I got my Peloton Bike+ 18 months ago, and I’ve loved it. I’ve had a few friends recently get one, so I thought I’d share a few things I’ve learned/enjoyed, for anyone interested:

• If you haven’t ordered a Peloton Bike, and you’re not sure, start by signing up for a free trial with the app and try it out on an iPad or phone to see what you think — if you’re not a fan of the instructors, you should look for a different fitness platform. I used the app for a year on an old fan-based exercise bike before buying a Peloton bike.
• Stuff to Buy
  • I have a small phone tray to hold my earbuds and phone
  • I clip a fan on the top of the screen, which makes a big difference for long, hard drives, like this one (e.g. Rechargeable Clip On Fan)
  • I like cheap wired bluetooth earbuds (see Wirecutter reviews) — the speakers are okay on the bike, but music sounds better with earbuds
  • I prefer SPD pedals to the Delta/Look pedals, so I don’t slide around if I walk in the shoes — I switched to these SPD Pedals and use shoes like this
• Finding Instructors You Like
  • You can check out the rides with the app or on your computer at https://members.onepeloton.com/classes/cycling to bookmark rides to take later
  • The All For One rides (e.g., 7/2/2020 “45 min All For One Ride”) are a great way to try out 1-2 songs with various instructors to see who you like — each instructor has very different styles
  • You can also, on the bike, select a ride, and touch the “Preview” button to watch some of the class to see if you think you’d like them
• Other Tips
  • My favorite feature of the bike is seeing your previous personal record (PR) for that length ride (e.g., 20 minutes) and racing it throughout the ride, trying to beat it — in the picture below, I’m rocking out to Thunderstruck with Emma, and I’m behind my PR for a 30 minute ride (my best 30 minutes ride at the time of this pic was 316 kJ of power, which at the 24 min, and 53 sec mark is 262 kJ, and on this ride I only had done 246 kJ — so I 16 behind my PR pace) (Note: Your current power is shown in watts in the bottom-center, while your cumulative power for the workout is shown in kilojoules on the leaderboard)
  • As a Peloton subscriber, you can use the phone, iPad, and TV apps (e.g., Apple TV), which is great for the non-bike workouts, like strength training, barre, Pilates, etc.
  • Try warm up and cool down rides
  • Check out “More Rides” menu for Scenic Rides (I like the guided tours, where an instructor is riding somewhere fun and talking to you about the area) and Lanebreak (a video-game style workout instead of instructor-led)
  • 20-minute Functional Threshold Power (FTP) classes are a great way to benchmark your cycling power — it’s an intense class that you can use to update your Power Zones (the 7 color-coded bars along the bottom, based on your capacity)
  • There are Programs and Collections, but I prefer just jumping into courses. Since I had a road biking background, I didn’t go through the beginner classes, which worked out well, as the instructors are great about giving you tips throughout the rides to remind you how to ride correctly (e.g., when standing up, don’t lean forward, keep your weight over the pedals and your hands “light” on the handlebars)
  • It’s tempting to find an instructor, or a class type you like and stick with it, but it’s great exploring new types of classes, as there’s some great stuff to find, like the music-based classes, like a 30-minute cycling class with great Red Hot Chili Peppers music; dumbbell-based strength classes
  • The Challenges are fun to set and monitor progress on goals, like exercise minutes for a year or exercise days per month
  • The social layer is nice, so you can be encouraged by seeing your friends exercising and trying to beat their PRs