Horizon Fitness 7.0 IC Indoor Cycle Review: Surprisingly Few Compromises – CNET

There are a lot of indoor bikes out there that cost less than a Peloton, but you can usually look at them and immediately see it wasn’t just removing the big screen that dropped the price. Cutting costs on an indoor bike can be done with relative ease, but the experience is noticeably worse. Maybe the bike is noisy when you ride, or the handlebars wobble, some don’t come with replaceable pedals while others skimp on the fitness tracking capabilities.

Horizon Fitness is probably not a name you’ve heard before, certainly not if you’ve been looking for a nice indoor bike. The new 7.0 IC Indoor Cycle looks like a lot of other less-expensive home systems where a tablet mount sits where a display otherwise would. After three months and just over 500 miles of riding, I can confidently say this indoor bike is nothing like its competition. 

Want to know a secret? If you own a tablet, you already own the most important features in those super-expensive indoor bikes. The classes you get on a bike with a big screen attached exist in the apps made by those companies, which means having a bike with a good tablet mount gives you access to way more workout types than any single walled garden can provide. What you do need in an indoor bike is stability, consistency and comfort without taking up a ton of space in your home. And, if I’m being honest, the ability to watch Netflix while I ride doesn’t hurt.

Getting started with the 7.0 IC

Out of the box, the 7.0 IC is 47 inches long and 21 inches wide, meaning it takes up 12 fewer inches in length than a Peloton while also being slightly narrower. Its seat post has a standard adjustable knob for just about any height, and the handlebars can be raised or lowered to match. The pedals are a familiar dual-side indoor cycling set up so anybody can ride, though unlike a lot of other less-expensive indoor bikes, the SPD clips’ side of the pedals are actually adjustable to your needs which is nice. Across the top of the handlebars is a flat space to put any tablet. This space isn’t adjustable so you can’t control your viewing angle, but it is wide enough for you to comfortably place a laptop should you need one. 

Horizon Fitness claims the 7.0 IC comes with a racing-style road saddle, and I can only assume that was added to the specs sheet for giggles. I’m no stranger to the saddle on an indoor bike being fairly generic, something that can support as many body types as possible while also being easy to replace with something you personally prefer. When I tell you this is the least comfortable saddle I have ever had the displeasure of riding 20 miles on (before replacing it), please know I truly mean it. I would almost have preferred to ride directly on the seat post. Fortunately, the saddle is very easy to replace, and once I did so I was able to ride without issue for a very long time. 

At the front of the bike sits a 28.6-pound flywheel, controlled by a magnetic resistance system you operate from the performance panel under the tablet mount. The panel itself is fairly straightforward, offering a look at speed or distance as well as heart rate if you’re using the included monitor. Instead of turning a knob, you use simple up and down arrows to control resistance, which like most bikes goes from 1 to 100. I found myself hovering around 15 for casual rides, but by the time you cross 45 it’s comparable to a fairly steep hill for climb training. I wouldn’t say I ever felt the need to go above, say, 60, other than to say I did it. No matter what resistance level I was at, the flywheel itself remained quieter than any other bike I’ve tested this year. 

Ride how you want, with or without instructors

Horizon Fitness recommends Zwift for a fully connected experience, meaning you can pair the included heart monitor and the bike itself to the app, and the data it sends will help track your performance. If you’ve never used Zwift, the app creates a virtual avatar of you and allows you to ride in virtual locations all over the world, either by yourself or against others. The speed your bike is going is reflected in the app, allowing you to get something resembling a real race against other people if you are into that sort of thing. You can also use the Peloton app as well as several others for training purposes, or you can watch a movie while you spin and just import your health data to Strava, Fitbit, Apple Health and a few others. 

If you’re looking for a bike that takes up as little space as possible without sacrificing quality, you’re not going to find a lot of other options in this price range. The 7.0 IC comes in at $800, which is just over half the cost of a Peloton bike but slightly more expensive than the $700 Bowflex C6. The primary difference in quality between the 7.0 IC and the C6 for me is noise. While both bikes are excellent, Horizon Fitness made for a noticeably quieter bike with a better holder for a wider variety of tablets and laptops. 

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.