Echelon Vs Peloton
The great indoor cycling experience debate
But which is better?
Well, there are a number of many pros and cons to each and it’s a matter of weighing up what’s the best bike for you.
Here, I’ll provide everything you need to know about Echelon (pronounced esh-e-lon) and Peloton from price to features, technical requirements to general overall cycling experience.
Table of Contents
A New Age of Indoor Cycling
The whole indoor cycling industry has came on leaps and bounds in recent years thanks to technological advancements.
Years ago, your best indoor cycling experience was to bring your mountain bike into your living room and set it on rollers whilst watching Miguel Indurain win the Tour de France.
Not taking anything away from rollers now. I actually have a set myself and love them.
However, with the introduction of the Internet there’s this whole new world cycling that you can fully immerse yourself into.
It’s incredible to think that you can now join in on a spin class from the comfort of your own home with a spin instructor who could be in a complete different country to you.
Amazing!
Not only are you able to watch the instructor take the spin class but it’s as if he/she is speaking to you directly!
Talk about getting a one-on-one personal training session!
There are actually some excellent home studio bikes you can get your hands on.
I mean there are a lot of cycling apps out there that are brilliant but do they compare to the Echelon or Peloton?
Well let’s find out!
Echelon Vs Peloton: Which Is Better?
Design
So, first off is to get a better look at the design of the bikes.
You can see both have similar designs with the almost forward – facing racing design.
Both are sporting the red and black colours, one being a darker shade of red than the other.
However, Echelon have Limited Edition Black and Royal Blue.
The Echelon and Peloton frames are both made of high grade steel to ensure durability and stability!
Echelon
Even though Echelon can be classified as a spin bike or a racer, it actually has more of an upright design to it.
This could be mainly down to the fact that their 33lb (15kg) flywheel is located at the back.
The handlebars allow for inside and outside grip so you can cycle with less exertion or get into racing mode.
Water bottle holders is located at the side of the front frame so it’s within reaching distance with it’s highly visual red resistance crank right in front of you also.
The pedals are both SBD clip compatible with cage clips on the reverse side.
Dumbbells can be stored at the back of the bike, just behind the saddle.
Great for that added workout.
Peloton
The Peloton has that real racing look to it that almost invites you to get off the saddle and really dig in deep to your workout.
Peloton has their 38lb (17kg) flywheel located at the front, more like a standard spin bike you would get.
Water bottle holder, resistance crank and dumbbell holder are located at the same position as the Echelon.
The pedals have their own design that you can use your normal cycling shoes in or purchase Pelotons own branded shoe.
Handlebars also have different positions you can get into depending on the difficulty of the workout.
What Weight Can It Hold?
Echelon
The maximum user weight the Echelon can hold is up to 158kgs (24st 12lbs)
Peloton
The maximum user weight the Peloton can hold is up to 138kgs (21st 10lbs)
What Are The Height Requirements?
Echelon
Echelon advises that the recommended height requirements are from 4ft 11″ to 6ft 4″.
However, people with a height as tall as 6ft 8″ to as small as 4ft 5″ are still able to use the bike no problem.
Peloton
The Peloton’s height requirements are for people between 6ft 5″ to 4ft 11″.
The Cycling Experience
The cycling experience on these bikes is one of the main selling points.
Now, what you’ll notice straight away between the two bikes is that the Peloton has a 21.5″ HD 1080p PCAP Multitouch waterproof screen inbuilt into the frame of the bike whereas the Echelon doesn’t.
For the Echelon you need your own phone or tablet and place it in the holder provided.
This is where the difference in price mainly lies!
Echelon
To get access to the live classes or pre-recorded workouts you first need to download the Echelon app via Google Play or iOS Store.
It’s free to download. Just sign up and choose your plan.
So once you have your bike setup and adjusted it to the right height for you, you can now get ready to ride.
You’ll have to place your phone or tablet in the holder in front.
This is fully extendable and can rotate 180° in order for you to get your tablet in the best possible position.
So there are a variety of classes you can take from Intermediate Climb to 20 Minute HIIT to 30 Minute Good Time Hip Hop and so on and so on….
If you upgrade your account, you’ll be able to see when the next live spin class is on at that you can join in on.
The instructors do provide a good solid workout that you can immerse yourself into however the themes and music wouldn’t be entirely to my taste.
You also have the option of cycling around a number of scenic landscapes and terrains if you prefer.
Peloton
So Peloton offer an incredibly immersive experience simply with the large 21.5″ touchscreen.
Here you can choose from a number of difference workouts from beginners to the more advanced.
Take a pre-recorded class or join in on a live spin class along with hundreds or thousands of others.
You can clearly see that all of the instructors have been specifically selected due to how motivating and highly experienced they are.
See how well you are doing in the class as it will display a leaderboard so you can track how well you are doing against others.
Great if you’ve got that slight competitive side to you!
The classes let you know how long is left in the class, watts and calories burned along with a whole host of data.
This can then all be viewed on your own personal account where you can see your total output, distance, calories burned, average cadance, average resistance and average speed.
Great at tracking your progress overtime.
You can also take activity or cycling challenges every month to see just how well your improving.
Price
So as these spin bikes offer the fully immersive and interactive cycling experience you have to expect that their price point is going to be a lot higher than a normal spin bike.
Echelon
The Echelon Connect Bike currently sells at £1,199.00 or $1,545.00
Peloton
Peloton have 3 different packages you can choose from:
- Basic
- Works
- Family
The Basic Package costs £1,990 or $2,245
This includes:
- The Bike
- 1 year limited warranty
- Delivery and setup
(Yes, someone will actually come to your house to make sure it’s setup correctly!)
Awesome!
The Works Package costs £2,199 or $2,494
This includes:
- The Bike
- 1 year limited warranty
- Delivery and setup
- 1 pair of Peloton shoes
- 1 pair of weights
- 1 pair of headphones
- Heart rate monitor
- Bike mat
The Family Package costs £2,389 or $2,694
This includes:
- The Bike
- 1 year limited warranty
- Delivery and setup
- 2 pairs of Peloton shoes
- 1 pair of weights
- 2 paid of headphones
- 2 heart rate monitors
- Bike mat
- 2 water bottles
Subscription
So after you purchase the bike, there is also a subscription you need to sign up to for both Echelon & Peloton to avail of their live classes and workouts.
Echelon
Echelon can be paid 3 ways:
- Monthly – which is £39.99 per month
- Annually – which is £399.00 for the 12 months (saves you £79.89)
- 2 Years – which is £599.00 for the 24 months (saves you £359.77)
Echelon allow up to 5 riders to use the same subscription in the household.
Peloton
Peloton have 2 ways to pay the subscription:
- Peloton Membership – which is £39.00 per month
- Digital Membership – which is £19.49 per month
Now, just be aware that the Peloton Membership allows you to use the app along with the Peloton bike.
The Digital Membership just allows you to use the app!
So for example, if you had a normal spin bike and didn’t want to purchase the actual Peloton bike but wanted to avail of all the live classes – you can do this no problem!
Echelon and Peloton both come with a range of finance options so if you’re a bit strapped for cash to buy in a lump sum you can always put it on credit and pay it off per month.
The Apps
So this is where all the goodness is stored.
The apps for these bikes is where you’re going to be able to get access to all of the classes and workouts.
Both can be downloaded from Google Play or iOS Store.
Echelon
The Echelon App gives you access to:
- Unlimited Streaming Classes
- Unlimited Live Classes
- Unlimited Scenic Rides
- ‘The Fitpass’ – Learn how to prepare for and recover from your rides
- Connect to the Echelon Connect Bike to track all your progress and stats
- Link up to FitBit or Strava
Peloton
The Peloton App gives you access to:
- Unlimited classes on the go
- 20+ lives classes
- Thousands of on-demand classes
- Unlimited user profiles
- Variety of class types including cycling, running, yoga or bootcamp
- Instructor curated training programs
So Which Is Best For You?
So it all literally comes down to a few factors:
- What is your budget?
- Do you want the fully immersive touchscreen or don’t mind using your tablet?
- The best spin workout possible
That’s it!
Your budget is going to be the deciding factor here.
The difference in price is quite large.
You would pay £791 or $1,019 more for the Peloton Bike compared to the Echelon.
However, the main reason for this is the 21.5″ touchscreen that you get with Peloton.
Now, the actual bikes themselves are very similar, well built and well designed and both offer an awesome workout that is going to have you working up a sweat like there is no tomorrow!
In My Opinion...
I would prefer the Peloton over the Echelon.
Yes, the price point is a lot higher than the Echelons but I just love the built-in touchscreen that delivers all of your data and cycling information on the screen to you there and then.
The class instructors seem to be more experienced and provide that additional encouragement and motivation when you need it.
I just think when it comes to having the fully immersive indoor cycling experience – the Peloton is the bike that can provide it best.
But what do you think?
Why not even check out my top 3 alternatives to the Peloton bike.
If you do have any questions about the Echelon or Peloton bikes or subscriptions, drop me a comment and I’ll be sure to get back to you!