Before having kids, I used to go to the gym regularly. After having my first child, I started to try at home workouts, but couldn’t find something that met my needs.
After having my second child, a few family members were raving about Peloton and cycling. I had only tried cycling once in college and didn’t see what the hype was all about.
I tried a Peloton cycle class out a few weeks later, and decided that cycling would be a great fit for me! You can get a great workout in in just as little as 15-20 minutes. I could squeeze in a workout before my kids woke up, during nap time, or after bedtime. The only problem was that an actual Peloton bike was WAY out of my price range. To purchase a Peloton bike package, you need to also purchase a $39.99/month Peloton Membership to access the unlimited content. This comes out to about to about $3,000 dollars for the first year. After the initial year, the cost is $479.88/year for the Peloton Membership. My husband did a lot of research online, and we were able to purchase our own DIY bike package and purchase the $12.99/month Peloton App Subscription for about $700 dollars for the first year. After the initial year, the cost is $155.88/year for the Peloton App Subscription. We don’t have all of the bells and whistles of owning an ACTUAL Peloton bike, but this works for us and saved us a lot of money… about $2,500 worth of savings!
Read below to see what we ended up with for our DIY Peloton setup!
Must Have Items
The Bike
We went with an Cyclace Indoor Exercise Bike. The bike has a smooth ride, an adjustable seat, an adjustable multi-grip handlebar, iPad holder, and caged pedal protection. This bike had good reviews and we have loved it so far.
Another popular model we saw when researching was the Sunny Indoor Cycling Bike.
Cadence Sensor
If you ride with Peloton, you will need to know your cadence, or speed. We got this Wahoo RPM Cycling Speed and Cadence Sensor so we could follow along with our Peloton instructors on the app. It is very easy to use, but you do need to download the app and use it on your phone. You will need to watch the Peloton app on a different device. We use our Fire TV Stick and use the Peloton app on our tv.
Peloton App
We use the Peloton app and we love it! It is really easy to use and a great price at only $12.99 per month. You can filter the workouts by length, difficulty, and even song genre!
Not only does the app have cycling workouts, but it has a ton of other great workout categories such as strength, yoga, cardio, meditation, running, stretching, and more!
Optional Items
Mat
We decided to get an exercise bike mat to put underneath our bike. The mat protects our floor and also keeps our bike in place.
Seat Cover
I highly recommend getting some type of seat cover! This Gel Bike Seat Cover of course is optional, but I think it makes the ride much more comfortable.
Heart Rate Monitor
The Wahoo TICKR Heart Rate Monitor is optional, but if you chose to get this one, you will be able to see your heart rate and your cadence on the same screen using the Wahoo app.
Apple Watch
If you have an Apple watch, you can link it to the Peloton app! It will track your heart rate for you and it will also log your exercise. This is obviously OPTIONAL, but if you already have an Apple watch , you do not need to get any type of heart rate monitor since you can sync your watch right up to your Peloton app!
UPDATE
I did not know this before, but with the updated Peloton app, you can hook your Wahoo Cadence and Heart Rate Monitor directly to the app! I do not have to use the Wahoo App anymore, and can stream the Peloton ride from my phone and see my cadence and heart rate all on the same screen. I no longer have to use my TV and Phone for the workouts.
Cons
There are a few cons to not having the actual Peloton bike.
- One User/Username: Since we do not have an actual Peloton bike, we can only have one username for the Peloton app.
- Resistance: You need to guesstimate the resistance since this particular bike does not tell you a specific number when you adjust the resistance knob.
- Caged Pedals: This bike comes with caged pedals. This was not a con to me, but if you would like to have shoes that clip in for a ride, this may be a con for you.
- Live rankings: Since you are not on an actual Peloton bike, you will not be able to see how you stack up against others during a live class. This was not a dealbreaker for me, but it may be for you.
We LOVE our DIY Peloton set up! We saved a ton of money and I love the convenience of having a bike at home to hop onto at anytime for a quick workout.
Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
