NorciTrack’s S22i is one of the leading competitors to the Peloton Bike and it’s pretty easy to see why.
After all, these 2 bikes have a lot in common, like impressive performance specs, reputable brand names, and a loyal following of dedicated users.
And NordicTrack’s 22″ HD touchscreen display and access to thousands of instructor-led workouts makes it even harder to tell the difference between these two elite cycles.
But that’s exactly what we’re here to discuss today.
In this head-to-head review, I’ll compare all the key specs features the Peloton and the NordicTrack S22i have to offer.
After reading, you’ll know everything you need to in order to choose the right cycle for your home.
Let’s get rollin’.
| The Peloton Bike | NordicTrack Commercial S22i | |
|---|---|---|
| Resistance | 35 lb flywheel 100 levels of magnetic resistance | 32 lb flywheel 24 levels of magnetic resistance |
| Frame | 135 lb assembled weight 297 lb weight capacity | 203 lb in box weight 350 lb weight capacity |
| Warranty | 5 year frame 1 year parts 1 year labor | 10 year frame 2 year parts 1 year labor |
| Features | 22" HD touchscreen display Access to on-demand/live classes Bluetooth/heart rate monitor compatible Fully adjustable seat Cleat compatible pedals | 22" HD touchscreen, rotating console -10-20% incline Automatic resistance/incline control Fully adjustable seat Toe cage pedals Dumbbells included Bluetooth/heart rate monitor compatible |
| Price | $1,895 (bike only) $39/month streaming fee | $1,999 (bike) $39/month streaming fee |
The Peloton Bike vs The NordicTrack Commercial S22i
Above image courtesy of Peloton
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Yeah, my wife surprised me and purchased one for my birthday a few years ago and I’ve been cycling 2x/week ever since.
I admit I’m a bit biased because I love my Peloton, but I promise to be as objective with the following comparison as I can be.
Anyway, we have Peloton to thank for the whole streaming workout craze by the way. They started all the way back in 2012, before it was assumed that every bike would be able to connect with an app for streaming or metric tracking.
I don’t know the exact timeline, but I don’t think NordicTrack was that far behind- if I had to guess, I would say they were one of the first real Peloton competitors.
NordicTrack has obviously been around a lot longer than Peloton, but their iFit app (and all their compatible equipment) didn’t come out until after Peloton hit the market.
FYI- in this article, I’ll be comparing the Commercial S22i to the Peloton Bike (classic), not the Bike+, although I might bring that model from time to time as well.
Resistance
I like to start any bike comparison off with a run down of the performance specs and if you ask me, the most important spec for any spin bike is the resistance system.
And that’s because spin bikes (formally known as indoor cycles) should be capable of providing enough resistance to provide an intense workout.
That’s kinda what they do.
And a nice resistance system doesn’t only ensure a quality workout, but it also ensures a smooth feel, which is just as important (because if a bike doesn’t feel good to use, odds are you won’t use it for long).
An indoor cycle’s resistance system is basically made up of the flywheel and the resistance mechanism.
The Peloton and the S22i both use magnetic resistance mechanisms, so we can skip the friction brake discussion for now (the takeaway is simply that magnetic resistance is superior).
Let’s start with flywheel weights.
You’ll hear a lot of talk about spin bikes and flywheel weights. Most people agree that heavier flywheels are better because they build more momentum as they spin, thus providing a smoother pedal motion.
That said, Peloton doesn’t make it easy to determine how heavy their flywheel is- it’s not really clearly stated anywhere.
Based on my findings though, it’s likely that it’s somewhere between 35 – 38 lb, which is easily heavy enough to provide a smooth workout (and I can tell you from experience that the Peloton provides a very smooth workout).
NordicTrack doesn’t make it easy to figure out what the S22i’s flywheel weight is either, but the consensus is that it weighs around 32 lb.
At 35 lb and 32 lb, it’s fair to say the flywheels on these 2 bikes are very comparable and even though the Peloton’s is a bit heavier, it isn’t really enough to make that much of a difference.
When we look at the resistance levels though, we do see a bigger difference.
The Peloton comes with 100 levels to work with, giving you a ton of control over the intensity of your workouts (which I love). The S22i only comes with 24 resistance levels.
Keep in mind, that just because the Peloton comes with more resistance levels doesn’t mean it comes with more overall resistance- it just means you can make smaller changes to the resistance.
Which in itself is a benefit.
Something the S22i offers though, is automatic instructor controlled resistance. This means the resistance will adjust automatically during your workouts without you having to do anything.
This is a cool feature, not only for convenience, but to ensure you’re actually challenging yourself during workouts.
You don’t have to use this feature of course, but it’s there if you want to take advantage.
Overall, both bikes come with heavy flywheels and smooth operation. The Peloton comes with more resistance levels to work with, but the S22i comes with automatic resistance control.
Frame
A quality indoor cycle should come with a heavy-duty frame that feels stable during use, regardless of whether you’re standing or not.
I like to look at a bike’s assembled weight and its weight capacity as a measurement to how robust and stable it’s going to be.
Doing this, we see that the Peloton comes with an assembled weight of 135 lb and a max weight capacity of 297 lb (which is oddly specific, I must say).
The Peloton’s weight capacity is high enough to accommodate a lot of users, but it’s still lower than what many other bikes offer.
The S22i comes with an in-box weight of 203 lb, which isn’t the same thing as an assembled weight, but since NordicTrack doesn’t offer this info, it’s the best we got.
I hate to compare an in box weight with an assembled weight, but sometimes we have to roll with what we’ve got.
Even if we say there’s 30-40 lb of packaging included in that weight, it still puts the S22i somewhere around 160 lb, which is still quite a bit heavier than the Peloton.
What we do know, is that the S22i comes with a much higher weight limit of 350 lb, allowing it to safely hold larger folks.
The Peloton takes up a footprint of roughly 4′ x 2′ and can comfortably hold folks who are between 4’11” and 6’4″.
The S22i comes with basically the same footprint and should be able to hold folks of the same height range, so no real difference here.
Overall, the S22i is a heavier bike with a significantly higher weight limit- something larger folks might want to consider when deciding between these 2 cycles.
Warranty
Peloton offers the following warranty on their bike:
- 5 year frame
- 1 year parts
- 1 year labor
And NordicTrack offers the following warranty on their Commercial S22i:
- 10 year frame
- 2 year parts
- 1 year labor
So, yeah, NordicTrack offers a much better warranty on their bike- the frame and parts guarantees are literally 2x as long as what Peloton is offering.
I’m surprised at how short Peloton’s warranties are, to be honest. It’s a very well-made bike and it comes at a premium price, so I don’t think a lifetime frame warranty would be asking too much.
But surprisingly, not that many cycles are offering lifetime guarantees.
Anyway, NordicTrack easily wins the warranty category.
Oh, it’s probably worth noting that NordicTrack is notorious for their customer service’s awful reputation. Like many large fitness brands, expect them to be hard to reach (and expect long wait times when waiting to hear back from them).
Features
Ok, honestly both bikes score highly when it comes to the performance side of things. The Peloton has a slightly heavier flywheel and the S22i has a heavier frame, but both bikes are impressive.
It’s time to get to the more interesting stuff (and likely the stuff that you’re really interested in when comparing these 2 cycles).
The easiest way I can think of to go over this info is to start with a list of each bikes’ features and then go over the key differences, so let’s see how this works.
Starting with the Peloton Bike:
- 22″ HD touchscreen display
- Access to 1,000’s of on-demand/live classes
- Resistance adjusted via knob
- Fully adjustable seat
- Height adjustable handlebars
- Delta-compatible pedals
- Compatible with bluetooth headphones
- Chest strap heart rate monitor compatible
- Dumbbell holders
- Water bottle holders
Ok, and the NordicTrack Commercial S22i comes with these features:
- 22″, rotating HD touchscreen display
- Access to 1,000’s of on-demand/live classes
- -10% – 20% incline
- Live resistance/incline control
- Built-in cooling fan
- Fully adjustable seat
- Height adjustable handlebars
- Compatible with bluetooth headphones
- Toe cage pedals
- Chest strap heart rate monitor compatible
- Dumbbell holders 3 lb dumbbells included)
- Water bottle holders
Ok, that’s a quick run-down of the major features each bike offers (without going into specifics about console RAM and processor speeds and all that other technical jargon that doesn’t mean much to me).
Both bikes come with 22″ HD touchscreen display, but the S22i’s can rotate 360° so you can watch non-cycling workouts easily from the console (this feature is also available on Peloton’s Bike+).
Another key difference is the fact that the S22i has an incline/decline function that physically changes the position of the bike to make it feel more like riding up/down hills- a feature that sounds more cool than anything else.
I already mentioned the instructor controlled resistance/incline feature that will automatically adjust this stuff for ya during workouts.
The S22i also has a cooling fan and the Peloton doesn’t- again, certainly not a deal breaker in my book, but worth noting.
When it comes to pedals, the Peloton requires Delta compatible cleats, but the S22i is compatible with sneakers (either could easily be swapped out for pedals of your choice though).
We’ll go over prices for the streaming services below, but when it comes to the streaming part, both bikes score highly in terms of production value (which is a problem with some of the newer, more affordable streaming bikes).
NordicTrack’s streaming app is iFit, which can be used with any of their other compatible machines as well, through the same membership.
Peloton and iFit both provide access to tons of workouts that aren’t related to cycling too and both offer live and on-demand workouts to choose from.
One of the biggest benefits of Peloton is that their instructors are awesome (something I agree with 100%). Many of these instructors have become celebrities in their own right, just from their work on Peloton.
iFit’s instructors are praised highly too, but they haven’t gotten the same type of publicity as the Peloton folks yet.
Overall, the S22i comes with more features than the Peloton Bike, but both offer hi-tech consoles and access to basically unlimited, instructor-led workouts through their streaming services.
Price
Time to talk numbers.
It’s a little harder to compare directly because Peloton offers a few different packages, but I think it makes sense to start with the prices for just the bikes.
So here ya go:
Peloton Bike: $1,895
NordicTrack Commercial S22i: $1,999
Ok, so that’s comparing the costs of just the bike in each case- about a $100 difference.
For $2,045, you can get the Peloton Bike with a pair of bluetooth headphones, a pair of riding cleats, and a pair of dumbbells (recall that the S22i includes a pair of dumbbells already).
If you went with the Peloton, this is likely the package you’d go with because it includes everything you really need to get up and running (by which I mean cycling).
Which means the Peloton is really about $50 more expensive than the S22i.
But remember you have to consider the cost of the streaming services too.
The Peloton All Access Membership (which is required to operate the Bike) costs $39/month and also gives you access to the mobile app.
NordicTrack’s iFit cost varies a little depending on your plan, but the monthly plans also costs $39/month (you can save a few bucks by purchasing it a year at a time).
NordicTrack usually throws in a free year of iFit with purchase of their higher-end products.
Overall, there isn’t a big difference when it comes to the prices of these bikes. The Peloton is probably a little more expensive up front (assuming you buy the starter package), but the monthly costs are pretty identical.
Other Considerations
I like to save this area for any last minute considerations I want to include before finishing up.
In this case, I don’t have a lot to add.
Both bikes are very well-reviewed by users. As a very happy Peloton user myself, I can attest to the quality of the Peloton- I’ve had mine for about 4 years and haven’t had a single issue (knock on wood).
Peloton also has a very committed following of users- it’s almost like a cult is seems.
iFit doesn’t seem to have such a public enthusiasm, but this could be more of a marketing issue than anything else.
Final Thoughts
Ok, time to wrap this up.
There are actually quite a few differences between the Peloton and the Commercial S22i.
Most notably, the S22i comes with a rotating screen, the ability to incline/decline, and instructor controlled resistance during your workouts.
The Peloton comes with a slightly heavier flywheel, but the S22i is quite a bit heavier and comes with a much higher weight capacity.
NordicTrack also offers a longer warranty than Peloton.
However, the fact that the Peloton comes with 100 levels of resistance (compared to 24 levels on the S22i) is a big one for me.
Given all of that, when it comes down to the Peloton Bike vs the Commercial S22i, I’m going with…
The Peloton
Yeah, I know- I warned ya at the beginning I’m a bit biased, but their instructors are awesome and I love that it gives you 100 resistance levels to work with.
All things considered, when choosing between these 2 elite bikes, I think it’s going to come down to personal preference.
And regardless of which one you choose, you can rest assured you’re getting a great bike.
