Cultbike review: The smart bike that goes beyond spinning

January used to be a time when some of us would sign up for a gym membership. But with Covid-19 and Omicron, those days are safely behind us. However, the need to focus on our physical health has only grown. This also explains why many are considering home fitness equipment seriously. The Cultfit bike is one such device to help users who want to achieve their fitness goals at home.

Interestingly, the Cultbike was originally called ‘TreadOne’ till Cult acquired the company and renamed it. It comes with a screen, and the ability to attend live or on-demand classes. But how does it measure up, given the other options in the market? Let’s find out.

Cultbike review: The good

The Cultbike is definitely imposing once it is set up in your house. Just make sure the spot where you decide to place it is close to a plug point. That’s needed for the display to work. The company will send someone to set up the bike, and they will also give a demo of all the controls. Make sure to go through it.

I made the mistake of ignoring it the first time because I was caught in office work. And then we had a bit of trouble changing the seat height. However, once the technician explained exactly how to use the lever, it was not a challenge.

This is a magnetic resistance spinning bike and quite a silent one when in use. One can adjust the seat and handlebar as per their height requirement. But the main selling point here is the 22-inch display and the content it offers. The display is fully rotatable. However, rotating it is like a full upper body workout.

There is a resistance knob, which you can turn left or right depending on how much you want to push yourself. You can also press the knob right down and it will crank up the resistance to 100 during the session. But it doesn’t stay pressed down.

Cult is offering live classes for spinning. On-demand classes are available for spinning, yoga, cardio, strength training, and there is the option of scenic rides as well. There’s no subscription yet for these classes. But I’m assuming it will roll this out at some point once the business model scales. The classes are free right now, which is a pretty good deal.

While setting up the bike, you will need the mobile number used to purchase this. It is required for account registration. Interestingly, since mine was a review unit, I could not use my mobile number to create an account. Cult then had to give access to one with a different number. That’s also the reason all my workouts are credited to a man named ‘Harish’ in Bangalore.

I took part in four spinning classes — two live and two on-demand. There is a live leaderboard while you are riding. You can see how others in the class are doing and where you stand. The screen shows the resistance, the RPM (rounds per minute), the distance you have covered, the number of calories burnt as well, and the amount of power you have generated during the class. That last bit is what is used to decide rankings on the leaderboard.

I liked that in each class, the trainers spend the first few minutes explaining everything one needs to get right before they start spinning. From the seat height to the handlebar height to how one’s knees should be positioned, it is all discussed. This is crucial as some might slouch too much or have the seat too high, which is never a good idea. The power of Cultfit is also on display in these classes. The fitness chain clearly has access to a lot of trainers and this is reflected in the quality of content.

The classes themselves are high-energy and will keep you motivated. I actually managed to get to number three on the leaderboard for one class. You can also rate each class once it ends, and give feedback. The stats from each class can be sent to your WhatsApp in case you wish to post them to your Instagram account. You can also access your entire workout history from the bike/classes from your account page. Cult shows how you performed in the class with detailed statistics on resistance, RPM, calories burnt, etc.

But it was not a smooth ride at all times. For one, the seat became loose just two days after the bike was set up. The technician had to come again to fix it. One of the nuts behind the display has also come out. I only noticed this because my husband pointed it out while rotating the screen.

While the display is rotatable, it is not the most elegant solution. I was never quite sure how to do this. Given the display size, it takes a bit of effort as well. The display quality is a letdown on this full HD screen since we are all used to sharper and better screens nowadays. It runs a version of Android 7 with Cult’s software on top and it is not all perfect. The response of the display, even the power buttons is a bit slow as well at times.

You can also connect the bike via Bluetooth to other audio devices. Except when I go to the Bluetooth tab in the settings, the section only shows MAC addresses for most devices. So good luck trying to figure out your speaker or headphones on this.

I found the baseline resistance on the bike underwhelming. I struggle with resistance levels over 50 on most spinning bikes. But with Cultbike, I could easily pedal it even at a resistance of 70. It was only at 80 resistance that I felt some pushback. But yes, I did struggle to push past RPM of 100, which is in line with what I experience on other bikes.

The Cultbike is an attempt at making a ‘Peleton’ for India. And there’s definitely a market for this, given how home fitness is expected to grow. It has some key positives. It offers a number of workouts for users and is not limited to spinning. The trainers are knowledgeable and offer plenty of guidance and motivation. Frankly, if you want to get that heart-rate pumping, a smart spinning bike is one of the best ways.

But I would say this bike needs some polish, at least on the software front and the display. The build quality could also be better in some areas given the price. Finally, I would urge you to think of how committed you plan to be before investing Rs 50,000 on this. Otherwise, the bike will end up as a rather expensive and smart clothes hanger at your home.

With Thanks Refrence to: https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-reviews/cultbike-review-price-7735029/