
Thanks to well-produced live-streaming and on-demand classes starring self-made celebrity instructors, the Peloton Bike has a devoted following. To decide, you need to know yourself, what you want out of your bike and your workouts, and-perhaps most important-what you’re willing to go without.

We recommend the Peloton Bike in our guide to exercise bikes, but we also have other suggestions that might better fit your budget, style, or goals. And Peloton has been through its share of ups and downs over the past few years.

Still, you have to make and enforce your own good habits, and the bike becomes a shadow of its former self if you stop paying the $44 monthly membership fee. It is an excellent piece of equipment overall. But for a set of indoor-cycling devotees, these recurring costs for live-streaming and on-demand classes make financial sense: Specifically, those who typically take four or more Peloton-style studio classes a week may find the at-home bike and classes to be a superior value in as few as four months.Īfter riding the Peloton Bike and the Peloton Bike+ (an upgraded model we review below), assessing 18 other indoor-cycling bikes, taking dozens of classes, observing even more, and absorbing myriad motivational mantras, we’ve concluded that if you have your heart set on a Peloton Bike and all that comes with it, you’ll be happiest with a Peloton Bike.

Becoming a member of the Peloton pack is an investment, requiring roughly $2,000 for the first year and more than $500 each year thereafter. If you thrive on the competition and camaraderie of studio cycling classes and are intrigued by the idea of replicating that experience at home, a Peloton Bike could be for you.
