Peloton owners
HilTri
Posts: 378 Member
I really like going to the gym for weight training and spin classes. I just got into spin a year ago and I can’t get enough. I now teach classes. It would be nice to have a bike at home to put workouts together for my classes and on snowy days. I do have to fight myself to take one day off a week and having the bike at home may be hard to resist. Do any Peloton owners have insight. I don’t have a road bike to pop onto a trainer as an option.
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So I'm going to be that person who right of the bat says that no I don't have a peloton but I would recommend one of the now many non-pelaton options that are on the market. Eurobike just finished (or is about to finish?) and there are a boat load of options that are cheaper than peloton (when you take into account the subscription to peloton) and do more things. Here are some examples:
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/09/stages-announces-new-smart-bike-hands-on-details.html
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/09/wahoos-kickr-bike-with-built-in-climb-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know.html
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/09/wattbike-announces-us-availability-for-atom-smart-bike.html (that might not be an option shipping wise)
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2018/07/tacx-neo-bike-smart-first-ride-and-final-specs.html
If I were in the market for a smart bike, I'd get the new Wahoo Kickr bike in a heartbeat.3 -
Wouldn't touch a Peloton bike. For that kind of money you could buy a proper bike and trainer, or a Wattbike.
Wouldn't yet recommend a Kicker yet, but it's got a lot of prospect to be good.4 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »Wouldn't touch a Peloton bike. For that kind of money you could buy a proper bike and trainer, or a Wattbike.
Wouldn't yet recommend a Kicker yet, but it's got a lot of prospect to be good.
The problem with the Wattbike Atom is that shipping is a bit of a mess/non-existent if you're not in the UK, Scandinavia, Australia, and South Africa. It looks like now it's more or less limited to NY, NJ, and CT.1 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »Wouldn't touch a Peloton bike. For that kind of money you could buy a proper bike and trainer, or a Wattbike.
Wouldn't yet recommend a Kicker yet, but it's got a lot of prospect to be good.
The problem with the Wattbike Atom is that shipping is a bit of a mess/non-existent if you're not in the UK, Scandinavia, Australia, and South Africa. It looks like now it's more or less limited to NY, NJ, and CT.
The ErgBike is taking a huge amount of sales away from the Wattbike.
Good Spinners are fairly cheap. Peloton charges huge money for the computer and access. The bike itself is pretty average. I had a $600 Spinner (from Spinning.com) for over 5 years. It broke down once and the local bike shop fixed it for me for $100. Sold it for $200. There are so many quality brands of Spinners out there now that are solid quality. Don't spend $3000 on something just to do routines on. Would be a waste.
BTW, I did spinning in gyms for around four or so years and used a variety of their bikes (even the Kaiser is like $2000, which most gyms think is the gym/commercial standard, still cheaper than Peloton). While they are good quality, the ones for home use give you a great workout and feel comparable for the purposes of creating routines.0 -
It is? I mean I don't have anything against the BikeErg, I just think of them as two pretty different things with fairly different markets. Yes they're both bikes and they can both measure and broadcast power, but that's where the similarities seem to end no?MikePfirrman wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »Wouldn't touch a Peloton bike. For that kind of money you could buy a proper bike and trainer, or a Wattbike.
Wouldn't yet recommend a Kicker yet, but it's got a lot of prospect to be good.
The problem with the Wattbike Atom is that shipping is a bit of a mess/non-existent if you're not in the UK, Scandinavia, Australia, and South Africa. It looks like now it's more or less limited to NY, NJ, and CT.
The ErgBike is taking a huge amount of sales away from the Wattbike.
I personally would get a Wattbike Atom over an BikeErg. That's nothing against Concept 2 (I know you know this), so much a BikeErg doesn't do most of what I'm looking for from an indoor bike or bike trainer. I was especially reminded of this when my bike trainer (a second gen Wahoo Kickr) had a weird hiccup last week and I had to do all of the power changes during a TrainerRoad workout on my own without the aid of a smart trainer (I still had power broadcasting from my pedals).
I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of rowers (indoor and on the water) end up with BikeErgs, but I can't imagine that's a large chunk of Wattbike's audience.0 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »Wouldn't touch a Peloton bike. For that kind of money you could buy a proper bike and trainer, or a Wattbike.
Wouldn't yet recommend a Kicker yet, but it's got a lot of prospect to be good.
Speaking of Kickr, their new trailer for their most recent trainer is speaking to my soul. Don't get me wrong. I bike everyday a minimum of 10 miles just to get to work and back. I bike when I can on the weekends, but I don't get nearly as much time seat time as I want. My free time to ride happens to be at night, and I'm not trying to ride through the city of MD drivers at night.
Insert trainer bike........fill in my night time and snow days. Damn, it's a pretty penny though.
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scorpio516 wrote: »
The stages bike is probably the more logical option, I agree. Stages also has significantly more experience making power meters. That said - I am very much not in the market for a new smart bike. I am, however, very intrigued by the 4iiii Fliiiight. There are things I don't like about it (the road feel is probably a joke) but the next electronic bike related thing I'll probably get is a new smart trainer because hauling my very old Kickr Snap across the continent seems silly. That it's silent (save for the sound your bike makes) is a plus as is the convenience of neither having to take off a wheel wheel nor having to use a trainer tire. That said, compared to its competitors in the same price range, the features are a bit low.
If all goes to plan, I'll be moving for grad school in about a year. Cycling will likely be my primary mode of transportation and not pissing neighbors off with trainer noise is a plus. No I don't consider any of the newer trainers especially loud, but still.0 -
scorpio516 wrote: »
The stages bike is probably the more logical option, I agree. Stages also has significantly more experience making power meters. That said - I am very much not in the market for a new smart bike. I am, however, very intrigued by the 4iiii Fliiiight. There are things I don't like about it (the road feel is probably a joke) but the next electronic bike related thing I'll probably get is a new smart trainer because hauling my very old Kickr Snap across the continent seems silly. That it's silent (save for the sound your bike makes) is a plus as is the convenience of neither having to take off a wheel wheel nor having to use a trainer tire. That said, compared to its competitors in the same price range, the features are a bit low.
If all goes to plan, I'll be moving for grad school in about a year. Cycling will likely be my primary mode of transportation and not pissing neighbors off with trainer noise is a plus. No I don't consider any of the newer trainers especially loud, but still.
That 4iiiiiiiii bike looooooks soooo cool. My trainer sounds like a jet engine And my dog barks at me during vo2 max intervals.0 -
aokoye--the most popular transport for grad students these days is skateboards--you can put them in your pack and bring them to class--no time spent trying to park.0
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aokoye--the most popular transport for grad students these days is skateboards--you can put them in your pack and bring them to class--no time spent trying to park.
Where is that the case in terms of it being the most popular form of transportation? Outside of my having never heard of this from various grad students that I know in multiple cities around the world, skateboarding seems incredibly inefficient. Most people I know drive, take public transportation, or bike (or do a mix of those).
Never mind that I don't know how to skateboard...0 -
I will say, the thing that is an issue, potentially, with Stages as opposed to Wahoo and Tacx (if the thing ships...)is that they've never actually made an interactive trainer or bike. That's where Wahoo especially blows them out of the water. Also Wahoo's shifting is much more interesting to me.
I'm still not going to get either of them for multiple reasons, but for something like zwift or trainerroad (the only ways you'll really get me on a bike indoors with any frequency) I suspect Wahoo and Elite will have the advantage.
Shane from GPLama did a great overview here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma8HL8wwx_g 0 -
O_shiri_shunokeru wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »Wouldn't touch a Peloton bike. For that kind of money you could buy a proper bike and trainer, or a Wattbike.
Wouldn't yet recommend a Kicker yet, but it's got a lot of prospect to be good.
Speaking of Kickr, their new trailer for their most recent trainer is speaking to my soul. Don't get me wrong. I bike everyday a minimum of 10 miles just to get to work and back. I bike when I can on the weekends, but I don't get nearly as much time seat time as I want. My free time to ride happens to be at night, and I'm not trying to ride through the city of MD drivers at night.
Insert trainer bike........fill in my night time and snow days. Damn, it's a pretty penny though.
My scepticism is based on the Wahoo form for first generation issues. Looks great, but let someone else do beta testing.1 -
Can you train on these other bikes like a Spinner? The OP is interested in Spinners to program Spinning classes. Spinners are unique in that standing is comfortable and they give you easy resistance changes with the touch of a lever. If you've ever done Spinning (as opposed to cycling), the differences are clear. It would be hard to program a fitness class from a trainer, I would think. Maybe I'm wrong.3
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I will say, the thing that is an issue, potentially, with Stages as opposed to Wahoo and Tacx (if the thing ships...)is that they've never actually made an interactive trainer or bike. That's where Wahoo especially blows them out of the water.
Stages has been building interactive bikes since 2015. They have built thousands of gym bikes. They make 4 models, the most expensive 2 have Stages power meters on them
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Wow! Thank you for all the info. I never thought of buying a gym like spin bike, silly me. I certainly don’t need the Peleton’s monthy subscription, I have tons of material to create workouts from. So I need to research different spin bikes. I do want a good computer on the bike.1
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scorpio516 wrote: »I will say, the thing that is an issue, potentially, with Stages as opposed to Wahoo and Tacx (if the thing ships...)is that they've never actually made an interactive trainer or bike. That's where Wahoo especially blows them out of the water.
Stages has been building interactive bikes since 2015. They have built thousands of gym bikes. They make 4 models, the most expensive 2 have Stages power meters on them
Interactive in so much as that they can be controlled by software that isn't of their own making by Bluetooth or ANT+? That's news to me (recognizing of course that I don't know everything there is to know!). I mainly know about Stages in terms of their power meters, though I also have known about the existence of their spin bikes for a while.0 -
Wow! Thank you for all the info. I never thought of buying a gym like spin bike, silly me. I certainly don’t need the Peleton’s monthy subscription, I have tons of material to create workouts from. So I need to research different spin bikes. I do want a good computer on the bike.
What kind of computer and why?? Just curious, it would affect the choices so much.
For instance, if you were looking for a Peloton experience but didn't want to pay as much, these are options.
https://echelonfit.com/products/echelon-smart-connect-bike-ex1 (the up and comer challenging Peloton for market share but at a much cheaper pricepoint. The downside is they charge more for their online classes!).
Here's what some are doing. Get a more reasonable bike and your own I-Pad and you have a Peloton for pennies on the dollar. The bike itself isn't that great.
https://boingboing.net/2017/04/05/diy-peloton-for-introverts.html0 -
Wow! Thank you for all the info. I never thought of buying a gym like spin bike, silly me. I certainly don’t need the Peleton’s monthy subscription, I have tons of material to create workouts from. So I need to research different spin bikes. I do want a good computer on the bike.
Adding onto what Mike said, are you ok with using a laptop, smartphone, and/or tablet instead of a computer that is built into the device?0 -
Oh yes, sorry I wasn’t clear, I just want the computer on the bike that shows stats. I don’t need a big old screen to provide workouts and pretty scenery, I have tons of workouts and part of the reason I want a bike at home is to create more workouts for my classes.1
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Oh yes, sorry I wasn’t clear, I just want the computer on the bike that shows stats. I don’t need a big old screen to provide workouts and pretty scenery, I have tons of workouts and part of the reason I want a bike at home is to create more workouts for my classes.
What stats in particular?
You can add devices to yourself or dumb trainers to provide certain stats.
e.g.
I have a chest strap HRM, a shoe mounted cadence sensor, power meter pedals, a wrist watch
.....
(Only the power meter is expensive and probably not relelvant for designing classes for mixed abilities.)
A gym quality secondhand/used spinning bike would seem to fit the bill for you, they often come up on eBay and other similar sites at reasonable prices.
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I wear a HRM too. I am just interested in Watts, RPM’s, resistance and calories and time of course. Thank you.
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I wear a HRM too. I am just interested in Watts, RPM’s, resistance and calories and time of course. Thank you.
Watts - Power produced is very personal and a very wide range. On a personal level training with power is very revealing and effective. But you would have to be training a very similar and probably a serious group of similar cyclists to use that in a class environment I would think. And then you would have to solely focus on watts and not HR at the same time (e.g. I was training with two other male cyclists all doing the same warmup and then maintaining 200w. The HRs ranged from 120 to 150 to 180bpm at identical power and calorie burns). I also ride with an elite female rider who produces a fraction of my power but a far superior power to weight ratio as she's tiny.
RPM - I use a Wahoo shoe mounted cadence counter and it's been very reliable and accurate. And of course I can use on multiple bikes.
Resistance - not seeing any advantage of a smart trainer compared to a dumb trainer for resistance settings. Which as you know aren't universal across different brands/models of indoor bikes. I would be leaning towards having the same bike at home as you have in the gym.
Calories - be very cautious about calorie displays as there's a lot of vanity calories around. Unless they are using power meters take with a large pinch of salt. Even measuring watts isn't a guarantee as I've come across a bike with highly accurate power meters and a downright potty calorie alorithm that even the manufacturer's tech support couldn't justify. You can validate the algorithm yourself with some simple maths though - I link my Garmin to the exercise bike's power meters to get an accurate picture.1 -
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I wear a HRM too. I am just interested in Watts, RPM’s, resistance and calories and time of course. Thank you.
Watts - Power produced is very personal and a very wide range. On a personal level training with power is very revealing and effective. But you would have to be training a very similar and probably a serious group of similar cyclists to use that in a class environment I would think. And then you would have to solely focus on watts and not HR at the same time (e.g. I was training with two other male cyclists all doing the same warmup and then maintaining 200w. The HRs ranged from 120 to 150 to 180bpm at identical power and calorie burns). I also ride with an elite female rider who produces a fraction of my power but a far superior power to weight ratio as she's tiny.
Where power can be used effectively in group settings/class formats is when intervals are based off of a percentage of FTP. This is how TrainerRoad, Sufferfest, and their competitors are able to create generic but effective training plans. I have seen this used in a class format. There's a cycling studio that I used to go to where they would, and presumably still do, create all of the workouts around an FTP percentage. As part of your orientation, you'd do a 20 min FTP test and you would get a laminated card with your power zones based on that. You would attach to the bike you were on for reference (at that time they were using the cyclops bikes).
I just looked them up and it looks like now they use Wahoo Kickrs (you provide your own bike) and PerfPro. That, presumably, allows them enter in each rider's FTP into PerfPro and then the software controls the individual trainers.0 -
I wear a HRM too. I am just interested in Watts, RPM’s, resistance and calories and time of course. Thank you.
Watts - Power produced is very personal and a very wide range. On a personal level training with power is very revealing and effective. But you would have to be training a very similar and probably a serious group of similar cyclists to use that in a class environment I would think. And then you would have to solely focus on watts and not HR at the same time (e.g. I was training with two other male cyclists all doing the same warmup and then maintaining 200w. The HRs ranged from 120 to 150 to 180bpm at identical power and calorie burns). I also ride with an elite female rider who produces a fraction of my power but a far superior power to weight ratio as she's tiny.
Where power can be used effectively in group settings/class formats is when intervals are based off of a percentage of FTP. This is how TrainerRoad, Sufferfest, and their competitors are able to create generic but effective training plans. I have seen this used in a class format. There's a cycling studio that I used to go to where they would, and presumably still do, create all of the workouts around an FTP percentage. As part of your orientation, you'd do a 20 min FTP test and you would get a laminated card with your power zones based on that. You would attach to the bike you were on for reference (at that time they were using the cyclops bikes).
I just looked them up and it looks like now they use Wahoo Kickrs (you provide your own bike) and PerfPro. That, presumably, allows them enter in each rider's FTP into PerfPro and then the software controls the individual trainers.
Completely agree.
But OP is creating workouts for a Spinning class - who typically won't know their FTP and probably won't want to invest the time in testing/retesting it.
And maybe won't be measuring their power either although power meters are percolating downwards all the time as they get more affordable and spreading out from the niche of serious cyclists.
If OP is running a training program for serious cyclists in a cycling studio then definitely a power meter (ready built in or bolted on) should be on the shopping list.1 -
Thank you!1
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I wear a HRM too. I am just interested in Watts, RPM’s, resistance and calories and time of course. Thank you.
Watts - Power produced is very personal and a very wide range. On a personal level training with power is very revealing and effective. But you would have to be training a very similar and probably a serious group of similar cyclists to use that in a class environment I would think. And then you would have to solely focus on watts and not HR at the same time (e.g. I was training with two other male cyclists all doing the same warmup and then maintaining 200w. The HRs ranged from 120 to 150 to 180bpm at identical power and calorie burns). I also ride with an elite female rider who produces a fraction of my power but a far superior power to weight ratio as she's tiny.
Where power can be used effectively in group settings/class formats is when intervals are based off of a percentage of FTP. This is how TrainerRoad, Sufferfest, and their competitors are able to create generic but effective training plans. I have seen this used in a class format. There's a cycling studio that I used to go to where they would, and presumably still do, create all of the workouts around an FTP percentage. As part of your orientation, you'd do a 20 min FTP test and you would get a laminated card with your power zones based on that. You would attach to the bike you were on for reference (at that time they were using the cyclops bikes).
I just looked them up and it looks like now they use Wahoo Kickrs (you provide your own bike) and PerfPro. That, presumably, allows them enter in each rider's FTP into PerfPro and then the software controls the individual trainers.
Completely agree.
But OP is creating workouts for a Spinning class - who typically won't know their FTP and probably won't want to invest the time in testing/retesting it.
And maybe won't be measuring their power either although power meters are percolating downwards all the time as they get more affordable and spreading out from the niche of serious cyclists.
If OP is running a training program for serious cyclists in a cycling studio then definitely a power meter (ready built in or bolted on) should be on the shopping list.
Yeah I was assuming you were talking about a broader number of situations than what you were talking about. I agree that if she's teaching spin classes for your average group of gym goers, the likelihood of any of them knowing their FTP (or what functional threshold power even is) is low.1
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