Best Peloton Alternatives for 2024

Expertise 7 years experience as a smartphone reviewer and analyst, 5 years experience as a competitive cyclist Credentials

• Author of Taking your Android Tablets to the Max

Expertise Deals and Shopping Tips

Every indoor bike has the same basic feature set, but testing any bike as a viable Peloton alternative means the bike needs to meet a few basic benchmarks. When testing any indoor bike, we’re primarily interested in measuring the following:

• Size, stability and comfort: How well this bike fits in your home and how comfortable it is to ride in a home. This includes ease of assembly, how much noise the bike makes and how well it tucks away when not in use if that’s what you need in your space.
• Software features: If this is a Peloton alternative, it needs to be able to deliver a lot of different things all at once. This includes heart-rate monitoring and reporting, access to a wide variety of workout types and the ability to use your bike in a competitive workout environment (real or virtual)
• Cycling flexibility: It’s important that the indoor bikes we consider as Peloton alternatives be able to challenge a wide variety of skill levels. This means something on this list allows for clearly defined difficulty levels and allows for someone with preferred cycling shoes to comfortably use the bike.

Each bike we have access to is thoroughly tested by riding in three different situations: HIIT workouts, 20-mile performance rides and more casual 30-minute cycling sessions. If we have not yet had access to the bike but find its features interesting, this detail is called out in the section.

There’s no such thing as one bike for every kind of rider out there, and while Peloton makes a great bike there may be better options out there depending on your needs. With that in mind, we test all of our indoor bikes using the same criteria.

Price

Consider how much you’re willing to spend on an indoor bike. A big part of our testing is identifying which areas of an ideal cycling experience can be reduced to save money without impacting the quality of your workout. 

Subscription quality

Many smart bikes now include a subscription to access their classes. Decide if a member subscription is important to your indoor cycling experience or if you want an option to just ride. For example, some subscription services offer less expensive options to add family members.

Physical space

A lot of indoor bikes take up a lot of room, and a big part of making sure your purchase doesn’t quickly become a very expensive clothesline is making sure it’s the right size for your space without sacrificing the things that make a good workout.

Workout quality

At the end of the day whatever bike you choose needs to be enjoyable to use. This means testing the seat for extended periods, as well as the different riding positions you’d want to be in while riding. 

Like so many other things at CNET, we test exercise bikes as thoroughly as possible through rigorous examination and comparison. Each exercise bike in our list has been through at least 100 miles of riding, using as many of the built-in features as possible. Every exercise bike is judged against the following metrics:

Exercise bike volume

Every workout makes some noise, but a quieter bike typically means greater build quality. At the same time, if an exercise bike has a built-in display with speakers it’s important to know it’s possible to clearly hear the class instructor or your favorite TV show over the sound of you working out.

Riding position flexibility

It’s important to be able to set your exercise bike to the riding position that works best for you and be able to ride in that position for extended periods. All of the bikes in this list are tested in cruiser, neutral and competition riding positions to ensure comfort for as many body types as possible. 

Software compatibility

Even if your bike doesn’t have a display, it likely has a way to connect to your phone or tablet to access performance apps. That testing doesn’t end at the ability to connect to a phone, the accuracy of the information sent from the bike to your phone makes a big difference, especially if you’re counting calories or you want to use a competitive racing app to ride with friends. Making sure the power you push into your exercise bike is accurately reflected in the information sent to apps makes a big difference. 

Peloton is considered the best of the best when it comes to exercise bikes. Other exercise bikes allow you to do the same workouts with some differences. For example, there may be bikes that have their own version of a touchscreen and cycling classes. Most workouts you do on a Peloton can be done on a Peloton alternative as well. Some exercise you may want to try include:

• Low intensity ride: If you’re new to using an exercise bike, you would benefit from getting acquainted with it first. This can include riding it for a short period and getting used to the resistance levels, as well as making sure the seat is set up adequately for your height. Low intensity rides where you’re not trying to hit any PR’s can also provide cardiovascular benefits without getting significantly out of breath.
• High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): If you’re used to riding on an exercise bike, then you’re familiar with HIIT rides. You use short bursts of energy followed by a rest period and you can play around with the resistance to make the ride harder or easier. Additionally, it’s a good way to get a quick workout in less than a half hour.
• Hills and Sprinting: If you’re focusing on improving your stamina and endurance, practicing cycling uphill with heavy resistance and sprinting on little to no resistance on an exercise bike is a good way to do so.

• Adjust saddle and handle bars accordingly: One of the first things you have to make sure is set up correctly on an exercise bike, is the seat (saddle) and handlebars height. This will vary per person, but ideally you want the seat to be hip height and you may need to make additional adjustments.
• Wear the right shoes: Some Peloton alternatives may require clip-in shoes (just like Peloton), while others have cages that are appropriate for any sneaker. Make sure your feet are properly strapped in or clipped in before riding.
• Know all the exercise bike features: It helps to know which way to turn the knob on your exercise bike to add or take away resistance. If there is a touchscreen, it’s helpful to know how to access the classes and other features on your device. Additionally, for safety reasons it’s important to know how to abruptly stop the bike in case of an emergency.