Peloton’s new gamified indoor cycling experience, Lanebreak, might be even more addicting than its workout classes.
Lanebreak is available as part of the $39-per-month Peloton All-Access membership on the $1,495 Bike and the $2,495 Bike+. I no longer have one of Peloton’s bikes at home (we return all of the products we review once we’re done testing them), so I drove to my nearest Peloton showroom at the International Plaza and Bay Street mall in Tampa, FL to try out the game.
Spoiler alert: It’s a lot of fun.
How to Play Lanebreak
Lanebreak is sort of like Mario Kart’s Rainbow Road track. Your goal is to earn as many points as possible by controlling a wheel racing down a six-lane track using the bike’s resistance knob and your cadence (how fast you’re pedaling, measured in rotations per minute, or RPMs).
Each of the six lanes on the track corresponds with a certain resistance range, and you switch lanes by turning the resistance knob. Increasing your resistance (by turning the knob to the right) moves the wheel to the right on the track, and lowering your resistance moves the wheel to the left. In testing, the resistance knob was incredibly responsive; even a tiny turn moves your wheel within the lane.
As you race down the track, you encounter horizontal slashes in the lanes, called Beats; each time you hit one, you earn points. Your goal is to move between lanes to hit as many Beats as possible. The higher the resistance lane you’re in, the more points you get for each Beat you hit.
When a yellow outline, or Breaker, appears in a lane, you have the opportunity to rack up even more points by pedaling fast. In these spots, your goal is to increase your Output (how much power you’re exerting, measured in Watts) and charge the Breaker to at least 100% before you reach the triangle at the end. For the maximum score, you need to overcharge the Breaker to 200%.
When a green outline, or Stream, appears in a lane, you need to stay within the specified cadence range to earn points for every Beat you hit. If you pedal faster or slower than the specified cadence range within a Stream, you won’t earn any points.
Throughout the game, you may see Moments (Beats, Breakers, or Streams) in two or more lanes. Taking the higher-resistance lane earns you more points, but if you’re tired, you can opt for the lower-resistance paths.
At the end of the game, a workout summary shows your score and leaderboard ranking, along with other stats.
Lanebreak Levels
Peloton launched Lanebreak in February with a handful of Levels, or workouts, ranging from five to 20 minutes, each with a different playlist.
At the time of this writing, about 27 Lanebreak Levels are now available on the platform across a range of music genres, including David Guetta Hits (30 minutes), Mary J. Blige Hits (20 minutes), Fresh Pop HIIT (15 minutes), David Bowie Remixes (10 minutes), and R&B Cool Down (5 minutes).
To access Lanebreak, navigate to More Rides > Peloton Lanebreak on your Peloton Bike or Bike+. Once the game loads, click Learn to Play in the top right corner for a demo. After going through the demo, I quickly understood the game mechanics.
Selecting a Level brings up a preview screen on which you can view the playlist and leaderboards. Each Level has beginner, intermediate, advanced, and expert leaderboards, plus you can filter them to show all-time rankings or just those for the past seven days. If the Level you’re previewing looks good, tap Play, select your difficulty (beginner, intermediate, advanced, or expert), and start pedaling.
After a 15-minute David Guetta Hits Lanebreak workout set to intermediate, I was sweaty, energized, and eager for another round. The game is highly engaging, offering Moments at a fast clip, so you’re always speeding up your cadence and fiddling with the resistance knob to get into the correct lane. Seeing the points rack up gives you a rush: Lanebreak is so much fun you almost forget you’re working out.
I ended up ranking 3,972 out of 4,345 users on the intermediate leaderboard for that Level (I could have done a lot better if I wasn’t taking photos and notes for this story). A store associate tells me that players often complete the same Level multiple times to beat their high score and get a better leaderboard position.
A Fresh Spin on Your Peloton Bike
With this new feature, Peloton has upped the value of its All-Access membership, offering existing riders fresh, motivating content while targeting a new audience: gamers. Not everyone likes trainer-led fitness classes, and Lanebreak appeals to those people by introducing an entirely different workout experience to the Peloton platform. I love trainer-led classes (I’m a yoga instructor, after all), but I can see myself getting addicted to Lanebreak.
It’s worth noting that Peloton isn’t the first smart fitness equipment company to gamify workouts—the Aviron and Ergatta rowing machines also offer games that are really fun and motivating. But it’s definitely added incentive to keep you coming back to your Peloton Bike for that next workout.
