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Home cycling workouts have reached BFD status. More folks than ever are adding indoor cycling bikes to their home workout routines, especially with the new gen of streaming fitness apps lifting workout videos out of the era of spandex and VHS tapes.

Echelon is probably one of the first brands that come to mind when you think of indoor cycling at home, along with other heavy hitters like Peloton and Bowflex.

The Echelon Connect Bike EX-3 is less expensive than most others because it doesn’t have a built-in touch-screen display, but its lower cost makes the at-home cycling class experience SO much more accessible to us normies.

So, we’ll stop spinnin’ your wheels now — here’s what you need to know about the Echelon EX-3.

Pros

  • Less expensive than many comparable indoor cycling bikes
  • Features 32 levels of resistance
  • Rotating tablet holder to easily stream workouts
  • Tons of classes available with Echelon membership

Cons

  • Membership required to use all the bike’s features
  • No touch screen like Peloton or other Echelon models
  • $99.99 delivery fee unless you buy a 1- or 2-year membership
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The Echelon EX-3 is the baby of Echelon’s Connect Bike lineup, perfect if you’re new to indoor cycling and bringing your own tablet. It’s also the least expensive, clocking in at just under $1,000.

The bike has a super sleek design and comes in red and black, white and black, or all black (our favorite). According to reviewers, setup is super easy too. The bike doesn’t take up a whole lot of space, either, and you can easily tuck it into a corner in even the tiniest of rooms.

The bike comes with all these features:

  • 32 levels of resistance
  • rotating tablet holder
  • bottle holder
  • adjustable seat position
  • adjustable toe cages on the pedals
  • USB charging port

You can adjust the resistance using a knob on the bike, but you’ll need to connect it to the Echelon app to see your numbered resistance level.

And here are the details:

  • Weight: 104 pounds (lbs.) (47 kg)
  • Dimensions (L x W x H): 48 inches (in.) (122 cm) x 20 in. (51 cm) x 44 in. (112 cm)
  • Max weight capacity: 300 lbs. (136 kg)
  • Flywheel: 28 lbs. (13 kg)

To get the most out of the Echelon EX-3, you’ll need an Echelon United membership. Echelon United offers streaming fitness classes of all types — not just cycling — so the whole family can use it for nearly any kind of workout.

In addition to workouts tailor-made for Echelon equipment (Connect Bikes, the Reflect Smart Mirror, the Echelon Stride treadmill, and rowing machines), the platform also offers classes like Zumba, yoga, and kickboxing.

One Echelon United membership can have up to five users, and the app features live and on-demand classes, connectivity with health monitoring and fitness apps, and a leaderboard for some healthy competition (with yourself or others).

If you don’t pay for the app, you can still use the bike, but you won’t have access to workouts or other features and won’t be able to save your workout data. Womp womp.

The EX-3 costs $999 on the Echelon website, but if you qualify for financing, you may be able to pay as little as $27 per month.

An Echelon United membership is required with your purchase, which’ll cost $39.99 per month, $399 per year, or $699 for 2 years. The 1- and 2-year memberships are cheaper per month than paying on a monthly basis, so you may want to spring for one of those.

Additionally, you’ll get free shipping if you buy a 1- or 2-year membership, while sticking to the pay-by-month membership will leave you with a $99.99 delivery fee.

Echelon offers a 30-day return policy, so you can get a full refund (minus return shipping fees) if the EX-3 isn’t your kind of ride.

They also offer a 12-month parts and labor warranty.

Will you mesh-elon with Echelon? It depends, TBH. This bike is a fantastic choice if you want to invest in a trusted name without totally devastating your budget, but the lack of a built-in display and the membership required to use the bike to its fullest potential may be deal breakers too. Regardless, the Echelon EX-3 is a quality bike for the price.