I really like the idea behind Stryde, a Peloton competitor that gives you access to classes from boutique fitness studios and independent instructors across the country. But after two months of testing it, I have some issues with this smart stationary bike, most of which come down to software. For starters, its built-in tablet, while running Android and unlocked, doesn’t support Google Play, making it difficult to download third-party apps. More importantly, Stryde’s app simply wasn’t reliable in testing, sometimes buffering, skipping, or outright crashing. It’s also on the pricey side at $1,745, especially if you opt for a $29 monthly premium membership. And while I like the bike’s build quality and the fact that its available classes feature top-notch instructors, Stryde needs to expand the number and variety of class offerings. For now, the original Peloton Bike ($1,495) and similarly priced competitors from Echelon and MYX, offer a better indoor cycling experience.
Stryde Pricing
As mentioned, the Stryde isn’t a bargain, but delivery is free and the bike comes with a limited warranty that covers the tablet, parts, and labor for one year, as well as the structural frame for five years. If you’re not happy with the bike, you can return it for a refund (minus a $200 restocking fee) within 30 days of its arrival date.
As is customary for smart home gym machines, you need to pay extra for a membership to access Stryde’s library of workout classes. The bike comes with a 14-day trial subscription, after which membership costs $29.99 per month. You can create up to four individual profiles per subscription, which helps keep everyone’s workout stats separate. For comparison, Peloton’s All-Access membership costs $10 more per month, but unlocks access to a much larger and more varied library of classes.
Without a subscription, you can still access the Free Ride tab within the Stryde app. This mode lets you view your metrics on a static image as you work out. You can also use the app’s picture-in-picture mode to monitor your metrics whenever you open another app, regardless of whether you have a subscription.
Tablet Experience
A MediaTek MT8167A processor powers the bike’s 21.5-inch, 1080p touch-screen tablet that runs Android 8.1 and has 16GB of storage. The Stryde app, a web browser, and Netflix come preinstalled. You use the standard Android icons for navigation, including a triangle (back button), circle (home button), and square (to open recent applications).
The tablet features two speakers and a 3.5mm headphone input. It also supports ANT+ and Bluetooth 5.0 for heart rate monitors and wireless headphones, respectively. I had no problem connecting my Apple AirPods and a Polar OH1 optical heart rate monitor via the Settings menu. The Stryde app doesn’t currently show heart rate data, but the company says it plans to add this functionality in the near future.
The right edge of the display features physical volume buttons; unfortunately, the volume down button on my review unit didn’t work, so to turn the volume down, I had to press the volume up button, then use the digital volume slider that appears on the screen.
The display tilts up and down, but doesn’t swivel from side to side. Some competitors, including the MYX II and the Peloton Bike+, feature swiveling screens that allow you to adjust the viewing angle for mat-based workouts. If you prefer, you can cast the Stryde tablet’s screen to a smart TV that runs Android.
In testing, I had no trouble watching Netflix content on the bike’s tablet via the aforementioned picture-in-picture mode. To use this mode, navigate to the Stryde app > Free Ride and tap the circle at the bottom of the screen; the Free Ride section then turns into a widget. After that, you can pull up Netflix or any other app. Several competitors, including Bowflex and SoulCycle, also let you watch Netflix and other video streaming services while you ride, a feature not available on Peloton.
One major drawback of the Stryde tablet at this time is that you can’t access the Google Play Store. Stryde says that Google’s app marketplace doesn’t support tablets as large as the one on this bike, but because the tablet is unlocked, you can download apps directly from publishers or third-party websites, but the process isn’t very user-friendly. On its site, Stryde recommends watching YouTube videos or emailing the company for instructions on how to download and use third-party apps.
Built to Last
Unlike most of its competitors, Stryde doesn’t offer assembly but says two people should be able to put it together in about 30 minutes. I can’t speak to the process because the company made an exception for me and sent my review unit fully assembled (the perks of being a professional product reviewer).
According to the manual, the main bike frame arrives assembled, and you just need to screw on the front and rear stabilizer tubes, dumbbell holder, handlebar post, screen, and pedals. Once assembled, Stryde recommends positioning the bike about 24 inches away from any obstructions, so you have adequate room to ride. I had trouble adjusting the seat and handlebar height on my own, but friends I enlisted for help completed these tasks without issue.
The bike itself has a compact 49.6-by-24.0-inch (LW) footprint and weighs 135 pounds. It’s suitable for riders between 5’1” and 6’5” tall and who weigh up to 350 pounds. You can adjust the seat height and handlebar up to 42.5 inches and 46 inches respectively, as well as change the seat depth.
Constructed of welded powder-coated steel, the frame features two water bottle holders on the handlebar and a dumbbell holder behind the seat with room for two-, three-, or five-pound hand weights (not included). It has two transport wheels on the front to help you move it around.
The bike features a magnetic micro-resistance system with 100 levels you control manually with a knob (turn it to the right to increase the resistance or to the left to decrease it). For comparison, the Peloton Bike+ and iFit-connected stationary bikes from NordicTrack (and its sister brand Proform) allow for both manual and automatic resistance controls. Their automatic adjustments are handy for when you just want to zone out and ride without having to listen to an instructor’s cues or fiddle with the knob.
Like the Bowflex VeloCore, Echelon EX5S, and MYX II, the Stryde bike comes with dual-sided pedals that you can use with or without clip-in cycling shoes. On one side, they have an adjustable toe cage for secure footing while wearing regular workout sneakers. On the other side, they feature SPD-compatible toe clip-ins. The stock pedals that come with Peloton and SoulCycle bikes require clip-in cycling shoes.
I use the Stryde with a pair of Pearl Izumis that I got when testing the SoulCycle At-Home Bike, but the pedals work with any pair of cycling shoes that have SPD clips. If you get into indoor cycling, I recommend that you invest in a pair of clip-in cycling shoes, which can be pricey, but help you ride faster and more efficiently; they make it easier to pull, not just push, on the pedals.
Unlike some rickety Peloton-wannabes, I never felt any rocking when riding the Stryde, even when pedaling at maximum cadence. Its resistance knob is easy to turn, and you can push it down to quickly stop the pedals. The seat is no more or less comfortable than those on competing bikes. If you’re new to indoor cycling, getting used to the seat will likely be your biggest hurdle, regardless of which model you choose. Paddled bike shorts can help and your rear-end’s pain tolerance should increase with time.
Aside from the faulty volume button on my unit, my main hardware complaint is that the Stryde’s speakers are weak. Even with the volume turned all the way up, I sometimes find the audio too low and muffled. I recommend using headphones with the bike.
Available Classes and the Stryde App
Unlike its main competitors, Stryde doesn’t produce workout content. Instead, the company pairs with fitness studios and independent cycling instructors. All of the content in the app is exclusive to Stryde. Regarding this decision, Stryde says, “We believe that means you get access to better instructors, broader choice of riding styles, music choices and coach personalities – which ultimately translates to a more fun experience and a better fitness outcome.”
The company promises to give you access to classes from studios “across the country,” but doesn’t quite fulfill its mission. At the time of this writing, the Stryde app only appears to offer classes from High Ride Cycle in Denver, CO, Prime Cycle in Hoboken, NJ, and a handful of independent instructors. On Stryde’s site, it also lists City Cycle in Seattle and Vibe Ride in Atlanta and Detroit as partners, but I can’t find classes from these studios in the app. In a statement to PCMag, Stryde says it “produced content with City Cycle and Vibe in the past, and will likely do more in the future.”
Stryde currently has around 500 classes in its library, and the company claims that it adds at least two new ones daily. You won’t find any live classes on the Stryde platform at this time, however. Stryde offers a small selection of core-focused and stretching classes, but there is no way to filter the library for these workouts, so they can be tough to find.
Peloton and MYX, by comparison, already offer thousands of on-demand classes, including strength, yoga, and pilates to supplement your cycling, as well as live workouts.
The Stryde app is simple and easy to navigate, with the following tabs on the bottom of the screen: Home, Classes, Leaderboard, Free Ride, and Profile.
In the Home section, Stryde highlights a featured ride atop carousels of Suggested and Popular classes. At the time of this writing, the top slot shows a 20-minute low impact ’90s ride from High Ride Cycle. Among the most popular classes on the platform are a 45-minute Thanksgiving-themed ride led by two instructors, a 20-minute HIIT ride, and a 30-minute ’90s ride, all from Prime Cycle.
In Classes, you can browse and filter the entire class library. At the top of this tab, Stryde offers the following filtering options: Class Duration (5 to 60 minutes), Favorites (to see just the classes you have marked with a heart icon), Instructor, Music Genre (Country, Electronic, Hip-Hop, Indie, Latin, Pop, or Rock), Studio, and Weights (with or without). You can select multiple filters at once to, for example, just see 10-minute classes from High Ride Cycle.
When you take a Stryde class, you see a leaderboard on the left side of the screen and the following metrics along the bottom: cadence (how fast you’re pedaling in rotations per minute, or RPMs), distance (in miles), output (how much power you’re exerting in Watts), resistance (0% to 100%), and total energy output (how much work you’ve done over the whole ride so far in kilojoules, or KJs). Stryde doesn’t explain these metrics on the interface; beginners would benefit from more details. A progress bar at the top of the screen shows how much time has elapsed and remains in the workout. You can hide the progress bar if you prefer. In the Free Ride tab, you can monitor the above metrics as you ride without instruction.
The first time I took a Stryde class, my metrics didn’t appear on the screen. It showed zeros for each one, even resistance. A Stryde spokesperson said this usually means the cords connected to the display aren’t arranged correctly or that they may not be plugged in all the way. If you have this problem, try rearranging the cords, making sure they’re fully secure, then restarting the bike by unplugging it from the wall and plugging it back in. After following these instructions, my metrics appeared on the screen and I didn’t experience this problem again.
Peloton offers additional metrics on the workout screen, including your average and best cadence, resistance, and output for the ride, as well as your estimated calories burned and heart rate (if you connect a heart rate monitor). Like Peloton, Stryde sorts its leaderboard based on your total output.
In the Stryde Leaderboard tab, you can see a ranking of Stryde users, based on total energy output, along with their average output, average cadence, average resistance, and number of rides. The current leaderboard champion has a total energy score of more than 400,000KJ, double that of the runner-up.
Stryde keeps track of all your workouts, metrics, and achievements in the Profile tab. Here, you can see an overview of your activity that month and a list of every class you have taken by date. You can click into each record to view your stats for that session, along with a workout diagram depicting your cadence and output during the workout. If necessary, you can manually delete any record from your workout history. Stryde awards virtual achievement badges based on the number of rides you complete.
Struggling to Stryde
The Stryde app can be frustratingly slow to load, and streams occasionally buffer and skip even over a strong internet connection when no other apps are running in the background. Sometimes, I got stuck staring at a spinning circle while waiting for the Classes tab to load or for a workout stream to begin. I had no such problems when using the Netflix app on the Stryde tablet, which leads me to believe Stryde’s software is the problem. Twice, on different days, I encountered critical error messages when simply trying to view my workout history.
Moreover, Stryde’s in-class leaderboard isn’t very competitive, motivating, or social, especially compared with Peloton. Even for on-demand workouts, Peloton’s leaderboard functions as if you’re taking the class live. When a Peloton session begins, everyone’s output starts at zero. You see your output increase in real time alongside everyone else’s, regardless of whether the other people on the leaderboard are taking that class live or have previously completed it.
On Stryde, the leaderboard is set for everyone but you. It ranks everyone who has previously completed that workout, based on their total energy output from start to finish. You start at the bottom and try to work your way up. Your energy metric is the only one on the leaderboard that changes during the ride.
During some Stryde sessions, I was the only person on the leaderboard. During Peloton classes, hundreds or even thousands of people typically show up on the leaderboard (one live class even attracted 23,000 consecutive riders). You can also filter Peloton’s leaderboard to show just the people you follow, people with a certain tag in their profile, by gender, or by age group.
You can send anyone on the Peloton leaderboard a virtual high five, view their stats and achievements, and/or follow them, features that aren’t available on Stryde. Peloton’s community features help pass the time, make it seem like you’re not working out alone, and encourage you to push harder. The Stryde platform is not nearly as community-centric.
Despite these issues, I enjoyed many of the classes I took on the Stryde. My favorites are the classes from High Ride Cycle, which sometimes incorporate hand weights and SoulCycle-like dance moves, such as handlebar push-ups (bending your elbows to the sides) and tap-backs (shifting your hips back while standing). High Ride Cycle’s instructors, including Will Hemond and Rae Ehly, are very motivating; they make the workouts fun and encourage me to give it my all.
Stryde classes always feature excellent selections of music; you might hear songs from America, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Cheap Trick, Da Brat, Doja Cat, Fleetwood Mac, Flo Rida, Hootie & The Blowfish, Miranda Lambert, OutKast, The Notorious B.I.G., Yellow Claw, and many other popular artists across genres. As with Peloton’s classes, Stryde instructors choose the tunes for each workout, so everyone listens to the same music. Stryde classes often sync with the music; when the chorus comes on, for instance, the instructor may tell you to pick up the pace to match the beat.
Many of Stryde’s competitors, including the NordicTrack S22i, let you adjust the music and trainer volume separately. I wish that feature was available in the Stryde app because sometimes the audio mix is off and the music will drown out the trainer. One time, I had to exit a class early because the instructor’s microphone was too close to their mouth; I couldn’t take the constant static.
I also wish Stryde showed the name of the current song, like Peloton does, or even lists the tracks in a workout. Peloton also integrates with Apple Music and Spotify to let you easily save tracks to your streaming music account, a feature you don’t get on Stryde’s platform.
Stryde does offer one basic feature not available on Peloton: the ability to pause workouts. If you need to take a bathroom break or answer the door, just tap the Stryde’s screen to pause. Peloton has promised a pause button, but it’s not yet available.
A Bumpy Stryde
The Stryde bike is a compelling Peloton alternative on paper, but it stumbles on execution. Aside from weak speakers and the broken volume button on my test unit, the hardware itself is relatively solid, but the software needs work. The Stryde app is slow, buggy, and doesn’t offer nearly enough community features to rival Peloton’s platform. The onboard tablet also doesn’t support Google Play, so you can’t easily download apps. Until Stryde resolves these issues, we recommend investing in a different smart stationary bike. Our top pick is the Peloton, which costs less, offers better social features, and boasts a far superior library of classes and workouts, making it our Editors’ Choice winner.
