It doesn’t feel like any other holiday season. COVID-19 has changed everything. Restrictions are renewed, lockdowns loom and walls are closing in. The gym is no longer an option, so how to get rid of the pounds gained from your newfound love of baking? The answer for many has been a Peloton exercise bike.
Peloton Interactive would like to be seen as a tech company, not to be confused with companies that made stodgy stationary bikes for your parents. Peloton bikes can cost as much as $2,500 and include a gorgeous 24-inch touchscreen and connect to your Wi-Fi.
Spin classes replaced riding stationary while watching variety shows for the current generation. Spin instructors are bent on providing an intense, sweaty workout. SoulCycle cranked up the intensity and acquired a cultish following, filling classes that charged $35 per session. Then the pandemic hit. No more gyms. No more SoulCycle. That overpriced Peloton stationary bike started to look like a good deal. It’s the cost of just a few months of SoulCycle sessions, right?
The Peloton bike has become practically the poster product of prosperity during the pandemic. Demand has stripped supply. Customers face delays of months according to the Wall Street Journal. The company is warning that delivery of its top-of-the line Peloton Bike+ model may take up to 10 weeks, so too late for Christmas. After 12 years in business, Peloton reported its first profit last quarter and is expected to make $1.8 billion in 2020, a 100 percent increase over the previous year.
We’ve gathered information about the Peloton bike, as well as a few of its main competitors. What they all have in common is big price tags (you’ll have to spend at least $1,200 for one of these bikes), big screens to take you virtually outside, or keep you safely inside with subscriptions to live online classes. Either way, they will supply lots of data about your exertions.
What Is In It for You?
Cardio exercise, like cycling, benefits both your lungs and heart health, builds muscle strength, improves body oxygen levels, and has a positive impact on your mental health and promotes a sense of well-being. It may even boost your brain power. The key to all those benefits is, of course, staying upright. Outdoor cyclists fall (pun, intended) into two classes: those who have crashed and those who will. While a stationary exercise bike will remove the fear of falling, it comes at the cost of tedium. The new class of exercise bikes listed here overcomes tedium, from having you stare at your walls and virtually transport you back outside, with oversize displays that will show you either fantastically fit trainers or the great outdoors—your choice.
Some of the trainers for Peloton have attained near celebrity status. Thousands of indoor cyclists will log in to burn off between 400 and 1,000 calories for the hour, depending on a person’s weight and workout intensity.
How to Succeed in Acquiring the Bike That Fits
The first Peloton bike was released in 2014 and hasn’t changed much. It is easily the most expensive brand in the category of stationary bikes (starting at $1,900). Financing is available, though we doubt Peloton’s target market will need it. A monthly subscription of $39, about what a single session costs at SoulCycle, will give you access to the live classes.
The Peloton bikes have either a 22-inch touchscreen on the base model and a 24-inch touchscreen on the Peloton Bike+. This Wi-Fi- or Bluetooth-enabled display can show performance metrics galore for the selected workout. You can also choose from unlimited classes on demand or enjoy a live class with instructors. You can set the ambience with the music of your choice or just let the DJ play the music to set the mood of the class.
Peloton’s live classes were filmed in the company’s studios in New York and London until the pandemic forced the instructors to film themselves at home. The classes let you compare your performance with other riders. You can compete to get you name featured on the leaderboard.
The Peloton Bike comes complete with cutting-edge technology and does not scrimp on construction and finish. Handlebars may be set in multiple positions. The seat is adjustable and ergonomic, though it may not look comfortable to non-cyclists. The pedals are clip-in and require special bike shoes. If you don’t have them, Peloton will be happy to sell you its brand, along with a host of other accessories, including small dumbbells. Why would you need these baby dumbbells? Indoor cycling instructors invariably add a brief dumbbell drill, no doubt to prove indoor cycling is a whole-body exercise, like adding lettuce to your hamburger makes it a whole meal.
NordicTrack—Not Just Cross-Country Skiing
You can get the NordicTrack S22i Studio Cycle for roughly the same price as the Peloton ($1,999). It comes with a 22-inch HD touchscreen display that allows users to interact with instructors in live workouts. What may be the NordicTrack’s biggest distinction is that its resistance can be set by your instructor to simulate the same climbs or descents as the rest of the class. A 1-year subscription to the iFit app is included with the cost of the bike. The NordicTrack S22i has an ergonomic padded saddle and uses magnetic resistance.
Unlike the Peloton, the NordicTrack S22i looks as if it ships with pedals that have toe cages so you can wear your regular gym shoes, rather than bike shoes with clips.
MYX
At the midrange, you will find the MYX Fitness Bike, which has a much lower price at $1,299. The bike has a proprietary app that also delivers one-on-one classes.
You can also access some entertainment apps, so that you can watch your favorite shows while cycling. Perhaps a distinctive feature in the app is the customized heart rate zones that can be adjusted to the trainee’s effort level while exercising.
The MYX Fitness Bike uses friction resistance and the seat and the handles are height adjustable. In addition, the pedals can accommodate regular shoes.
Bowflex, the home gym equipment manufacturer that takes its name from machines that substitute bending forces for weights, seeks to give Peloton a ride for its money with its VeloCore model. It has a 22-inch touchscreen (with the $2,199 model), but if you go with a 16-inch screen, the price drops down to $1,699. The VeloCore’s biggest distinction is a leaning mode that allows riders to pitch themselves side to side. This strengthens your core, according to the company. However, swinging side to side will probably feel silly and unnatural to outdoor cyclists. Furthermore, the VeloCore bike base is only 21.9 inches, smaller than the 24 inches of the Peloton. We can only hope that Bowflex has done the math and that a 350 pound rider (the maximum weight allowed per the specs) swinging wildly side to side will not capsize both rider and bike. In addition, the mechanism needed to allow side-to-side movement adds considerable complexity to the bike frame. The display, which Nordic Track has chosen not to mount on the handlebars, must be supported by a separate structural member.
Wait for It
The Peloton remains the bike to beat as your pandemic-bound exercise machine. But with a delivery time of at least 10 weeks, you may want to get something sooner. If your only goal is to get fit and attend virtual classes, any of the bikes mentioned here will work. Cardio exercise machines are only effective if you work them hard and/or long enough, and you can do that with any of these bikes. All of them will satisfy those who are data driven, are exercise starved and have an urge to compete. But if your taste is for Tesla rather than Toyota, if nothing but the best will do, and money is no object, go ahead and order—and wait—for the Peloton bike.