Meet Your New Workout Buddy: A Comprehensive Review of the Echelon GT+ Connect Bike

The $899 Echelon G+ Connect Bike is packed with features we don’t usually see on bikes this expensive. Echelon’snewest home bike design is one of my favorite. It has a great mix of style, functionality, and affordability.

Echelon GT+ design

Most connected fitness bikes are available in black ( or sometimes white). Although I like the look and feel of black bikes, the Echelon GT+’s colorful design is refreshingly different. Echelon allows you to choose the colors. This bike is not only the most vibrant I’ve seen. The current color options for the resistance knob and spin wheel area are: blue, purple and orange. For a limited time, you can also choose pink.

The Echelon GT+ comes in a variety of colors

The Echelon GT+ also features a completely enclosed spin wheel. My three-year-old daughter loves to run, so I keep a kid barrieraround the wheel to stop her from getting in the way. The barrier was already in place and I didn’t feel the need to put it up.

Echelon GT+ features

The Echelon GT+ spin wheel uses magnetic resistance to provide a consistent, smooth experience. It is a pleasure to ride in the saddle and on the spin wheel of Echelon GT+. Although the maximum resistance is quite strong, it doesn’t go as high as bikes like and Peloton . It takes almost a full turn to change the level. If you enjoy big jumps in resistance, it can be cumbersome.

The tablet and phone holder can be found on the bike’s front. It can hold most sizes of tablet and phone ( even the 12.9" iPad Pro). The holder also has a USB outlet, so you don’t have to worry about your battery draining while riding. You can see all your metrics while riding, including cadence, resistance and power output.

The Phone/Tablet holder adjusts to hold even a 12.9″ iPad firmly in place

The Echelon GT+ bike features a four-way adjustment system that is very simple to use. Many bikes have only a three-way adjustment system. This does not allow you adjust the handlebars closer to or further away. They have it here, which is important for both shorter and taller riders.

The pedals come with a pair of SPD clips and a toe box. Although the toe box can be difficult to adjust and loosen, it can still be useful so anyone can ride the bike regardless of whether they are wearing cycling shoes.

Large seat and small wheels

Two parts of the EchelonGT+ bike design I didn’t like are: The first is the large seat. Some may prefer it. The seat is larger and offers more cushioning than other bikes. This may help new riders with sore butts, but it can make it more difficult to ride for those who don’t need it.

The Echelon GT+ comes with a very large seat

The small, moving wheels at the front are what I did not like. They are smaller than the indoor bike-sized skateboard-sized wheels. This makes it difficult to move the GT+, and can make it very difficult to go over carpets or rugs.

Echelon app, classes

What about the Echelon classes, then?

Here is where things become a little more subjective. The Echelon app and Echelon classes were both worse and more beneficial than I expected.

Let’s start with the positives.

I didn’t expect to find so many classes, with dozens added each day. I also didn’t expect the cycling studio classes would be as great as they are. Although the classes aren’t as polished and have less production value than Peloton’s, Echelon may be closer than any other.

There are a lot of classes added daily on the Echelon app

Music is a major reason. A good selection of music is key to creating a memorable experience in indoor studio classes. Echelon excels in this area, which is a good thing.

It was also easy to connect my Apple watch or heart rate monitor to the app. I also enjoyed the fact that I could see tons of metrics while taking classes. A larger tablet is better for viewing the leaderboard and metrics, as the phone can take up most of the screen.

This is not to say that everything here is perfect. It is a poor design with too many categories to filter through. Many categories have no classes and I don’t know why. It is also difficult to find coaches, with close to 100 to choose from. They are not alphabetized.

The Echelon class filter could use some big improvements

Echelon strength classes are available that you can ride off the bike. These are functional but not as impressive. Because strength classes are less dependent on music than cycling, you will be able to see a decrease in quality more quickly than other programs.

The Echelon app is in a good place overall, especially if your goal is to continue with indoor studio cycling classes. Although the membership offers a lot of value, it’s not cheap at $39 per month.

Final thoughts

The Echelon GT+ bike is a great design for such a low price. It looks great, rides well, and is easy to use with the enclosed spinwheel. Although I’d like to see Echelon improve in many ways, this bike is still my favorite to ride with my iPad.

Get the Echelon GT+ here

You can also compare the bike to the MYX and Peloton by visiting my comparison.