I am so excited to finally give you a review of one of my favorite things to do – ride my Peloton bike!
I have had it since end of May last year, and this week I finally hit my 100th ride milestone! With that said, I feel like I can now give you an insider’s look at the Peloton Bike!
PS – if you are wondering why it took so long to reach my milestone, it is because in the Summer I ride outside!
FYI – this is not a paid review. It is my own opinion on a bike I love!
I decided to purchase a Peloton bike after one of my coworkers raved about it.
What was funny was the night I brought it up to my husband – he laughed, and said he was going to talk to me about buying one too that day – and showed me on his iPad that he had the Peloton website up because he was going to talk to me about it!
So, great minds think alike!
So we purchased our bike and two weeks later it arrived. They came and assembled it in my home and I was off and running, err, cycling.
What is the Peloton Bike?
It is an indoor spin bike that has a screen attached to it that allows you to watch spin classes “On-Demand” OR they have LIVE classes that allow you to join in on from your home bike during their live studio classes in NYC! How cool is that!? Here is a 1 minute video introducing the bike.
So basically, you get to join studio spin classes from the comfort of your own home! For me, this is what makes the bike so special. I had a different cheaper spin bike without the fancy on-demand screen technology and I hardly ever used it.
But with this bike, my husband, Mother and I use almost every day between the three of us! The classes are so motivating and allow you to get a great work out – frankly, even better than when I go on to the treadmill at the gym!
You have to pay $39/month to get the on-demand service but given that a gym membership per person is usually more than that OR a single spin class is about that price, it is really not that expensive.
The bike itself is not cheap – nearly $2K, but it is a high quality spin bike and that is about the price of the competitors bikes as well. Here is a longer 5 minute video about the bike.
Here is another look at how the screen works. The left side of the screen shows the live rides you can choose from with the schedule. The right shows some of their thousands of classes you can choose from!
Let’s look at a ride I did last week. You can analyze your ride… you can see where their were pushes and rests. You can also look at your cadence, resistance, etc. If you have a heart rate monitor you can hook it up.
The Bike Itself
The bike is carbon fiber with a smooth, quiet fly wheel. It is a clip-in bike that uses LOOK Delta clips so you can use any cycling shoe that is compatible with LOOK Delta clips. This bike is top quality. I have had a cheaper bike that cost around $400 and this bike is soooooo much nicer.
Below is a picture of my bike. I consider my riding spot a French-Glam studio!
I had a spare piece of carpet that I put under the bike, but if you don’t have that, I strongly recommend buying a bike mat because the sweat does drip off of you!
The Classes
My favorite part of the bike, as I said, are the classes! There are many different coaches and they have different coaching styles as well as different skill levels.
The are beginner classes, HIIT classes, TABATA classes, Climb Classes, Arms & Legs classes, Pro Cycling, Scenic Rides, Themed classes and more! Additionally they have them for all sorts of ride lengths – 10 min cool down rides to 90 min power rides.
Additionally, they now have off-the-bike training programs, which is super cool! They have yoga, weight training, stretching, core training, etc! You can sort by class type, demonstrated below:
You can read about all of the coaches here, but these are my favorite coaches:
Alex- usually does Hip-Hop rides and his motto is: “Feel Good. Look Good. Do Better” and I love it!
Robin- she is energetic, plays hip-hop music too, and frequently plays a game called “Robin Says”… which usually involves lots of sweat.
Cody – his rides are usually to the beat of the music, so he doesn’t always give you the specific cadence, instead stating “one-two” to the beat of the music. He usually plays pop songs!
Hannah – She does tons of themed rides which is so much fun.
I actually do like all of the coaches, but these are the ones I do most of my rides with partially because of music preferences.
There is really no bad coach, just like people you meet in person, you will find ones that seem to fit with your groove more than others! And by groove I mean, music preferences!
When you purchase the bike, you have to buy one year of classes and after that it is up to you! But the classes are the really the reason to buy the bike.
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| my favorite shirt I bought from Peloton with Alex’s motto on it! It is sold out now. |
Adjusting the Bike and Clipping on/off with your Shoes
The peskiest part of this bike is getting in and out of the clips! I don’t think clipping in is very difficult, but getting out of the bike is a little tricky!
I always get in and out of the bike the same way.
Clipping in is easy – just point your toe downwards and then rock back onto your heel and you’ll hear a “clip!”. Then swing your other leg over and do the same.
Clipping out of the bike is tricky. I start with my right foot and if looking down at it while on the bike, turn it inwards towards the 9 o’clock positions while moving your heel towards the 3 o’clock position “clip!”. Then repeat. Here is a video on how to do this.
Also, since three of us ride the bike, we are constantly adjusting our seat. We actually all keep the handle bars the same height. It is not too hard to move the seat up and down and back and forth. This video shows how you can adjust your bike to your needs.
When you first get your shoes, you need to make sure you have your clips properly positioned on your shoe so when you ride your foot is in the right alignment! Here is a video on how to attach your cleats to your shoes! Every so often I tighten my clips up so they don’t wiggle around using a screwdriver! Peloton also sells spin shoes.
Here are the shoes I wear and the clips I bought:
My shoes
Look Delta Clips
Favorite Gear and Essentials for your Ride!
Clothing appropriate for spinning
You must have tight fitting pants/shorts because otherwise it will get caught in the bike and you don’t want that. My favorite leggings are pictured below, the Alo Moto leggings. Lots of celebs wear these.
I love Zella leggings. Here is a high waisted cropped version, a high waisted leggings.
Water Bottle
There is room for two water bottles and depending on the class length I may use both! Staying hydrated is extremely important for this high intensity class! My current favorite is the Hydroflask. I like this glass one, this metal one, this plastic one.
Fan
You HAVE to have a fan. I have an old fan, but if I were to get a new one I would get one with a remote control!
Wind Tower Fan with Remote Control
Holmes Remote Control Power Fan that Rotates (12″, under $50),
Honeywell Air Circulator Fan (Amazon’s #1 bestseller for under $20!)
Heart Rate Monitor
So I strongly suggest using a heart rate monitor. I actually use my Apple Sport Watch as I don’t need to see my HR on my bike. The Fitbit can now connect to the bike as well as that is what my mom uses, read about that here.
Any heart rate monitor that is ANT+ compatible works with this bike. The Apple Watch is not ANT+ compatible so it doesn’t sync with the bike.
Below is the Apple Watch I have and I LOVE it!
This is the Peloton Heart Rate Monitor which I currently use and love that it tracks my heart rate on the bike itself. The apple watch actually gets the same readings as the Peloton HR monitor but the apple watch can’t currently sync with the bike as of yet.
Weights
Weights for a bike?! YES! Many of the rides also include a section of arms!
I started off with 1 pound weights (yeah, I’m a wimp!) but now I am up to a 3 pound weight!
Dumbbells, Set of 2, 3-Pound (Green)
Here are the ones I started with:Dumbbells, Set of 2, 1-Pound (Pink)
Here is 5lb: Dumbbells, Set of 2, 5-Pound (Dark Blue)
They recommended starting with 1 or 3 pounds because the moves are very repetitive so lighter weights with many repetitions is better than heavier weights with a few repetitions.
Towel/Mat
I strongly recommend getting a bike mat because the sweat will literally drip off of you! The mat goes under the bike. We have an old piece of scrap carpet but if we didn’t have that we would get the mat! Also, you will need a towel.
Here is a similar mat for cheaper and the one that I actually use: Equipment Mat
Extras
I love using a headband to wick away sweat! I use this headband.
When I’m all done with my work out, I spray the area over with my Baies room spray because while enjoy having a home gym, I don’t want it to smell like a gym!
But… I Have Never Done Spinning Before!
That’s what my mom said! We got her a pair of shoes at Christmas and now she loves it! I used to go to spin class for several years but fell off the bandwagon when I moved and I couldn’t find a gym close enough with a spin class.
If you are unsure about it, what you can do is join the iOs App. This way you can full access to the content without committing with $2k. One of my friends did this- she bought a cheaper bike and then uses her iPad to stream the classes.
Here are showrooms around the country where you can test out the bike. Here is their FAQs page for more info.
I hope you enjoyed my Peloton review. Basically the only downside is the cost – but IMO, it was well worth it!
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| Peloton Cycle / Spin Bike Review |
You can use my referral code HMUX7R when you purchase the bike – this gives you and me $100 off at the Peloton boutique!
