Rogue Echo Fitness Bike Review: The Best Training Bike for CrossFit?

Rogue Echo Fitness Bike

The 80s are back, baby, and they’re taking the fitness world by storm. No, we’re not talking jazzercise or calf warmers (although, if that’s your cup of tea, we pass no judgement). If you’ve stepped foot in any workout facility – particularly a CrossFit gym – in the past few years, you might have noticed something that looks more at home in your grandmother’s basement than in a modern gym: an air bike.

They’re one of the hottest things in fitness, and today, we’re going to be reviewing a model that many claim to be the king of air bikes: the Rogue Echo Bike. Poke around the internet, and you’ll see no shortage of fitness gurus and workout blogs espousing the virtues of what Rogue has positioned as their flagship endurance bike. But is it really all it’s cracked up to be? Can you believe the hype?

We put it through its paces to separate fact from fiction, and found the Rogue Echo Bike offered many surprises, to say the least.

Why Ride an Air Bike?

Air bikes were sold for rehab and easy home workouts decades ago, then mostly faded away. CrossFit brought them back once people saw how hard they can push you.

An air bike works your legs and arms together, because you push and pull the handles while you pedal. That hits your quads, glutes, hamstrings, back, chest and shoulders, and it’s a hard cardio workout without much stress on your joints.

If you’ve done CrossFit, you already know an air bike can wear you out fast. It’s a good alternative to rowing machines, and it’s easy on your joints.

They’re a good pick if you want a lot of work done in a short time. So is the Rogue Echo the one to get?

The Rogue Echo Bike

When the Rogue Echo Bike was first released in 2018, it caused a major stir. Fitness insiders and reviewers predicted that it would shake up the industry and increase competition. How could one air bike cause all that fuss?

Unmatched Build Quality

Rogue is one of the biggest names in fitness equipment, and the Echo is built heavy. The V3.0 weighs 123 lb and is rated for 330 lb, and Rogue calls it “overbuilt.” The parts are steel instead of the plastic a lot of air bikes use, including the fan blades, which keeps the resistance steady.

Versatile and Adaptable

It’s 52.25″ tall, 55″ long and 29.5″ wide at the handles, so it fits most home gym spaces and even a living room or bedroom. The weight keeps it from wobbling. Two front wheels let you roll it around, and rubber leveling feet adjust to your floor. The seat has 8 height settings and 5 front-to-back positions.

The Right Tech

It uses a belt drive instead of the chain most air bikes use. A belt is smoother and quieter, and the housing keeps it on track.

The Rogue Echo Bike’s 5″ x 8″ high-contrast LCD screen is refreshingly minimalist, giving you all the stats you need without any of the useless fluff used to woo consumers. It lets athletes track their performance using the metrics like interval, distance, calories burned, heart rate, and more, as well as giving you the ability to set targets.

Price

It costs less than a lot of air bikes that aren’t built this well.

The Verdict

The Rogue Echo Bike is a staple in CrossFit gyms and big-box gyms, and it’s easy to see why.

Our workouts were fun and exciting, to say nothing of challenging. When we wanted to push ourselves, we could do so without fear of breaking anything – it would take the Hulk to break this thing. When we wanted to do more recovery work, though, the Rogue Echo Bike was also able to accommodate us. Durability was never a concern, and like we said, over an extended period, we haven’t had to do any maintenance work.

If you want a tough cardio machine that will last, it’s one of the best air bikes you can buy for the money.