Peloton vs. NordicTrack: Which Exercise Bike is Better?

Agreed; it’s not until you reach out for luxury bikes with sophisticated gadgets that you can enjoy enriching workout sessions at home. Most often, the regular, inexpensive bikes with a working smartphone are all you need to keep fit every morning. But can we deny that the $2000+ cardio bikes have several features that can motivate you to keep your home gym session regularly? And when the search for luxury exercise bikes reaches its pinnacle, the choice often boils down to two brands: Peloton and NordicTrack.

Peloton is especially famous for reasons we will later talk about, but it isn’t the only brand that sells home fitness equipment. Other brands also exist with premium exercise machines for home workouts. Therefore, before you make any deposit, you may want to check out other options, particularly NordicTrack.

While both bikes are premium with similar features, this article will highlight their differences to help you determine which is better. From the warranty they offer to their durability, intuitiveness, and other features, this Peloton vs. NordicTrack showdown promises to be the most comprehensive and unbiased review you’ve ever read.

About NordicTrack S22i

Source: NordicTrack official website

Outstanding Highlights

• Welded stabilizers

• Handlebar adjustments

• Horizontal or vertical seat adjustment

• High-quality steel frame

• – 10% decline and 20% incline capacities

• Two-sided cage and SPD pedals

• Digital resistance of up to 24 levels

• iFit workouts led by trainers

• Smart Adjust Technology

Among the many home fitness producers globally, NordicTrack is outstanding and has consistently manufactured high-quality cardio machines since it entered the market 48 years ago. In the product lineup of this brand, the S22i Studio will be somewhere in the middle. Nevertheless, it bears no mark or trace of mediocrity, whether in construction or its operating technology, and that is why it is a worthy contender with the also premium Peloton Bike+.

Using a flywheel enhanced by inertial and Silent Magnetic Resistance (SMR), this highly interactive bike with an HD touchscreen and 22-inch tilt provides digital resistance of up to 24 levels. One feature that other similar bikes have been unable to match in this S22i is its incline and decline capacity. It is between -10% and 20% – a range close to what you get when riding outdoors, which no competitor has been able to match.

Perhaps the convenient starting point in reviewing this exercise equipment would be its performance and construction. The frame material is a high-quality steel that can hold weights up to 158 kg (350 lbs). Its seat’s vertical and horizontal adjustment, coupled with the handlebars, which can be adjusted vertically, makes it a bike that almost anyone can use. The major downside of this S22i bike is its over 200 lbs weight and dimension (55”x 29.1”x 56.9”), which makes it slightly difficult to move around, apart from the space it needs to sit comfortably in your gym room.

NordicTrack S22i comes with iFit, a training platform that allows users to interact with instructors. Upon first purchasing the machine, buyers get to use this interactive platform for free for 30 days. After that, they would have to pay a monthly membership fee of $39. This payment will allow unfettered access to exercise classes (up to 1,000), monthly challenges, Google Map Technology, progress-tracking metrics, and others. The bike’s machine learning technology, called SmartAdjust, also does as its name says: adjust to your specific fitness needs at the time required.

The classes showcased by iFit are studio-like cycling and other formats like cross-training and yoga. And thanks to the swivel screen, you can get off your bike to practice the other options on the floor or in other appropriate places. For instance, the included dumbbells weighing 3 lbs each can help you build more muscle and keep fit.

Pros and Cons of NordTrack S22i

About Peloton Bike+

Outstanding Highlights

• Swiveling touchscreen of 23.8 inches in size

• The internal storage of 16GB

• On-Screen controls

• Aluminum pedals that are Delta-compatible

• Stereo speakers of 26W and 2.2 channel

• Digital and magnetic resistance ranging from 0 to 100%

• Apple Watch and GymKit integration

• Manual control through a built-in resistance knob

Granted, Peloton is not among the old boys in the exercise equipment gang, but its progress over the last couple of years has made it a household name in this niche. Besides exercise bikes, Peloton also produces treadmills, although it’s not as famous as its cardio bike. The Peloton Bike+ is an evolution of previous models, which now include premium features that provide immersive training sessions.

Like the NordTrack Bike, Peloton has a swiveling HD touchscreen of 23.8 inches plus an 8MP front camera. Peloton’s edge over most other exercise bikes is the 2.2 front speakers and rear woofers that give a 360 degrees surround sound, which many users say looks like a real studio cycling experience.

The Peloton training platform is subscription-based and costs $44 each month. This fee offers access to myriads of trending and live workout classes of varying intensity, length, and type. Given its versatility, Peloton seems to be the go-to Bike for boot camp, Pilates, yoga, and everything in between. It also syncs with AppleGym, ANT+ Heart Rate Monitor, and Kit and can track users’ fitness metrics to modify workouts, monitor progress, and offer workouts for improved performance.

On this exercise bike, you can access live classes, which among other excellent features, make it endearing to many users. While most people emphasize bikes’ training platform, the machine build is also critical. And in this regard, Peloton excels by being compact, only occupying a 4 by 2 feet space. Its welded steel material is powder-coated, and it can support weights of up to 135 kg (297 lbs). Its practical transmission belt and ability to work without magnetic resistance make it a quiet bike.

Pros and Cons of Peloton Bike+

Peloton vs. NordicTrack: Specs Compared

Peloton vs. NordicTrack: Monthly Subscriptions

To use the interactive content and touchscreen of both NordicTrack and Peloton, you must subscribe to their monthly plans. For NordicTrack, the fee ranges from $33-$39 for multiple users and $15 monthly for individual plans. Peloton, on its part, charges $39 per month with unlimited access. As such, while NordicTrack has flexible fees depending on the number of profiles, Peloton offers only one possibility. The exciting part of this subscription is that you enjoy a 30-day free trial within which you can decide whether to purchase a plan.

Peloton vs. NordicTrack: Rental Bikes

If you don’t have the over $2000 purchase fee for the Peloton Bike+, or you don’t consider it a long-term need, you can rent one for a fee. The monthly rent costs $119, but you must pay installation and transportation costs of $150. And if you fall in love with the bike and would love to purchase it, Peloton will sell it at a subsidized price. This arrangement is unavailable for NordicTrack, as you can only buy it at its retail price.

Peloton vs. NordicTrack: Design/Seat/Pedal

While both exercise bikes may look similar in design, their build is separate. The S22i’s frame is beefy with a steel base, posts, and stabilizers. And even though it goes up and down, it is still stable. Conversely, Peloton will likely pass for a spin bike with a large TV without the incline/decline that should give a real-life feeling. But apart from the physical absence of this frame, users generally do not feel its impact during workouts, as many still say it is stable.

There is, however, a slight difference in the pedal department of the two bikes. NordTrack is a hybrid, using conventional toe cages and SPD cleats over your cycling shoe. But with Peloton, you must purchase a cycling shoe that is Delta-compatible. The S22i’s seat is also ergonomically padded and designed with excellent ratings from many users. But as for the Peloton seat, it looks more like a “sport saddle” that has a channel at its center. If you are used to outdoor cycling, this shouldn’t be a big deal; however, luxury-seeking first-timers may prefer the S22i padded seat.

Peloton vs. NordicTrack: Which is a Better Exercise Bike?

Both bikes have strengths and weaknesses, but overall, the NordicTrack S22i exercise bike edges out Peloton Bike+. From its more affordable purchase price and monthly subscription plan to the extras like the dumbbells included in the box, Peloton may still have some work to do to match up with the 48-year-old brand. Its incline/decline, which is absent in Peloton, is another difference that is too significant to overlook.

You aren’t necessarily missing out on anything if you choose Peloton Bike+ over the S22i. Both are excellent exercise bikes with perfect integration with their handlers. Peloton even takes less space and offers live classes NordicTrack doesn’t have. So, everything may boil down to which of them you can afford.