True Fitness is a reputable brand of gym equipment with headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. Its products are featured in health clubs worldwide, but here we focus on True Fitness exercise bikes made especially for home use. The three main categories of exercise bikes are all represented: upright, recumbent and indoor cycle trainer. True Fitness sells one home model of upright bike, three home models of recumbent bikes, and one home model of indoor cycle trainer. Some of these bikes are sold with a choice of consoles.
True bikes’ base prices range from $1099 to $2899, which is moderate to moderately high for the home exercise bike industry. Are they good values? That depends; the warranties range from so-so to spectacular. Read on for details about specific bikes and the collection in general.
The Great:
- Steel Frames: All True Fitness home exercise bike frames made from powder coated steel. Each True home exercise bike can safely support at least 350 pounds.
- Smooth Resistance for All Skill Levels: True Fitness bikes offer smooth resistance. True’s residential indoor cycle trainer, the Bike MS Cycle Bike, can provide up to 46.2 pounds of inertia. (For comparison, the standard among its competitors ranges from about 40 to 48 pounds.) The ES900, True’s only upright bike with a home warranty, has a wide workload range of 40 to 450 Watts. True’s recumbent exercise bikes for home gyms have resistance ranges of 20 to 450 Watts. This range supports everything from gentle rehabilitative training to intense cardiovascular exercise and muscle toning.
- Heart Rate Features: True exercise bikes have heart rate sensors on their handlebars. They also have Polar compatible heart rate receivers. A third cardio feature is HRC Cruise Control. It can control the bike’s challenge level to help the user exercise within a given heart rate zone.
- Workout Programs: True Fitness recumbent bikes and upright bikes arrive with up to 22 preset workouts, depending on the buyer’s console choice, and some can save customized workout routines. Exercise data can be saved to a USB drive.
- Entertainment: All models of recumbent and upright True bikes have reading racks that can hold a tablet computer or magazine. Additionally the Escalate console available with some True home exercise bikes is iPod compatible.
- Energy Efficient: True exercise bikes are off the grid! Their monitors and USB ports use energy from workouts instead of power cords and batteries.
- High Capacity: True home exercise bikes have 350-pound user weight limits.
- Comfortable Seats: Bike saddles matter! True Fitness promotes comfort with gel-cushioned upright bike saddles and elastic mesh recumbent bike seats. True bike seats are easily adjustable to suit riders of different sizes.
- Adjustable Handlebars: Handlebars on True Fitness bikes can be adjusted vertically and horizontally to suit different body sizes. Handlebars on True’s cycle trainer can also take different positions to support different riding styles.
- Water Bottle Holders: True home exercise bikes each have one or two water bottle holders.
The Not-So-Great:
- MS Cycle Warranty: Almost all True Fitness equipment for home gyms is sold with a good or great warranty. An exception is the True MS Cycling Bike. This bike sells for $1099 but carries a mere one-year warranty on its parts and just 90 days on labor.
- No Monitor on MS Cycle: True’s home cycle trainer, like many others, doesn’t prioritize electronics. The MS Cycle Bike does not provide heart rate monitoring, performance statistics or training programs.
Who Should You Buy a True Exercise Bike?
All True bikes can support riders weighing up to 350 pounds and can deliver a just-right challenge for a wide range of ability levels and fitness goals. True Fitness’ upright and recumbent bikes for home gyms are relatively feature-rich, but nonetheless they’re best for shoppers who value ergonomics and long warranties more than flash.
The Bottom Line
True Fitness earns an overall strong review for its home exercise bikes. In particular the upright and recumbent bikes are good values. If you’re seeking an indoor cycle trainer though, we recommend choosing a bike from another brand. Our three favorite indoor cycle trainers for home gyms are featured in the article “Best Exercise Bikes.”
