Peloton Bike+ Review
OUR INTRO TO PELOTON
Last winter, I suggested to Michael that I thought we should get a Peloton for our Christmas gift to each other. Michael was an Ironman (is? are you always an Ironman once you have completed one?) and used to be quite a good cyclist and triathlete before we ended up with four kids in a little over three years. Now that the twins were approaching age two, I knew it was time for him to get back into it, but he is also someone who has always been resistant to trying products that seem to be overhyped.
Selfie before my first ride!
Well, after having the twins, my body didn’t bounce back the way it did after my first two. Something about the combination of being on strict bed rest for ten weeks, plus the weight of carrying two babies, and having a Cesarean delivery meant that I ended up with an abdominal separation - diastasis recti - that has been difficult to correct. And let’s face it, at thirty-five years old, the weight wasn’t flying off like it used to! My metabolism had finally slowed down. So I made it clear that it was ME (wink wink) who wanted to try the Peloton because I have always enjoyed cycling and it was something I could do at home, even when the kids were there too.
Michael agreed and I somehow found space in our already overcrowded NYC apartment bedroom. Our Peloton arrived in late December of 2019, just in time for some good old New Years’ resolutions! Side note: I never quite understood the issue with that Peloton commercial from last year (considering I would have loved to be surprised with a Peloton)! But looking back now, who knew it would totally predict how 2020 would play out with us all stuck inside on our bikes! Anyway, I was so nervous to try my first ride, but I quickly became addicted! I had no problem giving the girls some screen time in our bedroom so that I could complete a ride on our bike right beside them. Michael started riding too, and it was fun for me to see him get back into it.
Then March happened. How blessed we were to already have a Peloton in our possession! By April, we knew we had to leave the city and head out to our weekend house (which was no longer under construction). Five weeks stuck inside our NYC apartment was long enough, but I will admit that part of me did not want to leave the bike. I was improving with every ride, and I had a great streak going! We said bye to the bike, our apartment, and NYC temporarily. Never could we have imagined that we would spend the next five months out at the house!
REUNITING WITH OUR PELOTON
After six weeks at the house, with both of us working and overseeing distance learning, our physical fitness had declined. I vowed to use this time to work on my core and try to close the gap in my abdomen. Michael embraced the app and tried out the different floor exercises it offered. But we missed our bike and I missed NYC! So I took a day trip back to our apartment and figured out how to return with our bike. I removed the screen and securely packed it in a box. I was able to roll the bike into our elevator and through our lobby. Our awesome doormen assisted me in lifting the bike and getting it into our SUV where it lay on its side.
Having the bike at our house was so awesome that it didn’t take us long to accept that it was likely going to stay there forever. Eventually, we placed an order for a second bike to be delivered to our apartment. With the six+ week delay in deliveries in our area, it was due to arrive on September 17th. We were planning on arriving back at our apartment about ten days prior, and on September 8th, the new Bike+ was announced! How awesome for us that we were able to order the Bike+ and cancel our prior order without any hassle. And had we not chosen to get the Bike+, we were set to receive an automatic credit for $381.
peloton bike+ review
Our Bike+ arrived on Tuesday the 15th, and it is a beauty! The first thing I noticed was the change in how you adjust the seat and handlebar heights. Instead of that annoying handle pull thing that you would push in and twist, the Bike+ has black knobs to loosen and tighten that have a similar feel to our previous bike’s resistance knob. Once my seat was in the correct position, I hopped onto the bike. The seat also personally felt more comfortable to me!
back in purple on the bike+
The most exciting part about the new bike was an obvious change in the distance between the seat and the handlebars. With our previous bike, even with the seat moved all the way to the front, I struggled to reach the handlebars without leaning forward quite a bit. I could never completely get it all set up in a way for me to comfortably match Hannah Corbin’s recommended arm positioning from her beginner intro rides. This typically wouldn’t be a big deal for most, but since I have diastasis recti, I try not to lean forward in any sort of crunching position. Suffice it to say I was pretty shocked when I hopped on and the handlebars were in an easy-to-reach and comfortable location.
Next was the placement of the audio jack. On the Bike+, you plug your earbuds into a jack that is located on the post that holds the handlebars (so basically just underneath the middle of the handlebars) instead of on the side of the monitor. I like this change because now the cord falls straight down instead of over and across the screen and bars. I had some extra length on my cord so I did wrap it around the handlebar a couple of times.
I had initially put on and paired my heart rate monitor because that is my normal routine, but as I selected my ride, a pop-up came up showing me that I could hold my Apple Watch up to the peloton logo on the screen and it would sync up. I did that, and it automatically disconnected the classic heart rate monitor and switched over to using my watch as the monitor. I LOVE this feature! I always found the heart rate monitor process to be a little annoying so I am very pleased with the fact that I will no longer have to wear one around my chest!
Now let’s talk about the ride itself. The automatic resistance is awesome. Michael didn’t seem too impressed with it because it doesn’t automatically go high enough for him, but it was great for me! Basically, you can tap the screen to turn it on, and it will move up with the instructor’s recommended resistance. So imagine you are doing a climb or intervals and the range starts at 30 - 40. If I start at 35 then the automatic resistance will automatically move up the one or two points that the instructor calls out. This is a game-changer because - once again - it eliminates the need to for me bend down to turn the knob, avoiding another crunching motion.
I haven’t yet used the swivel screen for a bootcamp class, but I will update this review once I do.
Now I don’t know if it has something to do with the new bike, the incredible 2000s pop ride I did with Kendall, my two weeks off to recover, or simply the excitement of it all, BUT I got a new PR that was 15 over my last! So let’s just say I am definitely sold on the Bike+ and thrilled with the decision to upgrade!