15 Must-Have Exercise Bike Accessories

Whether you were gifted a Peloton Bike or treated yourself to one for the holidays, it’s an excellent way to stay fit and healthy—on your schedule and terms.

Now that you have the equipment, no doubt you’ll want to personalize it—so that it speaks to your comfort, needs and style. There’s nothing more motivating than hopping onto a bike set up with all the bells and whistles, just as you like them.

Are Peloton accessories necessary? Perhaps not, but do they enhance your workout experience? Most definitely.

What’s covered in this article:

Why Do You Need Stationary Bike Accessories?
Tips for Organizing Your Home Gym
Must-Have Exercise Bike Accessories
The Perfect Accessories for Your Exercise Bike

Why Do You Need Stationary Bike Accessories?

By choosing to accessorize your Peloton Bike, you take your comfort level to 11 during your workout. Having everything you want or need within easy reach can make all the difference when it comes to performing your very best on each ride.

Knowing that, with a single flick of your finger, you can turn on a perfectly positioned fan during the hardest part of your ride can keep you going longer and harder than you ever thought possible. Easily accessible weights or resistance bands make the ride so seamless that you won’t want to skip any part of the routine. Are you in training for a race or friendly competition? Then you’ll definitely want a heart rate monitor to help you safely and accurately optimize your performance.

When you consistently knock your workouts out of the park and feel great the rest of the day after a good ride, you are so much more motivated to continue the pattern. Simply put, creating a workout station you want to return to is the key to getting and staying motivated. Accessories add a whole layer of joy to working out. It doesn’t hurt that shopping for those accessories is fun, too.

Tips for Organizing Your Home Gym

There are numerous items you’ll want in your home gym—and even more ways to organize it all. A big budget isn’t necessary. Your choices will depend on the room you have to work with and your personal workout preferences. The below suggestions can help you create the workout space you’ve always dreamed of.

Hang Accessories

The more room you have in your home gym to move around in, the freer you’ll feel. You’ll also be more likely to walk, run, jump, squat, and otherwise enjoy yourself, moving around in that space. After all, isn’t movement the whole point of a home gym?

Unless you have an endless supply of space in your home gym, this means you’ll need to store some of your equipment or supplies so that they’re easily accessible and yet don’t restrict your movement in the room. No one wants to have to tiptoe over mats, towels, weights, or more.

So, you’ll want to find easy storage that works for you. For many people, this involves hanging up items on the wall. In addition to removing potential obstacles from the floor, it helps to keep the space organized and inviting.

Install Pegboards

While pegboards and hanging gym accessories go hand-in-hand, you can technically use anything you want to hang items on the wall. Still, we suggest creating a pegboard, because they’re strong, durable, inexpensive, and easy to install. A pegboard can hold as much or as little as you need. The standard 3/16” hole size can safely support up to a 100 pounds— making it an excellent space-saving option in a home gym.

Pegboards can hold variable-sized items securely, allowing you both easy storage and easy access to items such as resistance bands, dumbbells, kettlebells, an extra bike seat, bike shoes, sneakers, and other fitness equipment. These items—and more—can easily be hung on a pegboard attached to a wall in your home gym, providing a nifty storage solution. If you're feeling sassy, you might consider labeling your pegboard, too, but that's entirely up to you.

Storage Shelving

If you have the space to install shelving units, have at it! With the proper setup, floor-to-ceiling shelving is ideal, but cubes and bins are great ways to spruce up your space.

Shelving with bins in almost every color possible are available at most major retailers. This is a fantastic choice for a home gym as it creates ample storage and takes up minimal space.

Selecting What You Need

Start by making a list of the accessories you want during a workout. For indoor cycling with your new Peloton Bike, we suggest bike shoes, a water bottle, towel and a bike mat—for starters. There is always more, including preferred clothing and electronics, but starting with the bare minimum and then branching out from there is a good way to begin when creating your ideal workout space at home.

The Right Space

Choosing the right location in your home is central to creating a workout room with an energetic and welcoming vibe. A spare bedroom, sunroom, den, basement or nook off a living area are all super locations. Choose a space with ample room to walk around in, store your gear, and that will give you the freedom to fly when the urge strikes.

If space is limited, you always have options. You can turn an open corner of your space into a workout area, and you might even consider hanging a curtain or putting up a room divider to block it off. Having a designated space for your workouts is important to helping you stick with a routine that works best for you.

Regardless of the area you're working with, make sure you have enough room to move about it comfortably. You don't need all the accessories, but you do need some, and this is where our list of must-have bike accessories begins.

Must-Have Exercise Bike Accessories

The following complete list of must-have bike accessories should be enough to get you started. You can choose one or all, but with this list, it’ll all be put to good use!

Towels

Towels are an essential exercise bike accessory. You’ll use them to wipe away the sweat from you and your bike.They’re also inexpensive to stock up on and easy to store.

Water Bottles

You can never have enough water bottles, especially when in the middle of a challenging workout. Making sure you hydrate before, during, and after cycling is crucial, and drinking from a water bottle you prefer will ensure you don’t forget.

Biking Shoes

Biking shoes are a must. Comfortable biking shoes with breathable mesh will get you through your workout safely and comfortably.

Workout Clothes

Workout clothes are (clearly) an essential component of working out. You'll want to select a workout wardrobe that wicks moisture away from your body and allows you to move freely.

Don’t forget socks. Yes, socks. Good, high-quality socks can dramatically affect your comfort level during a ride. You might not think your feet sweat all that much. But a few minutes into a cycling class, and there it is! While you can't stop the sweat, you can mitigate problems it can contribute to, such as blisters, chafing, and a general feeling of heaviness and moisture in your feet. Peloton instructor Matt Wilpers recommends thin, light, and moisture-wicking socks to wear with your cycling shoes.

Hair Accessories

Keeping your hair out of your face can help you remain focused on the ride—and your fitness goals— instead of a stray strand or two flying into your eyes, nose or mouth. Scrunchies, headbands, and sweatbands are preferred methods of keeping your hair where it belongs during a workout.

Bike Seat

The right-sized bike seat can make or break your workout. Since you'll be sitting on it with each ride you take, you must have a comfortable seat! Or get several, and switch them out, based on your mood or workout. At the very least, you’ll want your bike seat to match, well, your seat.

Fan

A fan is one of the most understated—but important— bike accessories around. It does just what a fan should do: keep you cool during your workout. Peloton offers fans that hold a 3-hour charge and plug directly into your bike.

Heart Rate Monitor or Smartwatch

A heart rate monitor or smart device that contains the same is an accessory that keeps your vitals in check, so you can safely perform your best. With it, you’ll know when you should take it easy and when to let ‘er rip.

Headphones

Headphones or earbuds are a hot-ticket item—almost everyone who rides their Peloton Bike at home enjoys it—especially if your home gym is a shared space. With it, you can crank the Peloton playlist during a ride without disturbing anyone else in the household. The immersive feeling it creates is truly the next best thing to being in a gym. Wireless is best, for the freedom of movement it offers.

Cleaning Spray and Wipes

If your bike has a screen, skip the spray when you clean it. Instead, turn it off and gently wipe it down with a clean microfiber towel. When a dry towel doesn't cut it, there are other methods we recommend, including using Windex wipes, which removes oil and fingerprints without creating streaks on the screen.

Home Gym Organizers

From shelving and bins to pegboards and hooks, there are plenty of ways to organize your home gym. Start by mapping out your space and go from there. Gym storage is crucial but something you can always add as you go.

Weights

Depending on the types of workouts you plan to do, weights are a must. It's common at Peloton to pair an indoor cycling workout with weights.

Bike Mat

Bike mats are helpful for stability and to protect your floors and your Peloton Bike. This is a purchase you’ll want to make early on.

Resistance Bands

Resistance-band classes are a great alternative to weights, as they put less pressure on your joints while still toning your body. Resistance bands are a great home gym addition for those days when weights just aren't an option.

Foam Roller

Perfect for stretching, massage and recovery, a foam roller can help your muscles heal from the stress you put on them. A good foam roller is a post-workout necessity.

The Perfect Accessories for Your Exercise Bike

Your exercise bike and organized home gym should be a refuge where you can invest time in yourself and step away from the world for a while. Peloton Bikes help you do just that, and the added accessories make your me-time even more enjoyable.