Listen up Perth, Peloton has finally made its way to WA and they’re offering 100-day free trials (yep, no strings attached!) if you order by 22 March 2022. Given the state of things at the moment, with more and more of us being forced to stay home and isolate, we reckon this could not have come at a better time.
We obviously had to give the at-home bike a go for ourselves just to check it stacked up to the hype. Here’s a bit of a rundown on what you can expect.
Firstly, for anyone who isn’t up to speed on what Peloton is, let us fill you in. At its core, the Peloton bike and app offers an awesome spin class-style experience at home, with endless on-demand and live classes to choose from each and every day. Sounds simple enough, but trust us, these guys have truly stepped things up a notch—it’s not like the regular ol’ exercise bike you’ll find at the gym.
Starting from $2,645 (plus extra for the monthly classes), the Peloton Bike isn’t cheap but it might just be the slickest piece of gym kit I’ve ever had the luxury of sweating all over. It definitely has an Apple-like vibe about it. From the big sweatproof HD touchscreen to the fully adjustable setup, smooth as hell resistant knob and near-silent ride—the design is seriously next-level and you can’t help but get excited when it lands in your lounge room.
You can also opt for the new Bike+ (what I tried) which starts from $3,695. This one's the primo version but the main difference here is the screen’s slightly bigger and swings all the way round so you can roll out your exercise matt and give one of their many other types of classes a whirl. The app has every type of class under the sun, from bootcamp and sweaty HIIT classes to meditation, yoga and hardcore strength sessions. It’s also got better speakers (music is a big part of the experience) and an auto-resistance function which means you don’t need to turn the knob to change your resistance during a class, it’ll just do it for you. Something I did not realise until after I handed it back (face palm).
After setting up the bike and my account, first thing I did was jump on and take a little look through everything on the app. There’s a lot on there so I definitely felt like a kid on Christmas. I started with the how to videos to cover off the basics like clipping in and out and how to adjust it all before heading on my first ride. It can be a little overwhelming trying to decide on which class to hit first, but thankfully you can easily narrow things down based on what you’re after, with filters for difficulty, music style, class length, instructor and more. A quick 20-minute beginner ride set to 2000s indie hits was where I landed and it had me hooked from the get-go.
Not gonna lie, I normally go for group classes to keep me motivated and wasn’t sure I’d be able to really push myself at home alone. But boy was I wrong about that. The instructors are truly world-class and together with banging soundtracks, the motivational vibes are all time.
Throughout the class, you’ll have a set resistance and cadence (how fast you’re pedalling) range to try and hit, which the instructor will guide you through much like a regular spin class. These targets help keep you pushing your hardest throughout the session. It also helps that there’s a ‘here now’ tab and all time leaderboard so you can see how you’re tracking. They’ve even emulated that post sesh high five, and my god does it feel good when a little high five request pops up from a fellow rider mid-ride.
The app tracks all your workouts, so if you're a bit of a data nerd you can look back on all your workouts and scope out the stats and how much you've improved. There are also a ton of milestones that you can earn, which will fall under 'Achievements' and if you're into collecting you'll no doubt love the satisfaction of filling them all.
If you can convince friends to get on the Peloton bandwagon (or make some through the platform), you can really make the most the community vibes on offer. Follow each other, schedule classes together and even video call in-class if you need an accountability buddy to get you through.
Whether you have a buddy or not, some days the thought of putting yourself through one of their gruelling cardio sessions is enough to send you straight to the couch instead. This is when I explored some of the other types of classes on offer. The full-body strength session was a great way to hit everything in one go and could easily be done with no equipment. I also really liked the yoga classes when I was craving something slow. It’s basically like having access to every gym class you could ever want, which is pretty darn handy.
As much as I loved all the classes, about a month in my usage had tapered off a little… much like any exercise goal, it’s hard to maintain the habit after the initial excitement wears off. Honestly, this has nothing to do with the quality of the bike and experience on offer, it’s just the reality of trying to start a new fitness regime. I found myself coming back to the bike but struggling to get a solid routine going. It’s a big investment so I would definitely recommend taking some steps to ensure you do keep the training going like finding someone to keep you accountable and scheduling the workouts into your calendar ahead of time, which (surprise, surprise) you can easily do on the app.
The good news is, if you’re not 100% sure about whether you would really get the most from the Peloton experience, they’re offering 100 day free trials if you order by 22 March 2022, after that they'll still have their usual 30 day free trial available... but I know what I'd prefer. There’s also financing options so you can pay it off monthly if the all-out cost seems a bit hefty on the old wallet right now. I mean, if nothing else 100 days of free at-home training seems just too good to pass up.
Image credit: Supplied