Peloton Bikes, Indoor Exercise bikes for Cardio and Strength Training

I finally took the leap during Amazon Prime days. (First of all, the delivery and set up was absolutely seamless, and took about an hour. Plus they hauled all the boxes away. Wonderful. My communication with Amazon was easy and direct and the set-up folks absolutely knew what they were doing. ) What I've found, after setting my online presence to "private" is that the sheer variety of classes -- some as short as 5 minutes -- is a wonderful WFH break. Its pretty easy to commit to 20 minutes on the bike if all you have to do is put your shoes on and turn on the bike. So far, I've done bike workouts, walking (outside) workouts, weights and yoga. I have been a long time cyclist so I am comfortable with cleated shoes. There are lots and lots of after-market accessories for these bikes and I recommend a few: buy non-Peloton shoes for half-price. You can get them with cleats already installed for $55. You don't need $120 shoes for indoor cycling. Get a gel seat cover for a more comfortable ride. Get a small fan you can mount to your handlebars. And there are heartrate monitors for a more exact reading than your watch. Oddly, the Peloton monitor did not connect with the program, but a much cheaper monitor did. Connects just fine with my Samsung S25 phone and ring. The huge variety of instructors will almost guarantee that you'll find a good match, and the Peloton app has lots of other options for exercise, meditation, stretching, runs and weight classes. For all that, the app easily replaces my gym membership. For the shoes sceptics: it may take a few times to get used to clicking in and out of cleats, but they are really the best way to transfer power from your legs to the bike. They become intuitive quickly. ( Cleats transfer power on both the down stroke and the upstroke. Cages aren't as efficient, and "regular " shoes and pedals lose the upstroke power. You will get stronger using cleats )A year later (July 2025): The bike itself is still working great and I still think this was one of the smartest purchases I made all last year. At 72, I'm never going to top a leader board but I can definitely see a difference from a year ago. And while I thought I would set the bike on a program and then just watch a movie on television, I still find the classes entertaining and motivating.

Great bike and happy with the setup that was part of the purchase. No complaints.

Great choice and reasonable price

Three faulty bikes is too many. The first bike had a bent seat and potentially a bent seat post. The second bike had a faulty pedal that wouldn’t screw in. The third had a bent frame making it impossible to balance and pedal consistently. I’m not sure if this is a batch issue or the new normal for Peloton. Nonetheless it seems there has definitely been a decline in product quality.I regularly rode a peloton bike that was purchased before 2019. It was an amazing bike. The quality and smoothness of the ride I felt was unbeatable. Unfortunately the bike was not mine. I took a few years off from peloton and focused on outdoor cycling. Eventually I bought a Concept2 BikeErg to avoid Peloton’s $44/month membership fee. While the air resistance on the Concept2 is definitely different than Peloton’s magnetic resistance I was relatively satisfied with my purchase. It wasn’t until recently that I wanted something better suited for interval training. I had finally invested in my own Peloton bike. After receiving three faulty Peloton bikes I was unforgettably disappointed with my purchase and will never purchase another Peloton.I contacted Peloton about my experience with little to no resolution of the issue. They just didn’t seem to care about my primary complaint. Even after I expressed this situation would inevitable result in me never buying another Peloton, I received no response. Thankfully Amazon’s return policy is relatively hassle free otherwise this whole ordeal would have been a nightmare. Amazon’s free assembly is also a great perk but it’s important to note they are not product experts. Biking can take some getting used to but if your bike doesn’t feel right after set up it could be a faulty product.If you decide to purchase a Peloton I truly hope this isn’t your experience.