What to Know Before You Buy a Peloton Bike

Peloton Bikes and treadmills have been one of the hottest fitness items of the last few years. The hefty upfront price tag isn't the only concern when you're looking at making this machine part of your home gym, though. As an owner of one, I can safely say that there were some other costs that I wish I'd put more time into researching before pulling the trigger. That's not to say that the Peloton hasn't been a great machine, just that there were some surprises along the way that I didn't expect.

 I am an avid fitness person. However, there came a point during the Covid pandemic that gyms were closed and I fell out of the habit of going to one. Instead I decided to improve my home gym. In addition to securing a new activewear wardrobe, I picked up some further essentials.

I do a lot of cardio, not so much weights. I do own free weights and kettlebells for exercises, but I'm not going for muscle. In addition to the basics, one of the absolute best pieces of equipment I ever bought was the Mirror from Lululemon. The mirror become kind of the centerpiece of most of what I did. The trainers were excellent. The classes are great, and I use it for at least an hour every single day.

However, I also own a treadmill and do a lot of running when I can't go outside for it. Still, I wanted to do more and, after using the Mirror so much, I really enjoyed the feeling of having trainers and classes. Thus, when the standard Peloton went on sale this year, I decided to go for it and add one to my gym. The short of it is that I love it. The long of it is, I wish I'd done a little more homework.

When i bought the Peloton, I knew there would be a subscription fee for the classes. That was a cost I was ready for. Two specific items, though, I wasn't ready for and they set me back actually using the bike for a week. The first of these was shoes. Perhaps it was there and I glossed over it, but I wasn't immediately aware that the bike required special footwear to use.

When it arrived and I found that this was necessary, I first visited the Peloton site. The shoes are not cheap. At the time of this writing, they're in excess of $100. Surely, though, there are cheaper alternatives. I went, first, to a sporting goods store in town and purchased two pairs of shoes which claimed to be compatible. The first pair was in store, while the second had to be shipped. 

To my dismay, when I returned home, the shoes were not compatible with the bike. I then turned to Amazon and ordered a pair that, likewise, claimed to be compatible. Again, they were not. Having now learned my lesson, I went to the official Peloton store in one of our malls, was fitted for the shoes, but alas they did not actually stock them in the store. Again, a few more days of waiting to ride the big, shiny new machine.

The second pair I had ordered arrived before the Peloton shoes and, again, they didn't fit the bike. Finally, though, the day arrived that my Peloton shoes came. That day, I did my first ride. The experience was great, however, it took a bit of learning how to unclip the shoes from the pedals.

The second expense, albeit a slightly lesser one, was apparent immediately after finishing an hour ride. The stock seat is, for me, horrendously uncomfortable. To remedy this, I went through three seat covers, before finally finding one that fit the seat snugly enough and was comfortable enough for a long ride.

In all, my first year of being a Peloton owner ran close to $2,000. For me, this cost is worthwhile, as I use the bike 3-4 times a week, in addition to my Mirror classes. The two of them combined have been a phenomenal experience which, honestly, will keep me from going back to a traditional gym for a long while, maybe even forever. 

I only wish I'd taken the time to get a couple of things prepared before ordering the bike, if only so that I could begin using it sooner.