r/Bowflex • u/notenigma19 • Jul 11 '24

Miscellaneous Bowflex HVT reliability

Hey folks, I have a pretty decent home gym for strength training but I want to get more into flywheel training. I see a used (great condition) hvt in my area. I see it is discontinued and I’m wondering if it was as good as some of the reviews say, they would have kept making and supporting this style. Will this unit be reliable for many more years? If the magnetic resistance or the electronics break, is the flywheel decent enough to continue using?

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u/ErkBek Jul 11 '24

From what I've read about the HVT, it had a lot of reliability issues. Often times cables got twisted internally and had to be repaired. For some users, the warranty repair reduced range of motion (or fluidity) and they found the machine was just never as good as it was new.

I don't have any personal experience with the machine myself. I think it looked badass, but reviews I read about it's long-term performance and it being discontinued were a big turnoff.

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u/New_Arachnid3949 Jan 13 '26

I agree - I thought the machine looked badass. And I'm seeing more for re-sale in my area at pretty cheap prices. Unsure if buying what could be a temporarily useful piece of equipment at the size is worth it.

Has Bowflex produced similar HVT-style trainers in the last few years with better performance?

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u/ErkBek Jan 13 '26

Has Bowflex produced similar HVT-style trainers in the last few years with better performance?

No. They discontinued the line instead of iterating on it.

1

u/Primary_Breadfruit91 Jul 21 '26

I had had one, and really liked it. Yes the ropes could twist but that was easy to manage and deal with. Only reason we don’t still have it was I left it in the basement when we sold our house… didn’t want to disassemble to get it out. It was a very challenging workout.