ProForm Tour de France indoor training bike mirrors real route

22
Filed in: Other Tech

By , July 21, 2011 @ 5:46pm

Think you have a shot at wearing that yellow jersey? Think you have what it takes to be the next Lance Armstrong? Well, you need to do some training first and that’s where the new ProForm Tour de France indoor cycle comes into the picture.

To the undiscerning eye, this might look like just another stationary bike, but this is the official training bike of the Tour de France. Kicking it up a notch, they’re actually using something called iFit Live Technology, which is powered by Google Maps. It mirrors the real course of the Tour de France, adjusting the motorized incline/decline and Real Road Resistance on the fly.

Don’t like the official route? You can log onto the iFit.com website from ProForm, draw out your own custom cycling route anywhere in the world, and the Google Maps integration will simulate that course on the training bike for you. Can you imagine how useful this would be for the real competitors? The bike can store up to 10 rides at a time. The only limit is the the incline and decline can’t exceed 20 per cent.

Rounding out the specs are 24 gears with digital control, one year of iFit.com membership, Polar wireless chest pulse compatibility, WiFi connectivity, iPod port, built-in speaker, three way seat adjustment, standard seat mount, and standard pedal mounting. Pre-orders are being taken now for $1299.


22 commentsback to post

  • leo

    anybody else have issue with tracking in google map console? I’m doing the preloaded Pasage du gois, and I notice my tracking dot jumps back and forth along the route line. 

  • Middrocks

    not impressed at all.  took way too long to deliver, assembly was incorrect (they mixed up R & L wiring), and contact with TDF almost impossible…and no response to an email asking why a $1300 bike comes with pedal baskets, not clips (or worse case a combo), as advertised. 
    I actually like the ride/live experience of uphill/downhill, but think there are way too many movong parts (and exposed wiring/on+off switch to sweat/moisture), that this is going to be a bad ending.  hope i am wrong!

  • Gbrosch

    Received mine 21 December. Some console buttons don’t function – won’t work with the iFit. Proform shunts you to iFit who act like theuy have never heard of it. Great disappointment. I wouldn’t buy this knowing what I now know.

  • TDF….WTF?

    Yes, I’m getting a little worried about the TDF myself.  It took a couple of weeks to arrive and Last night, after less than ten rides the console would not respond….the screen was lit, but the buttons were dead in the water.  Chat was about the only option for customer service, and while I was bent over the disassembled front end of the bike, looking for loose wires, Customer Service called.  They pretty quickly said they would send a new console…but it was backordered (200 or more)…and it will be some weeks before I see it arrive.  Seemed like this is not even close to the first time this has happened. They also scolded me for not unplugging the unit every time I’m done with it.  WTF?  I told CS that I had it plugged into a surge protector which I switched off every time I was done…she told me that it was the same as getting electricuted in a bathtub when you throw a shut off radio into the water…again…WTF!
    I’ll return and comment if and when the replacement console arrives…though I’m getting a little nervous about this purchase…and had some big plans for riding this holiday which are now dashed.

    • Digivelo

      Did you ever get your console ? After over 20 rides, mine is now locked up… I am going to try it again tomorrow and then hope for the best with customer service, which is now closed as it is late in the evening..

  • Ken

    Wow, I was ready to order one until I began reading these comments.  Is there a place in SoCal where I can test ride one?

    • http://www.mobilemag.com/ Mobile Magazine

      Try calling their sales: 1.888.742.0128

  • Cslang34

    I would have given this product five plus stars after my first three
    workouts.  It was easily the most fun I have ever had on an exercise
    bike and did everything as advertised.  Google maps worked great, and
    the exhilaration I felt and the quality of the workout replicated my on
    road experience.  However, the bike froze in a steep incline in the
    middle of my fourth workout. (Ironic, it was a preloaded TDF route) I
    called customer service twice.  There was no option to hold
    indefinitely, just a “try back later” message and my call was dropped. 
    To their credit, I received an immediate response via chat.  Then they
    wanted to to talk me through the diagnosis myself.  I’m pretty handy
    with tools, but the further I got into this, the more I thought “hey,
    shouldn’t I be getting more support for $1300?”  Bottom line:  I need a
    new motor, part on back order with no forecast shipment date. It’s
    already been three weeks and still no estimate when the part will become
    available.   That after waiting two months to get the bike in the first
    place.  If this gets resolved soon and I don’t experience another
    problem, I’ll revise this to four stars.  I could just be the unlucky
    0.1%.  However, given that I can’t even get a live body to talk to, this
    doesn’t look to be an isolated event.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2HB6RULKJSOK74RCTFHWVBHI54 Timothy

    Waited 6 weeks for Le Tour de France bike and got it about six weeks ago.  Console doesn’t work properly and the plastic guard carved a notch in the fly wheel on the first ride.  Trying to get someone on the phone is next to impossible unless you’ve got more patience than Job.  If the phone is answered I’ve been on hold anywhere from 25 to 55 minutes.  Problems still aren’t solved and I purchased the 3 year warranty.  Wish I’d passed.  I have advised my cycling group to steer clear.

  • Irish Bull

    Console stopped working today after three weeks of use.  I’m going to call customer support tomorrow and keep my fingers crossed that someone picks up the phone.

  • GJS

    Just chatted to a proform rep online…..I asked what the warranty on the Le Tour de France bike is, and was told they did not have a manual for the bike as it is brand new.  I told the rep this was not really a good reason as all other specs for the bike are listed online.  They then repeated to me that the product is brand new,mmm, getting defensive with customers does not work for us.  Come on proform, backup your products with complete information.  The fact that this information is missing makes us wonder what you are hiding.  We were gong to purchase a treadmill and thebike, there goes a $2,000 sale Proform!!

  • airborne

    I too fell for the hype, mine worked for one day then the console stopped working. It took a week of phone calls and e-mails to get them to respond and the only response I got was an e-mail stating they had ordered a replacement console. Since then I’ve been waiting 3 weeks for the new console.  Unfortunately I’m well past the return date and still haven’t gotten my first ride in. While I was waiting for my console, I tried creating my own rides in iFit – disappointed to find out the routes are limited to approx 26 miles. I can’t understand all the problems because this is not a new product, it was previously marketed as criterium gtx.

  • Daavew

    Poorly made!!! Mine broke the incline decline and almost dumped me on the floor after the 3rd ride. Not looking forward to trying to get someone out to fix it.  Another case of build as cheaply as possible and  sell without testing! Avoid this one like the plague!

  • Dwarfrog7

    I just received my Proform TDF bike……it came with a console the only problem is the console doesn’t work!! I waited a month for the bike to arrive and the console is dead!! I called customer service and was told they were aware of the problem. They credited me 10% off my purchase price and told me a tech will call me tomorrow morning.

  • Ken

    Yeah,Proform’s customer service stinks. I ordered my machine and instead of saying they were back ordered they kept telling me it was shipping the end of the week. That went on for 4 weeks.I finally got it and basicly really like it BUT be careful when putting on the console (provided you get it). The screws to mount it are too long and can rub or worse cut the wires that run inside the handlebars. I took some wire loom to put on the wires to prevent damage. Of course the manual tells you TIP, Dont pinch wires….I’d mention this to the company but there does’nt seem to be anyone who cares..

  • Dave

    Don’t buy this if you’re expecting a realistic workout. the RPM’s are not measured correctly, in fact I estimate it is measuring only half of the actual RPM and as a result the bike speed is half of what it should be. To prove this I mapped a ride that I often do on my real bike and using the proform it took me twice as long as I normally take when riding for real. When I contacted their customer services about this it was clear they didn’t know much about their own product. And didn’t care. So in summary, not at all satisfied…

    • Ben

      Dave,
      Could you not have returned it within the 30 day trial period?
      Ben

    • Doggieflyer

      I purchased the bike and waited 4 weeks for it to arrive. Everything works except the pedals do not register because the magnets in the pedal wheel are missing. 6 weeks after my order I’ve still not been able to ride the bike. I called proform and waited 40 minutes on hold to order the missing magnets. What did they send me? Screws…

      Dave, lift up the black plastic cover on the V frame above the pedals to expose the pedal wheel. Rotate the pedals and look for two small round holes on opposite ends of the wheel, 180′ apart. Perhaps one is missing so the bike is only registering 1/2 revolution per revolution.

    • Doggieflyer

      I meant to say that those holes each house a magnet and perhaps one magnet us missing.

  • Scott F.

    My Proform Tour De France trainer just arrived via UPS. After carefully unpacking and inventory of the unit, I discovered that the console was missing. My call to Proform was most frustrating. I was told that the consoles are not yet available to be shipped and they have no idea when they’ll be in from overseas to be shipped. They couldn’t tell me if it would be a couple of days, a week, a month or longer. I could only get the nebulous, “we’re working on it and I went ahead and ordered the part for you” This is a really bad business model. Why bother shipping shipping something if it isn’t complete.  At the very least, I should have been notified in advance that the unit would be incomplete. I hope they don’t mind my calling every day until it arrives.. Not happy.

    • bdog

      Any status update?  Did you ever get the console? Can you even adjust the gearing on the bike without the console?  That is crazy that they would ship it out to you without the key part!

    • MT

      I just spoke to customer no service and they said that as far as they knew they were being shipped?