What Should You Know Before You Buy a Peloton?

There are a lot of reasons you might be thinking about taking the plunge and buying a Peloton bike. You may already be a cyclist, and you might want an indoor riding option. Maybe you want to ride indoors when the weather’s bad or avoid some of the safety risks of biking outdoors. For example, even bike lanes carry risks. 

Perhaps you have no experience cycling whatsoever, but you’d like an in-home exercise machine. 

Let’s face it, there’s probably not a piece of exercise equipment that’s been as popular and as part of even pop culture as a Peloton bike, but it’s a financial investment, so the following are some key things to know. 

The Basics

At this point, particularly after the backlash stemming from Peloton’s holiday commercials, it would be tough not to know what this brand is, at least at some level. 

Spin classes became popular years ago, and they were often recognized as one of the toughest workouts. There are spin studios everywhere from big cities to smaller towns, and Peloton sought to capitalize on America’s love for spinning but to bring it to your home. 

Peloton hit the market in 2020, touting itself as the best at-home workout. Since the actual bikes started selling in 2014, it’s become a phenomenon. 

You get an instructor pushing you, great music, and the energy of a live class coming from the New York City studio without having to leave your house. 

Probably one of the most unique things about Peloton is how great the instructors are. You can find someone to fit your personality or your mood, no matter what, because their line-up of instructors is diverse in their backgrounds, their style, and their music choices. 

If you’re competitive, Peloton is great because the instructors can see how you’re doing on the leaderboard if you take the class live, and you can also compare yourself to other riders. 

What Are the Classes Like?

When you join a class, you have the option to take it live, or you can take it whenever you want on-demand. You can search for the class and the instructor that fits how you’re feeling that day. 

There are rides that are low-impact and intended for resistance, rides for people who are experienced bikers and endurance athletes, fun classes with a live DJ, and there are also challenging workouts if your primary goal is to lose weight, such as Tabata classes. 

Class lengths range from 20 minutes up to 90 minutes, and the software that’s part of the bike will show your speed, your resistance, and your overall output. 

The Equipment

The Peloton is a pricey piece of home workout equipment, but you can feel the quality when you get the bike. Everything is adjustable, so the bike will work whether you don’t break five feet or you’re 6’5”. 

There’s a rack for hand weights, and the touchscreen that shows your workout and metrics is 22 inches across. 

You’ll need shoes, which you can order from Peloton, or you can get a compatible set of cleats elsewhere. 

Many of the workouts include a brief arm section, so you might want to buy Peloton hand weights, or just use what you have. 

For a flat fee, you can have the bike delivered and assembled for you. 

The bike’s belt drive system is super quiet, and if you’re biking in the early mornings and you don’t want to disturb anyone else, you can plug in headphones to the screen.

The bike is relatively compact, which is one of the reasons it’s well-received among urban dwellers who might not otherwise have exercise equipment in their apartment or home. It takes up a section of around four feet by two feet on the floor, and you can roll it away if you need to because it has wheels. 

Finally, as if you haven’t already spent enough on your Peloton, you will need the digital subscription in order to access the content that makes the brand so unique. Monthly class subscriptions are $39, and you can also access other types of workouts. 

For example, you can do yoga, weight training or you can join in on one of the Peloton treadmill classes. The Peloton Tread is now for sale and comes at an even higher price than the bike, but if you have a traditional treadmill at home you can take advantage of most of the features of the Tread classes.