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Studio-style cycling classes are easy to love and hard to fit into a schedule. The Echelon EX-5s Bike puts them in your living room: a spin bike with a 22-inch touchscreen, 32 levels of magnetic resistance, and a membership library of live and on-demand classes, plus guided scenic rides. The screen also flips 180 degrees, so you can step off the bike for floor work.

Is the Echelon EX-5s Worth It?

If you want a coached, studio-style cycling routine at home without paying for a Peloton, the Echelon EX-5s is a solid pick. You get a quiet, sturdy bike with a 22-inch screen that flips for off-bike workouts, 32 levels of resistance, pedals that work with sneakers or cycling shoes, a membership that can be shared across a household, and is HSA/FSA eligible. It also suits anyone who wants a seated cardio option that's easy to dial up or down.

What Is the Echelon EX-5s Bike and How Does It Work?

The EX-5s is a connected indoor bike. You pedal, the screen streams the class, and your resistance knob does the rest. Here's what's on it and why each piece matters.

• A 22-inch HD touchscreen that flips 180 degrees. Classes play full screen with your cadence, resistance, and output alongside the instructor, and turning the screen around makes it work for yoga, strength, and stretching on a mat. Live Science's tester found the screen big enough to follow the leaderboard, but others said it's less sharp than Peloton's, though not enough to hurt a workout.
• 32 levels of magnetic resistance. Magnetic resistance has no brake pads to wear down and keeps the ride quiet. GearLab's tester said it was smooth and nearly silent. Live Science's tester said the resistance knob was easy to adjust, with about a half turn per level.
• Dual-sided pedals. One side takes SPD-compatible cycling shoes (SPD is a clip-in system, where a small metal plate on the sole snaps into the pedal), the other has an adjustable toe cage for sneakers. You can start in the shoes you own and switch to clip-ins later if you get serious.
• Adjustable seat and handlebars. Both move for height and depth, so one bike can work for a household of different sizes. Live Science described the seat as well padded for longer classes, while GearLab called it comfortable but on the narrower, performance-oriented side.
• A vented seat, bullhorn handlebars with elbow rests, and two bottle holders. There's also a spot for light dumbbells up to 2 pounds, which makes arm work during a class easy.
• Sturdy at home. The bike comes in at 124 pounds with a 300-pound user limit, and GearLab's tester called it sturdy, including during hard out-of-the-saddle efforts. The front wheels make for easy storage and roll into a corner when you're done.
• An emergency stop. Echelon lists an emergency stop braking system, which is a useful feature to have on a heavy flywheel bike.

What Are the Health Benefits of Cycling? What the Research Shows

Cycling is one of the better-studied ways to build cardiorespiratory fitness, which is what most fitness advice comes back to.

Fitness is worth building: a 2024 overview of meta-analyses in the British Journal of Sports Medicine linked higher cardiorespiratory fitness to lower risk of death and chronic disease, though those are observational findings.

Indoor riding has its own results. A 2019 review of 13 indoor cycling studies found aerobic capacity improved by roughly 8 to 10.5 percent with two to three sessions a week. A 2026 review of 47 studies in adults 60 and older reported gains in aerobic fitness, mobility, and thinking skills from stationary bike programs, and a 2021 meta-analysis found stationary cycling reduced pain in people with knee osteoarthritis compared with no exercise.

These studies look at cycling in general, not Echelon's bike or classes, and many of the indoor ones are small, so read them as encouraging and not as a guarantee. They line up with the federal Physical Activity Guidelines, which recommend adults get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week, and regular rides count toward that. If you have heart disease, joint problems, or any condition that limits exercise, check with your doctor before starting a new routine.

Cycling is widely studied and easy to scale up or down, and the EX-5s is one way to make it a habit. If you have heart disease, joint problems, or any condition that limits exercise, check with your doctor before starting a new routine.

How Would the Echelon EX-5s Fit Into Your Week?

A few ways people could use it.

• Rides that fit a busy day. The library has live and on-demand classes, so you can ride when it suits you and not only at a set time. Live Science's tester noted there are few long endurance rides, which suits class-style riders more than long-distance ones.
• A bad-weather or after-dark replacement for outdoor rides. The bike is quiet enough for early mornings, so it shouldn't wake a sleeping house.
• A seated cardio day between other workouts. If you already strength train or run, the bike gives you a way to get aerobic work in without another run.
• Class variety without leaving home. Echelon includes Pilates and boxing categories, and the flip-around screen means a cool-down on the floor doesn't need a second device.
• One bike for the whole household. A Premier membership can be shared with up to five family members, and the adjustable seat and handlebars help different riders use the same bike.
• Riding with other people. Live classes have leaderboards, and Echelon's "Worlds" racing mode adds game-style rides. Classes tend to be smaller than Peloton's, and you can mute the leaderboard if you don't want to see it.

How Does the Echelon EX-5s Compare With a Peloton or a Basic Spin Bike?

Most people shopping for a connected bike are weighing three things: a Peloton, a cheaper bike with no screen, or a basic spin bike with their own tablet.

Against Peloton, reviewers consistently cast the Echelon EX-5s as the more affordable alternative. T3's tester found Peloton's screen sharper, and Reviewed's tester said, without having used a Peloton, that its video quality appears higher. 

GearLab ranked the EX-5s fifth out of 13 bikes it tested and described it as a close second to Peloton for studio-style cycling at home. Peloton's resistance has about 100 levels to Echelon's 32, though GearLab's tester found Echelon's bigger steps noticeable, with less knob turning.

Against a basic spin bike, you're paying for the classes and the screen. A plain bike with a tablet works fine if you already have a streaming habit you like. The EX-5s is for people who want the coaching and leaderboards built in.

What Do Reviewers and Owners Say About the Echelon EX-5s?

On the ride. The EX-5s rides smoothly, is nearly silent, and feels sturdy even during hard efforts, earning 79 overall and 9 out of 10 for comfort in GearLab's testing. The rear flywheel keeps it stable, and it's quiet enough not to compete with your music or instructor.

On the screen and app. The screen is a good size, and the class library is broad, but the menus take some learning; not every class is captioned, and video can look slightly pixelated. The screen also runs only Echelon's own app, so you can't stream services like Netflix on it.

On setup and the seat. Plan on about an hour to 90 minutes to assemble it, and have a second person around, since the boxed bike takes two people to move. The seat gets mixed reviews: well padded for some and comfortable but narrow for others.

Across retail reviews. Owners' retailer reviews most often mention build quality, easy setup, value compared with Peloton, and a quiet ride, though a few report hardware problems.

What Comes With the Echelon EX-5s, and Is the Membership Required?

• The bike. Frame, 22-inch flip screen, SPD and toe-cage pedals, two bottle holders, and a dumbbell holder.
• A Premier membership is how you get classes. Echelon sells monthly, 1-year, and 2-year plans, and you can start or cancel anytime. It includes unlimited live and on-demand classes, personalized workouts, scenic rides, entertainment streaming, and sharing with up to five family members. The bike runs without a membership with limited functionality, and the screen is built around the Connect app.
• A warranty. The standard coverage is one year. Echelon's pages describe longer coverage for active Premier members, so confirm the current terms before you buy.
• Power. The bike plugs into a wall outlet, and you can't ride it unplugged.

Ready to bring studio-style cycling home? The EX-5s is an easy bike to recommend if you want coached, studio-style cycling at home and can live with an ongoing membership and a screen that slightly trails Peloton's in sharpness. It's sturdy, quiet, and flexible enough for a whole household, and being HSA/FSA eligible is a big bonus.

👉 Shop the Echelon EX-5s Bike | HSA/FSA Eligible

Bonus: it's HSA/FSA eligible. The EX-5s Bike is HSA/FSA eligible, which means shoppers with an HSA or FSA may be able to use pre-tax funds toward it, depending on their plan. Browse the HSA/FSA collection.

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Cycling isn't for everyone. If you have heart disease, balance problems, joint pain, or a condition that affects exercise, talk to your doctor first. Clip-in shoes and standing climbs take some practice and can take a few sessions to find your fit.