My Experience With The Peloton Bike Delivery: A Review

If you’d asked me in 2016 about my Peloton bike delivery, I would have told you this: we ordered our bike, and a few weeks later it showed up. Period.

Fast forward to 2020 and 2021, and the Peloton bike delivery experience changed completely. If you waited for your bike–or your Tread–you know what I mean.

So, why am I writing about this topic now? We’ve since bought additional Peloton equipment and I wanted to share what our Peloton delivery time and experience was like. This was for a new Peloton Bike Plus and the Peloton Row.

I’m based in the United States. So, my delivery experience is for the U.S. only.

I’m not sure what delivery times are for Peloton equipment going to the UK, Germany or Canada. A friend of mine recently had a new bike delivered to her home in Ontario, Canada and I interviewed her about her Peloton delivery experience, including the delivery time.

My Peloton bike order experience

So, what was my ordering experience like? It was pretty straightforward. I placed my order online on February 12. It went pretty quickly and easily.

As soon as the checkout was complete, I was able to set up my delivery. The first available date was April 2. Yup, nearly seven weeks in the future. That was about normal those days and what Peloton customers should expect.

Choosing my Peloton bike delivery date

When I bought my Bike Plus, there were delivery delay estimates on the Peloton website. Bikes were running six to eight weeks, and Treads were running 10 to 12 weeks. However, soon enough that was down to 3-5 weeks for people who did not live near distribution places where they might get it sooner. I just checked back today–those delivery estimates are gone.

So, I can’t tell you whether or not you’ll face a similar delay like I did. What I can tell you is this: a friend in the Pittsburgh area ordered an original Bike on a Monday, and selected delivery at checkout for the following Thursday–four days later.

Why Peloton deliveries are delayed

There are a couple of reasons I knew there would be a delay with my Bike Plus purchase. One, I knew that since Peloton introduced the Bike Plus in mid-2020 that people were experiencing long wait times to get the Bike Plus. Those who bought the original bike had shorter wait times.

Two, the supply chain had really ground to a halt, delaying nearly everything coming from overseas. It’s one of the reasons that Peloton purchased Precor, the exercise equipment company. This way they can move their manufacturing from overseas to stateside and, hopefully, speed up delivery.

Unfortunately, in the past few years, Peloton decided to close a number of their showrooms and stores as well as warehouses. So that left fewer Peloton employees to deliver equipment, adding to delays.

How long for Peloton bike delivery after order

And, three, I was having my Bike Plus delivered to my home in Maine. I know from anecdotal experience that the closer you live to a Peloton hub, the faster your bike will get there. Also, if you’re ordering an original bike versus the Bike Plus, your delivery speed will be even faster.

Thanks to some Google sleuthing, I was able to determine that the nearest Peloton hub to me in New England was outside Boston. From speaking with other bike owners in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, it seemed that deliveries go out to those states once a week. That makes sense since when I was selecting my delivery date after placing my order, my only options were Fridays starting in April.

Finally, Peloton doesn’t actually deliver bikes to Maine. XPO Logistics does.

What might delay your delivery time

According to Peloton, there are a few things that might happen that would affect your delivery time or cause Peloton to have to reschedule. They are:

• inclement weather
• warehouse staffing constraints
• transit delays

With this last point, Peloton says that means when equipment hasn’t yet made it to your area as planned. So, for example, I mentioned being able to determine that my order would originate out of Boston. If, for some reason, my Bike didn’t make it to Boston as planned, my delivery could have been rescheduled. Thankfully, that did not happen with both pieces of Peloton hardware I had delivered to my home in Maine.

Anyway, if Peloton needs to reschedule, they will reach out with a new delivery time. At least, that’s what they say. Sadly, I hear from too many people whose Peloton delivery time came and went and nothing happened. You should never be shy about reaching out to customer service to find out what’s going on. A missed delivery window is simply unacceptable.

Canceling your Peloton order

Here’s something I didn’t know: if you’re frustrated with the delivery wait times, you can cancel your order and Peloton will process a full refund at your request. You’ll need to speak with the Peloton member support team to do this. You can always call. I find that chatting on the Peloton website works well, too.

However, this all has to happen before your order goes from ordered to scheduled for delivery. Once your order is scheduled for delivery — even if it is 3-5 weeks in the future — you cannot cancel.

If you’re unsure where you are in the delivery process, you can check in your Peloton account, under the My Membership section of the Peloton website — the same website where you take classes.

Under My Membership, go to Orders. There you’ll find your Order History. Scroll down to find your equipment order and then tap Order Summary.

You’ll get an update on your delivery or if it has been scheduled yet. Again, if your order is simply confirmed and no delivery date is there — and you change your mind — you can cancel the order and get a full refund, according to Peloton. This is true for orders you placed directly with Peloton, not with third-party retailers like Dicks Sporting Goods.

Peloton delivery tracking and status

It’s not like Peloton hid this fact from me–that they wouldn’t be the ones delivering my bike. It actually showed up on my order delivery confirmation page. Here’s what it said:

“Please expect a confirmation call after 4 PM the day prior to your requested delivery date. XPO Logistics will provide you with a three-hour delivery window at that time.”

What Peloton didn’t tell me–but I figured out–is that I could track my XPO Logistics delivery. Literally, I searched on Google for “where is my Peloton bike” and XPO, and I came to an XPO tracking page.  So this gave me a Peloton delivery tracking tool.

I was able to put in my order number and up came the confirmation page shown below. (Links at the bottom of this post if you want to track your Peloton order with XPO Logistics.)

What happened the day before my Peloton bike delivery

The day before my delivery, guess what? The Peloton delivery tracking page updated to show my three-hour delivery window. See below.

Even though the messages from Peloton said I would get a call after 4 p.m. and I’d signed up for SMS text messaging with XPO, I didn’t hear anything from them. But around 2 p.m. on the day before, the page updated to show that my Bike Plus would be here between 9 a.m. and 12 noon on April 9.

Then, that evening I got a text message from XPO about my delivery. Shortly thereafter I got an email. Finally, the morning of my delivery, I got a call at 8 a.m. It was the driver saying he would be here around 9 a.m. When I checked the XPO tracker, I could see that my bike was “out for delivery.”

What happened when the Peloton arrived

At just after 9 a.m. the truck arrived. It took the two delivery people about 20 minutes to set the bike up. This was from pulling into my driveway to carrying my bike into the house to attaching the monitor. Then, I had them stick around while I plugged in the bike to make sure it worked.

After that, they explained how to set up the Bike Plus. This included going through the touchscreen and getting the bike to auto-calibrate.

Also, fun fact: because I already have a Peloton bike, I did not have to use the activation code that Peloton sent me. I was able to log in as myself and get started.

Peloton Delivery expectations

I must say it was infuriating to see that the bike “arrived” in the Franklin, Massachusetts, warehouse on February 12th. That’s the date, you’ll recall, that I placed my order. I know I couldn’t help but think, hey, if my Bike Plus is in the warehouse, why does it have to be seven weeks until you can deliver it to me? But then the rational side of me emerged.

One, I’m not the first person in New England to have ordered a Bike Plus. Two, as such, I’m not the first person in line to get it delivered. And three, with XPO delivering my bike and, seemingly, only coming to Maine one day a week, getting the bike immediately didn’t make sense. I’m guessing the same delay would have been true whether I purchased the Bike Plus or the original bike or even a Tread.

Changing your Peloton delivery date

I ended up having to change my delivery date to a week later due to a conflict on my part. I did this change by chatting with Peloton support and then calling their customer service phone number. The Peloton employee I spoke with was super helpful and even put me on hold to call XPO directly to ensure that they could make April 9 instead of April 2.

Unfortunately, there have been a lot of stories on Facebook and the Peloton Cycle Reddit about people being unable to change their delivery date. On the flipside I have heard about people getting an earlier delivery date by simply checking in with Peloton customer service on a regular basis.

You have to be home to receive your Peloton delivery

Many people ask, “Do I have to be home to receive my Peloton?” Yes, you have to be home. Peloton does not offer contactless delivery.

However, you do have an option for threshold delivery, if you’re not comfortable letting someone into your house for a long period of time. In fact, this was one of the options I was given when I got my delivery confirmation email a few days ago. Here’s what it said:

“If you feel uncomfortable accepting an in-home delivery at this time, we are happy to offer a Threshold Bike delivery instead where we fully assemble your Bike outside the home and carry it through the front door of your home or apartment. If you prefer that method please reply to this email to let our Support team know or simply inform our delivery team when they call on the way to your home on the day of delivery.”

Threshold delivery of your Peloton

There are a few reasons I would not recommend the threshold delivery. One, you don’t have time to ask questions. Two, the delivery team won’t be there when you plug in your Peloton bike–to make sure it turns on–or put in your activation code. Three, if there are issues with the condition of your bike–I’ve heard people receiving banged-up bikes–you won’t have the opportunity to point this out or ask about it.

Tipping the Peloton bike delivery team

When we had our original Peloton bike delivered in 2016, I tipped the Peloton delivery team. I did the same when they delivered my Bike Plus.

How much did I tip them? I planned on giving them $10 each. My delivery is straightforward. They need to come up the front steps and straight into my home.

If I was going to have them deliver my bike up or down a flight of stairs or something more complicated, I might tip them more–maybe $20 each. Then again, I’m a generous tipper. So I ended up giving them $20 after all. Having worked in jobs where you rely on tips, I’ll always err on the side of tipping more than tipping less.

Peloton delivery checklist

So, if I had to suggest a Peloton delivery checklist, what would it be? Here you go.

1. Track your order using Peloton support chat or the XPO website like I did.
2. Identify where in the house or apartment you want your bike or Tread.
3. Clear a path from the door to wherever you’re going to put your Peloton hardware.
4. Put away all animals so they don’t interfere.
5. Make sure you have cash to tip the delivery crew.
6. Ask the delivery team to go over your Peloton with you before they leave.
7. Also, before they leave, make sure that the bike or Tread turns on.
8. Have your info ready so you can log in and confirm that your login works.

In addition, the people who deliver your Peloton should take all the trash with them when they leave. If for some reason it seems like they’re not planning on cleaning up after themselves, definitely ask them to take the debris with them. Finally, if you’re not satisfied with delivery, call Peloton or bring up the chat option on the Peloton website.

How are Peloton bikes delivered

As I mentioned earlier XPO Logistics delivered my Bike Plus to my home in Maine. Near where I used to live in Pittsburgh, I would see Peloton-branded Sprinter vans everywhere. Therefore, I would say that Peloton employees are delivering Peloton products.

I know there is at least one other third-party delivery service that Peloton uses. It is JB Hunt. I don’t have any personal experience with them but Facebook friends have and they were pleased.

Finally, now that Peloton has put the bikes on Amazon, it’s possible that UPS will be added to the list of companies that delivery Peloton bikes. Also, if you have Amazon Prime, you probably will get free shipping on your bike. Then again, I don’t know if there was a delivery charge or shipping fee when I bought my Bike Plus.

I just checked: nope, there wasn’t a shipping fee. The only thing extra I paid was sales tax.

On the other hand, if you’re ordering smaller Peloton equipment, such as the Peloton Guide, it’s entirely possible that FedEx or the USPS could be the ones delivering your order. And if you’re buying apparel from the Peloton boutique, you will have to deal with shipping rates. Sorry.

Peloton bike delivery in Canada

Peloton doesn’t deliver to every place in Canada. In fact, there are more places that Peloton doesn’t deliver than it does. I found it nearly impossible to figure out where you can live in Canada and own a Peloton. However, I’m guessing that if you live within driving distance of a Peloton showroom or store, then you can get a Peloton bike, Tread or Row delivered.

Where are those Canadian stores located? Well, there used to be a lot more of them. Now there are only six, in three provinces. They are:

• Calgary, Alberta (Chinook Center)
• Edmonton, Alberta (West Edmonton Mall)
• Etobicoke, Ontario (Sherway Gardens)
• North York, Ontario (Yorkdale Shopping Center)
• Vancouver, B.C.
• West Vancouver, B.C. (Park Royal)

Canadian delivery experience

I mentioned at the top of this article that a Canadian friend of mine recently ordered a Peloton bike. And, she says, it was all because of me!

Her order and delivery experience was pretty straightforward. In fact, before actually ordering the bike, she chatted with customer service about delivery time. She was told two to three weeks. She lives in Ontario, between Niagara Falls and Toronto.

“However, when we placed the order, it gave us an auto estimate for two days later,” she recalls. “So we had our bike in two days.”

A third-party delivered the bike, brought it downstairs to her basement and took away the trash. Like I said, straightforward.

What was your non-U.S. delivery experience like?

If any readers have had a delivery experience elsewhere in Canada, or the other places where Peloton delivers — UK, Germany and Australia — I’d love to hear from you about your experience, too.

What should I do while I wait for my Peloton to be delivered

There are two ways to approach what to do while you’re waiting for your Peloton bike or Tread to be delivered. In the short term, determine where in your home you want to put your equipment. You want to know exactly where it should go on your delivery day.

In the long term, you should start purchasing the best accessories that will help you love your Peloton more. I’ve written blog posts on the best, must have accessories for your Peloton bike and the best, must-have accessories for your Peloton Tread.

Buying shoes, shorts and a padded seat

As far as bike accessories go, if you didn’t order shoes as part of your package, check out my post on Peloton bike shoes. I offer options where you can purchase Peloton brand shoes–but not from Peloton–as well as other brands that tend to fit wide feet better.

In addition, if you’re not getting a mat with your bike delivery, you may want to purchase one for under your bike. They’re not required but many people like to have them to catch sweat. Here is my post reviewing different kinds of mats to buy with a Peloton bike. 

If you’re waiting on the bike, you’re going to want to get padded bottoms and a padded gel bike seat. My favorites are men’s padded shorts from Baleaf and women’s padded shorts from Terry.

What is a Plus Bike

So here is a question I get that is not Peloton related. What is a Plus Bike? Not a Bike Plus, but a Plus Bike. Well, I had to look it up.

Turns out a Plus Bike is an outdoors cycle that has fatter, thicker wheels than a traditional road or mountain bike or a fat tire bike. Who are people who ride the Plus Bike outside? This article from Backcountry.com explains all of that. 

Final thoughts on my Peloton bike delivery experience

After all of the horror stories I’d read about Peloton bike deliveries not showing up, all I can say is my delivery experience was a dream. Of course, I didn’t love having to wait so many weeks to get my bike. But the wait was worth it.

XPO did a great job of communicating when the bike would be coming, the driver called in advance, as promised, and the delivery and setup were painless. They left no trash behind, stayed with me to teach me how to use the Bike Plus, and I tipped them both $20 before they left.

I did the same when XPO delivered my Peloton Row. Same tip. Same positive experience.

If you’re curious to track your own XPO Logistics delivery of your Peloton, here is the link I used.

Want to read more about Peloton’s purchase of Precor so they can bring manufacturing stateside and speed up deliveries? Here’s the press release, from the Peloton investor site about the acquisition.

Finally, interested in the Peloton Cycle sub Reddit? Here is a link.