I waited to do a Peloton review until I had done at least 30 rides. I am proud to say that I am now well-past my 50th ride since getting it on December 19th. In my opinion, I think it’s disingenuous to review something as soon as you get it.
I love every single thing about my Peloton. My Peloton review is nothing short of glowing. I love that this stationary bike has been a place where I have met myself every single day since I got it. It’s a place where I’ve become emotional about life. A place where I transform into the belief I can and will do great things. It’s where I have to dig into a deeper layer of who I am both mentally and physically.
It’s where I feel an unbelievable and overwhelming chance to be on my own side and cheer myself on. My bike is where I get a chance to discover a playful layer that uses her imagination, lets the music take her through whatever grief she needs to process and most of all, shows me what home feels like to me.
Why I Got a Peloton
I don’t like working out. Nor am I athletic or even like being outside. Unfortunately, I have previously fallen in the trap that exercise is to punish my body for what I’ve eaten. Pandemic. Chiberia. Isolation. Mental health. These are the main reasons I decided to order a Peloton… even before I moved to Chicago. I knew there was a wait for bikes (I got in JUST in time before their supply chain issues ramped up) and I wanted to be sure I had to in decent time after moving. I had to wait about seven weeks when I placed the order.
The real selling points for getting a Peloton were:
- Incredibly affordable financing at 0%. I pay $100 a month for the equipment and $40 for the app. I’ve paid as much as $130 for a gym in Kansas for only 30 minute sessions so this is a much better deal and I have access to own the equipment.
- The social aspect. It has been so hard to feel my extrovert battery be recharged and Peloton makes me feel like I’m WITH people. It doesn’t matter if it’s a live class or from 2019, you feel like you’re in a club.
- I knew I was not nothing anything positive for my physical (and sometimes mental) health. Chiberia is real and I didn’t want to see myself falling into bad health habits as I had years previously.
Why I Went with Peloton and Not Another Brand
I’m an iconography person. I want the real experience. Not the “close enough” to the real thing. I want it all or nothing. If you don’t care about anything other than getting a ride in, I can see Peloton not being compelling. I want to have the same screen as the instructor I’m following. If you’re more of a “close enough” person, it’s probably not worth your money. However, if you’re getting a spinning bike you’re going to be spending a decent amount of money either way.
I know a lot of people have done DIY Pelotons and those just aren’t for me. I want an exact measurement on the screen of my habits and I want it tied into the app so I can track progress.
Delivery Experience
Yes, it takes forever to currently get your bike. I called every day for three weeks to see if I could get a sooner delivery date. The people were always so kind but very much like, “Ma’am, you’re out of your mind it’s not going to come sooner.”
I spend SO much time upstairs between sleeping and my office that I wanted to utilize the downstairs more. Instead of having a dining room table (ahem, we all know why) I decided to turn my dining room into a spin studio. While it’s not at all traditional, it works for me.
I opted for in-home delivery. You do have the option of threshold delivery and all employees either way are masked. In-home was important to me as the bike is about 150lbs total and I cannot lift that. In an attempt to keep their employees healthy they try to limit the time in-homes so they don’t do a normal bike overview. My delivery and set-up took 20 minutes and that was with a few questions from me. The delivery people could NOT have been kinder. Once my network was set up I was good!
Classes and Instructors
One cannot do a Peloton review without discussing their favorite instructors. I am not a fan of mixing instructors a lot. I pick a lane and I stay in it. Typically I do a 30 minute ride during the week and a 45 minute on Saturday/Sunday. I actually greatly prefer the COVID-influenced classes where there’s no studio participants. It feels so much more intimate and I don’t find myself distracted.
My favorite Peloton instructors are:
- Cody – One cannot have a Peloton review and not discuss Cody. His workouts are what I take when I want to turn up my sass and have a gossip session. He’s hard, don’t get me wrong, but he’s upbeat and and proud to be your gay bestie who gasses you up.
- Jess – If I was a Peloton instructor, I would be Jess King-like. Jess doesn’t just teach a class, she gives you an experience. Her Jess King Experience feels like a church service and seamlessly weaves hard work with a story, grace and grit. Her rides take me to Vegas partying and listening to live music and feels like a rave in my own house. She’s hard, she’s going to make you dig into yourself and she’s going to be cheering for you harder than you cheer for yourself.
- Alex – Wheeeeewww. Alex is what I take when I need to adjust my attitude and worrkkk. He is tough love and exactly the type of hype man I need on hard rides. His entire story is so inspiring (from being a janitor to an instructor) and he makes you so happy you had the opportunity to wake up. He really has made me embrace something I think a lot, “I had the chance to be alive, I need to be grateful for this opportunity.”
What’s Changed 50 Rides In
I had moment. You know the moment. When you take a few stairs and suddenly you’re aware of your heartbeat beating a little faster than it should from that minimal physical activity. That was my moment that made me go “Woah.”
My first ride I felt nervous. I couldn’t get into the clips. True story, I had to call my 15 year old nephew to figure out how to get into the shoes. I had never been on a real bike. It took me about 10 minutes (no joke) to get out of the bike the first time. Trust me, you get better at it and the pedals loosen up a bit the more you ride.
The first month of classes I struggled most with my cadence. I could NOT get a steady cadence and right when I felt somewhat comfortable, I would have to increase. My biggest frustration was not being able to jog out of the saddle at a 70-80. Now, months later I can easily hit that but I’m working on my 80-90 cadence. There is always, always something for you to work on. The cool thing about seeing your workout metrics is when you don’t think you’re making progress, you can look at it and remember where you were two months ago when you thought you couldn’t get better.
Physically I don’t notice a lot different, other than my butt is banging right now. There’s a joke that you can tell a Peloton butt walking down the street and honestly I’m not sure that’s a joke because I think you absolutely can. My face is less puffy overall than it was before riding. I no longer have an elevated heartrate when I race up the stairs. I can lift boxes and carry them longer.
Mentally? I am a different person. The Peloton is when I had a mind-shift about self-discipline and showing up for myself. On the bike, I am a different person. I play and laugh. I sometimes find myself slightly tearing up as I let go of pain and process grief.
Movement is Healing
I wrote this quote in this post, but it came to me on the bike. Movement is healing. It’s in movement my body celebrates itself and honors who I am, past, present and future. I feel healing every time I clip into the bike.
There’s never a good time to get uncomfortable. If you are waiting for the right day to start discomfort you’ll always find a way out. Don’t play yourself by putting it off.
These are the 8×10 printables I have hanging in my spin studio in my video. I got frames (11×17 framed to 8×10) from Target (I hope they never stop selling them). I created them based on the motivation I found during my first few Peloton workouts. Oh and I threw in a Drake lyric (not pictured but included) because I am who I am.
How I Hold Myself Accountable
It’s kind of impressive that you can managed to struggle to workout and THE CYCLE IS LITERALLY IN YOUR DINING ROOM. Thus, I was determined not to turn my Peloton into an expensive clothing hanger. The #1 thing I do when I’m not feeling it or find myself mentally making excuses for if I don’t workout is I wear my workout gear. Except I call it accountability clothing because I have absolutely no excuse to NOT workout.
You aren’t going to feel like working out every day. As much fun as I talk about having in this Peloton review, it’s calling “WORK”ing out. It’s hard and you are going to have to find your WHY in every ride. Every hard climb.
If this Peloton review feels like a cult, you’re not wrong. It kind of is the best type of cult you can join. I’m not cool enough to have any of the merchandise. I don’t even have matching Old Navy gear. I just have my bike body and mind that meet daily to see what we can do together. It’s some kind of wonderful and I hope everyone has a chance to discover how I feel when I’m on my Peloton.
Diana T
I’m the same! I like a few instructors, and pretty much only take them. I also really like the classes with no people in them, just the instructors. I’ve only done one class with people in it because it was so distracting!