NordicTrack R35 Recumbent Bike Review

NordicTrack R35 Recumbent Bike

$1,499

Well, here we are again with a Nordic Track review and once again, ouch.  This is not going to be pretty, and we will get right to the point.  Out of the box, within the first few minutes of using this bike, a bolt snapped off the seat rail.  Literally sheered off.  The actual seat track rail was also built crooked and three days after our review video, the flywheel developed a knock noise from the interior bearings.  The worst part about this was we could not get any of these warranties because we could not find the sales receipt.  Yep.  We bought this directly through NordicTrack.com and somehow, we lost the sales receipt.  It was emailed to us and for some reason we still could not find it.  We looked for 2 hours trying to locate the email and nothing.  We will obviously take the blame on this one but really, we could not just give NordicTrack our serial number, name, address etc and they could not look us up?  They told us that they have no record of our sale even though we bought this directly from them.  Wow.  So kids, do your homework and look at the reviews online and print out your sales receipts.  Again, we should have done a better job saving the receipt, but people really don’t like NordicTrack because of crap like this.  Now we must spend a few hundred bucks to get this fixed and we will be doing the service work ourselves.  Anyways, on to the bike review:

Let’s just assume that everything went perfectly out of the box, here is our review.

First off, this is a big bike.  It measures 69” which is almost 2 feet longer than some other bikes.  If this was a commercial bike it would be understandable, but it is not.  Even though NT refers to their bikes as “commercial”, they are not.  Apparently, the reason NT can name their bikes “commercial” is because their products have been featured in TV commercials and apparently their attorneys have approved this.  Wow, can you be anymore misleading?  If you read their warranties, they will very clearly state that their products are not warrantied for any other use other than residential.

OK, looking past their terrible quality control and misleading marketing.  What about their bikes?  The NordicTrack R35 recumbent bike is a heavy-duty bike for $1499.  It does have a nice step through design which is a plus for older users or users doing physical therapy.  The pedals are easy to adjust too.  If you want to have all the bells and whistles and don’t mind paying another $40 a month, Nordic Track does a nice job with their smart display.  They incorporate a big display and vivid colors, so the opportunity for a very interactive display is available.  But… there is always a but.  Some fitness brands are now incorporating FTMS Bluetooth modules into their basic displays, which means you can use your own tablet and use whatever interactive app you want (download from the Google Play Store or Apple Market).  And… you do not have to pay $40 a month, it is free!!!  We love that!  Pay for a basic display and get unlimited access to EVERYTHING!  We love that these fitness companies cannot hold you hostage anymore.  3G Cardio and some of Sole’s Fitness products now use an FTMS Bluetooth module in their upper display and you can have a fully interactive experience with your own tablet.  Your tablet, which you already own, becomes your fully functional upper display!

So, I don’t know.  Is this bike good?  Assuming you don’t have any issues or don’t need service, and don’t care that you must pay another $600 a year to use the electronics then yeah, it is ok.  Would I buy it?  Nope.  The seat is not super comfortable, and it is not easy to adjust.  The water bottle holders are behind you and the screen is very “in your face” and that bothers me. For several hundred dollars less I would buy a Sole.  For a few hundred more I would buy the 3G Cardio.  This review left a bad taste in my mouth and as you can probably tell, I am somewhat bitter.  I know Nordic Track is a billion-dollar company and can hide many of these types of problems by spending a huge amount of money on advertising.  Also, they pay a really high commission to their affiliates so you will always read a bunch of great reviews online to the people who get paid if you click on their review websites.  Yep, it is a business and there are not a ton of honest reviews out there.

Pros:  Heavy duty and good step through design.  Easy to adjust pedals and great interactive experience if you want to pay an additional $40 a month.

Cons.  Oof.  Where do we start?  Too many to list.  Read our review.  Any of the good with this bike is so heavily overshadowed by the bad it makes this a hard bike to review.