How the Peloton Bike Calculates Power Output (Watts)
Metric Glossary
Your Cadence, measured in RPMs (rotations per minute), is how fast you're pedaling.
Resistance, measured as a percentage of the maximum resistance (0 - 100 percent), is your level of difficulty, which can be set by turning the resistance knob. Turn the resistance knob right to increase difficulty and left to decrease difficulty. The Bike+ is also equipped with an auto-resistance feature, allowing the resistance to adjust automatically. Click here to learn more.
Your Output, measured in Watts, is how much power you are exerting at any point in time. You can increase your output by increasing your cadence, your resistance, or both.
Total Output, measured in KJ (kilojoules), is how much work you've done over the whole ride. This is calculated by taking the average output times the number of seconds in the ride divided by 1,000. For instance, if you average 100 Watts in a 2,700-second ride (45 minutes), your total output will be 270 KJ. If you want to increase your total output and move up the leaderboard, you'll need to keep your output high over the full ride. This may mean increasing your resistance, possibly even above what the coach recommends.
How the Peloton Bike Calculates Power Output (Watts)
Each Bike is equipped with hall effect sensors for measuring flywheel rotational speed (to capture cadence) and resistance. The sensors reference the Output values on the sensor control board and communicate these values to the Peloton HD touchscreen multiple times per second during a ride.
The Peloton leaderboard, resetting your personal record, and Output readings are intended to be fun and useful tools, offering directional performance measurement that helps riders motivate and achieve their individual fitness goals. In order to continue to challenge your fitness goals, the ability to reset your PR score can be done in your Profile setting on your Peloton Bike.
Your ride is your ride! We encourage you to push past boundaries and work hard, but we know that everyone is different. Overall, it is most important that you make sure the challenge is at the right level for you.