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Echelon made a $500 version of its connected spin bike for Amazon Prime (updated)

It's a similar co-branding deal to the one Echelon made with Walmart.

Echelon / Amazon

Echelon makes connected exercise gear in a similar vein to Peloton, but with more emphasis on a lower price. The company said it had teamed up with Amazon to create a lower-cost connected spin bike that’s available exclusively for Prime subscribers. The $500 Echelon Ex-Prime — dubbed the “Prime Bike” — has many of the same hardware features found on Echelon’s other bikes, with additional extras scrubbed off to keep the price lower. [Unfortunately, as per the update below, Amazon has said it has no relationship with Echelon.]

It looks like the Ex-Prime is another low-cost variation on the Echelon Connect Sport, complete with the red-handwriting along the down tube. You may recall that Echelon has a similar model available as part of a retailer deal at Walmart that also costs $499. The biggest omission is the lack of any sort of smart device, and so you’ll be supplying your own screen to connect to the bike to access classes on-demand.

Echelon and Amazon’s partnership has been in the works for a short while, and the first bunch of devices were quietly sold over the last few weeks. It’s only now that the pair have gone public with the team up, and confirmed that the bike was requested by Amazon. There are a couple of subtle changes, including a different resistance knob build and nicer handlebars.

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"We were built on the idea of attainable fitness for everyone. The Prime Bike was developed in collaboration with Amazon, aiming to create an amazing, connected bike for less than $500 and it's proven to be a phenomenal match," said Lou Lentine, President and CEO of Echelon Fitness. "Amazon looking to us to partner on their first-ever connected fitness product is recognition of our commitment to deliver quality at a reasonable price-point as reflected in our explosive growth over the last year."

It’s worth saying, however, that this likely doesn’t mark some new direction for Amazon’s own hardware products since the deal mirrors that at Walmart. A nice discount on a desirable piece of fitness equipment to tempt people into shelling out for a Prime exclusive, but nothing more.

That said, if you were looking for something Peloton-troubling but don’t have Peloton money in your back pocket, this could be worth checking out. The Ex-Prime Smart Connect Bike is available now priced at $500.

Update 09/23/20 - 4:01am ET: An Amazon spokesperson has contacted us to distance the company from the bike, and Echelon. In a statement, they say the bike has nothing to do with them, and is working to stop sales until the matter can be clarified.

“This bike is not an Amazon product or related to Amazon Prime. Echelon does not have a formal partnership with Amazon. We are working with Echelon to clarify this in its communications, stop the sale of the product, and change the product branding.”

We have reached out to both Amazon and Echelon to understand what has happened here and yes, we’ll tell you all when we know more.

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