Interesting… I called the commercial division and was told that ‘all’ commercial bikes have the flip/flop SPD/cage pedals. ALL of them. I wonder if that bike was a retail bike?
I debated packing two pairs of shoes (SPD and SPD-SL) and thought that since their support was adamant that I would see SPDs, I only packed the one pair. It worked.
If it’s on private wifi, that network should be setup on the unit, so cycling the power shouldn’t ever disco the bike from the network. I’ve seen bikes actually hard wire connected too, which would be fantastic, but understandably few and far between. PLUS I could see someone unplugging the bike to use the connection with their notebook, or travel router. (More often than not, I had issues logging in until I cycled the power, ten no issues. Obviously no idea why that happened, but a reboot allowed me to login)
Yeah, Peloton, warts and all, is still way better than nothing, or crawling the stairwells trying to get in some cardio exercise, and get the wiggles out during a boring conference focused trip.
I usually pack running shoes, so the flip-flop pedals work well. That way, worst case I can run either on a treadmill or outside if the fitness center is a bust.
On a few really bad machines I’ve tried recalibrating them. The results are usually ok, but I hate taking 5-10 minutes when I’m usually limited in time to workout.
Overall, Peleton is way better than some of the junk in the lower level hotels. I usually grab a big stack of towels and try to set the temp way down, but that doesn’t always work.
Actually, thinking about it, one of the minor hassles is what I’m running into this week.
I’m at a hotel in FL using a Peleton that’s miscalibrated so my power levels are about 20-25% low, based on RPE and HR. I could care less about the raw numbers but it throws off TrainNow recommendations and training adjustments. It keeps recommending VO2 and Threshold efforts, even though I just did 2 days Threshold. Not a big deal, but between TrainerRoad and Garmin, their recommendations are always off because they can’t accurately account for these off-system, uncalibrated efforts.
I think TrainerRoad does a good job, as all of my workouts/rides show up on the calendar, and I get dire notices of overtraining. Probably because the telemetry they see is the raw data, and it could be off by some depending on the device, etc. I still have a powertap C1, and if I forget to try to calibrate it, I get really outlandish numbers, and had to drop one ride because it showed herculean power output. Even Connect took that ride as a huge improvement, and I had to delete it there too.
It seems like the answer is to pack power pedals, a wrench, and good shoes, quietly swap the pedals, and ride on. YMMV, as some ‘gyms’ are in plane view of the front desk, or have some kind of camera system, or the pedals are effectively welded on with rust and gunk.
Years ago I developed arch and leg pain (shin splints) from using flexible shoes in toe cages while on vaca, trying to punish myself for having such a good time. The punishment was meant to be figurative. OUCH!!
According to what commercial support told (insinuated) to me was that they use the stock pedals or they lose the bike, so technically anyone with a commercial bike that changed the pedals is in violation of their agreement (whatever it is) with Peloton’s Commercial division. I don’t know if they visit to service the bikes (probably not as they fired their in-home repair people pre-pandemic) or rely on users to rat out violators, so how they would find out is suspect, but commercial entities with the commercial bikes are not allowed to alter them. They did ask me to let them know if I had problems with the bike. (The hotel had 4, and all were stock, no changes)
Interesting. Do their bikes do Strava? I was on vaca once pre-pandemic, and there was a SoulCycle, and it was never open! I kept stopping by, and nothing. There wasn’t any hours on the door either. So strange…
Just returned from a work trip with technogym bikes in the hotel. It was easy to swap out the pedals, and I simply recreated trainerroad workouts on the technogym bike and manually added 15-20 watts on top during the workout due to inaccuracy. I sweated buckets as expected even though the AC was on max. Reminded me of heat training…
There is an adapter from Shimano to convert 3 to 2, or is it 2 to 3 bolt cleats. Can’t remember which way they went, but it was kind of sketchy doing that, IMO.
It’s three to two, still, hmm… Looks sturdy enough, but kind of interesting. Has anyone used them? Their SM-SH41?
Hmm. Thanks for the review. I was thinking of using those for travel, but wondered how realistic it would be to use them often-ish. (I did get fizik Vento Ferox Carbon shoes though, and they ROCK!)
And ‘force’ is what makes me think they are sketchy. For people that lift up on their shoes while riding, that can be a lot of perpendicular force applied on that plate holding the SPD cleat in place. But they do look sturdy on the website. The LBS said they carried them because someone was looking to buy a set, but no one had ever bought another. I was supposed to ‘let them know’ how they worked, or didn’t. I’ve had cleats loosen over time, I’m sure we all have possibly, keeping them tight/tightening them/checking them looks easy enough. I chose N+1 for shoes I guess. That must be a sublaw somewhere in the ‘bike laws’. I have probably nearly a dozen ‘bike shoes’. The wife said I can’t complain about her shoes because of my ‘collection’.
(More often than not, I had issues logging in until I cycled the power, ten no issues. Obviously no idea why that happened, but a reboot allowed me to login)
I have probably nearly a dozen ‘bike shoes’. The wife said I can’t complain about her shoes because of my ‘collection’. 