About Bicycles Online > Fitness Bikes > NordicTrack GX2.7 Review

NordicTrack GX2.7 Review
Comfortable Upright at a Reasonable Price

The NordicTrack GX2.7 Upright gives you a nice mix of comfort and motivational features at a very reasonable price. The heavily padded seat on the GX2.7, along with the ergonomic frame design, help to make the GX2.7 one of the most comfortable upright models in its price range.

The GX2.7 is this year's upgrade to NordicTrack's popular GX2.5 Upright. NordicTrack kept the features that made the GX2.5 so popular ~ including the low price ~ and added a newly designed and adjustable console.

The upright riding position of the NT GX2.7 is similar to the riding position on an outdoor mountain bike or hybrid so you use the same leg muscles and you can get just as good of an aerobic workout.

The GX2.7 comes with 20 built-in workout apps and 20 resistance levels, like its predecessor, and is also iFit compatible, so you can add a good selection of entertainment and motivational features when you need them.

 

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Note: The Nordic Track GX2.7 Upright is no longer available from this site or no longer for sale online. 

This model has been replaced with the newer, upgraded GX4.4 Pro (more on this newer model soon).

Please see our Exercise Bike Ratings page for a full listing of the exercise bikes that are available with prices and ratings.

(was selling from NordicTrack for $349).

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The built-in workout apps and resistance levels provide quite a bit of variety to your fitness routine and when you are ready for more boredom breaking features you can add the optional iFit Live module (at an additional cost) to Download more Workout Routines, Upload, Track and Share your Workout Stats online, Compete with others online or use Google Maps to simulate rides in popular locations all over the world or to upload a ride in your own neighborhood, on local roads or on your favorite bike trail! (more on that below).

NordicTrack GX2.7 Key Features and Advantages

The full list of GX2.7 features is included below in the Features at a Glance section.

Oversized, Fully Adjustable Padded Seat - NordicTrack found the trick to making heavily padded and very comfortable upright exercise bike seats quite a while ago. The seat on the GX2.7 is also adjustable both vertically and horizontally. For all those other brands that just don't get it yet I want to say "It's the Seat Stupid!"

Music Port and Sound System - Even in this economy price range the GX2.7 comes with an iPod® compatible speaker jack and Intermix Acoustics Sound System so you can ditch the ear buds, plug-in and listen to your music through the sound system.

iFit Live Compatible Console - The console on the GX2.7 is iFit Compatible which means that you need to purchase the iFit module separately to get the full benefits of iFIt Live technology (see the section below for more on iFit Live). The iFit Live module usually costs about $99 but that also includes a 1 year subscription for an iFit Live account which is required to use all of the features.

Plenty of Built-In Workouts and Resistance Levels - You may not need all of them but the 20 built-in workouts and 20 resistance levels allow you to add more variety to your fitness routine.

User Weight Capacity - The weight capacity of the GX2.7 is 275 pounds. This can be a good indicator of the bikes durability even if you weigh much less than the limit.

The Ledge - OK, this is a small thing and may not be that significant but I also like the convenient ledge on the console for holding your music player, a cell phone or other mobile device as you workout.

Upright Exercise Bikes are generally a little more affordable than Recumbent models (and Indoor Cycles) but you still get most of the same features that you get on the more expensive recumbent bikes such as the electronic console features, the heart rate monitors and the quiet magnetic ECB brake.

iFit Live and Motivation

This fitness bike can stand on its own based on the features mentioned above, but don't overlook the motivational and tracking features of the iFit Live module and how important motivation can be.

Not only does the iFit Live module give you more variety in your workouts, the tracking options allow you to share your workout data online with friends, family or colleagues that may have similar workout or fitness goals (and this can be a powerful motivator).

With iFit Live and Google Maps you can select an existing route or you can create your own customized course (like a local bike route or trail that you have ridden) which can then be download to your fitness bike.

The virtual rides (routes and courses) that are downloaded to your iFit Live transmitter then control the magnetic resistance levels of your bike.

About-Bicycles Review

I have found the NordicTrack GX2.7 to be a more comfortable and better quality upright, with more features, than any other brand upright in its price range.

Although I usually only recommend lower end, economy fitness bikes for limited use and for lighter or less aggressive riders, I believe that the GX2.7 is quite sturdy and durable, could handle moderate to fairly heavy use and should last quite a long time. This is backed up by the very good NordicTrack warranty that comes with this bike.

I usually include a little more here in my own technical review but in this case I have received a valuable and detailed, first hand Customer Review of the NordicTrack GX2.7 that I think may be more informative.

NordicTrack GX2.7 Customer Reviews

The customer review below was sent to About-Bicycles.com on 2/16/2014 is unbiased and includes both the negatives and positives on the NordicTrack GX2.7 Upright Exercise Bike.

A few of the factors that make this customer review more valuable and relevant are that the review was written 2 1/2 months after the bike was purchased so it has had quite a bit of use and the customer has also previously owned another similar upright bike ~ a Schwinn 113 ~ for comparison.

From: Dan, 2/16/2014
Rated as: "grade of A- (very good/excellent)"

"...The seat is well cusioned and is most comfortable when positioning your rear end on the back part rather than the front. The pedaling is whisper quiet and the resistance levels can easily be made to be easy or difficult. I'm in good cardio shape and I tend to set it at resistance level 9 which is midrange. There are a couple of negatives, which are the cup holder is too low and difficult to reach, there should have been a cup holder on the piece that extends upwards to the handlebars. There is no automatic power shutoff or turn on for this bike. You have to plug it in or unplug it. Also you can't position your hands on the handlebars directly in front of you since the display takes up the space in that area so you have to hold the handlebars on the left and right side of the display rather than directly below the display.

The positives are that it's great for a small amount of space or apartment since it's compact and not big and bulky. I haven't used all the display capabilities, I tend to just set it on manual with the same resistance for 45 minutes and am drowning in sweat when finished so it works well. There is a small ledge on the display to place a book, magazine or the tv remote on. The handlebars are adjustable so it can be moved closer to you or further away and then tighted easily with a knob to prevent slippage. The front of the bike has rollers so the bike can be moved easily by lifting the back and pushing it. Rocking of the bike is avoided easily by adjusting the levelers on the
bottom. The seat adjusts up and down and horizontally also which is good..."

Read the Full Customer Review >

NordicTrack customer reviews can be particularly hard to find since they are only sold at Sears and on the NordicTrack website and not on the other popular online review websites.

At the time of this review there was only 1 customer review of the NordicTrack GX2.7 on the NordicTrack site which rated it as (5 of 5 stars) and no reviews on the Sears Site.

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NordicTrack GX2.7 Features at a Glance:

• Oversized, Fully Adjustable Padded Seat
  
• Pedals with Adjustable Straps
  
• CardioGrip™ Heart Rate Monitor
  
• iFit Live™ Compatible and Adjustable Console
  
• 20 Digital Resistance Levels
  
• 20 Built-In Workouts
  
• Compatible Music Port for iPod® and Intermix Acoustics™ 2.0 Sound System
• SMR™ Silent Magnetic Resistance
  
• Transport Wheels
  
• Weight Capacity: 275 lb.
• 15 lb. Effective Inertia-Enhanced Flywheel
  
• 4" Backlit Display with RaceTrack™ Display
  
• Footprint: 34.5" L x 31.2" W x 58" H
  

Warranty:

Lifetime frame
1-year parts and labor.