that 7-inches are more than enough, spare yourself the extra expense.
The
Nordictrack 6.5 Si treadmill is one of the smaller Nordictrack treadmills which are available in the US. If you want a solid low budget option from Nordictrack this is the one. The T series has been recently released in the US and is more likely to be continued than the C series of treadmills that has seen its best days. If you want to run and put some miles on the treadmill without going overly fast, this is a solid option.
The
Nordictrack SE7i is an elliptical in the same price range as the
Grand tour bike. An elliptical can be a better compromise for all members of a gym or family to get their cardio in than a bike. Not everybody likes sitting on a saddle for 30 or more minutes to burn their calories. Just make sure that you have enough clearance to the ceiling when getting an elliptical as this can be an issue. An elliptical will also take up more floor space than a bike.
The
concept 2 model D rower is a worldwide standard and you can not go wrong with it if you are interested in an indoor rower. This bread butter machine from
concept 2 does its job and will also save you some money compared to the
Grand Tour. Commercial buyers will also appreciate that package deals are easier to obtain from
concept 2 then from NordicTrack when the unit count climbs.
The
Rogue echo bike is my personal preference for use at home. I like to go hard and blast my ears with music from my bose earphones when I work out. The
Rogue echo bike is just perfect for that, it does not cost a leg and an arm and can take my 105kg muscle with layer fat.
Summary for the Nordictrack Grand tour
If you like spinning classes and want to do them from home this is a good way to go. I would still go for the
Grand tour Pro if I was in the market for one. If I do spin classes at home I want the instructor to be as big as possible. A 10-inch screen will be better for that than 7-inch and the two models are only $200 apart. That is not really a lot of money in terms of cardio machines. Of course, $200 can buy you a lot of jump ropes made from plastic, but that is a different debate to be had.