In the summer of 2020 I got hooked on biking. I rode almost daily. In late fall/early winter it became too cold to ride outside (at least for me). I knew about Peloton but did not want to spend thousands of dollars on it. Around that same time I received an email from my credit card company that they were adding a benefit that essentially gave free access to the Peloton One app for free for a year.
After some quick googling I found out that basically any bike can work with the Peloton app as long as you have a heart rate monitor to track calories and cadence sensor so you know how fast you are pedaling. I found a used bike on Nextdoor for $200 and purchased the necessary sensors. For a total cost right under $300 I made myself a peloton.
| Item | Price | Amazon link |
|---|---|---|
| Magene S3+ Cycling Cadence | ~$20 | https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08252X8VS |
| Polar OH1+ Optical Heart Rate Sensor, Bluetooth/ANT+ | ~$75 | https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PM6JDZ8 |
| Sunny Bike SF-B1002 | ~$300 new | https://www.amazon.com/Sunny-Health-Fitness-Exercise-Flywheel/dp/B08F9RRL2J |
PRO TIP: sometimes the Peloton app struggles to connect to the cadence sensor. What works well for me is to open the Whoop app make sure it connects and then switch back to Peloton app.
These youtube videos were helpful in finding out what was needed to hack together your own bike:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlrGt71bPrU
