As time went on, and it became more and more apparent that my gym was not opening back up anytime soon, I rethought the idea. Many of my friends had already purchased the Peloton bike and when I finally settled on getting the bike myself I began to look into options. I remembered seeing something about Soul Cycle coming out with its own version of the at home bike and since I had attended many Soul Cycle classes in the past I did some research.

After looking into it a bit further: here are 3 reasons I got the Soul Cycle at-home bike versus the Peloton:

1. Wait Time — it took two weeks to get the bike. I ordered it on August 11th, 2002 and it was in my home by August 21st, 2020. I have heard the wait time for a Peloton bike is 6 week or so. This is a game changer.
2. The App is free — to Equinox members. You may not realize this but when buying either bike you actually have to also subscribe to an app that has all the classes — it’s an added monthly cost. However, with the Soul bike, which is powered by the Variis app you have free access to the app using your Equinox membership. (Which is currently frozen because the gyms are closed.) That was easily what sealed the deal for me when deciding which bike to get. I have been an Equinox member for a long time and this made sense. Both bikes, overall are the same price: but with the added monthly cost of the app — SC was more cost effective.
3. Style — when it comes to cycling classes (which became a major fad in the last decade), I always enjoyed Soul Cycle classes more than a more competitive model like a Fly Wheel class (which Peloton seems to be similar to). So in terms of the style of work out: Soul Cycle matched that for me.

Those were the 3 reasons I got the Soul Cycle bike over the Peloton and here is my pro tip:

Don’t buy the shoes via Soul Cycle — get the mat and the weights (so it’s easier and you don’t have to go searching for that stuff). The SC shoes are wildly overpriced. When the bike arrived, it came with the delta clips needed for the shoes to attach to the bike: so buying the shoes is all you need to do. You can find cycling shoes on Amazon or at a sporting goods store for a much lower price. There is a little assembly with the clips but a quick google search helped me there and I was ready to ride (and if I am saying it was simple to assemble: I mean it, I can hardly assemble anything so…).

Also: you can return the bike after 30 days if for some reason you don’t like it — you get a full refund minus the $250 to have it picked up.

I did my first ride over the weekend and it was really rejuvenating. I am the kind of person who loves the gym classes and being instructed. So feeling like I was really in a class again was great. I’m also excited to get those endorphins back and feel in shape again!

Tell me your thoughts — which bike would you get?

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