I've been a Peloton member since March 2021 and the very proud owner of a Peloton bike+ since September 2021 (shout out to my dad for the best birthday present ever!).
I’ll cover questions such as How much does a Peloton Bike cost? And Should I buy a Peloton? This article will outline why I believe Peloton, with its equipment and it’s subscription service, is a highly valuable investment into anybody's physical and mental wellness journey.
Also, if at some point while reading this article you make that exciting decision to purchase a Peloton Bike or Bike+, you can grab yourself £100 of free bike accessories: Here's my referral code that will get you £100 of accessories FREE with your bike purchase: 6F5UTJ, and I'll receive £100 voucher for apparel too for the referral, win-win.
What is Peloton?
Peloton is, as I would describe it, the Rolls-Royce of streaming fitness classes live and on-demand, as well as a provider of high-quality multi-discipline training equipment that works seamlessly with its streaming service.
There are normally 10+ live workouts a day across many disciplines including cycling, strength, yoga, meditation, cardio, tread, boot camp and more, as well as tens of thousands of streamable-any-time workouts, so you are never short of choice for the perfect workout to fit your fitness level and available time.
Instructors are so motivating, funny, entertaining, and knowledgeable, and always seem to know just the right thing to say at the right moment. For example in a ride, at the top of a tough climb, when you're feeling like you cannot go on, they always know when that moment hits, and deliver a sentence of motivation that inspires you to push yourself further than you thought you could go.
How much does a Peloton bike cost?
You may be thinking, 'the Peloton equipment is expensive relative to other brands on the market so is Peloton really worth it?' As somebody who has had many different gym memberships throughout my youth, I would say that I've never been more motivated to work out now thanks to Peloton, so yes I 100% believe Peloton is worth it.
Let me explain more...
Let's start with the basics, before I got a Peloton Bike+, I had a budget spin bike and set of dumbbells from Argos here in the UK. I started my self-development journey in terms of fitness with those pieces of equipment and also the Peloton App which cost me £12.99 per month. As I saw it £12.99 per month was a lot cheaper than the majority of gym memberships in my area here in Essex in the UK, so worth a go.
For that £12.99 per month I had access to all of the live classes and on-demand classes across all disciplines on the platform. I had packed quite a few pounds on over Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, so I was very keen to get my fitness back to where it was in roughly 2016 when I would perform professionally as a dancer at the top of my game, plus shift some excess pounds.
Between March and September 2021 I dropped three stone of excess weight and really felt the benefits of my newfound strength and cardiovascular abilities, which played a huge role in bringing back my passion for performance once again.
September 2021 came and it was my birthday, I felt like the luckiest girl alive as my dad had surprised me with a Peloton Bike+, something I would never have ever expected, and will be forever grateful for.
Don't forget if you're looking to purchase a Peloton Bike: Here's my referral code that will get you £100 of accessories FREE with your bike purchase: 6F5UTJ
The Price?
Of course, I did not buy this bike myself, but as a guide, a Peloton Bike+, which has the rotational screen, the automatic resistant setting, and extra features than the original bike, starts at £1995. However, if you want to go for the original bike model you are looking at a starting price of £1345 (both prices correct at the time of writing).
The one caveat to owning a piece of equipment from Peloton though is that you will need to have an all-access membership, rather than just the Peloton app, to access all of the features on the equipment. This all-access membership costs £39 per month. Again, I believe that this is still good value for money because it is on par with, or even slightly cheaper, than an average gym membership in my area.
A plus point to the all-access membership is that you can have up to 4 family members on it. So my wife, my dad, and my brother-in-law all have access to the all-access membership. This means that they are able to use my bike at any time on their own logins and also have access to the Peloton app at no charge to them, so assuming that they use the services and classes from Peloton, it's no more expensive per person then the app on its own #winning!
Should I buy a Peloton?
Financially only you can answer that of course, but finances aside, if you are in the market for a spin bike then 100% I can't urge you enough to choose Peloton.
Benefits of Peloton UK?
My top three Peloton benefits would be:
The high-quality training you receive from the very motivational and experienced instructors is worth the membership alone.
The variety in disciplines and variety in length of time and skill level of the classes is vast and is accessible to everybody. This also fits to my mood, for example, some days my body is tired from my job and I just need a 10-minute stretch and a 10-minute meditation session, a day to reset myself. Yet other days I feel very motivated and packed full of energy and I'm excited to challenge myself on a 45-minute Power Zone ride. Peloton really offers something for every scenario.
I have used many spin bikes and the Peloton Bike+ is the smoothest and most interactive bike I have ever had the pleasure of using. Even now when I go on holiday and I go to the hotel gym and use their spin bikes, it just feels so clunky in comparison to the quality of Peloton.
Any additional benefits?
The community spirit on any workout really does pick up your mood. You can link up with other Peloton members by following each other, you can high-five any Peloton member on the same workout as you, and you can also follow their stats if you'd like to have a little friendly competition.
On the note of competition, I am very competitive however with Peloton it doesn't feel like 'stressful and serious' competition, it's more of a, let's push each other and support each other while do it, way of competing.
When I ride now, I am more in competition with myself, can I get a personal best? Can I get in the top quarter of the 30,000 people that have ridden this ride? Can I get a higher output on a 30-minute ride than the last time I did a 30-minute ride? The great news is the Peloton tracks all of these stats so I don't have to work it out for myself and I always have a goal to push for.
Another extrinsically fulfilling benefit is when you reach a milestone and get recognition. For example, recently I hit a 300-mile ride milestone and I got a shout-out from instructor Hannah Frankston on my ride and it felt amazing! Most of my motivation is intrinsic and I ride for my own personal pleasure and fitness benefits, however, I can't help but enjoy a shout-out here and there.
Any downsides?
This is a hard one to answer as I am an avid Peloton fan, but if I really racked my brains I guess I would add that I'd personally like to have a few more very early morning live workout options in the UK.
I get up around 6 am every day and there is normally one or two workouts available at 7 am that are live (of course there are thousands of on-demand, but I would prefer live ones), but it would be great to have five or six options from around 6 am in the morning that are live.
It's not the end of the world that's just my personal preference as I'm an early-morning rider. Other than that though I truly cannot think of any other downside, I've never had an issue with my bike, it's always worked perfectly for me and it just feels incredible when I ride it, a true quality piece of equipment.
Conclusion to ’Is Peloton worth it’ (UK)?
If you have read this full article you know that the answer is 100% yes from me. If you're unsure, try the Peloton App for a month and see how you feel about working with the instructors there, if you are like me you'll soon get to find your favourite instructors and be excited to do the next workout with them.
If you want to jump headfirst in with Peloton I cannot recommend the Peloton Bike+ enough, and if you'd like to read a little bit more about the bike you can read my full review here. Don't forget if you make the decision to purchase a Peloton Bike or Bike+, you can grab yourself £100 of free bike accessories: Here's my referral code that will get you £100 of accessories FREE with your bike purchase: 6F5UTJ, and I'll receive £100 voucher for apparel too for the referral, win-win
If you'd like to connect with me on Peloton, my handle is @MorningPelo_Jen I really hope to ride with you soon!
Jenny - Author
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Image source: https://www.onepeloton.co.uk/shop/bike
I agree that, with a focus on home workouts, and the ability to engage with classes, Peloton is a good investment, but likely only in the UK if the value aligns with your goals or financial position. For such people who require flexibility and motivation innovative ideas from multiple priorities like studying may also be interested in how is it to have a peloton to balance between your fitness and school, and also find help with nursing assignment to stay on top of your grades.