I I've had the Echelon EX-5S for two weeks and am very happy with it. The deciding factor was that the Echelon had handle bars that are adjustable not so with the Peleton. The two apps are quite similar as I've installed the Peleton app on the Echelon and taken classes on both. I've taken spinning classes since it arrived in NYC at Crunch Gym sometime in the 90s. In live spinning classes I never had stats it was all done by observing the instructor and the speed of their legs. When I'm doing the Peleton classes I have no stats on the screen so I just set a resistance where my legs match the instructor's legs. So for me having numbers is nice but not at all a necessity. The Echelon has 32 levels of resistance while the Peleton has 100 but those numbers are only for reference not an indication that the Peleton has three times the total resistance. Ninety-nine percent of people would certainly struggle to do a cadence of 100 or even 40 with the Echelon set at 32 if they could do it at all. I'm also an avid cyclist so when an instructor says to ride a level road I know what that feels like so basically I could shut my eyes and set resistance to feel like a level road. Just because the instructor might indicate a certain number for resistance doesn't necessarily mean it works for you. For instance if the instructor says to put resistance at 10 and have a cadence of 80 and you struggle to get the 80 lower the resistance. Proper form and completing the class are most important which means when standing out of the seat you should actually be able to ride without putting your hands on the handle bars (for safety though don't try this). If you can't finish a class you've pushed too hard and if you're feeling it was really easy maybe you've not pushed hard enough. Don't look at the leader board to gauge yourself in fact just turn it off because some folks might be pushing a low resistance just to get to the top of the chart. I've seen this in live spinning classes where you're supposed to be at a high resistance and there's one person just spinning like crazy thinking they're impressing everyone. It's really up to the individual as to the quality of the workout. Bottom line is one can get a great workout with either the Peleton or the Echelon classes. The single most important thing with either app is to do a cool down ride! (Sorry for the long comment!)
I love all of this!! Totally agree that people would definitely struggle to do a cadence of 100 at echelon resistance 32. The resistances are definitely very different! Thank you for your comment and enjoy riding :)
Emma, thank you for all your help. Bike is working great, and I really appreciate all your help. I will continue to watch your videos. I got interested in updating my bike from a plain old exercise bike after starting Apple Fitness+. I am on a free trial with Peloton for a few more weeks, and now a few months with Echelon. Not sure if I will be going with Peloton or Echelon for videos. I am keeping Apple for sure. I love the scenic rides on Echelon and want to do all those, but otherwise, probably like Peloton better. But I have some time to decide. Keep making the great videos. Thanks!
thank you!! I definitely think that peloton has some room to improve their scenic rides, it would be awesome if they focused on it this year! enjoy riding :)
Echelon show all songs/artists before the class begins. Also newer/recent classes come up first and are labelled as ‘new’ Might be an update since this video. Maybe they’ve taken your advice! 🙂
They have fixed some of the issues she points out, but they still don’t give a range for resistance. My issue with both of them is the lack of early morning classes. I’m a CEO hours person and I wish there were some 4:30-6 am live classes.
Very thorough video. You touched on my big pet peeve which is the lack of resistance level guidance. I googled "zones" and echelon and still have no idea what they're talking about. Is there a chart somewhere? Anyway, if you buy the connect prime or sport you're getting a pretty sturdy and quiet bike for a fraction of a peloton. I think that's part of the equation and makes up for most of the minor deficiencies of the classes in comparison with peloton's.
As far as I know there are not charts anywhere, I wonder if they cover it in the beginner classes? But yeah definitely not a fan of the echelon zones. I agree about that the connect prime is a great bike and it’s worth the minor inconveniences to save like $2000!
Hi Emma thank you for your thorough reviews! I am contemplating between the peloton and echelon bike. Does echelon have low impact rides like peloton does? This is a must for me.
Hey Emma have you tried the wahoo cadence device? I've seen videos of people being able to connect to the peleton app using the Wahoo on their echelon. They don't mention if they get all their stats saved in the peleton app that way though so wondering about that.
I haven't tried it, but it seems like you can only get cadence (but it does seem like it'll be save by peloton), so you would still need resistance to take the classes correctly
I commented on one of your other videos. My bike (same as yours but the Walmart version) is coming today, even though I have to wait until the weekend or next weekend for help putting it together, but what I was wondering is does the app show distance at all? I know it's not important, but I have been keeping track of distance for the years that I have had my cheap exercise bike, and would love to continue. I am using Apple fitness+ but will probably add either the Es. app or the Peloton cheap version of their app.
I really like how you do your reviews. They give me a real person experience with the actual product. Do a trial subscription of the app come with Echelon bike?
@@EmmaAdamss Thanks for the feedback. Really helpful. One more question for ya. I see you have to links for the Echelon bike Amazon (Prime) and Walmart (Sports). Is there a difference between the two bikes or would you say they are both the same bike different branding names for those retailers?
@@daj.empath202 I've never actually seen the Walmart bike, but from what I see online it seems like it is the same bike with just different branding. They are both ~500$ bikes from echelon too which seems to point to them being pretty similar!
One of my biggest cons for Echelon is not being able to connect my Apple Watch to monitor HR. Not sure about the Peloton but it’s definitely seeming like a common issue that people can’t monitor their HR during a class on the Echelon app
yeah I don't even bother to try to connect my apple watch to echelon app. To be fair though, on peloton regular bike it's also super hard/disconnects a lot for me, and it's impossible to do it on the peloton app unless you're streaming from your phone
I am strongly considering the echelon sport connect, what is the pricing for subscriptions for the peloton app vs the echelon? And what number of weights would you suggest using? I have 3lb to start out.
I think echelon is like $35/month. I would highly recommend peloton over it! I believe the peloton app is $13/month. 3 lbs is perfect - I have never gone over 3 lbs, some even go lower. it seems like not a lot but on the bike you are doing very fast arm movements and you will tire out!
Do you have to be displayed on the leaderboard? I prefer just enjoying my ride without the pressure of competition. I was a member of CycleBar until COVID and now I’m considering an echelon instead of going back. Costco has an echelon on sale until Valentine’s Day. Normally $1000 now $799, so with that deal I’m considering it. Great Video!!!
you can click away the leaderboard!! Not sure if there is an option to remove yourself completely but you can have it so it doesn't show up on your screen. Love my echelon bike and I highly recommend!!
Emma, does Echelon have hour long studio cycling classes on demand? Do they have a lot of them? I am used to taking spin classes in the gym which are always an hour long and I would like to mimic that workout as close as possible. Before I subscribe to a service, I want to be sure that these classes are available. Thanks for your help.
I know that they do offer 60 min classes but I'm honestly not sure how frequently they do!! Hopefully someone else sees this comment and can give a more updated answer - sorry I can't be more help!
How does the total output on the Echelon compare to Peloton? If you did a 30-minute ride on both bikes would the outputs be similar or would one bike be higher than the other? Thanks.
theoretically they should be the same (even though resistance is measured differently, they should create the same output since they're both in kj). I find my output a little higher on the echelon (but not by much, I think all bikes are just calibrated a little differently), and I use my power zones that I found on the peloton with my echelon and find it to still be a good workout - so I would say they are pretty close!
yes I've had no issue with this bike!! The peloton is great and it's awesome it has a screen to integrate with the whole experience, but saving so much money on this cheaper bike and having more of a hacky set up to take peloton classes is worth it for me!
My echelon doesn’t have a screen, so my phone connects to my bike and tells me resistance, cadence, output, miles ridden, info like that! And then I stream the peloton on my iPad.
@@EmmaAdamss yeah the Schwinn has a cadence and heart rate monitor to Bluetooth connect to the iPad. One thing I think I’m missing is output. Is there an app on an iPhone or Apple Watch I can use to get output? I’m just getting started with Power Zone training and really liking it.
I get output on the echelon app, but I looked around and it looks like using an app called Kinetic should be able to give you output for your bike -- hope that helps!!
I own an Echelon and I disagree with you completely. I am jaded. I am a spin instructor. Both Echelon and Peleton have Ken & Barbie Doll instructors. When an instructor is not breathing heavy or full of icky yucky wet clothing, they did not do a work out. They pretend. It's all lights camera action. If I were to pay Echelon for a monthly subscription, I can save and review all of my rides in detailed information. Same with Peleton. Both are strict with their proprietary software. You can not go to another App and then expect Peleton or Echelon or Bowflex or anyone else, to build your profile information based on your workouts. You have to record your own information. I own an Echelon Sport Connect and I use that bike on a regular basis. I am going to purchase a 2nd Echelon. I can easily rent the bikes and people can do their own thing, and I can teach classes. At this time, I do not pay to use any Apps or cycling programs. LesMills on demand has cheaper RPM classes. You don't need to be connected to participate in a spin class.
You're right, the biggest missing piece is that the entire systems are not rigid-information-wise. You make MANY GREAT POINTS. ...they (both companies) need to watch this. //FYI: App stability on Apple devices isn't 100% 3rd party centric. Apple has loads of bugs in their systems. ..so blame both IMO.
@@EmmaAdamss - just in case we're confusing one another..I mean that Apple's dev environment has alot of bugs and issues. AKA: the crash is most likely Apple's fault but *could* be the other companies' fault. // EXAMPLE: My ipad crashes constantly..even when I am in the Apple-News app reading the news. --- I certainly hope these companies contact you about these subjects mentioned in your video, and that they take you very seriously. So many Apps just fail basic expectations. Happy Holidays!
Would you be able to answer these for me? 1. Can't you keep track and save your metrics using Strava? 2. Do you have to pay for the Echelon subscription if you're just using the 'free ride' settings and streaming a Peleton class? A huge thank you!
1. Other people have seem to have success with this without paying for the subscription, but I’ve only been successful in this with my free trial. I am not sure how to export if I’m not paying for the subscription 2. You can use the free ride without paying for the echelon subscription! That’s what I’m doing now, it just saves no metrics but functions perfectly while in use
Hi Thamar, I have a echelon bike and subscription. It connects to Strava. It’s an inbuilt integration. Once you set up every ride is automatically posted to Strava. When I do Peleton rides, I add manually.
Very true!! I agree. Iv had done both classes. Peleton and echelon. I started with peleton bc it was cheaper app. I have an echelon bike. Since I liked it I decided to join echelon.
@@chelmallari8364 haven't noticed an increase in my energy bill - the resistance in manual so the only electricity part is the bluetooth that tells you your stats! love my bike so far, I've had it for almost 6 months, ride is like 6 times a week and have had no problems with it!
I
I've had the Echelon EX-5S for two weeks and am very happy with it. The deciding factor was that the Echelon had handle bars that are adjustable not so with the Peleton. The two apps are quite similar as I've installed the Peleton app on the Echelon and taken classes on both. I've taken spinning classes since it arrived in NYC at Crunch Gym sometime in the 90s. In live spinning classes I never had stats it was all done by observing the instructor and the speed of their legs. When I'm doing the Peleton classes I have no stats on the screen so I just set a resistance where my legs match the instructor's legs. So for me having numbers is nice but not at all a necessity. The Echelon has 32 levels of resistance while the Peleton has 100 but those numbers are only for reference not an indication that the Peleton has three times the total resistance. Ninety-nine percent of people would certainly struggle to do a cadence of 100 or even 40 with the Echelon set at 32 if they could do it at all. I'm also an avid cyclist so when an instructor says to ride a level road I know what that feels like so basically I could shut my eyes and set resistance to feel like a level road. Just because the instructor might indicate a certain number for resistance doesn't necessarily mean it works for you. For instance if the instructor says to put resistance at 10 and have a cadence of 80 and you struggle to get the 80 lower the resistance. Proper form and completing the class are most important which means when standing out of the seat you should actually be able to ride without putting your hands on the handle bars (for safety though don't try this). If you can't finish a class you've pushed too hard and if you're feeling it was really easy maybe you've not pushed hard enough. Don't look at the leader board to gauge yourself in fact just turn it off because some folks might be pushing a low resistance just to get to the top of the chart. I've seen this in live spinning classes where you're supposed to be at a high resistance and there's one person just spinning like crazy thinking they're impressing everyone. It's really up to the individual as to the quality of the workout. Bottom line is one can get a great workout with either the Peleton or the Echelon classes. The single most important thing with either app is to do a cool down ride! (Sorry for the long comment!)
I love all of this!! Totally agree that people would definitely struggle to do a cadence of 100 at echelon resistance 32. The resistances are definitely very different! Thank you for your comment and enjoy riding :)
I'm a 1st timer. This is good info, grateful for your comment.
Great video, thanks!
This was a very helpful video as Emma clearly had real experience of both the Echelon and Peloton classes, and was able to clearly compare the two.
Emma, thank you for all your help. Bike is working great, and I really appreciate all your help. I will continue to watch your videos. I got interested in updating my bike from a plain old exercise bike after starting Apple Fitness+. I am on a free trial with Peloton for a few more weeks, and now a few months with Echelon. Not sure if I will be going with Peloton or Echelon for videos. I am keeping Apple for sure. I love the scenic rides on Echelon and want to do all those, but otherwise, probably like Peloton better. But I have some time to decide. Keep making the great videos. Thanks!
thank you!! I definitely think that peloton has some room to improve their scenic rides, it would be awesome if they focused on it this year! enjoy riding :)
There is a great app that does allow much more functionality between peloton and echelon bike.
Thank you, really helpful review - very clear and considered :)
Echelon show all songs/artists before the class begins. Also newer/recent classes come up first and are labelled as ‘new’
Might be an update since this video. Maybe they’ve taken your advice! 🙂
They have fixed some of the issues she points out, but they still don’t give a range for resistance. My issue with both of them is the lack of early morning classes. I’m a CEO hours person and I wish there were some 4:30-6 am live classes.
I have noticed this has changed as well. I’ve seen love classes at 3am,4am, and 5am over the last 2 weeks or so.
Very thorough video. You touched on my big pet peeve which is the lack of resistance level guidance. I googled "zones" and echelon and still have no idea what they're talking about. Is there a chart somewhere?
Anyway, if you buy the connect prime or sport you're getting a pretty sturdy and quiet bike for a fraction of a peloton. I think that's part of the equation and makes up for most of the minor deficiencies of the classes in comparison with peloton's.
As far as I know there are not charts anywhere, I wonder if they cover it in the beginner classes? But yeah definitely not a fan of the echelon zones. I agree about that the connect prime is a great bike and it’s worth the minor inconveniences to save like $2000!
@@EmmaAdamss Yes, it’s covered in the beginner classes. They do a pretty good job of explaining what the different zones mean.
Hi Emma thank you for your thorough reviews! I am contemplating between the peloton and echelon bike. Does echelon have low impact rides like peloton does? This is a must for me.
yes they have low impact rides just like peloton!
Hey Emma have you tried the wahoo cadence device? I've seen videos of people being able to connect to the peleton app using the Wahoo on their echelon. They don't mention if they get all their stats saved in the peleton app that way though so wondering about that.
I haven't tried it, but it seems like you can only get cadence (but it does seem like it'll be save by peloton), so you would still need resistance to take the classes correctly
Can you do a video where you try the hardest rated class for each instructor 👏👏
Yes that’s a great idea!!
I commented on one of your other videos. My bike (same as yours but the Walmart version) is coming today, even though I have to wait until the weekend or next weekend for help putting it together, but what I was wondering is does the app show distance at all? I know it's not important, but I have been keeping track of distance for the years that I have had my cheap exercise bike, and would love to continue. I am using Apple fitness+ but will probably add either the Es. app or the Peloton cheap version of their app.
yes the app shows distance!! On the echelon app it'll show you how far you went along with resistance, speed, etc. Enjoy riding! :)
I really like how you do your reviews. They give me a real person experience with the actual product. Do a trial subscription of the app come with Echelon bike?
thank you!! and yes, I got 1 month but I have seen some deals with my bike where you can get 3-6 months too!
@@EmmaAdamss Thanks for the feedback. Really helpful. One more question for ya. I see you have to links for the Echelon bike Amazon (Prime) and Walmart (Sports). Is there a difference between the two bikes or would you say they are both the same bike different branding names for those retailers?
@@daj.empath202 I've never actually seen the Walmart bike, but from what I see online it seems like it is the same bike with just different branding. They are both ~500$ bikes from echelon too which seems to point to them being pretty similar!
One of my biggest cons for Echelon is not being able to connect my Apple Watch to monitor HR. Not sure about the Peloton but it’s definitely seeming like a common issue that people can’t monitor their HR during a class on the Echelon app
yeah I don't even bother to try to connect my apple watch to echelon app. To be fair though, on peloton regular bike it's also super hard/disconnects a lot for me, and it's impossible to do it on the peloton app unless you're streaming from your phone
@@EmmaAdamss I’m so happy to hear that, thank you! Helps with my buyers remorse haha
I am strongly considering the echelon sport connect, what is the pricing for subscriptions for the peloton app vs the echelon? And what number of weights would you suggest using? I have 3lb to start out.
I think echelon is like $35/month. I would highly recommend peloton over it! I believe the peloton app is $13/month. 3 lbs is perfect - I have never gone over 3 lbs, some even go lower. it seems like not a lot but on the bike you are doing very fast arm movements and you will tire out!
Do you have to be displayed on the leaderboard? I prefer just enjoying my ride without the pressure of competition. I was a member of CycleBar until COVID and now I’m considering an echelon instead of going back. Costco has an echelon on sale until Valentine’s Day. Normally $1000 now $799, so with that deal I’m considering it. Great Video!!!
you can click away the leaderboard!! Not sure if there is an option to remove yourself completely but you can have it so it doesn't show up on your screen. Love my echelon bike and I highly recommend!!
Emma, does Echelon have hour long studio cycling classes on demand? Do they
have a lot of them? I am used to taking spin classes in the gym which
are always an hour long and I would like to mimic that workout as close
as possible. Before I subscribe to a service, I want to be sure that
these classes are available. Thanks for your help.
I know that they do offer 60 min classes but I'm honestly not sure how frequently they do!! Hopefully someone else sees this comment and can give a more updated answer - sorry I can't be more help!
How does the total output on the Echelon compare to Peloton? If you did a 30-minute ride on both bikes would the outputs be similar or would one bike be higher than the other? Thanks.
theoretically they should be the same (even though resistance is measured differently, they should create the same output since they're both in kj). I find my output a little higher on the echelon (but not by much, I think all bikes are just calibrated a little differently), and I use my power zones that I found on the peloton with my echelon and find it to still be a good workout - so I would say they are pretty close!
So is this bike pretty similar to the Peleton? I have been saving! But my budget is not really two grand!
yes I've had no issue with this bike!! The peloton is great and it's awesome it has a screen to integrate with the whole experience, but saving so much money on this cheaper bike and having more of a hacky set up to take peloton classes is worth it for me!
wife is 5ft with an inseam of 25". do you know if she will fit this? great review video by the way!
Thank you! Yes this should fit your wife, it is super adjustable and I'm only a 27 in inseam and it definitely could fit someone shorter than me!
@@EmmaAdamss thanks you're the best!
I have a Schwinn IC4 and using the Peloton app on an iPad. What exactly are you streaming from your phone as well?
My echelon doesn’t have a screen, so my phone connects to my bike and tells me resistance, cadence, output, miles ridden, info like that! And then I stream the peloton on my iPad.
@@EmmaAdamss yeah the Schwinn has a cadence and heart rate monitor to Bluetooth
connect to the iPad. One thing I think I’m missing is output. Is there an app on an iPhone or Apple Watch I can use to get output? I’m just getting started with Power Zone training and really liking it.
I get output on the echelon app, but I looked around and it looks like using an app called Kinetic should be able to give you output for your bike -- hope that helps!!
@@EmmaAdamss thanks so much
Nice video! Seems like echelon has a lot of work to do!
I own an Echelon and I disagree with you completely. I am jaded. I am a spin instructor. Both Echelon and Peleton have Ken & Barbie Doll instructors. When an instructor is not breathing heavy or full of icky yucky wet clothing, they did not do a work out. They pretend. It's all lights camera action.
If I were to pay Echelon for a monthly subscription, I can save and review all of my rides in detailed information. Same with Peleton. Both are strict with their proprietary software. You can not go to another App and then expect Peleton or Echelon or Bowflex or anyone else, to build your profile information based on your workouts. You have to record your own information.
I own an Echelon Sport Connect and I use that bike on a regular basis. I am going to purchase a 2nd Echelon. I can easily rent the bikes and people can do their own thing, and I can teach classes.
At this time, I do not pay to use any Apps or cycling programs. LesMills on demand has cheaper RPM classes. You don't need to be connected to participate in a spin class.
App is qdomyos-zwift
just saw this. Did not know that zwift does this! Thank you!
You're right, the biggest missing piece is that the entire systems are not rigid-information-wise. You make MANY GREAT POINTS.
...they (both companies) need to watch this.
//FYI: App stability on Apple devices isn't 100% 3rd party centric. Apple has loads of bugs in their systems. ..so blame both IMO.
I totally believe that Apple is buggy too. I just wish there weren’t 3rd party apps either!
@@EmmaAdamss - just in case we're confusing one another..I mean that Apple's dev environment has alot of bugs and issues. AKA: the crash is most likely Apple's fault but *could* be the other companies' fault. // EXAMPLE: My ipad crashes constantly..even when I am in the Apple-News app reading the news.
---
I certainly hope these companies contact you about these subjects mentioned in your video, and that they take you very seriously. So many Apps just fail basic expectations.
Happy Holidays!
Would you be able to answer these for me?
1. Can't you keep track and save your metrics using Strava?
2. Do you have to pay for the Echelon subscription if you're just using the 'free ride' settings and streaming a Peleton class?
A huge thank you!
1. Other people have seem to have success with this without paying for the subscription, but I’ve only been successful in this with my free trial. I am not sure how to export if I’m not paying for the subscription
2. You can use the free ride without paying for the echelon subscription! That’s what I’m doing now, it just saves no metrics but functions perfectly while in use
Hi Thamar, I have a echelon bike and subscription. It connects to Strava. It’s an inbuilt integration. Once you set up every ride is automatically posted to Strava. When I do Peleton rides, I add manually.
I found the classes on Echelon more challenging than Peloton.
Very true!! I agree. Iv had done both classes. Peleton and echelon. I started with peleton bc it was cheaper app. I have an echelon bike. Since I liked it I decided to join echelon.
Is this same as Echelon EX Prime?
Yes!!
@@EmmaAdamss awesome!!! How’s your bike so far? And does it consume a lot of energy coz it’ should be plugged-in? Watts?
@@chelmallari8364 haven't noticed an increase in my energy bill - the resistance in manual so the only electricity part is the bluetooth that tells you your stats! love my bike so far, I've had it for almost 6 months, ride is like 6 times a week and have had no problems with it!
@@EmmaAdamss thanks so much Emma for your insights. I really appreciate it. Will definitely consider this bike :)
Can you do live classes on the $12.99 Peleton app?
yes you can!
@@EmmaAdamss Awesome! Thank you for responding 😊 & I enjoy your videos!
@@janayasmith1788 Thank you!! :)
Really informative video but please slow down!
Make a new video. Echelon fixed all these.