Homebrewtalk Peloton

[treacheroustexan]

Any brewers here on Peloton?

JordanLBrews - Add me if so!

 

[Kent88]

I'm pretty happy with my stationary bike, but I have been curious about what peloton owners think of it.

How long have you had it? Anything else you'd like to share about it?

 

[ehall]

waaaaaaaay overpriced bike...

 

[treacheroustexan]

How long have you had it? Anything else you'd like to share about it?

I've had it since March. I really struggled finding a workout routine that works for me, but with the Peloton I find myself actually wanting to workout.

I love the instructors, I love all the classes. They have old previously recorded classes you can take anytime on demand or they have the live rides you can join. The whole bike is adjustable to fit your body and with the app you can keep track of all your cycling distances, speeds, output, etc.

 

[Rodent]

purchased a Bike+ in early Nov '22 and have been a daily rider ever since. starting to take advantage of the strength and stretching workouts utilizing the Bike+ screen rotated to a side view.

it's totally transformed my workout schedule in a positive way, and combined with the live classes and library of classes available for live replay I find I have motivation that was lacking previously. I also like that I can set the tension resistance to automatically lock with the class I'm participating in

yes it's quite a bit more expensive than other stationary bikes. yes, it's just a tool enabling similar exercise that could be accomplished more frugally - but I never got around to consistency trekking down the frugal path, and returning myself to solid physical condition is a priority I've regained that makes the investment worthwhile to me

 

[passedpawn]

Are there a lot of used bikes on the market with Covid over?

 

[Rodent]

Are there a lot of used bikes on the market with Covid over?

I'm in a rural area with only a moderately sized city close by, so have to expand a craigslist search out to the more populous half of the region to find any of the Bike+ bikes on Craigslist. Even then, there's only a couple of them in my search area covering from Everett, WA down to Salem, OR

Used prices I see are only $200-$300 less than what I bought new, and don't have the accompanying package bundle that was being offered back in early Nov '22

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I'm in a rural area with only a moderately sized city close by, so have to expand a craigslist search out to the more populous half of the region to find any of the Bike+ bikes on Craigslist. Even then, there's only a couple of them in my search area covering from Everett, WA down to Salem, OR

Used prices I see are only $200-$300 less than what I bought new, and don't have the accompanying package bundle that was being offered back in early Nov '22

There's significant bundle savings available through 1/8. Bike plus $500 in accessories (shoes, weights, yoga mat) for 1195. Bike+ with the same for 2295.

I was lucky enough to order my Bike+ last May when it was on sale for 1895, as I haven't seen prices down there since.

@Kent88 @passedpawn I love it! I will post a little later in detail about my overall reasons for saying that as I've got some work stuff to do, but it was an absolute game-changer for me re: exercise.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Alright... So I hate exercise.

Which isn't to say I'm lazy (although I can be from time to time). I like taking the dog for long walks. I like hiking. When I play golf, I walk the course 90% of the time rather than take a cart. I don't shy away from personal exertion.

But I've never liked exercise. I had a gym membership and never went. When I went, I wasn't sure what to do other than a few weight exercises and maybe spend some time on a treadmill or stairmaster. The gym was only 1 mile away, but I couldn't muster up the effort to go, because I quite frankly simply didn't like it.

----------

In late June 2022, my Peloton Bike+ arrived. And that has changed everything. In about 6 1/2 months (maybe 200 days?) I've now done 220 workouts, with 125 of them being rides, which means I'm doing strenuous riding roughly 2/3 of days. I personally believe that's a good number, especially since I learned early on that I play golf like even more trash than normal if I play the day after riding. So every time I play golf it basically means I don't ride the day before, and since I walk 6-7 miles while playing, don't do a ride that day either.

And I LOVE the workouts on the Peloton, whereas I just simply couldn't get mentally engaged when going to the gym and hated it.

So... What changed? A lot of things...

• The workouts are programmed by the instructors. So rather than just going to a gym and trying to decide what to do, everything is laid out for you and and you just have to follow along. This is huge for me, because I don't have to think about what to do. I just need to pick a workout and follow.
• It's engaging. You're going through various things of hitting cadence and resistance numbers that vary throughout the workout. You're doing interval pushes, climbs, etc. All the while the instructor is talking you through it (which admittedly can be annoying for some of them) and there's plenty of musical options to go along with it.
• Speaking of instructors, there are a lot of them and so you can find personalities that jive with your own, music that jives with your own, etc. My wife (as do many women) loves riding with Cody Rigsby because he's like every girl's gay best friend, talking so much that he distracts you from the work you're doing. I prefer more of the aggressive "push you to work" instructors, and based on my music selection (mostly rock/etc) I rotate through typically about 5-6 different instructors that all challenge me in different ways.
• To an extent it's very much "gamified", meaning that you can see your output in real time. There's a leaderboard, which although I don't take many live rides (preferring on demand), you can see how you're stacking up both against others and against previous personal records. Being on a tough ride and seeing that you're tracking near your PR can give you that extra push to get through. I haven't tried it personally, but they also have a very video-game activity called Lanebreak where you're trying to reach certain milestones via resistance and cadence pushes. I think for actual gamers that's got its own little endorphin rush from what I've heard.
• In addition to the output for gamification, there are various kickers like badges for doing various things. For example, I didn't realize it but I hit my first 45-day streak and got on a ride and got so many "high-fives" in the ride that I thought there was a software glitch. Nope, it was because the other riders got to see that I'd just hit 45 days in a row. The platform gives badges up to a 60-day streak, so I literally will go 60 days in a row, take one rest day, and start again. I've done 60 days twice and am on my way to the third. I've decided to do the 2023 "annual" challenge with the goal of hitting 10,000 minutes of exercise throughout the year (roughly 27 min/day average). I'm the type that if you'd asked me before I started whether I'd care about badges, I'd say no, we don't need no stinkin' badges. But dammit I like getting them!
• It's cross-functional. As mentioned I'm hitting 60-day streaks but I don't ride every day. I try to incorporate stretches on a regular basis to restore some of the lost flexibility from my teenage martial arts days. There are strength exercises--I try to do some core but probably am not doing enough. I'm planning to actually start yoga. If you're a runner, you can do outdoor runs or walk coached through the platform.
• It's an expensive bike, but at $44/mo which covers all members of a household it's cheaper on a monthly basis than my gym membership was for my wife and I (~$80/mo even with a family discount). If you have your own spin bike and just have the app, or just want to use the app for the cross-functional exercises, I think it's something like $13/mo. I've heard the app with a different bike isn't QUITE the same experience because you're guessing on things like resistance and you don't participate in the leaderboard aspect since you don't have output, but I know a lot of people that didn't want to bite the bullet on the bike cost still enjoy it.

In 6+ months, I've probably lost 15 lbs and I feel SO much more fit than I was then--and my wife says she can see the difference in how I look. She's doing Peloton as well, and likewise she hated exercise before and loves this. She doesn't do it quite as often as I do because I can fit it into WFH, but she's devoting time to exercising which, like me, she wasn't before. And she's lost about 10 lbs and feels better (and looks better, although she already looked great).

I'm honestly getting to the point where I started with 20- and 30-minute rides and now I look forward to 45- or 60-minute rides. I actually enjoy it that much. It's not a $2K clothing rack. It gets used and I absolutely DON'T see that changing in the future.

Exercise and peoples' relationship with it are very personal. So I'm not saying that other people will have the same experience I did. But hopefully my experience gives you an idea of where I came from, and where I am. If it resonates with you, it's something I highly recommend.

With the current incentives, it's actually a great time to buy. If you are really considering it, I'd say reach out to @treacheroustexan for a referral code--there are advantages for both the giver and receiver of the code as I understand it (although that may not apply with current incentives). If you're interested in the app only, there is no incentive for the giver so any of us can give you a link that gives you a 60-day free trial for the app-only subscription to give it a shot.

Oh, and if you join, look me up. My leaderboard name, appropriately, is: buhbyebeergut

 

[pvpeacock]

Wait, Peleton makes a homebrewing bike? How does it work? Do you pedal it to generate electricity for your brew kettle? Does it have a video of a professional brewmeister to cheer you on and encourage you to whirlpool faster or add more hops? Do you compete against other homebrewers while you brew? Does it tell you how many homebrews you have burned during your brew day? Where do I sign up?

 

[Rodent]

what @betarhoalphadelta took the time to write out and nailed it spectacularly!

feel welcome to catch me at BadgerShack and/or join the group #Homebrewers (of which I just learned that both buhbyebeergut and I are members of)

 

[Kent88]

I really need to get a routine going that involves riding my stationary bike.

 

[mashpaddled]

I bought a peleton towards the end of covid because my wife and I didn't know when we'd feel comfortable returning to the gym and in our laziness and drinking during quarantine had packed on some weight. It was good for a while but neither of us really enjoy biking. After a few months of not using it, we canceled the membership.

The bike without a membership is no different from any other stationary bike except it has a giant screen that chastises you for canceling your membership. Like it doesn't save calorie count or anything about the user. I'm surprised nobody has created substitute software that performs some of the basic functions. I use it from time to time when I want some activity but not a strenuous cardio workout. I plan to root it so I can at least use the tablet for other apps while riding. Or might end up selling it.

 

[passedpawn]

it has a giant screen that chastises you for canceling your membership.

haha

 

[bracconiere]

Alright... So I hate exercise.

+1 i'm more of a if i'm burning more calories then sitting on my backside drinking, i should get reimbursed for them....and i know how to eat 'just' the right amount of calories for my activity!

 

[Kent88]

@betarhoalphadelta thank you for the detailed review.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Yesterday I had some errands in the morning, and my motivation to exercise wanes significantly the later I get in the day, so I didn't get on the bike until the early afternoon despite WFH. I no longer had the motivation for a long ride, so I took a 30-minute ride that was entirely the music of AC/DC. Which was exactly the energy I needed at that point.

To atone for a "short" day after two days off the bike (I played golf Sunday), I took my first ever 75-minute class today, a Power Zone Endurance ride. That really hit the spot. For me, leg strength is never a problem on rides; my cardio endurance is my limiter. Doing these longer, moderate exertion, rides is really going to help me improve the area that I need it most.

 

[Kent88]

The routine my daughter seems to be getting into has her the calmest after I drop her brother off at school, but I don't feel completely awake for a couple hours after that, when she starts getting cranky. I think I need to get myself motivated to get on my stationary bike in that window between dropping my son off and when my daughter gets feisty.

 

[Rodent]

@betarhoalphadelta as you can see in our feed, I am currently at a significantly different conditioning place than your are. it's inspiring to be connected with others who are way beyond where I am during my initial weeks of getting back into shape, see what you're accomplishing, and see that it's possible to get there.

30 days ago I could barely get seated onto the bike without sending the heart monitor into Zone 3 (122-137 bpm). Yesterday I did a 30 minute 'low impact' ride that kept pace with the class, and I never got out of Zone 1 (<105 bpm), so I can see the progress on cardio conditioning and feel the progress in my endurance before I start to feel it. I now have to push it to get into Zone 3 for the classes I participate in, and soon I'll take another step and again increase the level of what I'm able to accomplish.

very much like homebrewing several years ago - that first extract brewing experience was pushing the limits of what I could accomplish without becoming overwhelmed, and yet today I do all-grain with a homebuilt HERMS system and find it a relaxing way to spend an afternoon. I enjoy the process of making progress towards the goal of becoming in good physical condition, just like enjoying the process of becoming a solid homebrewer. I'll never compete in a cycling competition, and I'll never be a commercial brewer - and that's perfectly wonderful for the goals I have for myself.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

The routine my daughter seems to be getting into has her the calmest after I drop her brother off at school, but I don't feel completely awake for a couple hours after that, when she starts getting cranky. I think I need to get myself motivated to get on my stationary bike in that window between dropping my son off and when my daughter gets feisty.

It's hard. My wife has trouble finding time to ride because if it's before work, she has to get up ~30 minutes earlier, and nobody wants that. Then if she waits until she gets home from work, there's no motivation.

I get it. I'm not motivated first thing when I get up with the dog, and the farther we go past noon, the more the motivation seeps out of me. The motivation is strongest right around 9 AM, which to do a workout from home is not a very convenient time for most people. I'm lucky to WFH, so I can do it. Even when I have to get up and drop the kids at school, I'm home by 9 AM, so it works.

Just remember... Sitting your daughter in front of "educational" animated programming for 30 minutes to get a workout in is just fine. She's not going to complain and it'll help you achieve your goals to be the healthiest and best dad you can be...

 

[Kent88]

Just remember... Sitting your daughter in front of "educational" animated programming for 30 minutes to get a workout in is just fine. She's not going to complain

She's still under 6months, so cartoons aren't a reliable distraction for her yet. She's pretty fond of her teether toys at the moment. Ceiling fans aren't as interesting as they were a couple months ago.

She's consistently been pretty calm between my wife leaving for work until about 9:30am. I'm going to aim for after dropping my son off at school. We're getting back into our routine now that holiday travel is done, and she is doing better with her bottle, so that will help a lot.

It's more a matter of me getting motivated at the least productive part of my day.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

@betarhoalphadelta as you can see in our feed, I am currently at a significantly different conditioning place than your are. it's inspiring to be connected with others who are way beyond where I am during my initial weeks of getting back into shape, see what you're accomplishing, and see that it's possible to get there.

30 days ago I could barely get seated onto the bike without sending the heart monitor into Zone 3 (122-137 bpm). Yesterday I did a 30 minute 'low impact' ride that kept pace with the class, and I never got out of Zone 1 (<105 bpm), so I can see the progress on cardio conditioning and feel the progress in my endurance before I start to feel it. I now have to push it to get into Zone 3 for the classes I participate in, and soon I'll take another step and again increase the level of what I'm able to accomplish.

very much like homebrewing several years ago - that first extract brewing experience was pushing the limits of what I could accomplish without becoming overwhelmed, and yet today I do all-grain with a homebuilt HERMS system and find it a relaxing way to spend an afternoon. I enjoy the process of making progress towards the goal of becoming in good physical condition, just like enjoying the process of becoming a solid homebrewer. I'll never compete in a cycling competition, and I'll never be a commercial brewer - and that's perfectly wonderful for the goals I have for myself.

Bear in mind that I'm actually *not* in amazing shape. I'm just a giant human being (6'5" and down to 260-265 lbs). So when people talk about "50 resistance", that's me getting my arse out of bed in the morning. "60 resistance" is me having to carry my heft up a flight of stairs. The Peloton output numbers are more dominated by resistance than cadence. Pushing resistance is a function of leg strength. Leg strength is largely a function of weight. So my numbers are high, but it's not a factor of conditioning as much as brute force because I'm a giant.

I've come a long way in just 6.5 months. I do feel like I'm making progress in a lot of ways. Some of the output numbers I've hit are places I absolutely couldn't have hit 6.5 months ago, and various workouts that would have floored me at that time are doable now. But my own numbers are indexed to my physical size.

Olivia says not to compare yourself to the leaderboard. Compare yourself to yesterday. That's a big thing.

That said, be careful with Olivia. I thought I'd do a 20 minute easy ride with her, and my wife came from the opposite side of the house to check on me because she could hear my breathing lol... That was my 20-min PR until I did my FTP test. They don't call her the "glitter assassin" for nothin'...

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

She's still under 6months, so cartoons aren't a reliable distraction for her yet. She's pretty fond of her teether toys at the moment. Ceiling fans aren't as interesting as they were a couple months ago.

She's consistently been pretty calm between my wife leaving for work until about 9:30am. I'm going to aim for after dropping my son off at school. We're getting back into our routine now that holiday travel is done, and she is doing better with her bottle, so that will help a lot.

It's more a matter of me getting motivated at the least productive part of my day.

LOL 6 months should be easy! She's immobile

Yeah, it's hard. Mine are 15, 13, and 10, so it's easy to tell them "hey, I'm getting on the Peloton, don't do anything stupid and pay no attention to whatever you hear from the bedroom".

At that age all you can do is be flexible. Get her in whatever you do to keep her busy (playpen, swing, etc) and then start your workout. Worst case, you can't complete it, right? But if you complete more times than not, you're still doing great.

You know from your son that it'll only get harder once she's mobile, so might as well get as much as you can in now lol...

 

[Kent88]

Her lack of mobility should work to my favor, for sure. But there are other challenges that come with this age. Worst case scenario is she complains the whole time. But it isn't like I'm not going to (double negative, I know) make sure she's clean before I get started, and she doesn't starve. 20-40 minutes of her complaining might make my primitive lizard dad brain upset, but everyone will survive. And like you said, if she really sounds like she's having a problem, I can stop.

 

[Rodent]

added Hannah Corbin's 10 min Tabata to today's session. those last couple intervals were impossible to keep cadence on at the suggested resistance level, but someday in the not too distant future I'll exceed if I hit 1-2 of these per week. I'll also return mentally prepared vs today's "hmm, what's this?" approach I came to class with

Camila Ramon's Extra 10 Intervals session was also equally ego deflating on my first ride, but second time around I was mentally prepared to push thru

 

[bracconiere]

just a random question, do you ever get f'd with and the pedals seize and slip and scrape your shins? if this thing is what i'm thinking....it'd be fun to do!

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

added Hannah Corbin's 10 min Tabata to today's session. those last couple intervals were impossible to keep cadence on at the suggested resistance level, but someday in the not too distant future I'll exceed if I hit 1-2 of these per week. I'll also return mentally prepared vs today's "hmm, what's this?" approach I came to class with

Camila Ramon's Extra 10 Intervals session was also equally ego deflating on my first ride, but second time around I was mentally prepared to push thru

Yeah, anything labeled intervals, HIIT, or Tabata (a tough subset of HIIT where it's 2:1 effort:recovery), is hard as hell. My 30 minute PR is a Camila HIIT and Hills ride, so every time you get done with HIIT and think you're good, you get a climb lol. She's freakin' tough!

Try to be careful and make sure you're building in rest days for your legs. It doesn't have to be a "nothing" day, it could be an outdoor walk, a stretch, a strength exercise, a cardio workout, a combination of those, etc. But riding 7 days a week is too much, particularly if you're doing hard rides. I usually don't go more than 3-4 days riding in a row to make sure I can get some recovery built in. All this work will backfire if you injure yourself due to overtraining.

 

[Rodent]

I have the clip-in shoes, so it'd really need to be a drastic stop to clip-out and scrape my shins. that said, I've never had such an odd experience with the pedals - sounds dreadful

Here's the session I referenced

 

[Rodent]

I'm starting to work in 1-2 hard rides per week depending on how my legs are feeling, never more and OK to do less/none. the day or two following is typically a 15 min low impact recovery type ride with a 5 min warmup and 5 min cooldown. I also limit myself to all 'in the saddle' type rides for now until such time as I feel comfortable taking a session jog/run standing

earlier post should have been 'succeed' and not 'exceed' (I'll succeed if I hit 1-2 of these per week)

 

[treacheroustexan]

Her lack of mobility should work to my favor, for sure. But there are other challenges that come with this age. Worst case scenario is she complains the whole time. But it isn't like I'm not going to (double negative, I know) make sure she's clean before I get started, and she doesn't starve. 20-40 minutes of her complaining might make my primitive lizard dad brain upset, but everyone will survive. And like you said, if she really sounds like she's having a problem, I can stop.

I had this thread up and walked away from my computer for a bit. Didn't read the post you were replying to and I read your whole post to the end thinking you were talking about an instructor, not a child haha.

I've got a one month old and I need to find a better routine. Might start riding in the AM before I go into work because I definitely don't have it in me in the evenings anymore.