The Automatic Resistance on the Peloton Bike+ May Be Worth the Extra Cost
I’ve been testing the Bike+, an upgraded version of Peloton’s award-winning bike, for two weeks now, all to write reviews about it. As an avid rider on my regular Peloton bike for four years now, I pay attention to any differences I notice in the performance of the two stationary bikes, especially ones that make the $1,000 price difference worth it.
The feature I was most excited to test, and which my Bike doesn’t have, is automatic resistance. This allows the Bike+ to automatically adjust the rider’s resistance to the resistance required by the instructor at any given point in the virtual class.
How does the Bike+ self-resistance feature work?
When you take an on-demand cycling class or complete a Power Zone workout , Bike+ will adjust your resistance so that you’re somewhere between the numbers your instructor calls out. So if your instructor says your resistance should be between 40 and 60, the automatic resistance feature will put you somewhere in the middle; you don’t have to turn the resistance knob yourself.
In my experience, Auto Resistance is pretty smart. When I was doing an evening workout after a day full of teaching a spin class, doing other Peloton rides, and walking in the heat, I wasn’t feeling particularly energetic or even athletic. Auto Resistance picked up on this and adjusted my resistance to the lower end of the spectrum that the instructor was calling for.
Overall, it just makes going to class a little easier because you don’t have to constantly reach down to adjust the handle. You can just focus on your rhythm (and form, breathing, power output, and hydration, of course) without having to stay on top of the resistance.
How to enable (or disable) automatic resistance on Bike+
You can turn automatic resistance on or off before or during a workout. When you select a workout to complete on your device’s touchscreen, you’ll see a pop-up window that gives you some details, such as when the class first aired, who’s teaching it, and what the class is called. You’ll also see a button that says “Auto Resistance [Off/On],” which will obviously tell you whether the feature is on or off before the class starts.
Once you start a class, you’ll see a small padlock icon next to the resistance on the bottom right half of the screen. You can tap it to unlock it (turn automatic resistance off) or lock it (turn it on). I’ve noticed that if I start a workout with automatic resistance off and then turn it on, the automatic resistance tends to stick to what I was doing on my own. For example, this morning I started a class with automatic resistance off, but I was only going five above the minimum recommended resistance. When the instructor said the resistance should be between 30 and 45, I was only going 35. (I’m teaching a class later tonight, so I didn’t feel like I needed to push myself! Leave me alone!) When I turned on automatic resistance by tapping the padlock icon, it consistently kept me about five above the minimum recommended resistance level.
You can manually adjust the bike while riding, even if the automatic resistance is on. At one point this morning, I actually cranked the resistance knob to the highest recommended setting for a while. When the instructor told the riders to lower the resistance a few minutes later, the automatic resistance kicked in again and set it to a lower setting without issue, although it was still close to the upper limits of the recommended range because I had set it manually.
Is this feature worth the extra $1000?
The Peloton Bike+ is about $1,000 more expensive than a regular bike, at $2,495, with the automatic resistance feature being one of the biggest perks.
I appreciated that the technology was smarter than I thought, and was able to set the resistance not only to the middle of the recommended resistance range, but also lower or higher within it, depending on how I was performing. I also appreciated that it could be manually overridden in the middle range, and even turned off completely if you didn’t like it. It’s great to be able to ride without constantly thinking about making changes, plus I find it a little motivating. When I’m in charge of the resistance (as I’ve been doing on my bike for four years now), I can relax a little if I want to, you know? Who’s going to stop me if I decide to set the resistance to the absolute lowest recommended value? With automatic resistance, I only feel a little guilty if I think about manually overriding it to make my workout easier. More often than not, of course, I find that setting the resistance to the middle or high end of the recommended spectrum is perfectly doable; I’m lazy, not incompetent. The automatic resistance helps me not to be so lazy, which is a bit counterintuitive since the machine itself does the work of turning the handle for me.
That said, if you don’t mind bending over and turning that knob, if you don’t think you’re particularly motivated to see the resistance set in the middle of the recommended range, or if you don’t even think you’ll use the feature, then it might not be worth the extra thousands. There are other differences between the two bikes that might push you over the edge and make you spend that extra money, but don’t forget that the membership that lets you take classes will cost you $44 a month forever, even after you pay for the bike, so that’s another expense to consider.
Overall, I really like the feature, but when I turned it off or went back to my trusty Bike after using it, I didn’t miss it. It’s unique, cool, and useful, but it’s not necessary . However, when combined with the other improvements in the Bike+, it makes a compelling case for upgrading: the Bike+ has better speakers, a larger screen, easier adjustment knobs for changing the seat height and screen, and overall better performance when running Peloton’s proprietary software. All of that, combined with the incredibly effective automatic resistance, makes for a better machine. If you’re looking to upgrade your existing Bike to a Bike+, consider selling your old model on Peloton’s own resale site , which will net you some cash and a few hundred off the purchase of the Bike+.