Homebrewtalk Peloton

[Kent88]

Oh good grief, I think there's a bracc fan in #Homebrewers, someone called Homer217

 

[estricklin]

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.

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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

I’m genuinely glad to hear it’s working for you. I have always loved cardio, and I lift weights 3x per week. When I was younger I ran cross country. Quite a few years back i had to shed 65lbs, I had gotten lazy and wasn’t working out. That’s when I took up cycling. I ride around 3k a year, I’ve cycle toured for the better part of a week before (rode through Ozark Mountains), and I commute to work by bike several times a week, 22 miles round trip. Needless to say I love cycling the most.

I was giving some people from work a hard time about using the Peloton and was sort of half joking. I completely don’t understand it, I would NEVER ride one of those. I tried a stationary bike at the gym a few times, and I was bored out of my mind, not to mention the seat and pedals were very uncomfortable. I once thought of getting a trainer for the winter, but I found I can easily cycle outdoors when it’s as cold as 20F with no problems. I just can’t seem to get past the idea of riding a bike, that goes no where. I’ve always been more of an outdoors person anyway. When I’m not cycling, the wife and I will walk 4-7 miles at a time.

Reading your post helps me understand why they have become so popular, and I love hearing about people exercising and getting healthier. Our bodies were not meant to sit around all day; I believe we’re a lot happier when we get exercise. But I would high encourage you to try riding a real bike, the exhilaration that you experienced as a child, doesn’t go away in adulthood.

 

[Kent88]

I really enjoy riding my bike at my local trail. Every summer since I bought it, except for the two after my oldest was born, I've been able to justify my annual trail pass. My issues have centered around what to do when it's too cold to ride, and getting out consistently to ride when the weather is nice.

I'm hopeful that this coming summer I'll be able to teach my oldest to ride, and if that works I think we'll be able to go frequently. I'm also hopeful that I can use the app membership that a nice person gifted me to get on my Schwinn stationary bike regularly over the next couple months while the weather is unpleasant.

 

[doogster]

Howdy J,

I do Peloton... but not with their bike or tread. I just use their app from my phone or iPad for workouts using my own weights, cycling trainer, or whatever the workout I feel like that day calls for. Once the weather warms up here where you and I live, my bike comes off the trainer and back outside to the real roads it is. Cycle on!

 

[Kent88]

Are there any cyclist in the group?

Thought I would share a link to the outdoor biking thread for people like estricklin who like that.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I was giving some people from work a hard time about using the Peloton and was sort of half joking. I completely don’t understand it, I would NEVER ride one of those. I tried a stationary bike at the gym a few times, and I was bored out of my mind, not to mention the seat and pedals were very uncomfortable. I once thought of getting a trainer for the winter, but I found I can easily cycle outdoors when it’s as cold as 20F with no problems. I just can’t seem to get past the idea of riding a bike, that goes no where. I’ve always been more of an outdoors person anyway. When I’m not cycling, the wife and I will walk 4-7 miles at a time.

Reading your post helps me understand why they have become so popular, and I love hearing about people exercising and getting healthier. Our bodies were not meant to sit around all day; I believe we’re a lot happier when we get exercise. But I would high encourage you to try riding a real bike, the exhilaration that you experienced as a child, doesn’t go away in adulthood.

Thanks. While "riding a bike to nowhere" may never be your thing, that I helped you understand it from the opposite side makes me happy that I accomplished that.

And that came up in a ride the other day. The instructor was talking about the fact that although it's work and exercise, you should make it fun and it be "play" too. I think what he said (paraphrased) was: "Because let's be honest. You're riding a bike to nowhere. You're likely doing it in a basement or a garage. If you can't make this 'play', it'd seem really silly."

I actually think this might spur me to make use of the mountain bike that I bought a few years ago and have never ridden beyond up and down my street a few times. As mentioned I do enjoy being active. But for me "being active" often means a planned activity. I've got a couple coworkers who I know I could go mountain biking with, but that's something to do on a Saturday morning in my brain, not the cornerstone of fitness. I have a buddy that I would go hiking with (and he was a hardcore cyclist), but he lived in San Diego county while I live in Orange County, so hiking with him was basically committing an entire day to the activity. He's since moved to NC, so I don't really have many fitness buddies to do these things with any longer.

For me this is something I can do every day. And maybe build up the muscles so that if I go mountain biking, or hiking, or other things, that I have the strength and endurance to not embarrass myself lol... Maybe I'll buy myself a bike rack for my trailer hitch so I can have one more thing to stare at in the garage and taunt me for not using it!

Howdy J,

I do Peloton... but not with their bike or tread. I just use their app from my phone or iPad for workouts using my own weights, cycling trainer, or whatever the workout I feel like that day calls for. Once the weather warms up here where you and I live, my bike comes off the trainer and back outside to the real roads it is. Cycle on!

How much do you find it helps (or not) to use the Peloton workouts to train for real cycling? I've heard cyclists say that it can often be very helpful because Peloton rides typically don't have downhill, or stopping at a signal waiting for a light to change, etc... It's constant work (of varying intensity levels). But that some other cyclists find it difficult because there are fewer long-duration classes, and some will do thinks like stacking two 90-minute classes on top of each other to continue training endurance for longer rides that they'll face out in the real world.

I personally started doing Power Zone training at the beginning of December and trying to get to longer duration rides because my cardio endurance, not my leg strength, is my limiter. I know most DIY'ers on non-Peloton brand bikes can't easily do PZ training, but with an actual dedicated bike trainer I'm sure it's old hat for you as you get real-time output measurements, right?

I wonder what sort of classes you take to stay in form during the off-season, and if you as an experienced cyclist using a bike trainer have any advice for us novices?

 

[Kent88]

Someone here was kind enough to share a 60-day app membership code (advertised trial membership at the time was 30-days) and I am trying it out. He wanted my early impressions of it, and I think I have found a couple videos that I will be repeating this week anyway, so since I'm not trying anything new for a few days I figured I'd share those first impressions with everyone now.

Signing up

Use the app. I like to sign up for services on my laptop with a full keyboard, a bigger screen, and fewer issues with permissions. After three hours with customer support I caved. It was frustrating, but I just wanted to move on. For some reason I'm having trouble managing my account through a desktop browser, so all of this will be done through my phone app. The customer service person I dealt with longest seemed like they were frustrated with me, but did a good job staying calm. I have since also logged in with my FireStick so I can follow along with the video on the TV.

Navigating the apps

The phone app is pretty much what I expected it to be. It takes a little messing around to figure out where everything is, but that's not much different from any other app. It took a little longer to find everything than I usually need to navigate a new app, but that kind of time investment doesn't matter, as it's an up front time investment that will pay off over the next couple months. Probably the strangest quirk I've found is that if I want to see past workouts I need to go through my profile rather than the Workouts tab/screen. So far the FireTV app is ok to navigate, though I wish there was a faster way to get to bookmarked videos, it still doesn't take a long time. I suppose it would be nice if I could preview the first few minutes of a video before it counted towards my workout time in the system, but there are Class Plans in the workout details that I can see before I play the video which tells me what I am getting into. Maybe there is also a way to remove a workout the system has recorded and I just haven't found it yet?

Going into this I anticipated most of my workouts would be cycling. I obviously don't have their bike, mine is a pretty basic stationary Schwinn (130 Journey 1, looks like this). Last year, around the time I realized I had a herniated disc after a long bike ride, I bought two pairs of what I thought were light dumbbells, and I see that they do have dumbbell workouts, so I am going to try getting some arm strength back.

Getting active

So far I've tried a handful of beginner cycling videos and repeated an arm workout with light weights.

The workout videos themselves, they're fine. I've stuck with them for almost a week and I intend to keep going, so they're doing something right. They usually make a big deal about the music, which I'm sure works for them. Without getting horribly off-topic, my preferred music isn't the kind that gyms are going to play, and they aren't including them in these videos. I thought I'd search for videos with country music, but I haven't found many that conform with what I want to do in the time I have, and I doubt that they're playing much country music recorded before '05.

So this might have more to do with gym/trainer culture as a whole, but I've only experienced it through these videos. I can appreciate that the trainers have a difficult time coming up with things to say when they might be used to working and getting to know people in person, but sometimes I just have to groan and roll my eyes at what they say. I don't think of this as a "[fitness] journey". If that term works for you, fantastic. I'm just trying to develop some positive habits. When (IF!) I start training for RAGBRAI I'll accept the term "fitness journey". So making a big deal about me starting off makes me uncomfortable. They also like to tell me that I'm "worthy". When I think of whether I'd be worthy of something, I think of receiving a fancy gift. These people aren't sending me on vacation, they aren't so much as volunteering to watch my kids and give me a $50 gift card to Applebee's. In fact, they want to eventually charge me for this (again, thank you to the person who sent me the trial membership code).

So I have to find a way to shrug off the weird encouragement and cliches or mentally buy into them. We'll see how it turns out. I've endured them enough that those aren't the reasons I would stop. Hopefully getting away from the true beginner stuff will help.

Using a different bike than the trainers expect is a bit of a challenge. I can adjust the resistance on my Schwinn, but I have no idea what my cadence is. I might take the cadence sensor off my outdoor bike and put it on the Schwinn for a few weeks. Trying to match resistance is interesting. It took me until my 4th 20min beginner ride to find someone who would parse the Peloton bike resistance settings to a generic enough description that I could translate it to Schwinn resistance (Sherman's ride from 1/10/'23, in case anyone cares). Trainers are also a bit inconsistent communicating when they adjust their resistance, some announce it well in advance and give you a countdown, others just say it while they turn their knob, and if you miss them call it out they don't usually repeat it until the next change. I do my best to increase or decrease resistance when the trainer says to, to pedal faster or slower depending on the target cadence, and for me that'll be fine. It's not like anyone is going to chastise me for missing something anyway.

As for the arm workouts, they kicked my butt arms. I've never had great arm strength, and I feel like my muscles atrophied after my herniated disc this past summer. None of these workout videos are listed as "Beginner". Despite having lifted weights in the past I am not used to dumbbells. I was hoping that they'd spend some time explaining correct form, which has been a bit of a hurdle for me, and so far I haven't found anyone taking the time to explain proper form/technique in their video. They do have some quick demonstrations in the Class Plan, but those are silent 3-10 second videos.

Well, that was a lot. Hopefully breaking it down like that helps people avoid the sections they might not care about.

So I guess the question is whether I'll continue to use this after the trial subscription ends. I can't give a definite answer to that yet. It might depend on how I do with the arm workouts. While I am most enthused about getting ready to ride bike this summer, I will eventually be taking my outdoor bike to the trail for some fresh air. The dumbbell workouts are all indoors and also don't expect me to have any vendor locked equipment, so I'm not paying a lot for Peloton brand equipment or trying to parse anything like bike resistance in the middle of a workout. I can see myself possibly continuing with the dumbbells through the summer, but I doubt I will do many indoor rides May through September.

If anyone asks and reminds me to, I can post my thoughts as the trial membership winds down in March.

 

[doogster]

How much do you find it helps (or not) to use the Peloton workouts to train for real cycling? I've heard cyclists say that it can often be very helpful because Peloton rides typically don't have downhill, or stopping at a signal waiting for a light to change, etc... It's constant work (of varying intensity levels). But that some other cyclists find it difficult because there are fewer long-duration classes, and some will do thinks like stacking two 90-minute classes on top of each other to continue training endurance for longer rides that they'll face out in the real world.

I can't really say how much it helps with real cycling other than it keeps me toned and maintains endurance if I do longer/hard workouts. While the classes may not be as long as your outdoor real cycling days, it can be as easy or as hard a workout as you like by amping up your cadence or resistance. And sure, you could definitely stack workouts to create a longer "ride". And mix / match their ride types (Intervals, HIIT, climb, That and a good stretch class afterwards and you're golden.

My setup is my Giant on a $100 trainer stand, and a Wahoo Cadence sensor I have tied into my laces. Most times I just run with their workout recommendations for cadence and resistance. You have to "fudge" the resistance to your own setup as they call out settings based on the Peloton bike system. I just assume those to be % of Max possible, and map percentages to the gears on my bike.

That said regarding cycling - I do much more in the way of strength workouts (5 days a week), and cycling maybe 2 times / week.

Been a member of the Peloton app for 2 years now and really like it... it keeps me working out and for as much as I use it, the cost is very reasonable. I'm sure there are other sources of workouts out there. I never looked but I bet there are free training videos all over YouTube.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

@Kent88 thanks for your thoughts. Sounds like it's been a mix.

A few thoughts:

• I haven't messed around with the phone app much at all. I actually just installed it for the first time before Saturday to track a 3+ mi outdoor walk. I do most of my non-cycling workouts using the Roku app or actually playing them through a web browser on my desktop. An iPad works well but I can't imagine trying to watch these things on a small phone screen. That sounds like a nightmare as far as experiencing the classes.
• I figured that the cadence/resistance on a non-Peloton bike would be a little rough. I don't know if the app actually displays target cadence/resistance on screen? I know it does on the actual bike, but I'm not sure on the app. If you're doing the app on a tiny phone screen, that could also reduce the available real estate for showing it. But yeah, following the callouts can be difficult especially when the instructors aren't good about actually making the callout explicit.
• Re: music, I would definitely say country isn't the big one. Especially older country. Denis has some rides (such as this one) that are older country. You can filter the workouts based on music and apparently there are 231 country rides, but they're probably mostly biased towards newer tracks. I don't know if you're also into classic rock (I assume there's decent overlap with older country), but expanding to include that opens up a LOT of rides with good music.
• Speaking of app vs. desktop vs. phone, I actually do most of my ride searching using the laptop (browser) interface. Pretty much daily I'll look at the rides to see if there's something I want to add to my bookmarks. Then I'm usually picking whatever ride I'm going to do on a daily basis on the laptop and just know what to filter for on the Bike to find that specific ride. I couldn't imagine trying to do that on a 5" phone screen or through a Fire Stick app that may not exactly offer "snappy" performance...
• Re: instructors, I think as you get farther out of the beginner rides you'll find that it's less about affirmation. If you want to avoid that, avoid anything labeled "Low Impact", "Recovery", etc as well. I can't count the number of low impact rides that are "if you're recovering from pregnancy" etc... No, I want to get aggression out because I have kids, not because I was ever pregnant!
• Also re: instructors, note that instructors may have VERY different feels based on the type of ride they're doing. One of my early rides was a low impact with Jess King, and it was SUPER boring and way too on the affirmation end. Then later I took this "Musicfest" ride (where she's playing all bands from the Warped Tour) and it's a buttkicker where there's a 20 minute stretch of high resistance where every song you're building more cadence and she's yelling "NO RECOVERY!" to get you to push harder. That little pixie kicked my a$$!!! -- The takeaway being to give instructors more than one chance with different types of rides before you write them off. I have some instructors that I know are always good, and some where I know I have to be in the right mood for them, but when I'm in that mood they can hit the spot.

Anyway, looking forward to your update when you get to the end of the trial and decide whether or not to continue.

 

[Kent88]

I've mostly played video on the FireStick. My first ride was on my phone. Since then, I've used larger screens. I don't know why Peloton doesn't like my laptop, but my phone works well enough. I set up on there and play video on the TV. It would be helpful if those of us without the bike could see on screen at any time what resistance and cadence we're supposed to keep. But it's going to take a couple more rides for me to get a good feel for what pelo bike resistance equals what Schwinn resistance, and I can see why it might not be worth the screen real estate for people who just aren't bothering with that parsing.

Country ride bookmarked. Thank you. I think I am going to give classic rock a try, as I don't want to listen to Beiber. No offense to the Belibers out there, just not my jam. Unfortunately I don't expect any rides with Big Giant Circles playing.

I have been watching videos with a few different instructors. They all made me cringe a bit, but only one was really bad. I don't have strong feelings about any of them yet. I'm going to keep trying out some different people, see what happens. I'm almost out of the beginner rides I bookmarked, so that will help reduce the cringe factor.

 

[Rodent]

I did my last beginner ride a week or two back, and have been increasing the regular 20 and 30-minute rides content and doing what I can to keep the resistance set to at least the middle range for a given class segment. I see this and the continued number of personal bests as evidence of improvement in my condition.

 

[Rodent]

@Kent88 you have me wanting to give the laptop login a spin, as this is how my SO will eventually be connecting for stretching exercises. I should test the waters, work thru any technical issues, and level set expectations prior to her initial laptop login

Three devices to validate so she's covered on the device of her choosing: newer HP Chromebook, older WinPC laptop, and a Samsung Tab S6 Lite

 

[Rodent]

@betarhoalphadelta there an option in user preferences to Hide Pre/Postnatal Classes that should help you out in your quest to omit these from the classes being displayed to choose from

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

@Kent88 Yeah, that's one problem with beginner rides--they're a chance for an instructor to try to introduce themselves to new riders. And hence playlists can be all over the map, because they're trying to cater to everyone.

I did my last beginner ride a week or two back, and have been increasing the regular 20 and 30-minute rides content and doing what I can to keep the resistance set to at least the middle range for a given class segment. I see this and the continued number of personal bests as evidence of improvement in my condition.

Yeah, the endorphin rush of hitting a PR is a hell of a lot of fun, isn't it?

@betarhoalphadelta there an option in user preferences to Hide Pre/Postnatal Classes that should help you out in your quest to omit these from the classes being displayed to choose from

Oh, I've done that. These are just normal Low Impact rides where it seems the instructors think you're in there because you're recovering from something. I mean, other than the occasional hangover, I'm good lol.

As an aside, apparently there's a Jenn Sherman Yacht Rock ride where she's massively hung over. I probably need to find that one and bookmark it at some point.

 

[Rodent]

I'll have to look for that as well

 

[Kent88]

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.

How is the plan to root it going?

Looks like you aren't the only one who wants to:
Peloton – Hackaday

 

[Nagorg]

We've got one but I've only ridden it a few times. Why? Because SWMBO hates that she has to readjust everything after I ride it. We're not the same size...

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

We've got one but I've only ridden it a few times. Why? Because SWMBO hates that she has to readjust everything after I ride it. We're not the same size...

My wife has a great solution for that...

...I'm expected to readjust it to her settings after I ride.

 

[Kent88]

Bike seat setting is a surprising hindrance to my better half as well.

 

[Rodent]

worked out this morning via the app on my iPhone, and completed a light strength exercise. good to have the activity and coaching in my hotel room where I likely would have stopped early and gone back to pecking emails on my laptop. definitely not as robust as working a strength session from my Bike+'s screen, but still doable in my hotel room.

tonight I ventured down to the hotel exercise room and discovered a Peloton Bike (regular model) in excellent condition. after a solid 30 min ride, a few observations on this Bike (what the hotel has) vs Bike+ (what I own) listed in no particular order

- my Bike+ has the option to auto-adjust the tension to follow what the instructor does in a session. I'd been wondering if this was really a big deal or not, and (for my preferences) I concluded that it is a big deal. more than once I found myself into the workout and music (90s pop punk, if you are curious) and failing to adjust the tension accordingly. probably something one would get used to doing, but not something I do with the auto tension feature enabled. it was a bit difficult to add a couple more points of resistance while in the midst of a fast jog

- I forgot to bring a set of running/workout shoes, and had to use my work dress Sketchers in the bike's pedal bridles. I came to realize that clipping in has a significant impact on the ability to utilize a full stroke that includes effort on the up. I lost what felt like 30% of my ability to push/pull, not to mention that it was rather uncomfortable in those dress shoes and my feet never felt fully connected to the pedal.

- the seat and handlebar adjustment values appear to be slightly different. I set the values identical to what I have on my bike at home, but it never felt right. maybe some of it was the shoes. I'm sure with time I'll get it dialed in on a future visit. the handlebar style was very similar to my home Bike+, so I don't think the shape had significant impact here

- I like the Bike+ monitor's volume adjustment on the side edge. it's super easy to quickly adjust volume up/down while in a session. I also miss the ability to adjust the content mix between more music, even music/instructor, and more instructor. the Bike+'s larger screen is also nice, but in now way a deal killer to use the smaller screen

a cool thing I wasn't expecting:

- it was super easy to login to my account using my phone's camera to scan the code box and validate my identity on the bike's session via my phone's app. my heartrate monitor and headset then easily paired, and I was off to working out almost like I was at home. this was great since I had forgotten my password, and it was locked away at home. great to be able to login and receive credit for my workout stats tonight. One click and I was logged out of the bike's session - no username/passwords to key-in on the bike's screen, so no key click counters to steam my personal login info. I had wondered if this was possible to do, and now I know


Based on this, I can now say I'm super glad I opted for the more expensive model. I'm also excited that my account is usable via app login, and that I can maintain a workout plan even when away from home for a couple days.

 

[Rodent]

Bike seat setting is a surprising hindrance to my better half as well.

I offered to adjust the seat back when I was done, and was told in no way should I belittle my SO's capabilities of being able to set the settings where she prefers them to be. "please focus on things that actually matter, and allow me to not feel like you think I'm incapable of such a simple task"

 

[Rodent]

finally got my new S6 Lite loaded with the Peloton app. not to difficult, but definitely a new world to learn for this first time Android user

heart rate band was easy to install direct on the Peloton app. JBL 'Peloton' earbuds took a bit of discovery with the tablet Settings - you pair headphones via general Bluetooth activity and not directly within the app. makes sense, just took some extra looking to find how to enable the tablet's pairing mode

first look is that anybody who uses their Bike or the iPhone app will find everything quite familiar. One thing is do see 'missing' is the Feed tab in the User Profile, and this is likely because it's only in Beta for the iOS and not (et) Android platform. I suspect any other differences are going to be seen in the details of interaction while in a workout, viewing history stats, and/or interaction with other users.

that's it for now

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I only loaded the app last week, but today I wanted to take the dog for a longer walk again and log those minutes. So we went almost 4 miles.

I'm still having trouble figuring out how to pair my Garmin watch with the app tho for heart rate. It's already paired to the phone (Pixel 5) via bluetooth, but I suppose I have to pair it to the app separately. On the bike when I select "Ride Indoor" it broadcasts and the bike picks up on it, but I guess the app isn't set up for that.

 

[redrocker652002]

I did not read the whole thread, but we have one at work. I work graveyards so 4am is my break and I hop on it for a quick 30 min ride. It kicks my butt, but I really like it. I feel like I got a good cardio workout in. I usually do the 80's rock ride with Kendall Toole (sp?) or the Foo fighters with Emma Lovewell. Kendall does a Metal ride that usually I will do when I am really feeling good, but that one just about kills me. LOL. Either way, I have been searching the used market to get one for home. I dig that it guides you thru the ride, gives you feedback. for the price new, it is a bit overpriced, but a used one is a bit better on the budget.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

@redrocker652002 yeah, Kendall and Emma may look gentle, but they'll kill ya. If you want to try another killer lady, try this HIIT & Hills ride with Camila. Great playlist and it's my current 30-minute PR--having ousted Emma's Coldplay ride.

Kendall has a 45-minute Metallica ride I've wanted to take for a while. Apparently it is EPICALLY hard. I'm a little excited, and a lot scared, which is why I haven't done it yet.

If you're into rock music, I definitely recommend Denis, Ben, and Sam. All great instructors with great playlists. Christine and Jenn usually have great rock playlists as well, but aren't anywhere near the energy level of Emma, Kendall, Camila...

Good luck in your search for a bike! In the SF / Bay Area I'd expect that there are a fair number available, but it's densely populated enough that really smokin' deals get snatched up in a matter of hours.

 

[Rodent]

Camilla

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Camilla

Yep. She'll work ya.

I don't take many of Olivia's rides (music choices mainly), but she's another one that will crush you.

BTW congrats on 1K minutes and (assuming you do something tomorrow) reaching the January "every day" milestone!

I decided to up my minute goal for the year to 15K. I figure that 10K would be too attainable and while I was thinking of going 12K, there are no badges between 10K and 15K. So might as well try to stretch myself right?

 

[Kent88]

Gosh, you two are showing me up. I missed a couple times last week.

But those are the only days I've missed since I started. I signed up for a couple challenges in February, and those seem like attainable goals.

 

[KeizerBrewr]

I use the app on my Fire stick. I am not going to spend that kind of money for a bike that doesn't go anywhere...I would rather get a MTB and go enjoy being outside.

 

[Brew_Dude41]

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".

Can't wait for that day...

If the wife is working or something else going on i can't get a solid 10 min without something crazy going down. Well, that is my excuse...

Good job to all of you that are getting after it.

Logged in to my bike and added up my mileage since I got it for the wife for Christmas 2020, and I have put on a whopping 95 miles before this January.

I am about to pass that with what I have done just this month, but we will see if I can keep eliminating excuses why I can't ride today...