Yes, the Peloton Bike+ Is as Good as Everyone Says It Is—Here’s Our Review

With more and more people looking for options to sweat at home, Peloton has reaped major benefits, with the company seeing a 172% total revenue growth in its fourth quarter, and boasting a community of 3.6 million and growing. Translation: It seems like a lot of people own a Peloton Bike or Tread, or are using the Peloton App these days—and if not, they are definitely considering it.

When the Bike+, Peloton’s newest model, launched in September, I was wondering if I, too, should bite the bullet and buy one. And that’s why I took full advantage when the opportunity to test the Bike+ came my way. Well, that and the fact that while I have tons of fitness equipment in my apartment (dumbbells, a TRX, resistance bands, SKLZ slidez, kettlebells, etc.), my running routine has been quite crummy, and, subsequently, so has my cardio. Basically, I was in desperate need of a fitness routine reboot.

How I Tested

I used SELF’s stationary bike buying guide, featuring criteria from experts, to evaluate the Bike+. I tested the bike for a solid month, averaging about 5 classes per week. Wondering if you should invest in a Peloton Bike+? Here’s everything that I’ve learned so far, and what I thought about the bike based on each of the criteria categories from our experts.

Comfort

Our experts noted that comfort is pretty much the most important thing to consider when evaluating a stationary bike. “Make sure you’re comfortable on the bike because you may be on it for long periods of time,” says Dan Giordano, P.T., D.P.T., C.S.C.S., CMO of Bespoke Treatments, tells SELF. I found the saddle to be comfortable from my first sit. Yes, a day or two after my first ride I did have a bit of soreness in my crotch area. It’s a feeling I’m familiar with as I experienced it when I first started taking indoor cycling classes more than 10 years ago and do so typically when I take a substantial break from cycling classes and finally decide to get back on the saddle (pun intended). Once it subsided, though, I didn’t have any other post-ride discomfort. I know a lot of my friends opt for a seat cushion to help make their ride more cushy, so that is always an option too.

Adjustable Seat and Handlebars

You also want to look for a bike with an adjustable seat and handlebars, according to our experts; the Bike+ almost delivers on this front. While setting the Bike+ to my specific specifications was pretty easy thanks to simple adjustable knobs for the seat (even when the weights were in the conveniently placed holder on the saddle) and handlebar heights and a quick release tab to adjust the seat back and forth, I still wished you could move the handlebars forward and backward. I am used to bikes where this is possible and I miss that added customizable feature, especially as someone who has long legs but a short torso. The additional handlebar tweak would be a game changer, making me feel not quite as far from the handlebars. Thankfully, I was able to get the bike to where it was comfortable enough for me, even though adjusting the handlebars is a bit tricky when the screen is already mounted.

Handlebar Style

Think about how you’ll use a stationary bike, our experts also say, and make sure the handlebar style suits your needs. For example, if you know you’ll be using your indoor cycling bike for classic studio-style classes, you’ll want to get a different style than someone who is looking to use their bike as an indoor alternative to a road bike. The Bike+ handlebars closely mimic those of a road bike minus the dropped bars (the curved part on the bottom underneath.) They had a nice grip to them, even when my hands got a little sweaty during class. I gravitated toward a lot of classes with climbing, and found that these handlebars were sturdy enough to handle my weight when I rose straight out of the saddle as well as when my torso was angled and I was leaning more aggressively on them.

Adjustable Resistance

The Bike+ has a physical resistance knob, but by far its most impressive function was the auto-follow resistance feature. This is strictly for the on-demand classes with targeted metrics, and means you don’t have to worry about adjusting the knob yourself; if the resistance on the screen says a specific range, your bike will auto-adjust to fit within that range. This is accountability at the highest level, and a great way to help you really push yourself. You are still in control and can override the resistance by a quick turn of the knob, but once you’re in the groove of the workout, why even bother, right?

Stability

I am not exactly a newbie to Peloton. Pre-pandemic, I had taken classes in its older studio space. In comparison to the bikes in that studio, this bike has a little more heft to it. I especially noticed how weighty it was when I decided to move my bike to another location in my apartment (with the screen attached, the Bike+ weighs in at 140 pounds). I’ve seen other reviews where customers say it’s relatively easy to move, but it was not easy at all for me. I definitely struggled. That said, the weightiness of the Bike+ was a good thing when I was riding. I felt very stable, both in the saddle and while standing. The floors are a little uneven in my apartment, so I appreciated that I could adjust the stabilizers on the bottom of the bike to different heights. This simple tweak put an end to the small rocking I experienced on my first couple of rides, firmly planting the bike on my hardwood floor and relieving me of any worry that I might tip over while riding. Also, I am not sure if the bike is bigger (4 x 2 feet) than I thought or my apartment is just that small—so when it arrived I had to do some adjusting so that it would fit where I wanted it to. Learn from my mistake: Measure your space!

Ease of Use

It took about two months for my Bike+ to arrive to my apartment in NYC, but once it did, setup was a breeze. Customer service at Peloton gets an A+. The guys who delivered it were top notch, wearing booties and masks when they came into my apartment, setting it up for me, answering questions, offering suggestions, making sure the bike worked and that it was connected to my internet, and making sure I felt comfortable before they left. (FYI: The one time I did get an error message on the bike—apparently the cord was loose on my monitor— I called customer service and they navigated me through the issue with ease.)

You should also know that I am that person who never reads the instructions of any gadget I buy. I think you should just be able to figure things out. Perhaps not the smartest way of doing things, but it’s my style. So while the Bike+ came with a manual, I chucked it to the side and jumped right in. From navigating to find classes and filtering to my specific needs to maximizing and minimizing things on the screen to adjusting the seat and handlebars, everything was intuitive to me. It might also have something to do with the fact that I’ve previously been on an older-model Peloton bike, but there was nothing that I found about using the Bike+ difficult, and so I give it high marks for ease of use.

Other Features

Looking to pair a heart rate monitor with the Bike+? No problem. This bike will display yours in real time as long as it’s ANT+ compatible. And if you don’t have one, you can throw one in your cart while purchasing the Bike+ for another $49. (FYI: I did not use a heart rate monitor while testing the Bike+ because I never use one when working out.) The same goes for Bluetooth headphones (and speakers). They have a list of compatible wireless headphones. I happened to have two on hand at home— Apple Airpods and Beats Powerbeats 3— and tried connecting both and they worked fine. Ultimately, though, when riding, I opted to just use a good old-fashioned pair of plug-in headphones I had lying around the house. Go figure.

The Bike+ boasts a 24" HD screen, which is about 2" bigger than the previous model. This screen tilts back and up as well as rotates 180 degrees left and right, making the transition to off-the-bike classes super simple. It’s also a touchscreen, so you can easily hide or bring to the forefront certain metrics, even with sweaty fingers.

If you are a details person who wants every single metric, there are plenty to display on the screen: cadence, resistance, countdown clock, leaderboard, your personal best outputs, etc., all of which you can also choose not to display. I’ll admit, it feels like a lot to have all the metrics on screen at once, so I typically opted out by minimizing all the data points. However, when I did keep my leaderboard on the screen, I would filter it to just people riding from Spelman (my alma mater) or my specific group of friends, because it fostered a healthy sense of competition along with camaraderie. (Read: I must beat these people at all cost!)

Also, if you are someone who likes to video chat, the 8-megapixel front-facing camera on the Bike+ is a dream, because you can chat with friends during class. I kind of loved this feature because it made me feel closer to my friends, like we were actually sweating together. Most importantly, it made me feel like I wasn’t on this journey by myself— a feeling that I have often felt while being isolated during this pandemic. A lot of times, my friends and I would chat right before class, a few minutes during class and after—just don’t close out of the actual class window or the video chat also ends. And don’t worry, there is a privacy slide on the screen, so you don’t have to worry about anyone seeing you when you don’t want them too.

The speaker system is also pretty sweet. It has a bunch of stuff (4-channel audio with 2x3 watt tweeters and 2x10 watt woofers) that is foreign to me. What I can tell you is that all of those techy features I just mentioned, plus the front-and rear-facing speakers, made me feel like I was in an actual class—or better yet, a concert. The sound was that good. Maybe too good, which is why when I would crank up the volume, I typically rode with headphones on so as to not disturb my neighbors.

The Bike+ comes with two water bottle holders that sit on the front post of the frame, so if you’re taking several back-to-back classes or just need a lot of water you are covered. I tried a range of bottles in the holder and was able to fit a couple of different reusable and store-bought bottles (Swell, Yeti, Poland Springs, Smart Water, etc.). Since my Bike+ is positioned next to a window, if I ever wanted or needed to use a bigger bottle, then I would just sit it on my window ledge.

There are tons and tons of classes on this thing, and even more instructors. The majority of the rides I took were with Alex Toussaint, Tunde Oyeneyin, Robin Arzon, Ally Love, and Jess Sims—hey, I go where the music is! I also started getting into the other non-bike workouts on Peloton (yoga and meditation with Chelsea Jackson Roberts and strength and HIIT with Adrian Williams).

As far as the cycling classes go (because if you’re looking to buy a bike I’m sure that’s what you really want to know about), I made it a point to take a variety of classes to really get a feel of the offerings—beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts, recovery rides, warmup rides and cool down rides, live rides, encore rides, rides in the Artist Series (I did Beyoncé + Outkast), bike boot camps, scenic rides (I rode through Paris and Arizona), as well as the “just ride” feature that records your metrics on a simplified screen. I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed with any of them.

Also, as someone who was a die-hard indoor cycling studio goer pre-pandemic, I thought there was no way that this Bike+ and these classes could compare with a traditional in-studio experience, but it did, especially late at night with the lights off, which is my preferred way to ride. It really was an immersive experience. And that big ole screen makes it hard for you not to be sucked into your workout.

Plus, there’s the community aspect of having a Peloton. Peloton folks always talk about their amazing community of riders, and now I can say that it is true. On any given ride I was spinning gears with thousands of people—literally my first ride was over 72K folks. Plus many of your friends probably already own a bike, a fact that I learned upon the arrival of mine in early November. (Shout out to my friend Kurt for being the first person to give me a high five during a ride—surprisingly, it really amped me up!)

This community is a nice bonus because, let’s be honest, I miss going to gyms and boutique fitness studios. I also miss my thrice weekly SoulCycle classes and post-cycling-class weekend brunches, which were a mainstay in my life pre-pandemic. Le sigh.

Make no mistake, you are going to pony up some cash on this thing. The Peloton Bike+ starting cost is $2,495, plus the required monthly all-access subscription fee of $39 per month. The good news: The subscription allows access to what seems like an unending source of live and on-demand classes, ranging from indoor cycling to yoga to strength sessions. These classes aren’t just limited to your Bike+’s screen either. You can also access them through the Peloton App at no additional cost.

The Bike + also has several starter packages: Essentials (shoes, bike mat, and weights); Works (everything in Essentials kit + a yoga mat and resistance band); and Family (everything in Works as well as two yoga blocks, a yoga strap, two water bottles, and an additional pair of shoes). Each package, though, will increase your price point. As a long-time indoor cycling class enthusiast, I already own compatible cycling shoes (the Bike+ takes delta clips). I also have weights and a yoga mat, so if you already have these things, I don’t think you need to purchase a package, unless you want all Peloton-branded gear. (Hey, no judgment here.)

If this is sounding way too pricey already, remember that you can still buy the original Peloton Bike; the company dropped the base price of that bike to $1,895 from $2,245, though you’d be missing out on all the Bike+’s cool new features—mainly the larger, rotating touchscreen and the auto-follow resistance mode. You can also do a 30-day free trial of the Bike+, which is a nice little deal. Either way, demand is up, so if you do buy this bike, expect your delivery window to be somewhere between 8 and 10 weeks.

The Bottom Line

One of the things I really liked about the Bike+ is that it anticipated everything I wanted and those things I didn’t even know I needed. For example, if you are an Apple Watch wearer, which I am, at the beginning of a class, a notification pops up and asks you if you want to sync your Apple Watch. You tap your watch to the sensor and voila you are good to go. Post-class, all of your metrics are now in your personal rider profile.

This bike also feeds my love of good music. In the past, I was that person after every gym class asking the instructor who a certain song was by. Bike+ has an option to link to your Spotify or Apple Music, so if you like a song during class you tap the screen and it’ll go into your music library. This feature was simply genius, and one that I have made very good use of during this testing phase. My only real critique on the music front is that the instrumental music on the scenic rides wasn’t my style. (Easy fix: I just cranked up my own personal playlist.)

It was also pretty nice to be recognized for my personal milestones, like getting virtual high fives from strangers when I reached my 10th cycling class, or seeing the badges rack up on my profile for riding for a specific number of days or weeks in a row. Still waiting on a shout-out during a live cycling class, though!

All in all, I really do love the Bike+. It’s nice and sleek, and is not an eyesore in my compact apartment. It had a 10-foot power adapter with a three-prong plug, so you don’t need the bike to be right up against the outlet. It’s a really comfortable and stable ride. It isn’t jerky or wobbly—not even on the uneven floors in my apartment. And the classes, which I can take at any time of the day or night are a ball (I’ve literally hopped on the bike at 11:45 p.m.). The Peloton Bike+ infused life back into my workouts and it just makes me really freaking happy, which should count for something during this pandemic. Yes, the money is steep, but if you thrive on studio cycling classes I think you’ll get your money’s worth with the long-term benefits. As for me, I’m definitely sold.