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You’ve found the perfect smart exercise bike. It has the big screen, the smooth ride, and all the features. The price tag says 1,999. But that is not the real price. The real cost of a modern smart bike is the mandatory monthly subscription. This fee, typically around 39-$44 per month, is the price of admission to the very features that make the bike “smart.” Before you buy, it’s critical to understand what this fee pays for and, more importantly, what happens to your expensive machine if you decide to stop paying it.
What Does That $40/Month Actually Pay For?
It’s easy to look at the hardware and feel the subscription is unfair. But you’re not paying for the bike; you’re paying for the massive, ongoing service behind the screen.
- The Content Library: You get access to thousands of on-demand classes and scenic rides. This library is constantly growing, with new content filmed and produced daily.
- The Elite Trainers: This pays the salaries of the charismatic trainers who guide, motivate, and plan your workouts.
- The Music Licensing: This is a huge, hidden cost. To play popular music from major artists in a workout, platforms have to pay enormous licensing fees, far more than a simple Spotify subscription.
- The Technology: This funds the software development, leaderboards, community features, and live-streaming infrastructure.
For example, iFIT (used by NordicTrack) charges around 39/month for a family plan, while Peloton’s All-Access Membership is around 44/month. These fees are the fuel that runs the entire ecosystem.
The Million-Dollar Question: What Happens If I Cancel My Subscription?
This is the most important question you can ask, and the answer is often buried in the fine print.
If you cancel your subscription, your “smart” bike becomes a “dumb” bike.
Let’s be clear: the bike doesn’t “brick.” It doesn’t stop working. But it loses every single feature that justifies its high price tag.
Take a model like the NordicTrack S22i. Its premium features are the 22-inch touchscreen, the iFIT Global Workouts, and the automatic resistance and incline control. If you cancel your iFIT subscription:
* You lose access to all classes and scenic rides.
* You lose the automatic resistance and incline control. The bike’s main selling point is gone.
* The large, beautiful screen reverts to a basic “manual mode” workout screen, showing only your stats (speed, time, distance).
You are left with a very high-quality, manually-adjustable exercise bike that has a 22-inch screen that does almost nothing. The same is true for Peloton and other integrated systems.
Your New Calculation: The Total Cost of Ownership
Before buying any smart bike, stop looking at the sticker price.
Do this calculation instead:
(Sticker Price) + (Monthly Subscription Fee x 36 months) = Your 3-Year Total Cost
A 1,999 bike with a 39/month fee is actually a $3,403 investment over three years.
Viewing the purchase this way is the only way to be honest about the commitment. You are not buying a product; you are subscribing to a service that comes with a very specialized piece of hardware. If that total number makes sense for your fitness goals, it’s a fantastic investment. But if you’re just looking for a bike to pedal while you watch TV, a “dumb” bike with magnetic resistance will save you thousands.
