Assault Bike

What an AssaultBike is

AssaultBike is an Assault Fitness product name for a stationary fan-resistance bike with pedals and moving push-pull handles. The fan's resistance rises with fan speed, while the rider can combine or isolate arm and leg work. “Air bike” and “fan bike” are broader equipment categories rather than exact synonyms for every product.

Current product information

The current AssaultBike Classic page lists a chain drive, a 300 lb maximum user mass and a console showing watts, RPM, calories, heart rate, distance and time. The AssaultBike Elite page currently lists a chain drive, not the belt drive in the original article, and a 350 lb maximum user mass. Manufacturer dimensions and weights have also changed and even differ between sections of those pages, so check the current product page and regional manual before purchasing or planning floor space.

Other fan bikes use different drive systems, geometry and consoles. Concept2 BikeErg is an air-resistance cycling ergometer with fixed handlebars, so its movement is not equivalent to an air bike with moving arms. Price, feel and availability change by market and are not factual constants.

HYROX^® context

The AssaultBike is not a station in the current HYROX^® Singles rulebook. The race includes eight 1 km runs plus SkiErg, Sled Push, Sled Pull, Burpee Broad Jumps, Rowing, Farmers Carry, Sandbag Lunges and Wall Balls.

An air bike can provide aerobic or interval exercise with arm and leg involvement. A controlled air-bike training study found cardiorespiratory adaptations from the tested sprint-interval protocols, but that does not show that 30/30 intervals reproduce HYROX^® stations, that arm motion mirrors SkiErg or Sled Pull, or that a particular calorie target improves race performance.

Cycling usually avoids the landing impacts of running, yet “lower impact” does not make every session recovery work or guarantee joint comfort. Intensity and individual tolerance still matter. It also does not reproduce running mechanics. A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis found no significant group differences between running-only and cycling-only interventions across its pooled outcomes, but included only seven studies and did not study fan bikes or HYROX^®. Use it as bounded cross-training evidence, not proof of direct transfer.

Programming

Choose time, power, cadence or effort targets from the purpose of the session and your own baseline. Console calorie estimates are device outputs, not comparable physiological measurements across different machines. Universal targets such as 15–25 calories in 30 seconds for men, 10–18 for women or 50–70 calories per minute are not supported and may be unrealistic.

Keep running and official-station practice when race specificity is required. An air bike may supplement or temporarily replace some conditioning when appropriate, but the cited evidence does not prescribe two or three weekly sessions or identify it as active recovery.

Questions

Is an AssaultBike useful for HYROX^® training?

It can be one conditioning option, especially when arm-and-leg cycling fits the session. Evidence does not establish it as necessary or superior for HYROX^®.

How should I set interval targets?

Use a repeatable metric from the same machine and a target you can perform with the intended technique and recovery. Avoid universal sex-based calorie numbers.

Can it replace running?

It can add cardiovascular work with different mechanics, but it does not reproduce the eight 1 km runs. Retain appropriate running exposure when preparing to race.

Add Assault Bike sessions to your HYROX^® programme with Repz - structured training for every station.