Bells Of Steel Blitz Air Bike 2.0 Review 2023

In-depth Review of the Bells Of Steel Blitz Air Bike 2.0

Preprogrammed Workouts

One thing to keep in mind with most air bikes, including the Blitz Bike, is that they have limited tech. This can be a pro and a con, depending on your training goals and how you want to use the air bike. A con is that they don’t come with an attached touch screen like most indoor cycling bikes, nowadays. Another downside is that most air bikes don’t offer subscription training content, although this could be a pro to some.

Another pro is that they don’t require electricity to use. The Bells Of Steel Blitz Bike features a battery-powered console to display your workout metrics. I’ll go into the console a little deeper in a moment. For right now I’m going to give you insight into the content on the console.

Once you hop on the Blitz Air Bike 2.0, the console turns on when you start moving the handles and pedals.

On the screen is a graphic of a person riding an air bike, along with your metrics. The metrics tracked include your total time on the bike, distance, estimated calories, watts, speed, RPMs, and heart rate (when you attach a compatible heart rate monitor).

You can simply hop on and refer to these metrics, or use the preprogrammed intervals and custom training goals. On the right side of the screen are buttons labeled with all of these options. These include Tabata intervals, custom intervals, and targeted training by time, distance, calories, or heart rate.

When you press one of these buttons, the screen changes to reflect the mode. For the custom settings, the arrow buttons at the bottom of the screen are used to input your goals. Overall, I really like how straightforward and simple the programs are to use.

For those hoping to connect through Bluetooth for more workout tracking with third-party apps, this console doesn’t allow that and has very minimal tech. The only connectivity is with a heart rate monitor that will have to be purchased elsewhere.

Console

The Bells Of Steel Air Bike has a non-adjustable console. The fixed position is within view. As I mentioned, the console on the Blitz Air Bike is battery-powered and has buttons to navigate. This is on trend with other air bikes on the market. I can’t imagine an air bike with a touch screen. On top of the noise they generate, it doesn’t seem practical to include one. Plus, if you’re like me, you probably spend a half hour or less on an air bike at a time. I know for me personally, that half hour or so is spent doing intervals and sometimes training on and off the air bike anyways.

So, even though the console is simple, it works for this type of machine. Some Bluetooth connectivity would be nice, but I actually really like this console because it’s uncomplicated. Sometimes extra buttons feel clunky to navigate, but the Blitz Bike is pretty easy to use.

The console isn’t backlit. So, if you like working out in a dark room, it will be harder to read the console. With overhead lights, seeing the console isn’t an issue.

What’s really nice about the Bells Of Steel Blitz Bike is the included accessories. The console comes with a rack for your phone. You could maybe use a small tablet, but my iPhone fits best on the small ledge that the rack consists of. When you place your phone on the rack, it does block the console, but nonetheless, this is nice to have. It keeps my phone in place even when I’m cranking on the Blitz Bike, too.

The lip just about the start/stop buttons is where you can place your phone.

The metal water bottle fastened below the console is a nice touch too. The AssaultBike Elite doesn’t include a holder, so this is a nice feature, especially considering how affordable the Blitz Bike is. This water bottle holder even holds my 40 oz Stanley cup which is a feat in itself. So, I’m able to hydrate while I torture myself on this air bike.

Construction Quality & Durability

I have to say that my colleagues and I are extremely impressed with the overall quality of the Blitz Air Bike 2.0. Not only is it made with high-quality materials, but it is affordable. During our testing we found it to be comparable to bikes priced considerably higher.

The Blitz Bike is comfortable and easy to use.

Frame

What makes the Blitz Air Bike feel so durable, stable, and solid to use is the steel construction. Bells Of Steel claims this bike is made for both commercial and home use. It’s powder-coated to prevent corrosion over time. Plus, the stabilizers are pretty wide which gives the Blitz an excellent base for support. Compared to the AssaultBike, they’re a few inches wider.

Under the stabilizers are adjustable leveling feet to plant the Blitz Bike to the floor, too. Even when we’re really cranking on it, we don’t experience any rocking or unsteadiness of the bike.

Another component that makes the Bells Of Steel Blitz Bike so solid to use, is that it weighs 118 lbs. It’s similar to the Airdyne and a little lighter than the Assault and Rogue Echo bikes. Considering how overbuilt and beefy the Rogue Echo bike is, we are impressed with how heavy the Blitz Bike is without being overly large like the Rogue.

Fan

Considering the price point of the Blitz Air Bike 2.0, we are impressed that the fan is large.

This fan is 25” and only 2” smaller than Assault Fitness’s premium AssaultBike Elite.

How fan bikes work is that once the handles and pedals get moving, they move the blades that are positioned in the fan. As the blades move air gets sucked into the fan to create resistance for the blades to move against. The attached fan is a huge reason why air bikes are challenging to use. The fan allows for an unlimited amount of resistance to pedal and push the handles against. Essentially, the harder/faster you work on an air bike, the more resistance is created.

The large fan on the Blitz makes for an even harder workout compared to bikes with small fans. There are 7 metal fan blades within the fan, too. I personally really like the yellow fan blades, they compliment the branding on the bike well and bring a nice contrast to the black.

The portion of the fan that is nearest you when you’re sitting on the saddle, is covered in a wind guard. It is metal and attached with screws so you can remove it when you want to feel the air from the fan. For winter training in your garage gym though, the wind guard is really nice to have. It’s even better that it is included with the purchase of the Bells Of Steel Air Bike.

Drive System

One of my favorite aspects of the Bells Of Steel Blitz Air Bike is the belt drive system. This is the mechanism that attaches the pedals to the fan in order for both to move when you’re pedaling. Most indoor cycling bikes use belt drive systems, but most air bikes tend to use chain drive systems. As soon as I started pedaling on the Blitz Bike I noticed a difference in the feel of the pedal stroke and the sound of the bike.

The sound is considerably quieter than air bikes with chain drives, like the AssaultBike Elite. You don’t hear the grinding and clanking of the chain, and you don’t feel it when you’re pedaling either. The pedal stroke is much smoother. Belt drive systems also require little to no maintenance, unlike chain drive systems.

Keep in mind that since the Bells Of Steel Bike uses air resistance, it still makes noise. I wouldn’t put it in my apartment (unless I wanted to piss off my neighbors). It’s definitely not as quiet as indoor cycling bikes, but the noise is less great than other air bikes like the Elite. You could probably bring this one into your house without disrupting your loved ones too much. A chain drive air bike is probably better suited for your garage.

The Blitz Air Bike 2.0 has flat metal pedals with cleats to give your shoes good traction. The pedals can be pedaled forward and back.

These work with any type of athletic shoe.

Handlebars & Saddle

When you pedal, the handles move on the Blitz Bike. Both move in conjunction with one another to provide you with that total body workout. Compared to other bikes, the handles are anything fancy. They’re rubber coated with a gritty texture to provide a good grip, similar to the AssaultBike Elite. They don’t offer as many grip options as the Airdyne AD7 Pro though. This bike has multiple areas to grip in order to work your upper body muscles differently.

The Blitz Bike only offers one grip option.

I do really like how slim the handles are. As a smaller user, I can wrap my hands completely around them. The AssaultBike has thicker handles that I can’t wrap my fingers around.

If you want to do upper body targeted training, it’s possible on the Bells Of Steel because of the included foot pegs. The foot pegs are metal and knurled like a dumbbell or barbell to provide texture for your shoes. I’m 5’1” and I can reach them just fine.

The foot pegs don’t spin and are placed on either side of the fan to work for most users.

I will say that I love this saddle! Bells Of Steel emphasizes it on their website, and they’re not wrong! The cushioning is forgiving and makes for a comfortable experience. Saddles on exercise bikes aren’t the most comfortable, but this one is one of the most comfortable that I’ve used. It isn’t as narrow as indoor cycling bikes, which is one of the reasons why it’s more comfortable. However, wider saddles like this one aren’t best for use during a long workout on the bike. You might be more prone to getting saddle sores if you spend a couple of hours or more using this bike. Air bikes are typically used for shorter periods of time, so they tend to have wider saddles like this one.

The wide seat is nice for added support and I like the texture of the saddle. I’m not a fan of the AssaultBike Elite’s saddle because the cushioning is firm and it’s slippery. When I wear leggings (which is basically all the time), I tend to slide forward on the saddle. On the Blitz Bike, my leggings don’t slip.

Well done Bells Of Steel with this saddle!

The saddle has nice adjustability, too. It adjusts forward/back and up/down. The handles don’t adjust. Our reviewers range from about 5’1” (me) up to 6’5” and we’re all able to adjust the saddle to work for us. Even though I’m the shortest reviewer, I’m not on the lowest seat setting, so users a few inches shorter than me should be able to use the Blitz Bike.

Our 6’5” tall reviewer has a little bit of room to raise the seat higher, too.

Just like I measure indoor cycling bikes, I measured the reach and leg span on the Blitz. The reach (measured from the neck of the console to the nose of the saddle) when the saddle is forward and back comes out to a difference of 5”. The leg span (your inseam) was measured from the top of the saddle to the top of the lowest pedal with the saddle all the way up and down. Raised, the leg span is 39”. Lowered, the leg span is 29”.

This difference in adjustability helps to give you a better idea of how the bike will adjust for you.

Performance & Functionality

The Bells Of Steel Blitz Air Bike 2.0 really impressed us. It performed well and we are extremely pleased with the quality, especially for the price. The Blitz Bike worked well during all of our testing, and we feel like this is a durable air bike that should hold up well with a lot of use. It has a nice weight capacity of 350 lbs. This limit is usually the most we see on air bikes and exercise bikes in general.

I really like the Blitz Bike’s belt drive system. As I mentioned, it’s smoother, quieter, and requires less maintenance than chain drives that bikes like AssaultBikes use. It is a bit more responsive too, so when you stop pedaling, the pedals, handles, and fan blades stop moving. If you like ghost riding, this bike isn’t the best option for you to get those couple extra calories and metrics counted as a part of your workout. For others, like me, this isn’t a problem. If you haven’t heard of it, ghost riding is when the handles and pedals keep moving after you stop pedaling.

Lastly, we did notice that moving the Bells Of Steel Air Bike around isn’t quite as seamless as other bikes. While the front wheels are the same size as the AssaultBike Elite, the positioning of the fan is lower and more forward on the bike, so when you tilt the bike the fan gets in the way. This happens if you tilt the back of the bike up too much. Larger wheels like turf tires would probably help eliminate this, but it isn’t a huge issue. We don’t recommend this bike for moving around too much, but it is possible to move when needed.

When you don’t tip the bike too much, you can move it around just fine.

Warranty/Customer Service

Bells Of Steel includes a 2-year warranty for the Blitz Air Bike. Assembling the bike is pretty straightforward. We recommend at least 2 people for a smoother setup though.