Peloton Bike+ vs NordicTrack S22i

Peloton Bike+ vs. NordicTrack S22i – which is the better bike? Today we’re going to find out! Each of these two bikes is the respective flagship model in the company’s lineup, and in the next few minutes we’re going to dive in and take a closer look at the Peloton Bike+, and see how it compares and stacks up to the NordicTrack S22i. The Peloton Bike+ costs $2,495 and that’s just for the bike (you don’t get the shoes, and you also have to pay for the Peloton All Access membership, which is $39 per month for classes). The NordicTrack S22i costs about $2,000, doesn’t require special shoes, and commonly offers one year of iFit for free (NordicTrack classes).

Starting with the basics, both of these bikes are belt driven magnetic resistance, and they both have digitally controlled magnetic resistance. But the flywheel weight on the Peloton Bike+ is believed to be 38 pounds, while the NordicTrack S22i has a clearly stated flywheel mass of 32 pounds. However, don’t pay too much attention to that number, because over the past few months I’ve learned that flywheel mass actually doesn’t mean as much as you might think.

One thing about the NordicTrack S22i that makes it significantly different from the Peloton Bike+ is it has a 20% incline and 10% decline ability with a little motor built into it that raises the whole bike up and down. Additionally, the resistance and incline can be automatically adjusted through the instructor on the NordicTrack bike, while on the Peloton Bike+, the resistance can be adjusted by the instructor, but there is no incline or decline feature on the Peloton Bike+.

Both of these bikes come with relatively massive screens attached to the front of them. The NordicTrack S22i screen is 22 inches, while the Peloton Bike+ has a 24 inch rotating screen. On the NordicTrack S22i, you can simply rotate the screen around 180 degrees either way, while the Peloton Bike+ can do the exact same thing. Each of the screens stop in the middle so you can’t rotate it all the way around and tangle up the cables. You just turn it around and go the other way. Additionally, each of the screens can tilt up and down a little bit as well.

On the NordicTrack S22i, there is absolutely no resistance knob. There is a stop knob that you push down on to stop the flywheel in case of an emergency. There’s a few different ways to adjust your resistance on the NordicTrack S22i – on the right side of the handlebars, by sliding the slider bar, and also the instructors can change your resistance for you during a class. On the left side, there’s an incline and decline button that you press to raise and lower the bike. You can also adjust the incline and decline here on the screen. And Additionally, the instructors can change the incline and decline for you during a ride. On the Peloton Bike+, you get this digital resistance knob which changes your resistance very quickly. Resistance range can also be changed automatically during classes.

The Peloton Bike+ gives you all the important metrics such as cadence, power output, and your resistance on the screen. On the NordicTrack S22i you also get all the important metrics such as power, incline, cadence, and resistance. One advantage the NordicTrack S22i has over the Peloton Bike+ is that the NordicTrack S22i comes with a fan. Yes, it sounds like a fan, but it is really nice to have right there to blow some cool air at you while you’re riding.

To my surprise, the NordicTrack S22i actually comes with these very basic pedals. They are a key style pedal on one side and just a normal pedal on the other side. Steel teeth and very basic pedals. I believe they’re the exact same pedals that are on the $385 Pro Form bike you can buy at Costco. However, the threading on the crank arm is standard so you can put any pedals you would like on this bike. One good thing about these pedals on the NordicTrack S22i is that you actually don’t need any special kind of shoes that you need to put on in order to just get on this bike and ride.

The Peloton Bike+ comes with pedals that you need to clip into. Y9u can also change out the pedals on the Peloton Bike+ as well. I prefer to use SPD style clip-in pedals. You can use more attractive shoes, and you can actually walk on SPD shoes when you get off the bike. Peloton shoes might be a little bit more efficient for putting down power, however, you have no chance to walk around on Peloton shoes. Also, they are very difficult to unclip, and we have seen horror stories about these pedals literally snapping off during a ride and causing injury.

Let’s talk about the adjustability and the maximum handlebar height because that is kind of important. For starters, both of these bikes have a very high maximum saddle height, so they’re both great for tall people. I’m six foot five. My inseam is about 34″ and I don’t have the seat on maximum height for either of these bikes. Another thing that both these bikes have in common is they are three way adjustable, meaning the handlebars do not go forwards and backwards on either one of these bikes.

Both of the bikes do not have holes to click into, so you can have micro adjustments on all of the adjustment points, and they both have adjustment knobs to adjust these. The Peloton Bike+ does have rubberized adjustment knobs to move the handlebars up and down, as well as moving the seat up and down. And while the plastic ones on the NordicTrack S22i don’t feel quite as nice to the touch, they both get the job done and they work just fine.

I would like to point out the sound system on the Peloton Bike+ is absolutely phenomenal in comparison to the NordicTrack sound. One of the big contributing factors on why the Peloton Bike+ sound system sounds so much better is because it has forward facing speakers, along with rear facing speakers and subwoofers as well. The NordicTrack S22i has speakers in the back, and when you’re listening to the sound, you can hear that it is actually pointing away from you. I can say I really prefer the Bike+ sound system. That being said, you can put your own headphones in or plug in your own audio system using audio ports on the NordicTrack S22i. You can also hook up your AirPods or wireless speakers on either of these through Bluetooth.

So let’s take a moment to talk about the differences between iFit and Peloton Classes. Right now I’m on the NordicTrack S22i and I have an outdoor instructor-led class playing, and I will say that the instructor led outdoor classes on the iFit app are very pretty. You can do destination based rides, places where people might travel from around the world to come to a location like this just to do a ride. The instructor-led classes are actually really neat. My very first night I got the NordicTrack bike I did one of these and I was a little bit skeptical about it. However, I did a hill climb in Spain, and the instructor is actually really helpful, and the scenery and stuff that you get along the way is actually really beautiful, and it really kind of makes you feel like you’re riding outside!

The incline and decline on the NordicTrack is automatically adjusted for you during these classes. For example, as you’re going through the terrain, it’ll automatically adjust for you and the resistance changes for you as well. And you can also change that stuff on your own. There are a lot of rides to choose from.

One thing that iFit gets a lot of flak for is their studio rides in comparison to the Peloton. A lot of people think that the Peloton Bike+ studio rides are better and this is really a personal preference thing. iFit also gets flak for their music. If you’re signing up for iFt and you want the latest and greatest music, that is just not going to happen. However, you can turn their music down or off if you want to play your own music during an iFit class, you don’t have to listen to the music that they have in the class. On the Peloton, you do not get this option to completely turn off the music independent from the instructor. However, you can adjust it to make the music louder or softer in relation to the instructor.