Peloton training because I break

peloton Having a hard time. The connected fitness company is struggling to sell bikes it couldn’t keep in stock, and its CEO has just been replaced by a more efficient administrator. He just laid off 2,800 employees. But Peloton has never struggled in one specific area: its classes. And so the company hopes to take a break today when it launches a file Lanebreak feature That turns peloton rides into video game levels.

The feature has been in a rolling beta since last summer, gathering thousands of Bike and Bike+ users at any given time. Peloton gave me early access to Lanebreak two weeks ago to take for a “literal” spin. If you’re a bike owner looking to change up your routine, Lanebreak is a really fun way to ride.

Will Lanebreak solve Peloton’s many problems and pull the company back from the brink of disaster? No, would it please Peloton owners who might be warily eyeing their bikes, dreading what appears to be an inevitable Amazon acquisition? Yes.

How does Lanebreak work

Lanebreak is a new feature available only on Bike and Bike+, accessible under the More tab where free Peloton rides and scenic rides are available. There are about 20 levels to start with different music themes in partnership with Warner Music Group. You can currently choose from 5-minute cool-downs and warm-ups, 10-minute hip-hop lessons, a 20-minute level with soundtrack curated by Peloton fave DJ John Michael, and even a 30-minute class. Most of the levels are small in size, and are designed to be stacked with other games (although actually stacking them is impossible – more than that in a minute).

Each level looks the same, with the same gameplay. There are different playlists for each, and you can choose from four difficulty levels (beginner to expert), but other than that the visuals are similar – a futuristic look that excites you can see. Lanebreak also has minimal Mario Kart Rainbow Road ambiance, except instead of busting around a track like Inkling Girl dodging obstacles and throwing turtle shells behind me, I pedal to hit certain strokes, fill breakers by pedaling hard, or keep up with the flow by maintaining a rhythm, all while using Bike resistance handle to switch between six lanes. You will get points for hitting all the targets.

The game’s mechanics are inspired by instructor-led Peloton classes, according to David Buckles, Peloton’s senior director of product management who oversees the Lanebreak program.

As a bike+ owner who has been feeling uninspired to work in recent months, Lanebreak has been a fun way to switch it up, and the levels offer as good a workout as the teacher-led classes—and maybe more. In a coach-led class, I sometimes undo my resistance or tempo to catch my breath hoping I can make up for that in the leaderboard later, but with Lanebreak, skipping a stream or skipping a lane leaves some points on the table. My productivity in a 20-minute Lanebreak was consistently higher than a typical 20-minute class, and I finished each level sweating profusely no matter what setup difficulty I pre-selected.

work progress

I had my husband, a fellow Peloton riding and actual video game enthusiast, test Lanebreak to assess its appeal to players. He loved it, although his criticisms of the feature were similar to mine: Levels need more varied landscapes to feel like you’re making progress, and Lanebreak also needs a level leaderboard or other way to compete with fellow riders. (You can currently view the leaderboard status after a Lanebreak level, but not in the middle of a ride.)

Packles tells me that these features are in the works. “We were so focused on lasers to focus on the core experience first and make this core experiment as fun as possible,” he said. “All the other things — progression systems, visual diversity, new types of features that build on top of our core — are all things we plan to layer over time. Over the next few months, members can expect to see some changes in Lanebreak.”

Buckles said Lanebreak will work similarly to the rest of the Peloton classes, with new rides dropping regularly.

Peloton is amazing because every time you get another new Alex [Toussaint] Class, another new Adrian [Williams] He said, “We apply this principle to Lanebreak, so there is something that draws you in every week.”

Riders can expect the majority of Lanebreak levels to be small – 10 or 20 minutes instead of 30-60 minutes. Honestly, this is the best: Since the Lanebreak track looks exactly the same regardless of pedal length, longer chapters will quickly become monotonous. Lanebreak levels are also fun to combine with teacher-led classes, but doing so is more difficult than it has to be. You have to click More, select Lanebreak, go through the process of choosing your level, complete the journey, and dive back into the other Peloton classes in a completely different section of the interface after you exit Lanebreak. Lanebreak doesn’t currently have a position on the home screen when you turn on a bike or Bike + tablet, which is a great example of another Peloton problem: introducing really cool features or classes just to make it hard to find or use them.

Will Lanebreak Save the Peloton?

The more attractive Peloton rides won’t literally replace the company’s current structural offering, but Lanebreak is an example of where Peloton shines: its actual content. No other fitness company offers the experience that Peloton does, which is why its users remain loyal despite the company’s uncertain future.

Lanebreak is also likely to be a sneak peek into where Peloton could go in the future. Virtual reality based fitness games like supernatural And Saber won are becoming so popular, and it would make more sense for Peloton to start developing VR content – to create the Peloverse, if you wanted (sorry, sorry, try to delete) – rather than releasing wearable accessories or alien strength training camera. (A long rumor of paddling peloton It is said to be out soonAlso, adding blasphemous content will go a long way in attracting new users.)

“What has not changed within Peloton is our commitment to innovation and our commitment to trying new things. Lani Brick is a good example of that,” Buckles said. “We are what we have always been and will always be. We’ll see how this works and decide how deep we go. Our feedback from our beta testing has been incredibly positive.”

Peloton’s Lanebreak feature is now available to Bike and Bike+ owners in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Germany.