10 Hacks Every Peloton Rider Should Know

A Peloton may look like any other spin bike, but there’s a lot more you can do with it than pedal in place. Below are my 10 favorite hacks, all of which will work if you have the original Bike (though most of them will also apply to other models, like the Bike+ and Cross-Training Bike ). Peloton Bike $1,045.00 at Amazon $1,445.00 Save $400.00 Shop Now Shop Now $1,045.00 at Amazon $1,445.00 Save $400.00 Take the hidden German and Spanish classes Peloton’s class offerings aren’t just in English—they also have plenty of classes in Spanish and German. Don’t discount these just because you don’t speak those languages! Classes are usually structured enough that you don’t need much narration, but English subtitles are usually available anyway. I love this option because some of my favorite instructors only (or mainly) do classes in a non-English language. I really enjoy Erik’s German classes, for example. He programs good workouts and I love the music he plays, so I’ll do those rides whether they have subtitles or not. Power Zone or cadence/resistance cues will still show up at the bottom of the screen for most classes, so you’re not missing much. And who knows, you might learn a few words of another language—I now know that the German word for knee is "knie," and I can count backwards from fünf! Credit: Beth Skwarecki/Peloton To open up your options to classes in other languages, go into your account’s Preferences . You don’t need to change your account’s languages; instead, scroll down to Class languages . Add in German and/or Spanish classes, and indicate whether you still want to see those classes show up in your results even if they don’t have English subtitles. Take a screenshot during your workouts Did you like that screenshot I put in the hack above? Pretty clever, huh? The Peloton's screenshot feature is a well-hidden secret, and you’ll need an Android device to be able to get the screenshot off of your Peloton tablet. Here’s how you do it:  Press the power button at the same time as the volume-down button. (You may need to hold the buttons in for a second.)  A message will appear in the lower left corner asking if you’d like to share the screenshot. Tap Share . On the next screen, choose your nearby Android device. (iPhone devices may show up here, but I’ve never managed to successfully share a screenshot to an iPhone.) This is a screenshot from the Peloton showing where it keeps your screenshots. Credit: Beth Skwarecki If you want to share your screenshots later, go to the three-dots menu in the bottom right of the home screen, and then go to Device Settings , then Storage , then Files (even if it looks empty), then Pictures , and finally Screenshots . Here you can view, select, and share any of your past screenshots using the instructions above.  Get heart rate data on your Peloton screen Your Peloton equipment can record and display your heart rate, as long as you give it some heart rate data to read. You don’t need to buy Peloton’s branded heart rate monitor; any Bluetooth device will do.  So you can get, say, a Polar H10 chest strap , or go with my budget pick the Coospo H6 , or use a fitness watch, if you’re already wearing one—Garmin, Whoop, Fitbit, and Amazfit are among the brands that have a “broadcast heart rate” option on some or all of their devices. (You don’t necessarily need to double-log your workout to get this—read more about that in my post about syncing Peloton and Garmin data .)  Once you have your device broadcasting heart rate, pairing to the Peloton Bike (or other equipment) is simple. Tap Settings in the top right corner of any screen (even while you are in a ride) and tap Heart Rate . You'll see a listing of paired and available Bluetooth devices, and you can select your watch or chest strap from there. In the future, the connection will happen automatically, but you can always come back to this screen to disconnect a device or pair a new one. Compete in a race against yourself During a Peloton class, there's a leaderboard showing everybody else who is taking the class right now. You probably know that you can filter the leaderboard to show certain groups of people, or to show everyone who has ever taken the class. But if you've taken the class before, your past self is on the leaderboard too. Race yourself by filtering the leaderboard to "all time" and to "just me." If you've taken the class multiple times, you'll have multiple past selves. The system will steadily increase their output number from 0 to the number of kJ that you finished that ride with. That means they won't necessarily surge and slow down when you're doing intervals, but if you finish the class ahead of one of them, you've improved. Reset your PRs without losing any data Credit: Beth Skwarecki/Peloton Peloton keeps track