Peloton Bike+ Review: Why the Rotating Screen Made Me Upgrade
Three reasons I personally bought the Peloton Bike+ over the original Peloton, starting with the 23.8-inch screen that swivels 360 degrees.
The Peloton Bike+ is worth the upgrade if you plan to use the floor classes, not just the bike ones. The 23.8-inch screen swivels 360 degrees so you can follow yoga, strength and meditation off the bike. Skip it if you only ride and never leave the saddle.
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How this review was made: written from my own video review of this product. Every opinion here is my own, from using it myself.
Quick Verdict
One really big reason got me: that rotating screen. Being able to swing a 23.8-inch display off the bike and do yoga, weights or meditation on the floor is what made the price jump worth it for me. The auto resistance and Apple Watch sync are the bonus.
Buy if you:
- Use Peloton’s floor classes, yoga, strength and meditation, not just rides
- Hate reaching down to the resistance knob mid-class
- Live in the Apple ecosystem and want heart rate on screen from your Watch
- Have a 4×2 foot area free next to the bike for floor work
Skip if you:
- Want the bike to pick your resistance perfectly. Everyone’s at a different level, so you’ll still be nudging it manually
- Only ever ride and never do an off-bike class
- Don’t want the All-Access Membership, which the content requires
| Screen | 23.8″ HD anti-reflective, 360° rotating |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 59″D x 22″W x 59″H (4’x2′ footprint) |
| Weight | 140 lbs |
| Max user weight | 297 lbs |
| Sound | 4-channel front and rear woofers, 26 W |
| Membership | All-Access required for classes |
Why the Peloton Bike+ Rotating Screen Sold Me
Hey friends, it’s Eric, and there was really only one reason I bought the Peloton Bike+ over the original. That screen rotates. It’s slightly bigger at 23.8 inches, but the size isn’t the point. Spinning it 360 degrees is.
Peloton’s library goes way past cycling. Meditation, yoga, weightlifting. So many classes that I absolutely love, and you can’t get those done if the screen is bolted facing the saddle. You can’t even see the instructor. With the Bike+ I swing the screen out, step off, and do the workout on the floor or elsewhere in my gym space.
That’s it. That’s why I bought it.
The Bike Changes Resistance Before You Do
The Bike+ adjusts resistance automatically when the instructor calls for a change, up or down, live class or recorded, without you reaching for the knob. That’s the whole feature, and it works exactly as advertised.
Here’s the catch worth saying out loud: everybody’s at a different level. The number the instructor calls isn’t always the number your legs want. You can still override it manually, and I do. So this isn’t a feature that removes the knob from your life, it’s one that handles the default so you’re only touching it when you actually disagree with it.
The third thing is Apple Watch via GymKit: hold the Watch face up to the screen, it pairs in under five seconds, and your heart rate sits in the corner of the display for the entire ride. No chest strap, no manual entry, no checking your wrist.
What Ownership Looks Like After the Box Lands
Plan for the membership, because the bike is a screen without it. All-Access is a monthly subscription and it’s what unlocks the class library, the floor workouts, the whole reason to want the rotating display in the first place.
Physically it’s low-fuss. Magnetic resistance means there’s no friction pad to wear down and replace. The bike auto-calibrates at the start of every ride, so you’re not nudging a dial to make the watts read right. It’s corded, so it lives wherever your outlet is. At 140 pounds it is not a bike you shuffle around on a whim.
Budget floor space too. The footprint is roughly 4 feet by 2 feet, about a yoga mat, but the rotating screen is useless if you don’t have a second mat’s worth of room beside it. Current pricing is on the product page.
Is the Jump From the Original Worth It?
It depends entirely on whether you’ll leave the saddle. The original Peloton gets you the same rides, the same instructors, the same leaderboard. What the extra money buys is access to everything that isn’t a ride, plus the auto resistance and the Watch sync.
If you’re a rider and only a rider, the original does that job and the Bike+ premium is money spent on features you’ll ignore. But if half your week is strength and yoga, you’d otherwise be buying a tablet stand and squinting sideways. For me, the price gap disappears fast when I look at a typical week: two rides, two strength sessions, one yoga class, three of those five workouts need the rotating screen.
Where I Landed After Living With It
I’d buy the Bike+ again, and the deciding factor is still the screen. The resistance automation is a nice-to-have that I override often enough to call it a convenience rather than a feature. The Apple Watch pairing is a thirty-second habit I don’t think about anymore.
The rotating screen quietly changes what you expect from the bike. You stop treating it as a cycling machine and start treating it as the gym. That’s great until you realize the monthly membership is now the thing your whole workout routine depends on.
Pros
- 23.8″ screen rotates 360 degrees so floor classes are actually watchable
- Opens up the full library: yoga, meditation, weightlifting
- Resistance adjusts automatically to instructor cues during live and recorded classes
- Apple Watch and GymKit sync puts heart rate on screen with a tap
- Auto-calibrates at the start of every ride
Cons
- Auto resistance assumes you’re at the instructor’s level, so you’ll still adjust manually
- Costs more than the original for features you won’t use if you only ride
- Classes require the All-Access Membership on top of the bike
- 140 lbs and corded, so it isn’t moving once it’s placed
Frequently Asked Questions
Can more than one person use the same Bike+?
Yes, the All-Access Membership covers multiple profiles on the same bike, so each rider keeps their own stats. The hardware caps out at a 297 pound max user weight. Seat and handlebar positions adjust per rider, so household swaps mean re-setting your positions each time.
Does it work as a regular bike without the subscription?
You can pedal, but you lose the classes, and the classes are the product. There’s a Just Ride mode for basic metrics. Buying this and skipping the membership is paying for a very expensive flywheel.
Can I watch TV or sports on the screen?
Yes, Peloton Entertainment streams TV shows, movies and live sports right on the display. The 4-channel speaker setup with front and rear woofers puts out 26 watts, so it’s not a tinny afterthought. Handy for the long low-effort rides where you don’t want an instructor.
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