Recovering from surgery, a friend recommended the Echelon bike. I had my bike for 2 months before I could ride it, but once I started, I never looked back. In October 22 I added the rower - free with a 2 year membership. Getting the membership details ironed out (I upgraded to a bike with a screen that came with a 1 year membership) took a few emails back and forth and will require me to remember to check my membership expiration date towards the end of 2023. Overall I am happy with the platform. I rarely have connectivity issues - probably because I have mesh WiFi in my house. I did buy an Echelon HR monitor because I can’t connect my Apple Watch HR monitor and track my work out - something I’ve seen written about here and on the Echelon facebook pages - first world problems. I choose to track my workouts because I get points for them through another app. The instructors are top notch with reminders about proper form along with a lot of encouragement. The instructors engage with the members on facebook and instagram - they’re real people and aren’t afraid to show their strengths and weaknesses. I take some classes because of the “counseling” session that comes along with moving my body and getting my sweat on. The facebook community that comes along with being an Echelon member is something I never expected. Encouragement from people I didn’t know - wow! And now they’re friends!

The app was great until the last update. I used to be able to turn on my equipment and the app would automatically recognize and connect to either my bike or stride. Now I have to go to firmware update and that is the only way it connects and stays connected until I finish a class. But as soon as the class is done, connection is lost again. This NEVER happened before. I just took two classes and lost connection before the second class started. I checked the workout under progress and had nothing. All zeros. As if I never took the class. I did connect as soon as the class started from a prompt on the screen and everything seemed fine, but alas, nothing to show for it. Another class I took was a boot camp ride class. App disconnected as soon as I got off the bike for the floor section and I could not connect back. It’s really devastating especially considering how instructors were asking during classes just a few weeks ago to “show some love” to the app developers for their good job. Now the reviews are flooding with high ratings while the real reviews are being drowned out.

My review is for the App- it functions perfectly for me on the iPad and iPhone. Over the 2 years I have used it there has been improvements to the design of it. I never experience problems with live classes, or how it syncs to my Bluetooth headphones or heart monitor. You can search for classes on demand using the search bar and filter by instructor, style of class, length of class, etc. my only suggestion is to show in the description if any additional equipment is required like weights, it’s desperately needed in the fit pass classes!!As for echelon itself, when I originally had to reach out to them for a customer service issue they used a zen desk support system which was disjointed and disorganized. It left a really bad taste in my mouth and I actually stopped using the bike in the beginning. The community of instructors and riders in the fb group actually helped me get over that hurdle. The monthly plans are higher than peleton but to me the classes on echelon feel more personal and I have favorite instructors I like to “follow”. I tried peleton classes recently but they were kinda hollow or empty feeling, and I missed my regular instructors on echelon so I’ve been riding for 2 years now!

I tried the free trial, but couldn’t get their app to work at no fault of my own. Never used the service. However when I got to the end of the trial they charged me even though i did not use their service. I called support multiple times to fix the issue. They could not help. Finally I talked to someone that was able to fix the issue and offered another free trial. Unfortunately by then I already knew I wouldn’t have time to try it. They said they would refund my money back but then I ended up getting charged for two subscriptions and did not get the first subscription refunded. It’s a little complicated so let’s just say I had a very difficult time getting my money refunded. I did need to stay on top of it but they ultimately refunded some of my $ back, but only after I posted this review. I am adding a star because I don’t want to bash a company. However I do think that they need to rethink the way they handle the free trial situation. If they coax you into free trials maybe they shouldn’t get your credit card information until you’re ready to subscribe. I probably would have subscribed, it’s something I really wanted to do, but with the service I received I did change my mind. Maybe the service itself is fine, but I couldn’t tell you. You can look at other reviews to tell that yourself.