This is everything I wanted, and so much more.
If it gets cold where you are, riding your otherwise very nice bike can be a challenge. The solution for "serious" cyclists is usually an indoor trainer to hook your bike up to and some software to help track your performance. These can be great, but they can also be kind of expensive and not always treat your bike tires particularly well, not to mention take up some additional space you may not have in your house. Also, it's a lot more difficult to share your bike with other people in your house, if you have others around you who are more casual but still want a good workout when it's cold.
It turns out there is a solution for everyone here, and it comes from a name that has been synonymous with fitness for as long as TV infomercials have been a thing.
The Bowflex C6 Indoor Cycling Bike is the first connected indoor bike from Bowflex with a single very specific goal in mind to work with everything. A Bluetooth cadence sensor and smart tools around your energy output allows you to share important information about your ride with Strava, Zwift, Tacx, and so many others. You just put your phone or tablet in the dock, connect the bike to your screen via Bluetooth, and get going with your app of choice.
It's hard to imagine a way in which this Bowflex bike could be any cooler.
Ultimately, this gives any user untold levels of flexibility. If you want a challenging ride indoors with friends, you can use Zwift to ride against them in a gamified environment. If you want a trainer to run you through a good workout, you can use the Peloton app to ride with your favorite instructor. If you just want to spin while you watch Netflix, you don't have to connect your screen to the bike at all. The dock makes it easy to use basically anything, but clearly being able to have a lager screen like an iPad is pretty great unless you can really up your game and just AirPlay to a nearby television.
Basic smart indoor trainers usually start around $300, but the nicer ones can quickly increase in price. The Bowflex C6 is $899, takes up way less space than a road bike on a trainer, and allows anyone else in the house to quickly get set up. That's almost a third the price of a Peloton bike, with a lot more flexibility in who wants to do what during their workout. It's hard to imagine a way in which this Bowflex bike could be any cooler.
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Bowflex C6 Indoor Cycling Bike
An indoor bike for damn near everyone.
It supports hardcore cyclists and casual spinners alike thanks to Bluetooth sensors which support bit apps like Zwift and Peloton, in a significantly more compact form factor than your average indoor trainer for a road bike.