Peloton or Zwift?

Jthanmyfitnesspal
Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
TL/DR: Looking for comments from people who have bought into Peloton and/or Zwift.

I'm a cyclist and runner. In the past year, I did a lot of bike training indoors at home on a simple trainer. Even now that the outdoor season has started, it's nice to train indoors sometimes, like when it's raining. I have only run outdoors since my gym shut down, which has actually been fine. Actually, I like jogging in cool weather. (Better than hot weather!) Cycling is a bit less fun when it's cool and a bit more tolerable when it's hot!

I have one pal with a Peloton bike AND treadmill and another who uses Zwift with his bike and treadmill. Both rave about their setups. Boy, am I interested in this these days! I'm trying to put the facts together to make a decision.

The Peloton requires a peloton bike, of course ($2200) plus the subscription (~$40 per month). They will finance the whole thing over 3 years at 0% (should be $61 per month). So, it should cost about $100 per month for the first 3 years and then at least $40 per month thereafter. (Expect price increases!)

Their treadmill is $4.3k, which is actually about what all top-of-the-line treadmills cost (sadly). Buying both at once is beyond my pucker threshold, but I can see why some people might do it.

Anyone have corrections to the Peloton numbers? Are there hidden extras?

Apparently, the Peloton app is pretty cool for other stuff, including outdoor running and other indoor workouts, including yoga. Anyone have comments about them?

Zwift is $15/month and supports indoor running and cycling. Zwift cycling can be done with about any bike plus indoor bicycle trainer, even a basic one (costing only a few hundred $). You have to supply the laptop, the bike, and the trainer and you must have at least a speed monitor (more commonly, people have speed, cadence, HR, and sometimes power meters). If you had to buy all that stuff, it could easily cost more than a Peloton. (A smart trainer alone is at least $1k.) But, if you are already a cyclist and have the bike and you already have a laptop, and maybe even a trainer, then you are in good shape. Anyone have comments about Zwift cycling? What trainer are you using?

To do the indoor run, all you need is a Zwift "Runn" foot pod ($100) and any treadmill. Their run pod is for treadmills only, it seems, and has no utility outdoors. Again, a really good treadmill is a few $k, but you can pick any one that works for you. Anyone have comments about the running app or their foot pod?

I have a crappy Android tablet that Verizon threw in for free one year with our phones. I was sad to discover that it cannot run Zwift. Supposedly, newer iPads, iPhones, and Android phones CAN run Zwift. I assume just about any laptop will work, but there are sometimes minor issues that crop up, like making sure your ANT+ sensors transmit far enough. (One online guide recommended getting a USB extender and putting the receiver nearer to the bike.) Also, Zwift can only control compatible smart trainers, of course. Anyone have experience with the Zwift app on various platforms?

Many thanks for any first hand experience!

Replies

  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
    I believe you can still do the Peloton Bike and Run with OnePeloton -- their digital app. I don't believe it integrates quite as well, but a whole lot cheaper!
  • swirlybee
    swirlybee Posts: 497 Member
    edited July 2020
    If you're a cyclist, then you should already have a bike. You don't have to have an expensive smart trainer. I have a Kinetic Smart 2 trainer that cost me $300. I actually use it for both zwift and peloton.

    For peloton, I use my regular road bike on the bike trainer with the peloton app. The only downside to this setup is that my "resistance" setting doesn't match their resistance (basically, I shift gears when they say to increase or decrease resistance). My friend has a family membership that came with her peloton bike, so she gave me a membership for the app. It's set up on my ipad and it reads my wahoo speed/cadence sensor and wahoo HRM which shows up on the peloton app.

    For zwift, I also use my road bike on the trainer. I have it on my apple TV which is connected to our main tv. I have the companion app running on my phone for all the (bluetooth) sensors.

    If you're going to be spending $1k+ on a smart trainer, it's going to be a whole lot better experience than a peloton bike, so that comparison is moot IMO.

    Sorry, I have no experience with ANT+ though all of my sensors do have them, but they don't connect to my idevices.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    For value Zwift is the clear winner.
  • itsmegina
    itsmegina Posts: 101 Member
    I have the Peloton bike and love having all my data integrated on the screen. If you like numbers, Peloton is the way to go. I’ve had my bike for a couple of months now and it’s been worth every penny so far, I love it and use the app for strength, yoga and stretching as well.
    It sucks that the digital access goes up by so much when you have the bike or tread, though.
  • SallyLuvsFitness
    SallyLuvsFitness Posts: 13,724 Member
    I absolutely love my NEW PELOTON bike!!! Worth every penny!! I have no problem spending the $39.00 monthly fee to attend all the wonderful classes offered! My husband is also loving the bike.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    I know quite a few Zwift users - they seem to like it. (in fact, quite a few roadies are STILL logging significant Zwift hours this late in to the year)..the general consensus amongst those that actually already ride (on that outdoor pavement thing we call roads) will most likely be trainer+Zwift. It's probably much closer to your experience riding on a club ride (Peloton sounds closer to an experience in a spin class - people on MFP who have one tend to refer to being in 'classes' or a specific 'workout'). (*No experience myself though...I embraced my fat bike and pogies or spiked trail running shoes instead). You can probably (almost definitely) find some Zwifters amongst your local cycling or tri club who will give you loads of advice on trainers and setup.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    The financial picture changes if you and your spouse will both use it or if you haven't yet bought a trainer. I also would like to be able to jump on it without dragging my bike in from the garage, wipe it off a bit, and mount it on the trainer (which also requires swapping the rear skewer). I've done a spin class for years, now on hiatus.
  • VegasFit
    VegasFit Posts: 1,232 Member
    I'm ride outdoors mtb and road. I thought about a trainer but before I even started cycling I did indoor spin classes. I love the Peloton App. I bought an Echelon bike for $500 and the app is $13 a month. I personally don't want to mount my bike on a trainer and I don't like the graphics. Too video gamey for me. Indoor I'm driven by the music and the class feel. I really enjoy the strength classes in the app as well.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    The financial picture changes if you and your spouse will both use it or if you haven't yet bought a trainer. I also would like to be able to jump on it without dragging my bike in from the garage, wipe it off a bit, and mount it on the trainer (which also requires swapping the rear skewer). I've done a spin class for years, now on hiatus.

    That certainly does change things a bit. (Myself, on the other hand, meandered into a spin class to grab a schedule and check it out on the way back from waddling my bike over to the shop for post-crash repairs... immediate response after 5 seconds of watching/ listening to class: oh F* no!. Wound up strapping my arm to my chest and trail running exclusively for the next 2 months).
  • Mzmarch14
    Mzmarch14 Posts: 1 Member
    Peloton user here! Love the bike and the app. I use the app for outdoor runs, strength workouts, and when I used to run on a treadmill, running workouts (hiit for example). I also ride the bike regularly in a variety of classes, as does my husband who does a good deal of road biking. I think it’s great and I wouldn’t be able to exercise as frequently without it. Or be as motivated during my workouts.

    I might recommend seeing if you can try out the classes on the respective apps before you make a decision. I find that the peloton instructors are a lot better than others I’ve used on various devices, but you may find otherwise based on your preferences.
  • scorpio516
    scorpio516 Posts: 955 Member
    Starting with costs:
    For $2200 for the Peloton bike you get a dumb bike in a closed ecosystem. It's a $1000 bike with a $1200 tablet on it. It's on par with $1000 spin bikes.
    For $4000 you get an ok treadmill with a miserable 1 year warranty. A much more expensive Woodway has a 10 year warranty. A cheaper NordicTrack has a variable warranty (between 2 years and lifetime depending on the part).

    A Stages Bike or a Wahoo Bike is a more expensive (and better in almost every way) bike. IF you already have a bike, the very best trainer is half the price a Peloton bike is - but it's pretty hard to get a road bike under $1000 ;)
    A Woodway treadmill is more than twice as expensive. Sidewalks are free.

    I'm not a fan of Zwift. Lots of people are though. I'll take TrainerRoad every day over Zwift. It's $20/month. Without investing in power meter pedals, a Peloton is useless without their app. But if you put PM pedals on the Peloton bike, you can sideload Zwift or TR onto the tablet and run that.

    I have a dumb trainer with a known power profile, but I think I'm buying a PM this summer.

    You don't need the foot pod to run with Zwift. There are a number of things that work. There are speed roller wheels for your treadmill that measure the speed of the belt and send that to Zwift. Garmin, etc. make foot pods that work with Zwift AND with watches that take foot pod inputs for speed. Stryd running power meter also works with Zwift for speed, cadence, etc. There are some treadmills that will connect with Zwift too (Woodways, Sole, Life Fitness for example). Even the Forerunner 245 and 945 will send running speed to Zwift.

    I've ran Zwift and TR on my phones (earlier a HTC One M8 when it was new, then a Pixel 2XL that I've had for 3 years). TR does not need much power, so even a Surface 2 works great with it.
    Zwift works on AppleTV too.

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