Elite Volt Spin Bike

Forums › Health and fitness › Elite Volt Spin Bike - any good?

nullpainter

18 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#281088 28-Jan-2021 20:44

Hi there,

I'm keen on getting a spin bike and, like another thread I found on here, I'm a little overwhelmed by the choice. Was thinking of the Elite Volt from Elite Fitness for no particular reason apart from that it looks nice, isn't too cheap, isn't too expensive and has a belt drive.

The rational part of me wonders how sensible it is to spend $450 on something which has a grand total of four reviews and zero mentions elsewhere on the internet. I presume this is just some rebranded generic Chinese spin bike rather than something designed specifically for Elite Fitness (edit: my cynicism may be unfounded; on their site they indicate that "...at Elite we have designed our own range of spin bikes over the last 25 years which have become market-leading products.")

PS. I see it's branded as a a 'JF (Just Fitness) Volt Spin Bike' in Australia.

1101

3143 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1145

#2643956 29-Jan-2021 09:46

Go into their shop & sit on it see it it feels OK .

Ideally , a magnetic brake has a better feel than a friction brake (adjusting resistance) , just my opinion .
The spin bike I had for a while had a friction brake, which would throw up fine particles to breath in . Im sure that wouldnt be healthy , god knows whats in those
chinese felt friction pads .

Have a look on trademe. I bought a $250 chinese exercycle off trademe & its been fantastic the last 5+ years . It has a flywheel & mag braking so the feel is good .

nullpainter

18 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#2644698 31-Jan-2021 13:11

A physical shop! The novelty. Thanks for your note about magnetic vs. friction brakes - that was really useful in narrowing down my search, and for setting a reasonable expectation for price point. In the end, I bought an Elite Maverick 2. Again, zero reviews anywhere but it felt fine in the shop.

Here's my review based on two days of use, in case Elite Fitness decide not to publish it:

"Good bike, but quality and quality control of electronics leaves a bit to be desired.

I don't have experience with spin bikes, but I love the different programs, distance/time etc. countdown mode and that gears can be adjusted via physical buttons and on the display. Overall, it's comfortable and provides a good workout.

The up/down front gear buttons weren't working after assembly. I eventually discovered that this was due to the manufacturer putting a screw through the wire - fortunately this was resolved by just moving the wire out of the way and putting the handlebar back together.

Also, the display's screen was scratched after just one day with just a fingernail, as it uses what seems like super cheap plastic. Polishing it out with plastic polish was futile and just made things worse. For something at this price-point, I would have hoped for better build quality of the display unit.

The built-in heart rate sensor is so inaccurate to be worthless. This means that one of the modes - adjusting resistance based on heart rate - is also not hugely useful. The manual does note that pairing an external heart rate sensor improves accuracy, but this depends on Bluetooth - a feature which appears to be an "optional extra".

So, mixed feelings overall. It's fine, but a few tweaks could have made it significantly better."

nullpainter

18 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#2644700 31-Jan-2021 13:15

The wire in question. Obviously they didn't perform quality control of the pre-assembled components before shipping.