Having the chance to climb on a Peloton and experience a ride is something that I’ve recently been afforded and I have to say, I love it.
For the past 20 days (and beyond by the time that you are reading this!) I’ve climbed in the saddle all while racking up 161 miles, which is about 8 miles per day on average.
I’ve looked at the instructors like they were crazy, got teary eyed at some of the motivational things that they’ve said all from the comfort of my own home.
I found spinning about a year ago and I really learned that I enjoyed it, what I didn’t love, was having to book time at the local gym in order to use the spin bike, and leaving my house when it is cold or late at night.
So when the opportunity to have a Peloton in my home presented itself, I jumped in the saddle.
Our house doesn’t have a basement, and frankly it is busting at the seams (but that is another story for another day). Our old clunky, not used treadmill, was taking up so much space in our home, so at a fraction of the size, the Peloton replaced it.
The footprint of the bike is roughly the size of a yoga mat, the addition of the mat for the bike makes it larger in both length and width. I’ve gone back and forth about the necessity of the extra mat, because it is pretty bulky and seems to collect dust. That being said, if you or someone in your family prone to lots of sweat it might be nice to have that to collect it.
My bike is next to my office set up in our primary bedroom in our home and serves as a constant reminder to get on and ride since I work from home 100% of the time.
Being able to workout at home, is nice because I can hop on between meetings for a quick 15 min ride to stretch my legs, get up early and get a hard workout in before my day begins or do one at the end of the night.
I realize these things that are pros, are the reality for anyone who exercises from home, but this is a bit of a new reality for me. Because of the extra accessibility to the tools that I need to workout, I find myself challenging myself once a day, if not two times a day.
There are a lot of the same questions that are asked over and over about Peloton so I thought I would answer them below:
Are Peloton classes live?
The answer to this is, some are, and some aren’t. To date, at this point I believe I’ve only participated in 2 live classes. People often will make sure they hop on when they are hitting a big milestone, like 100 rides (or more) in hopes that they will get a shout out from the instructor.
Honestly? I don’t think the live classes are for me. At least at this moment.
The reason? The Peloton Bike that I have is the + model, which means that you can take advantage of the auto resistance feature. Meaning, when the instructor says “your resistance should be between 30 – 40” the bike does it for you. You still have control over the resistance if you are wanting more added or less, but for me, the auto resistance takes some of the slacker out of me, not to mention, if my mind wanders and I don’t catch what resistance we are supposed to be on, I don’t have to worry about it.
Why did I spend a paragraph talking about that?
In short, because on a live class, the auto resistance feature doesn’t work.
Are Peloton bikes good?
To be fair, I only have experience with the spin bikes at my gym and this peloton. But I am inclined to say, yes they are.
The frame is made of high quality steel, and the flywheel is about 38lbs with magnetic resistance, including a belt drive system that is ideal for indoor cycling.
My only draw back is, the handlebar/screen area seems to come loose and get wobbly often, so it can feel a little unsteady and can make coming out of the saddle a little bit less of a pleasant experience. That being said, with a quick turn of the wrenches that came with the bike, I am set.
Can Peloton go on carpet?
Mine is on carpet. It felt a bit unsteady before the addition of the mat for under the bike, but not I am not sure if the mat helps that much. I think ultimately, that carpet might take a bit of getting used to but yes, it can and mine does and will be that way for the foreseeable future.
Can Peloton link to Strava?
Yes! It took me longer to find my login for Strava than it did to set that feature up. I love that I can post on Strava and follow my progress there in addition to on the bike. It is an instant upload, as soon as the pedals stop on the ride.
What Peloton accessories do I need?
Honestly? I don’t know how much hate that I will get, but my bike package came with, light hand weights, that I already had, resistance bands, cycling cleats and a yoga mat.
If you already have the things that I listed above, as long as you don’t care about the Peloton branding, I don’t know that it is totally necessary to spend extra on those things.
The accessories, are probably my biggest gripe when it comes to the Peloton.
I owned everything minus the Peloton specific cleats. I did own other cycling cleats but they don’t fit on the Peloton pedals. The problem is that you have to have the cleats (or toe clips) to be able to ride and I didn’t have either. I waited for 2 weeks past the delivery of my bike to receive my accessories.
So I had to get creative with my shoe situation and make it work until the cleats showed up.
Can you ride the Peloton without the subscription to the classes?
The answer is ultimately yes, but…
Not committing to a subscription means that you only have access to three on-demand classes and the Just ride mode that displays real-time data on the screen.
What questions do you have about the Peloton experience? If you are already on Peloton, follow me: RunnerBoyMomAT
See you on the leaderboard!