I like a good spin class and spinning at home isn't the same...until now. I mean, how motivated can you get with a spin bike but no instructor? In the last year I learned about the Peloton bike. Maybe you have seen advertisements for it as well. It is a spin bike with spin classes live or on-demand hooked in the bike. And VIOLA - there is your motivation; an instructor on your bike pushing you. However, the bike is expensive. It is almost $2000 plus $250 delivery plus $39 per month for the subscription. From everything I've read, you have to be a subscriber for the bike to work. So that's $468 a year, every year, on top of the bike and delivery.
I did some research and found a more economical way to get a similar set up as the Peloton bike. I purchased a spin bike from Amazon. I selected this bike you can see by clicking {HERE}. This bike has a similar belt to the Peloton and, unlike a chain bike, is quiet.
There are many bikes on the market that will work for you. Research a bit and go with your personal preference. Once you've selected a bike, you need to add a few things onto the bike to make it more like a Peloton. First, you'll want a cadence sensor.
You will learn that the Peloton instructors refer to the RPM (or cadence). You might think you are pedaling with the beat of the music, but adding this cadence piece will be very helpful. The Wahoo cadence sensor found {HERE} is the perfect fix for this. As shown in the photo above, it is a small chip-like piece that attaches to the arm of the pedal and sends the cadence reading to your iPhone via bluetooth. When I first received my Wahoo cadence sensor, I could not get it to work. I called Wahoo. They were WONDERFUL! I spoke with Kyle. He said that some of the sensors that had been ordered from Amazon have had dead batteries. He offered to send me some batteries for my troubles. However, I really wanted to get started, so I made a quick run to Target and changed the battery myself. It worked as soon as the battery was replaced! The Wahoo app is free. I hear it also can coordinate with the My Fitness Pal app. Wahoo also offers a speed and cadence sensor. There is also a heart rate monitor built in to some of the sensors. I selected to go with the basic sensor (i.e. cadence only). I'm letting you know there are many options when selecting a Wahoo device. Do your research!
You will also want some weights. If you haven't taken a spin class in awhile, it's pretty common for the instructors to add a song or two that include hand weights. The Peloton bike has a place to store the weights at the back of the bike. My bike doesn't. So I keep them the table next to my bike. I also keep towels in that bin, so it's all in one spot. If you want something "fancy," you can get your weights with a stand {HERE}.
The pedals that come with the bike are fine. However, I prefer to wear spin cleats instead of tennis shoes, so I needed SPD pedals found {HERE}. They were so easy to install, less than 5 minutes. Use the tool that came with your bike and → you are done!
I mentioned above that I like to wear spin cleats. You don't have to purchase these. They are a personal preference. The pedals I suggest above came with cleats for the shoes. {THESE} are inexpensive spin shoes, that come with cleats. You will want to do your research to see what is best for you. And if you buy the SPD pedals, you'll need to make sure the spin shoes have cleats. Don't forget, you can wear your tennis shoes and use the original pedals that came with the bike.
You will want to download the Peloton app to your iPad.
This app offers over 3,000 on-demand rides as well as live classes every day. You can stream the iPad app to your AppleTV (by selecting Airplay on the iPad) or you can get a {CLIP} for your bike for the iPad. I have a clip for my iPad and for my iPhone. One of the disadvantages is that you can't run the Peloton app and the Wahoo app at the same time on the iPad. So I run the Peloton app on the iPad and the Wahoo app on my iPhone. It looks like this.
The iPad holder and iPhone holder are easily attached to the handlebars of your bike. BONUS: The app has a section called BEYOND THE BIKE. This offers mini workouts that focus on something such as arms, abs, stretching, etc. I find this to be a great plus to the app!
Depending on where you are putting your bike, you may want a floor mat for it. Since mine was going on carpet, I did elect for {THIS} mat.
A clip came with my bike for a water bottle. I added a floor fan in the room as well. Spinning = Sweating, so a fan is a must for me!
COST BREAKDOWN
(Please note that Amazon's prices change often. These costs were the current pricing with Amazon at the time of this post.)
Cost if going with Peloton Bike
Peloton bike = $1995.00
Peloton delivery = $250
App with purchase, mandatory one year commitment at $39/month. After the first year you can cancel the app. Yet, I find the app is the whole point of this bike, so you wouldn't want to miss it.
Bike floor mat = $40
All in for one year would be = $2753
My option:
Sunny Health & Fitness Bike = $275
Wahoo Cadence Senor = $40
Weights (I have hand weights that came from a local store called Five Below at $4 a piece.) = $8
New clip pedals = $45
Spin shoes = $0, as I already owned them
iPad = $0, as I already owned one
iPhone = $0, as I already owned one
iPad clip = $21
iPhone clip = $7
Bike floor mat = $40
Peloton app = $13 per month, no contract, no year commitment (Update as of July 2018: The Peloton app is now $20 a month, still no contract. Update as of December 2019: The Peloton app is now $12 a month. Obviously, you will need to continue to watch this as it seems to always be changing.)
With this option, I sometimes wear Bluetooth headphones so I don't wake anyone in the family if I'm spinning early in the morning.
All in for one year is costing me = $592
Is it going to be $2753 or $592 for you? It's a savings that seemed like a no brainer for me. I've had the bike for a month and use it often. Yet, if I ever want to get rid of it, I can sell it on one of the many Facebook resale pages that I am a member of and cancel my app membership with no penalty.
The only downside I've found so far in doing it this way are the live classes. You can take a live class with the app, so that isn't the problem. It's just that the app doesn't recognize you in class a live class, and you aren't part of the leaderboard. Any time when I start thinking I wish I were part of the leaderboard, I remind myself how much money I saved myself...and then I'm all good with it. (wink) I do hope one day I get to ride with a live Peloton class in the Peloton studio! Maybe I need to book a trip to NYC and make this happen.
If you have a spin bike, I recommend you give this app a try. It's free for the first 14 days. (Update as of December 2019, Peloton is offering a 30-day free trial for the app.) You can even try it at the gym with one of their spin bikes (but wear Bluetooth headphones if you're at the gym)! If you have been considering the Peloton bike, I hope this review has been helpful as you now have another option of how to ride Peloton without breaking the bank.