Marcy NS-1000 Air Bike Review
If you are looking for a cheaper air bike, it can be a bit of a dangerous search. You have to balance the lower cost with the lack of advanced features. Quite often you also have to be wary of exercise bikes that are so cheap that they will likely fall apart in less than a year. Nobody wants that, regardless of how much they are paying. That’s why we are going through various air exercise bikes to see how they stack up versus their value. Today we have the Marcy NS-1000. We’re going to make sure that the NS-1000 makes a good case for itself, even with the lower price. So with all of that out of the way, let’s hop into our review of the Marcy NS-1000 air bike!
We’ve mentioned the price point a couple of times now, so it makes sense that we start with that element of the bike. The price that you can generally find the Marcy NS-1000 at is a pretty low $220-30. This is quite cheap, although it certainly comes with a cost in another realm: the warranties. The warranties that don’t come with the Marcy NS-1000 (and the more advanced Air 1) air bike are quite horrendous. You only get a 2 year guarantee on the frame of the bike and absolutely nothing else. There aren’t any labor warranties, parts warranties or belt warranties. This is terrible, as at absolute minimum you would expect 30 days for the parts and belt. But nope. You get no guarantee of the parts working on day 1. Absolutely terrible. While we could rant about those awful warranties all day, we will move on for your sake. The shipping process should take about a week or two to arrive, although this can be affected by various factors. Your location, weather and human error are all the elements that can slow it down. Once it arrives, it shouldn’t take that long to put together. A large part of it is pre-assembled, leaving you with a straightforward path to having a full air bike. The instructions are clear enough and even someone who isn’t very good at such a process shouldn’t find it too hard.
One of the biggest elements that make up modern exercise bikes (of all types) is the monitor. You won’t often find the more advanced monitors on the cheaper bikes and the Marcy NS-1000 is no exception. It is an extraordinarily small LCD monitor that isn’t backlit, making it hard to see in darker areas. There are no preset workouts that come with the NS-1000 monitor, but it will display a collection of statistics. It will show you your time, speed, distance, total distance and calories burned. However, the screen isn’t big enough to show all of them, so you’ll have to use the scan function if you want to see all of them. You also can’t switch the measurements to metric, which might be an irritation to some people. There aren’t any sort of available connections via Bluetooth or ANT+, so you won’t be connecting to phone apps or even chest straps. So if you want to measure your heart rate or long-term stats, you’ll have to find some other way to do it. The monitor is powered by 2 AAA batteries. It’s a pretty basic piece of technology overall, but it should do for those who are only interested in the workout.
The next major element of these air bikes (and again, bikes in general) is the resistance that they provide. After all, you’re presumably getting a piece of exercise for the whole exercise part. Marcy’s Air 1 (which we’ve already reviewed) had a pretty standard dynamic air resistance powered by a fan. However, the NS-1000 has an eight-bladed fan that takes a different approach. It still offers the dynamic resistance from the fan, but there is also a knob that adjusts the overall resistance of the entire bike. You will get most of the resistance by pedalling harder and faster, but there is still that extra element of the overall resistance from the knob. The drivetrain of the NS-1000 is a chain one, which is louder than the belt/chain combination that the Air 1 has. It also requires more frequent maintenance checkups in or to make sure that everything is lubricated and still working. The crank of the NS-1000 looks to be 1-piece, which is the inferior crank type. It means that the two sides are less independent from one another, and it’s just one bar welded together through the middle. Another factor that we don’t know the details of is the Q-Factor of the NS-1000. The Q-Factor is the distance between the two pedals and can determine how comfortable you are on the bike. If the distance is too narrow, you can become uncomfortable and even get small injuries. Too large of a Q-Factor can cause discomfort as well. According to user reviews, it appears that the Q-Factor is a bit narrow, but not so much that it would become a hassle for the vast majority of people.
You’ll probably want to know how big of a bike it is that you are getting before bringing it home. The NS-1000 is fairly light and not that huge for one of these bikes, making it somewhat better for smaller homes. It is bigger than the Marcy Air 1, but not by a whole lot. Specifically, the NS-1000 measures out to be 45 inches (114 cm) long, 26.75 inches (68 cm) wide and 48.75 inches (123 cm) tall. Meanwhile, it weighs around 58 lbs (26.3 kg), while it can hold a maximum weight of 250 lbs (113 kg). There are extremely small wheels on the front of the fan that attempt to help with mobility, although it’s nice that they are at least there. There is a pretty flimsy floor stabilizer )as in, a curved bar) at the back, but it at least keeps the bike from flipping, even on the intense sessions.
We’re going to finish out our examination with the rest of the physical elements of the NS-1000. The handlebars are up first. They are not adjustable and move with the pedals. If there were foot rests on the NS-1000, this would be great, as you could get upper body workouts alongside your lower body ones. However, since there are no footrests here, that is not an option. The saddle of the is one of the areas that you can see a large downgrade from the Marcy Air 1. It shares the same negative aspect of being only vertically adjustable, but it does not share the same size and comfort level of the seat. You might want to investigate getting some gel padding or other cover for the seat, as one of the most common complaints about the bike attacks the comfortability of the saddle. Because of the adjustability, the NS-1000 can accommodate users between 5’0” – 6’2”, which is an OK range. The seating tube isn’t fantastic, as it is quite thin and is fairly prone to shaking back and forth. Then there are the pedals. These are extremely basic pedals that are simply made out of a heavy plastic. They won’t really do much at all. The only good news is that they’ve got standard threads, allowing you to replace them with any that you would prefer. Finally, you won’t find any sort of bonus equipment on the NS-1000. No media trays or water bottle holders to be found here. Unfortunate, but also not particularly surprising for a bike of this price.
Marcy NS-1000 Air Bike Pros:
- Resistance can provide a good challenge to all users
- Fairly small footprint and lightweight
- Cheap price
- An easy assembly process is always nice
- Fitness meter will track your workout statistics
- The moving handlebars will get your arms moving and working out
Marcy NS-1000 Air Bike Cons:
- The monitor does nott have any preset workouts
- The monitor is not backlit, making it hard to see in darker rooms
- The monitor does not track heart rate
- No footrests at all
- Lack of warranties is deeply concerning
- Seat is only vertically adjustable
- Seat is quite uncomfortable
- No bonus features like a media tray or water bottle holder
Conclusion
The Marcy NS-1000 does not represent a great value for what you are going to pay. While it is cheap and can offer some good workouts, it just has so many other weaknesses that make it less appealing the more you find out about it. The monitor is extremely basic, the seat uncomfortable and only adjustable vertically and there aren’t any footrests. That’s not even mentioning the lack of warranties that come with the NS-1000 and in general with both Marcy air bikes. If anything on the bike that isn’t covered by the frame warranty breaks, you’re out of luck. This alone would be enough for us to recommend against the NS-1000, but with all the other negatives added in, it’s a fairly simple call. You’d be served by looking somewhere else for a cheap air bike.
Hi there, I'm Sayed Hamed Hosseiny, the founder and one of the authors at yourexercisebike.com (YEB). I am a former indoor cycling instructor and personal trainer with nearly 20 years of experience. With a passion for indoor cycling, I have spent years designing cycling parts, repairing, and importing exercise bikes. All the articles, tips, guides, reviews, and comparisons on YourExerciseBike.com (YEB) reflect my personal opinion and expertise in the field. I'm excited to share my knowledge with fellow exercise bike enthusiasts and help people find reliable indoor cycling information and the best exercise bike for their needs. If you have any questions or suggestion, you can contact me at sayed@yourexercisebike.com.
