Peloton is officially rolling out ERG mode – or auto-resistance/auto-follow as commonly referred to within the Peloton community – on Power Zone classes for Bike+ owners. Instructor Matt Wilpers shared the news via his Instagram Stories, writing:
Power Zone Controlled Resistance is now available for all @onepeloton Bike+ riders
We shared late last year that Peloton was quietly beta testing this new feature amongst a limited group of members, but as of this week it appears to be rolling out to all Bike+ owners. This feature will only be available on the Bike+; not the original Bike, which is not equipped with the auto-resistance feature.
Note that although Matt stated it is available for everyone, it does appear to be taking a little bit of time for the update to roll out to everyone. At time of publishing, it was not yet available on our Bike+.
Moving forward, with this new power zone controlled resistance feature (also known as ERG mode in the larger cycling world), the Peloton Bike+ can automatically adjust the resistance to keep members within the specific zone identified by the instructor. This applies even if the rider’s cadence changes. The feature will also automatically increase or decrease the resistance to place the rider within the correct zone for the next interval when the time arrives – even if the cadence remains the same.
Matt shared the following about the new feature:
The resistance automatically adjusts to keep you in the middle of the zone being coached during Power Zone Classes so that you don’t have to worry about it and can instead focus on other things like posture, cadence, and having fun! Just keep your FTP up-to-date, hop on the bike, pedal and we’ll take care of the rest 💪
The Peloton Engineering Team and your Power Zone Instructors hope you enjoy the new feature and thank you for your continued support 🙌🙏
The pop up on the bike calls it “Auto-Resistance” – the same as it is for regular classes. However, the description is slightly different and shares how it will work on power zone classes:
Tap the lock to turn on auto-resistance. Bike will automatically adjust to instructor-cued zones.
Though auto-resistance is signature to the Bike+, the feature has not been available on Power Zone rides until now. You can read more details about the full functionality of auto-resistance on Power Zone classes in our previous article.
Be sure to check out the Home Fitness Buddy power zone library and timer tool, which allows you to see the structure of all power zone classes, and easily search for different rides based on what zones are or are not included, and more.
If you own a Bike+ and enjoy Power Zone content, will you be utilizing Peloton’s new auto-resistance/ERG mode feature?
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I personally so far do not like to auto resistance on the Power Zone rides. I’ve tried two classes so far and find that it doesn’t line up with what I’m used to and if you have any variability in your cadence that the resistance is changing constantly and is kind of distracting.
I’ve been doing Power Zone rides for over 4 years and am pretty dialed in. I have an 88 as my natural cadence and know that for that I like to be at a 50, 54, 57, 60 to be in the middle of my Zone 2, 3, 4 & 5. I find with the auto resistance that it has be about 3-4 lower on the resistance and it’s difficult to maintain that cadence and spikes my heart rate.
Additionally, the lower cadence callouts of 60-70 take me a minute or so to dial in a consistent cadence on any ride and the resistance was jumping all over the place and is drasticting. I know for a Zone 3 at a 60 cadence I like a 63 resistance so I just turned it off and set it to what I like and I was good.
Maybe I’m doing something wrong? Maybe I’m dialed in and this feature might be more beneficial for newer Power Zone riders that aren’t sure of where they should be? I’ll give it another try and see if I’m just missing something, but so far it’s not for me. #TalkToMeGooch
James I don’t think the auto power zone is accurate. I find it too hard to maintain a consistent pace.
My Bike+ is yet to receive this update (today being 19th Jan 2024)…. Wonder when it will.
I have been doing Power Zone rides for just over 3 years now, so am not sure if I’ll use it (as I tend to stick to the top of the zones), however I am keen to try the feature.