I Tested the New Peloton Bike+ and It's Badass
Your average at-home cardio machine isn’t set up to allow you to truly max yourself out. Because it’s not commercial-grade, it can only take so much of a pounding. So on most home cardio gear I test, I’m forced to hold back just a bit.
I haven’t had to do that over the last three weeks, because I’ve finally met an at-home machine that can match my intensity in the Peloton Bike+. On Sept. 9, Peloton released its newest bike to the world, available at onepeloton.com for $2,495, and it’s the first home cardio machine I’m actually enjoying.
It’s the best of both worlds: Badass enough to keep me pushing hard, yet beautiful and elegant enough that I don’t have to stuff it in my garage gym. And it’s packed to the gills with smart features that’ll drive you to both workout accountability and workout intensity. In a post-pandemic world that has plenty of people rethinking how they do fitness, this bike stands out.
Don’t want to worry about breathing through a mask at the gym? The Peloton Bike+ will give you a quality, quad-pumping sweat at home, mask-free.
It’s Love At First Bike
I keep several pieces of cardio equipment at the house, all of them straight from a CrossFit gym. That allows me to hit that go-hard level that most standard “home” equipment simply doesn’t permit. Here’s the thing with all that gear: From my Airdyne fanbike to my Concept2 Ski-Erg, they look like the big, vicious, commercial-grade machines that they are.
The Bike+ is different, so different that I put it in one of our bedrooms (and if you’re in tighter confines, say an New York City apartment, you don’t have to be shy about placing it in a living room corner, either). It’s boldly black, with a silver “Peloton” logo embossed onto the right side, and a new splash guard near the pedals. It's a model that offers something for everyone; my wife loves the screen and aesthetic, and I love the powerful ride.
Peloton delivers all this to you along with a giant black yoga mat, large enough to catch all the sweat destined to drip from your face and body after intense rides. Atop Bike+ sits a lustrous 24-inch-wide HD touchscreen that delivers all your content. This screen does an excellent job of sucking me in. I have a larger TV in that room, and I’ve had basketball games on in the background, but I can’t help watching the Peloton screen more, keeping me fully engaged in all my workouts. The Bike+ screen also rotates 180 degrees, so if I want, say, yoga work, I can dismount the bike and still get my work in without craning my neck in awkward positions.
Technically, you’ve never needed an actual Peloton Bike to do Peloton, since you can always download the standalone app, pay $12.99 a month, and stream it to a tablet or TV while on your own bike. But the Peloton experience is that much better on Bike+, thanks to the screen and the instant, ultra-accurate feedback you’ll get on cadence, output, and resistance.
An Electric Ride
The design of Bike+ sets you up to enjoy every last sweaty minute of every session. Your body is working, but it’s working comfortably and in natural positions. And you’re never fighting the bike—except when you’re supposed to.
It’s the little things that make this work. I’m using the bike with my wife, who, at 5-2, is much shorter than me, so we’re constantly making changes to its alignment. Toggles to the seat are easy, and the handlebars also shift easily, too. The handlebar setup also includes three positions for your hands, which is critical for those 60-minute Power Zone Endurance sessions, when you don’t want to get stuck in one position.
All that gets you comfortable, then the resistance makes you uncomfortable. Bike+ is never jerky, always smooth, no matter the resistance. That means you never get a consistent break at any point during the cycling motion, and your muscles are constantly working, especially if you’re battling to stay at a high cadence.
The end result of these workouts has been fantastic—and about more than sweat. Yes, my heart rate is consistently in the 160s and 170s per my Whoop band. But I’m also ending each session with a fierce quad and glute pump. Take your workouts seriously on the Peloton Bike+, and you’re not just pedaling away. You’re attacking your sessions.
Auto-Follow is a Game-Changer
Add in auto-follow, and you have a vicious Peloton experience. Auto-follow essentially relieves you of having to set your own resistance during different training blocks. When the trainer suggests you beef things up, Bike+ automatically does so. When it’s time to pull back, Bike+ handles that.
This is an intensity game-changer, giving you that much less reason to not follow the challenge of the workout. Yes, you’re still going to determine how quickly you’re pedaling (your cadence), but freed from managing resistance, you can focus more intently on that cadence—and never have to reach down from the handlebars to worry about resistance.
Auto-follow is also a brilliant way to limit the mental self-talk that’s usually going on in my head. On a standard stationary bike, every so often, I’m tempted to mail in an interval, or leave the resistance extra-low so I can recover for a few moments. Sometimes, I actually do it, too. But when auto-follow sets a resistance and I’ve already started pedaling, I think twice about downshifting out of that resistance. Yes, I’ve already felt what it’s like, but do I really make the extra motion to beg out of the challenge? No. It goes against my better judgement, especially with the likes of Matt Wilpers and Alex Toussaint in my ear, telling me to push through.
Peloton’s Old Bike Gets a Price Break
The price to pick up the Bike+ is steep, especially since you also need to shell out $39 a month for the workout app subscription. But if you can afford that buy-in, it’s well worth it.
Can’t? Well, the introduction of Bike+ still may help you. The cost of the standard Peloton Bike now drops to $1,895, $350 cheaper than before.
Either way, you’ll enjoy the leg pump after every session.
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