Any Peloton bike users here?

[Chris Stott]

andyeds1234 said:

Edit: one thing definitely worth keeping an eye on, is your body temperature, especially in the current warm weather
Heat build up in an indoor training can be significant, and can really affect your output as it builds up over your ride.
Cooling and hydration is really important.

This in spades.

My bike is on my terrace here in southern a Spain. Over the last 2 years I can see a pattern in my outputs, which peak around April, and then stabilise through May before gradually dropping through the summer when it’s typically 30* every da. They start picking up again around end of October, and then build through the winter as the temps drop.

Interestingly, the coldest weather has a similar impact to hot. I seem to peak when temps are mid teens to low 20’s

[g3org3y]

andyeds1234 said:

Sustaining a given output is really a function of your current ability. A higher cadence may help, but some people are more efficient at a lower cadence( that range is typically between 80-100 rpm) it’s worth trying higher and lower to see how you respond.

The more “trained” you are, the more you will improve your threshold output, it’s just as simple as that. Technique or methods of riding are just the icing in the cake.

Edit: one thing definitely worth keeping an eye on, is your body temperature, especially in the current warm weather
Heat build up in an indoor training can be significant, and can really affect your output as it builds up over your ride.
Cooling and hydration is really important.

Ok, thanks for the reply. Maybe next time I'll try a slightly different approach. The FTP test wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. Hopefully I can push it a bit more. Maybe I'll try it again in a month or so.

Yes, re temp, defo do notice that. Had a fan pointed directly at me for the whole test.

[gangzoom]

g3org3y said:

Ok, thanks for the reply. Maybe next time I'll try a slightly different approach. The FTP test wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. Hopefully I can push it a bit more. Maybe I'll try it again in a month or so.

Yes, re temp, defo do notice that. Had a fan pointed directly at me for the whole test.

If you don't feel like puking up at the end of a FTP ride you haven't tried hard enough. I'm still suffering PTSD from my last one, and I'm not going to do another again, ever!!

For PZ rides on Peloton just jump into one of the many PZ programs. I love them, they give you structure, motivation and really 'fun'. I'm 2/3 of the way through a 2nd round of 'peak your PZ'. I've done 'build your PZ three times', and 'discover your PZ' once.

The classes have real structure, I've never used anything serious like Trainer Road, but the graphs I see at the end of a PZ program class looks very similar to what Trainer Road show on their website.

I think the last none PZ ride I did on the Peolton was the live class I did at the London studio, I only do PZ based rides now!!

[justin220]

I'm a keen road/ MTB cyclist, and keen to get something for indoor use over winter. A peloton is right up there with being ideal but I can't get over the monthly cost.

I work away from home half the year, and even when home I'd like to get outside as much as I can. Is there a PAYG option for it I could use?

I think realistically I'd would get used maybe 4 times per month, as in twice a week when I'm home which isn't enough to justify the main subscription for me.

I'm maybe better off just getting a normal spin bike and other online spin classes.

[g3org3y]

gangzoom said:

g3org3y said:

Ok, thanks for the reply. Maybe next time I'll try a slightly different approach. The FTP test wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. Hopefully I can push it a bit more. Maybe I'll try it again in a month or so.

Yes, re temp, defo do notice that. Had a fan pointed directly at me for the whole test.

If you don't feel like puking up at the end of a FTP ride you haven't tried hard enough. I'm still suffering PTSD from my last one, and I'm not going to do another again, ever!!

Maybe i should have tried harder.

According to this I've not done too badly:

article said:

If you are riding on a Peloton and doing an FTP test the easiest gauge against others is to see where you land on the leaderboard. A good performance to shoot for is around 200W average on the Peloton FTP which will land you in the top 30% on the leaderboards. Somewhere around 130W-150W will put you above average, or in the top 50%. A great result, a top 5% FTP score, on FTP Test ride is around 270 watts average for a resultant 255-260 FTP.

https://www.personalwellnesstracking.com/measuring...

gangzoom said:

For PZ rides on Peloton just jump into one of the many PZ programs. I love them, they give you structure, motivation and really 'fun'. I'm 2/3 of the way through a 2nd round of 'peak your PZ'. I've done 'build your PZ three times', and 'discover your PZ' once.

The classes have real structure, I've never used anything serious like Trainer Road, but the graphs I see at the end of a PZ program class looks very similar to what Trainer Road show on their website.

I think the last none PZ ride I did on the Peolton was the live class I did at the London studio, I only do PZ based rides now!!

[Img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52929310582_cb32ef5fd1_b_d.jpg[/thumb]

I'll have a look at those.

I find sometimes with the 20-30 min regular classes, I'm spending too long looking at the track list to see there are songs I like instead of just cracking on with the class. I will caveat that with the fact I notice if I'm feeling tired in a ride and a song I know and really like comes on, there does seem to be a burst of extra energy released from somewhere.

Who is your preferred instructor for Power Zone classes?

[gangzoom]

g3org3y said:

Who is your preferred instructor for Power Zone classes?

Only Matt, Dennis, Olivia, and Christine do the PZ program classes. They are all very good. Try the programs, I really like them and keep on waiting for Peloton to release more of them. The latest ones have the white box around which zone you need to be in, small thing, but makes a difference to keep with in the zone.

[Chris Stott]

Ben does PZ, as does the German guy.

I did PZ pretty much exclusively for a year or so, but the music is mostly rubbish, so I added in some of Bens music classes.

The German guy does some house music based PZ classes which I do from time to time… no idea what he’s rattling on about, but I can tell what zone I need to be in, his voice isn’t annoying and the music is decent.

[nordboy]

justin220 said:

I'm a keen road/ MTB cyclist, and keen to get something for indoor use over winter. A peloton is right up there with being ideal but I can't get over the monthly cost.

I work away from home half the year, and even when home I'd like to get outside as much as I can. Is there a PAYG option for it I could use?

I think realistically I'd would get used maybe 4 times per month, as in twice a week when I'm home which isn't enough to justify the main subscription for me.

I'm maybe better off just getting a normal spin bike and other online spin classes.

There is no PAYG for it. You pay monthly for the bike, mines via Klarna, then separately for the full subscription. Once I get to crimbo, the bike is paid off so my outgoings will be just the subscription, which for me is well worth it as I use it far more than I realistically would if I had a gym membership.

You could get a normal spin bike, then the basic peloton subscription (Peloton app) which is free to sign up but £12.99 a month I think? It won't give you the same integration or experience mind you, as you'd be guessing some of the cadence/ resistance levels.

The proper cyclists who have posted here, say that the peloton isn't really like riding a real road bike though. But I'm sure it's using very similar muscle groups.

[gangzoom]

nordboy said:

The proper cyclists who have posted here, say that the peloton isn't really like riding a real road bike though. But I'm sure it's using very similar muscle groups.

The negative comments on here are from nearly all people who dont use a Peloton.

This is a very good summary. I personally couldnt justify the cost for just me and biking alone. As a family fitness program (Strength, running sessions etc), its actually very good value for money.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2022/11/peloton-bike-i...

[Julian Scott]

gangzoom said:

nordboy said:

The proper cyclists who have posted here, say that the peloton isn't really like riding a real road bike though. But I'm sure it's using very similar muscle groups.

The negative comments on here are from nearly all people who dont use a Peloton.

This is a very good summary. I personally couldnt justify the cost for just me and biking alone. As a family fitness program (Strength, running sessions etc), its actually very good value for money.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2022/11/peloton-bike-i...

It isn't like riding a real bike, but yes it does use the same muscle groups. It depends on what is important - if it's just using the same muscle groups then any bike will to that, from a £20 knackered shopper to a £15,000 custom road bike via a full sus MTB and a TT (or £100 Argos exercise bike to a WattBike Pro).

The Peloton is great, it's an ecosystem that takes the notion of a spin bike and massively developed it (and now developed off the bike too), but if you are looking for something to mimic a road bike, and train specifically for that, the KICKR Bike and WattBikes are a better fit. That isn't negative toward Peloton, it's just a tool with a different objective.

And yes, I've spent a lot of times on pretty much all of the options...I chose the KICKR bike over the WattBike, but no detriment to those who chose something else.

If what you want it an all in, no-thinking required exercise/fitness product, then Peloton will be better that a KICKR Bike/WattBike.

[justin220]

nordboy said:

There is no PAYG for it. You pay monthly for the bike, mines via Klarna, then separately for the full subscription. Once I get to crimbo, the bike is paid off so my outgoings will be just the subscription, which for me is well worth it as I use it far more than I realistically would if I had a gym membership.

You could get a normal spin bike, then the basic peloton subscription (Peloton app) which is free to sign up but £12.99 a month I think? It won't give you the same integration or experience mind you, as you'd be guessing some of the cadence/ resistance levels.

The proper cyclists who have posted here, say that the peloton isn't really like riding a real road bike though. But I'm sure it's using very similar muscle groups.

Thanks. In fairness I'm just after something to keep the miles/fitness up over winter but suspect any old spin bike will suffice.

[anonymous-user]

I think the "it's not real cycling" thing stemmed from a certain cadre of peloton user who had no bicycle but believed that they would fare well in group rides or races because they could make the top thousand in a global leader board based on comparatively low power numbers, and an instructor pointed at them once and told them they were great.

The fact they had no group riding experience or tactical nous amused some of us greatly. We were labelled snobs and a minor argument ensued. I'd be very surprised if they still owned it however.

But yes, as part of a wider health and training system, its fine. Those who have stuck with it appear to get satisfaction from it and some have even started to supplement it with outdoors riding.

[gangzoom]

I see 'proper' cyclists (not bounded by the UCI) could use some of the Peloton strength classes rather than resorting to strapping plastic lumps to their arms, legs, chest.......'Proper' cyclists are an inspiration to all of us .

[anonymous-user]

Muscle weighs more then plastic, can't be manipulated to an aero profile and will fatigue.

Swing and miss

[gangzoom]

pablo said:

Muscle weighs more then plastic, can't be manipulated to an aero profile and will fatigue.

Swing and miss

For the life of me I cannot understand why more people don't strive to be like these 'proper' cyclists.

Wearing plastic moulds under lycra with shaved legs on an aero TT bikes surely is what everyone should be doing on a sunny weekend .

[andyeds1234]

gangzoom said:

pablo said:

Muscle weighs more then plastic, can't be manipulated to an aero profile and will fatigue.

Swing and miss

For the life of me I cannot understand why more people don't strive to be like these 'proper' cyclists.

Wearing plastic moulds under lycra with shaved legs on an aero TT bikes surely is what everyone should be doing on a sunny weekend .

You are using a very specific cycling activity as a starting point. See many cyclists riding like that at the weekend? No, didn’t think so.

To be fair, I’m with you with regards to that specific image, that level of “aero” is ridiculous in my eyes.

• Still beats riding in your mums back bedroom, while Randy Spangler from Idaho tells you what a neat guy you are every five minutes though

• Tongue firmly in cheek… all exercise is good

Edited by andyeds1234 on Saturday 9th September 15:14

[okgo]

Rich still did 400w for the duration which is more than most on here seem to peak

He and I had the same coach who was always pushing boundaries with those sort of stuff. Never appealed to me mind but there’s no shortage of aerobic talent despite the fairings

[Chris Stott]

gangzoom said:

I see 'proper' cyclists (not bounded by the UCI) could use some of the Peloton strength classes rather than resorting to strapping plastic lumps to their arms, legs, chest.......'Proper' cyclists are an inspiration to all of us .

[Img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53172907296_fef478fe8c_c_d.jpg[/thumb]

Better that than an overweight middle aged bloke, clad in replica team Lycra and riding a 5 figure bike with a queue of 20 cars behind him.

[okgo]

Chris Stott said:

Better that than an overweight middle aged bloke, clad in replica team Lycra and riding a 5 figure bike with a queue of 20 cars behind him.

Everyone has to start somewhere.

[Chris Stott]

okgo said:

Everyone has to start somewhere.

I’m only kidding.

Though, aesthetically, would nice if they skipped the day glo Lycra