Freebeat’s Boom Bike is one of the newer streaming cycles to hit the market and it’s putting its own spin on things with gaming-inspired workouts that promote a little friendly competition amongst riders.
And I could see this being a great thing for folks who get bored easily with more traditional instructor-led workouts.
Freebeat’s workouts are a little different, but the Boom Bike itself is pretty legit for such an affordable indoor cycle.
With a 15.6″ HD touchscreen, the Boom is one of the most affordable cycles on the market to come with such a large console and the LED lighting strips on the bottom provide a more exciting, studio class experience.
And I’ve never seen a saddle sensor that can tell when you’re sitting or standing before, so that’s definitely a unique feature.
At 15.4 lb, the flywheel on this cycle is on the light side, but most folks still agree it offers a pretty smooth riding experience.
Long-story-short, the Boom isn’t perfect, but as budget-friendly streaming cycles go, I think it has a lot to offer.
If you’re interested in the longer story, keep reading.
In this review, I’ll not only go over all the specs and features this cycle has to offer, but I’ll also compare it some of the other top comps in its price range to see how it stacks up.
After reading, you’ll know whether or not the Freebeat Boom is worth investing in.
Let’s roll.
The Freebeat Boom Bike
Freebeat is one of the newer streaming brands to hit the market and as far as I can tell, they’ve only been around since the early 2020’s.
And the way I see it, the more streaming options we have, the better – not only does this gives us options based on what we’re looking for, but competition usually helps keep prices down too.
Case in point, the Original Peloton – when I got mine that bad boy went for like $2500, but at the time of writing this it’s going for like $1500….
Man, how the times change.
Anyway, my point is, the days of having to choose between Peloton and NordicTrack for your streaming workouts are long gone.
These days, there are a lot of streaming cycles to choose from and most of the smaller, newer brands offer a slightly different experience.
Freebeat’s take on the streaming experience is to gamify workouts, giving you scores based on how well you stay in rhythm with wha the instructors are instructing.
This allows you to compete with other folks on the leaderboard without it purely being about performance and total watt output, which I think is cool.
The Boom Bike we’re here to go over now is their entry-level cycle, but they also offer the upgraded Lit Bike for additional cost.
They also have an e-bike that can function as an indoor cycle, known as the MorphRover, which is pretty sweet.
Alright, let’s start things off with a rundown on the Boom’s performance specs.
Pros
- 15.6″ HD touchscreen console
- Tons of game-inspired workouts
- LED light strip
- Scenic rides
- Just Ride mode
- 100 magnetic resistance levels
- 300 lb weight limit
- Saddle sensor
- Fully adjustable seat
- Auto Adjust resistance feature
- Dumbbell rack
- Great price
- Great warranty
Cons
- Lightweight flywheel
- Lightweight frame
- No water bottle holder
- Toe cage pedals
Resistance
When it comes to indoor cycle performance, it’s all about the bike’s ability to offer a smooth pedaling motion and being able to provide enough resistance to challenge you.
And when it comes to both of these factors, having a heavier flywheel is usually a good thing.
This is especially true for affordable cycles like the Boom.
Heavier flywheels are generally preferred because the extra weight builds more momentum as it spins, which in turn helps keep the pedals moving between pedal strokes.
The result is a smoother, more fluid feel as you pedal.
These days, even affordable indoor cycles can pack massive flywheels – we’re talking as heavy as 40 – 50 lb, although you certainly don’t need that much weight to get a smooth ride.
Personally, for this price range, I like to see a flywheel that’s at least 20 lb because this is usually enough weight to create a pretty smooth ride.
Anyway, the Boom Bike comes with a 15.4 lb flywheel, which is pretty light for this or any price range.
This is a bit of a bummer, but users don’t seem to mind that much, as most agree the Boom still offers a pretty smooth feel.
The belt drive and magnetic resistance system are nice and will help add to the overall smoothness and quietness of operation.
But still, with a such a light flywheel, the Boom might not be the best choice for more experienced riders looking for an elite experience.
What I do like though (a lot), is that the Boom comes with 100 resistance levels.
With so many resistance levels at your disposal, you can make really small adjustments to your intensity during workouts.
This is the same scale Peloton uses and I love it.
And the Boom also comes with an Auto Adjust feature that lets the instructors automatically control you resistance during workouts.
You can always control things manually if you prefer, but it’s a cool feature if you want to just hop on and keep up with what the instructors are saying.
You’ll also find this feature on ProForm and NordicTrack cycles with iFit and I believe the Peloton Bike+ has it as well.
Speaking of ProForm, in terms of comps, their Studio Bike Pro 22 immediately comes to mind.
I’ll go over it in more detail down below, but in terms of resistance, it only comes with 24 magnetic levels… but it does come with a heavier, 28 lb flywheel.
Overall, the Freebeat Boom comes with a lightweight flywheel, but with 100 levels of magnetic resistance and an Auto Adjust function, it offers a lot of freedom in terms of resistance during workouts.
Frame
Moving on, let’s take a look at the Boom’s frame.
At first glance, it’s pretty sleek looking – I like the V-shaped design and the fact that you can choose between 3 different frame colors (Tuscany yellow is especially snazzy lookin’).
But more importantly, we need to look at how stable or heavy-duty this bike is gonna feel while riding it.
This can be hard to objectively measure, but there are a couple of things we can look at to get a better idea – like the assembled weight and weight capacity.
And the way I say it, seeing higher numbers in both categories is always a good thing because it indicates a more robust bike.
Plus, a heavier bike is harder to physically move, so theoretically, it should feel more secure while you’re on it.
Well, the Boom comes with an assembled weight of 79 lb, which is pretty lightweight, even for a cycle in this price range.
For the sake of comparison, Schwinn’s similarly priced IC3 weighs in at around 100 lb (although to be fair, its 40 lb flywheel makes up all of that difference).
And ProForm’s Studio Bike Pro 22 mentioned earlier weighs in somewhere around 100 lb.
And at 140 lb, Sole’s SB700 is in a league of its own.
When it comes to the weight capacity, the Boom can handle riders weighing up to 300 lb, which is pretty good for a cycle in this price range (and better than the Studio Bike Pro 22’s 250 lb limit).
And according to Freebeat, the Boom can accommodate riders up to 6’7″ tall (and as low as 5′ tall), which is also quite good for a budget cycle.
Overall, the Boom is a pretty lightweight cycle, but it does come with an impressive weight limit and the ability to accommodate riders of most heights.
Warranty
Freebeat offers the following warranty on their Boom Bike:
- 10 year frame
- 2 year parts
- 1 year console
This is actually a really good warranty for a cycle in this price range.
The 10 year frame guarantee matches what ProForm and even NordicTrack offer and is better than the 5 year frame warranty Schwinn provides for their IC3.
And 2 years on parts is also about as good as we can expect to see in this price range.
A year on the console is pretty standard, nothing too exception going on there.
But overall, Freebeat offers a surprisingly generous warranty for the Boom.
Features
The Freebeat Boom Bike comes with the following included features:
15.6″ touchscreen- the star of the show here is the large, swiveling HD touchscreen console that gives you access to all the instructor-led workouts. This large console makes it easy to select all workouts and view all stats while using the Boom.
Game-inspired workouts- Freebeat uses instructor-led workouts with colorful, changing backdrops that some folks will like, but others may find distracting. Personally, I don’t care for the brightly-lit, changing backdrops, but I do like idea of keeping score based on your ability to stay in rhythm with the instructor’s guidance. And folks who enjoy games will appreciate the combos and bonus points for nailing the standing and sitting timing. All of this adds up to your total score, which can be used to compete with others on the leaderboard. You need to sign up for the streaming membership to access these workouts ($39/month), but with a growing on-demand library, you’ll never run out of workouts to choose from. There are also off the bike workouts to select from as well.
Just ride/scenic rides- if you’re not in the mood for an instructor, you can choose to do a scenic ride or a simple manual ride as well.
LED light strips- there are built-in lights on the bottom of the frame that you can turn on to light up during your workout. They offer a fun, studio style experience, but they can also help you stay in line with the rhythm of the class. You can also turn ’em off if they’re not your thing.
Auto Adjust- this feature allows the instructors to automatically adjust your resistance during workouts. It’s a cool feature, but you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.
Fully adjustable seat- you can adjust the height and fore/aft position of the seat, making it easy to find a comfortable riding position.
Saddle detector- there’s also a sensor in the seat that detects whether you’re sitting or standing. It doesn’t really add anything to the quality of your workout, it’s just used for the scoring during workouts.
Adjustable handlebars- you can’t adjust the fore/aft position of the handles, but they are height adjustable.
Toe cage pedals- the Boom comes with toe cage pedals, designed to be used with sneakers. If you want to use cleats, you could easily swap ’em out.
Dumbbell holders- this cycle also comes with a rear rack that can hold two small dumbbells, although the weights themselves aren’t included.
Price
Ok, time to talk dollars and comps.
At the time of writing this, Freebeat has the Boom selling for $699.
I don’t know how long this price will last, but I’m hoping it’s relatively permanent because I think it’s a competitive price point for it.
That said, it does have some competition.
Honestly, there are several higher-performing cycles in this price range, with heavier flywheels and heavier-duty frames (Sole’s SB700, Schwinn’s IC4, etc.), but these aren’t streaming cycles.
And I’m assuming most folks interested in the Boom are looking for a streaming cycle, so I think it makes more sense to compare it to other streaming cycles in this price range.
That means we should be looking at ProForm’s Pro Studio Bike 22 and Echelon’s GT+.
As mentioned, the Pro Studio Bike 22 comes with a heavier flywheel (28 lb) and a heavier frame, but it also comes with a larger, iFit compatible 22″ HD touchscreen.
It comes with 24 magnetic resistance levels and its weight limit is only 250 lb, so larger users are out of luck, but it offers the same great warranty as Freebeat.
Echelon’s GT+ isn’t quite as competitive because it costs about $200 more ($899) and doesn’t come with an included console – you have to supply your own tablet.
It also uses a lightweight, 15 lb flywheel and comes with a really short warranty (1 year).
So, personally, I would say ProForm is the Boom’s biggest competitor for this price range.
Final Thoughts
Ok, that about does it for what the Boom Bike has to offer.
All things considered, I think it’s a cool streaming cycle for the price.
It doesn’t have the most impressive performance specs, but as I think I illustrated up above, it’s gonna be hard to find a cycle in this price range with such a large touchscreen and such impressive streaming capabilities.
The only cycle in this price range that I’m aware of that can really hold up against the Boom in terms of features is the Studio Bike Pro 22.
Personally, I prefer the Studio Bike, but that’s mostly because of the types of workouts it uses.
I’m kinda old school and prefer the basic, instructor-led workouts iFit offers over the brightly-lit, gamified workouts found on the Boom.
But I can see how other riders would prefer Freebeat’s more exciting style.
All things considered, I like Freebeat’s Boom Bike and I could see it becoming one of top budget cycles out there.
