NordicTrack's Newest Studio Bike Allows You to Ride the World's Most Beautiful Courses

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- The Editors at Men's Health

Ride the World's Most Beautiful Courses on NordicTrack's Newest Studio Bike

The first sign that NordicTrack's new S22i isn't your average spin bike greets you at the welcome screen of its built-in iFit platform. From the moment you sign in, you’re presented with a panel of options highlighting of some of the world’s most beautiful rides—from routes in Vietnam and Tokyo to climbs in Norway and Patagonia. A few taps later, and the bike's sharp, 22-inch HD monitor transports you there instantly, setting you behind a pro cyclist as they narrate every turn in the road in real-time.

Of all the features included with the S22i studio bike, these innovative international rides are what feel most like an olive branch to people who still might be struggling with the limitations of working out under lockdown in the wake of COVID-19. For the month that I spent testing the bike, it was a relief to begin—or end—the day knowing that I could look forward to a virtual escape.

This feature also does a great job of setting the S22i apart from high-end competitors like Peloton and Echelon, giving iFit a distinct offering in addition to its robust library of studio classes and HIIT workouts. For an added dose of realism, the bike's engineers also gave the S22i the unique ability to tilt upward 20 degrees, or downward 10 degrees. Those inclines and declines sync up automatically with your ride, whether you’re cruising along a Tokyo bike path or following an instructor’s lead in a live class.

The same goes for adding and removing resistance: When taking a class through iFit, trainers don't merely ask you to add resistance—they just do it, and your bike obeys their commands, making it a lot harder to slack off. (Riders, thankfully, can take manual control of this feature at any time.)

A magnetic resistance system built into the wheelhouse also makes the act of pedaling nearly whisper-silent. (The only exception to this rule is the distractingly loud motor mounted on the back of the bike that blares to life as it powers you up and down those virtual hills.) A Google Maps integration, meanwhile, amounts to a nice stocking stuffer: It's fun to plot a virtual route anywhere in the world, but the actual experience of watching an image refresh every few seconds while you pedal is a few steps down from the immersiveness of those international rides.

-  Mike Darling (Men's Health Executive Editor)