JTX Tri-Fit Review

JTX have quite a range of cross trainers and similar pieces. The JTX Tri-Fit is a good middle option. They build and sell cheaper options, of course – but they come with a commensurate drop in quality and utility – and they build and sell pricier options – but these are often better suited to commercial, professional or semi-professional venues.

The Tri-Fit is a reassuringly expensive machine perfect for your home, occupying a happy medium between quality and affordability.

We’ve been lucky enough to get our hands on one for a good few workouts, now – and they were good workouts.

You can chug along nicely, burning a few calories per minute at a steady pace, with your favourite media playing around you (thanks, in no small part, to the fantastic quality of the JTX Tri-Fit’s speakers). Or, you can whack up the resistance, increase the incline, and sweat buckets in just a few minutes.

Here’s what we found when testing this impressive cross trainer – and you can read it all here in our JTX Tri-Fit review.

JTX Tri-Fit First Impressions

My first impression of the JTX Tri-Fit is that it is large, well made, sturdy and very heavy, with all the hallmarks of quality you might expect of JTX Fitness home workout equipment.

I can’t imagine that anyone would buy it casually – you won’t get much change from £800, unless you manage to find it in a really good sale, and you will definitely have to find some dedicated floor space to house it, due to its impressive dimensions.

However, for anybody looking to add a serious, high-quality piece of equipment to a good home gym, or anybody looking for a great centrepiece around which to build their home gym, it is a great option.

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Tri-Fit Tech Specs

The JTX Tri-Fit is 153 x 75 x 173 cm and it weighs 69 kg. It is not for the faint of heart! However, as I’ll run through below, there are some definite bonuses to having such a weighty machine, and the downsides are largely mitigated by clever design.

The JTX Tri-Fit also has an adjustable stride that can be set anywhere between 16 to 20 inches. This is more important than you might think – anybody topping six foot will be glad of the extra room, whilst most shorter athletes will be relieved at not having to take massive moonwalker lunges! (It’s also handy for those of us with outsized feet!)

The incline adjusts separately to the stride adjustment, so that you really can set your preferences how you want them.

Then there is the adjustable resistance available. The JTX Tri-Fit offers sixteen levels of magnetic resistance. Once more, it proves itself perfect for all-comers.

Newer athletes or those looking to train endurance can hang out in the lower ranges, whilst there is really quite a hard slog to be had in the upper ranges for those looking to really chase a pump.

Finally, the electronics are almost exactly what you would want from a machine like the JTX Tri-Fit.

The Tri-Fit boasts various user-friendly electronic features, including high quality speakers on the consoles and Bluetooth compatibility. You get 19 programmes built into the JTX Tri-Fit, with a range of options allowing you to suit your workout to your training goals.

They will allow you to keep things fresh and interesting, maintaining your motivation, whilst allowing for variation and oscillation in training type and intensity.

The Tri-Fit is compatible with a Polar-compatible chest strap, allowing you track your heart rate with a surprising degree of accuracy. The onboard computer keeps track of all your stats, displays all the data you might ever want – calories burned, distance travelled, speed and so forth – and is actually quite intuitive and navigable.

You only get the option to customise a single workout. This is OK, but there are cheaper models that let you customise several. So far, this is my main bugbear with the JTX Tri-Fit. It’s a small thing, but one they should know better than to allow.

However, on the whole, the specs you get with the JTX Tri-Fit are good. They show it, on paper at least, to be a worthwhile machine, capable of justifying its high price tag.

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Using the JTX Tri-Fit

First off, the Tri-Fit a bit of a beast, at 153 x 75 x 173 cm in stature and 75 kg in weight. If you’re buying it for a home or garage gym, you will need to make sure you can set aside a fair amount of space.

This being said, the JTX Tri-Fit is pretty manoeuvrable. It has wheels and is pretty well-balanced, so moving it around is easy enough (on a level surface – good luck carrying it upstairs by yourself!).

It also features a space saving design to the motor pattern, meaning that you can keep it fairly flush to the wall whilst still being able to use it fully.

This size – and the sturdiness that comes with it – translates over to user experience quite nicely. There is a maximum user limit of 150 kg, meaning it’s perfect for larger athletes.

Even for more economically proportioned users, this sturdiness is quite something – you will feel safe and secure, and as though you can really put some work in without worrying about anything flimsy going amiss.

The JTX Tri-Fit is also easy to assemble – in that there is surprisingly little assembly required. Except for the upper handlebars, all of its moving parts are pre-assembled.

The manual is clear and easy to follow. This all means that you are ready to work out almost as soon as you take delivery of it, which is refreshing.

The JTX Tri-Fit is also built to last, as evidenced in large part by the warranties you get with it. They display a great level confidence on JTX’s part.

The frame is covered by a lifetime warranty, while the parts come with a 2-year warranty for in-home repair. Though this isn’t unexpected from such a pricey piece of kit, it is at least reassuring, and could easily have been overlooked by the manufacturer.

Then you have the workout itself. The JTX Tri-Fit is pretty easy to live with and very easy, and fun, to train on. The free Kinomaps app is welcome, as you get to enjoy beautiful views as you train.

You can also use the i-Console app and Google maps to create training circuits around the world, with automatic resistance adjustments as necessary (hills really feel like hills!) You can even connect with friends in various trials and challenges, sharing your progress as you go.

Manual adjustments are also easy, making interval training particularly enjoyable on the Tri-Fit. You get various buttons and controls on the handlebars so that you can select and change your resistance and mode of training.

These different resistance levels also come very smoothly, courtesy of a flywheel that is as weighty as you might expect from such a heavy machine. At 17 kg, the JTX Tri-Fit’s flywheel allows for incredibly slick changes between levels, whilst providing a great deal of stability.

It also includes a SmoothDrive™ system that keeps everything pretty much silent – ideal for home use, where you don’t want to bug everyone else with a squeaky wheel.

The handlebars also boast easy-to-reach start and stop buttons. These are are convenient and make for a much safer training experience.

The ability to change up the incline is also fairly fantastic. Increase it for more resistance, with a greater challenge to your core and glutes; decrease it to focus more on your quads and endurance.

Combine with different stride lengths to further change up intensity and emphasis – longer strides over steeper inclines will be an absolute killer, and will only be viable for a few minutes, whilst shorter strides at a more level incline will give you a longer workout.

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Verdict

As so often in life, you get what you pay for with the Tri-Fit. It is commercial grade, whilst still being affordable for many home gym users, with its high cost balanced out fairly by the extra features it brings to the table.

The sheer variability and adaptability of the machine itself is quite astounding, with its adjustable stride length and incline settings, and its smooth, highly varied resistance levels giving you a different workout every single time, should you wish it.

I struggle to think of any kind of athletic endeavour that wouldn’t be served by the Tri-Fit – it can be easy going and steady, monstrously resistant and difficult, and everything in between.

There are downsides, of course. However much it may be worth it, the Tri-Fit does take a significant outlay. If you were already planning to spend a few hundred on a cross trainer, great – go for this one. You won’t regret it.

If you were looking to spend a couple of grand, this will do you and actually save you money. But if you’re just looking for a way to bring a bit of cardio into your home gym, no fuss, this may be overkill.

The lack of customisation in the software is also a bit irksome. It is very invariable, considering the fact that the Tri-Fit is one of the most variable pieces of hardware going. You should be able to programme more than a single custom workout.

Nevertheless, the Tri-Fit is a great piece of kit. It will give you a hell of a workout, with access to multiple styles, whilst keeping you comfortably secure in its heavy, high-quality framework.

A top buy for anyone looking for a high quality home cardio experience and equipment that should last for years to come.

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