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I'm half considering a s****y exercise bike for the office.
Looks like a Peleton is on offer for around the £1k mark.
Obvs I'll be heading over to DC Rainmaker, but any thoughts?
And no, a bike on rollers or a trainer is not an option.
I know the wattbike atom has flown up in price recently, from £1799 to £2399. There may be some black friday deals about though.
I’d go for a peleton as long as it’s zwift compatible and considering you can get it for £1k.
Others with more experience might have different opinion but ......is a Peloton actually intended for cyclists? Or is it not more of a s****y online spinning class style thingy? Rather than a Wattbike which is for power related training and linking up to biking obsessive services like Trainerroad or Zwift.
Is it just for you?
Not used the peloton service, only looked over the shoulder of someone else but....what I saw made my teeth itch a bit. A bit too 'good job' 'mercan for me.
I thought the Peleton bike needed resistance changing manually?
For everyone in the office Peloton works.
Personally I love it and its changed my indoor training, and flexibility a lot.
I tried Zwift, and got bored, tried smart rollers but they were a PitA
You'll get a good used Wattbike Pro for that budget. Like a lot of indoor bikes some of these are sold having had very little use. I've got no experience in connecting one of these to Zwift, FullGaz etc. Early model B's didn't have bluetooth. This can be retrofitted by WB for about £75.00. This allows connection to the WB Hub app & keeps all your stats in one place.
I assumed the Peleton only worked on their service ie you wouldn't be able to use it on Zwift etc....
Their business plan is based on the monthly membership fee...
I have a Wattbike and I've used it fairly consistently for a year, so hasn't become a clothes horse.
Got mine for about 2k I think so prices have gone up a fair amount. There's a Facebook group where there are usually second hand ones available though not a huge discount.
I've not had to contact customer service though other owners say it's excellent.
Those that have bought pelotón for using Zwift have been disappointed and vice versa. I've never tried a pelotón but they appear quite different so I would make sure you know what you're going to use it for before you buy.
Peleton isn’t Zwift compatible as far as I can work out but there are guided virtual training runs and unguided virtual rides in various locations around the world. And yes you do need to adjust resistance manually.
Personally I’d not have got one but the Mrs really wanted one and won’t ride on the roads (or indeed off them) so ended up getting it for her benefit. I use it occasionally if I can’t be arsed going outside but don’t do the classes. Ever.
Oh and the saddle is horrific, felt like eight hours in the saddle after 45 mins.
Stages smart bike?
I’ve ridden a Peloton in a hotel for a week. It’s rubbish. You have to change the resistance manually, like a £50 job from Argos. Not compatible with any other fitness service. The subscription service gets you access to being shouted at by some dudebro with shadowy wraiths in the background.
I reckon peloton is not far off going bust, which will then leave everyone with the equivalent of a 200 quid Argos indoor bike.
Watt bike is the answer,if you really won't get a decent smart turbo plus a cheap frame to put on it.
Peloton. Plenty used around. For all the sniping, it's probably the most ridden bike in the dcrainmaker stable, which will come as a surprise to many, given he reviewed EVERY clothes horse. Very complimentary review after three years of use. It. Just. Works.
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2022/11/peloton-bike-in-depth-review-long-term.html
I reckon peloton is not far off going bust
They really aren't. Wattbike will go first.
I’ve ridden a Peloton in a hotel for a week. It’s rubbish. You have to change the resistance manually, like a £50 job from Argos. Not compatible with any other fitness service. The subscription service gets you access to being shouted at by some dudebro with shadowy wraiths in the background.
Basically that, it's a spin bike with an ipad attachment.
That said, a lot of people enjoy spin classes, and there's no barrier to entry for non-cyclists. Zwift would be pretty dull going round it at an average for the population, not average for the subset of cyclist with a Zwift subscription pace. Whereas everyone can go into and come out of a spin class having had near enough the same experience because it's purely RPE based.
Got a Peloton initially for the wife but i've used it just as much following Power zone training plans.
If you get the Plus bike it will change the resistance automatically on most classes.
They really aren’t. Wattbike will go first.
Maybe,maybe not,but the point is that with peloton,if they go bust you're left with not much,because most of the value is in the live classes. But if wattbike go bust you still have a perfectly functioning smart trainer that can be used with any other 3rd party training app.
That said a good turbo trainer is better than either imo.
They really aren’t.
They've laid off 5200 people and their share price has fallen from $171 to $10. They've got maybe 6 months to turn it round, but the most likely outcome is that they'll be bought out of bankruptcy by someone like Amazon.
Peloton was never a $45b company that was COVID valuations. It might just be a $1b company with a solid retention rate for its subscribers. Wattbike raised £11m in its last round of funding and offers little to differentiate from other smart bikes such as Kickr, Tacx, Stages (don't think Wattbike will fold, but the economies are very different).
As a hardened fixed wheel rider, I like spin bikes and dislike turbos (and I have a Kickr and Zwift). I much prefer rollers with a power meter to a turbo.
I’ve had a Wattbike for nearly three years now, still going strong (touch wood) and I love it.
The advantage over a wahoo kicker or similar (which I appreciate wasn’t on your shortlist) is that any of the family can use it, however, if it was just for me I’d be tempted to go for a kicker or similar as (I assume) they’ll be cheaper.
I know a few people who use and like Peloton but online spin classes are a different thing from Zwift and the like.
Mate has a Schwinn smart spin bike, cost less than a Peloton and just subscribes to the service, pops his iPad in the mount on the bike. At least then you’re not left with a clothes horse if the company goes under.
Depends what the use case is in the office really, for mostly non-cyclists to be able to do a workout (Peloton would be your best bet) or more more cycling-minded people with a bit of gamification (smart trainer/bike + Zwift etc. would be better).
The Stages SB20 is still heavily discounted (I bought one a few weeks ago and am happy with it) https://saddleback.co.uk/products/stages-smart-bike-indoor-trainer?variant=40125880631381 it's easy to adjust for a range of people to
I bought a Wattbike a few months ago and have been pretty impressed with it. I use both the Wattbike hub, and Zwift. I don't enter races, for me it's a fitness tool and also a good social activity with a closed group on wet midweek nights. It has gone up £600 since I got it late summer, which is pretty scary..
I struggle to see how
That said a good turbo trainer is better than either imo.
can be the case having tried both, but that's just my opinion 🙂
Maybe,maybe not,but the point is that with peloton,if they go bust you’re left with not much,because most of the value is in the live classes. But if wattbike go bust you still have a perfectly functioning smart trainer that can be used with any other 3rd party training app.
That said a good turbo trainer is better than either imo.
+1
They really aren’t. Wattbike will go first.
Seems unlikely, unless you have inside info we don't? Wattbike had a pretty solid business with commercial gyms and the like well before the home training/smart bike revolution came along whereas Peleton are very much reliant on the home fitness craze.
if pelaton go bust someone would be along in a jiffy to sell classes to the upper-middle-class masses at £50 a month. The profit margins on that part of the business are huge, its probably their most valuable asset.
@oldtennisshoes - There's a Wattbike just come up on the Inverness Facebook marketplace for £1,000.
That said a good turbo trainer is better than either imo.
If money/space is no object then I'd be going for one of the smart bikes - probably the Wahoo one if only because I have a Wahoo smart turbo already. What I don't have is anywhere to leave it set up.
I'd heard a lot about Peloton's financial situation too. I suspect they did well out of lockdown and gyms being shut, but with the cost of living squeeze…
Seems unlikely, unless you have inside info we don’t?
No my comment was really about the sense of scale. Wattbike are great but a very small player (and private company) in a very specific field in few markets. That doesn't mean they aren't good (they are), but Peloton are in a different market.
I'd much rather have a Wahoo Kickr bike than anything else. Actually no, that's not true. If I had unlimited funds and space I'd have a cycling treadmill.