As any technology person would, when searching for an indoor exercise bike this winter I looked at all the options with the latest technology. After passing up on the Peloton and others for various reasons, I settled on the VeloCore from Bowflex. One unique feature is that it allows you to watch/listen to various media options while on your ride. Another unique feature is that it’s Android OS based (which is how they integrate all the media options).
As for a review of the bike, physically it’s an awesome design and pretty much exactly as I expected. The bike is sturdy, has very good resistance capabilities, and the leaning feature they highlight is actually really cool. It’s well setup and gives a great workout. It’s also quiet – which is great if you’re working from home and trying to sneak a light workout in while on a conference call.
Speaking of workouts on conference calls, one point to note is that it’s not possible to position a laptop on the bike. But any phone / iPad device will do. So from that perspective it’s quite easy to workout while on a Zoom meeting if you’re not having to share your screen (and not on video).
Where the VeloCore and Bowflex screwed up mightily is in the software. They must see the trend of the software becoming a critical aspect of the user experience, but this software implementation is really messed up. And I know software.
First, the Android OS is locked down to the point where it’s impossible to diagnose issues. So when your screen keeps rebooting for some reason… who knows… log files – nah – they skipped all that. It will randomly log you out, so then you have to log in again. The screen cannot be shutdown without unplugging the device – even though there is a power button and an option to power off. It just starts up after a second being powered down. The wifi constantly drops, despite being 10 feet from my enterprise access point.
The JRNY implementation has many workout videos, workout routines, and a decent indoor bike capabilities for the workout itself. One thing glaringly absent are workouts that actually use the unique side-to-side leaning system that makes the VeloCore unique in the industry. Bowflex is good at marketing, not good at actual experience.
So let’s get into the most glaring issue with this device. It’s a fitness device that’s supposed to be the cutting edge in 2021. You cannot export your workout data – to anything. That’s right, if you’re using any number of fitness or tracker apps, forget it. You cannot export your workout data, you cannot access your workout data, you can’t do anything off the VeloCore screen.
Bowflex advertises that the VeloCore uses its own JRNY interface for workouts and videos – and it does – but there’s a lot of asterisks here. For one, you cannot download the companion iPad/Android app and connect to your bike (e.g. to export your data to Garmin Connect or anything else). The iPad/Android JRNY apps don’t work with the VeloCore JRNY bike! It’s like they don’t have any product managers at Bowflex. How could they ship a product like this… in 2021…. ?
One final nit is that this software is basically Android OS with JRNY loaded as the only app for the system. Android OS is built on Linux, whose source code is licensed under the GPLv2. That means anyone who distributes Linux is REQUIRED to provide either the source code for the Linux codebase, or an offer for the source. Most companies have by now figured out how to manage software and have websites like opensource.bowflex.com where you can get the source code they’re required to make available. Not Bowflex. They didn’t even attempt. After about 8 email exchanges, their product development team telling me there is no Linux on it, I’m still waiting for access to the source code for their Linux implementation.
So the Bowflex VeloCore Bike is great for the hardware paired with absolutely terrible software and overall making it a “meh” experience I must say. I’m not sure I’d buy it again honestly, but I’m very hopeful they’ll try to fix the software experience soon.
