I’ve tried a lot of stationary exercise bikes in my time as a fitness writer, but I can safely say the Wattbike Proton is my favorite.
And now you can get your hands on the Wattbike Proton with $450 off in the Black Friday sale—down to $1,845 from $2,295 (excluding shipping). This price includes a free subscription to Hub+, the premium version of the accompanying app, worth $80.
I was lucky enough to test this smart bike out for 30 days and it’s surprisingly addictive. I’ve been using it every day without fail and it’s become my new way to de-stress.
I got into a routine of getting on the bike every night before dinner and not only did it give me a much-needed energy boost, it felt good to spin the legs and the day’s stresses away. Here’s what else I discovered.
It’s really compact
As well as a writer, I’m an independent personal trainer and my kitchen-living room is overflowing with fitness equipment, so I was pleasantly surprised that the Wattbike Proton was much smaller than I expected—just 57cm x 102cm.
At 48kg, it’s quite heavy to move, so I’d recommend setting it up next to an outlet. It does have rollers to help you move it, however.
It’s family-friendly
It’s simple to adjust (something I had to do a lot because my two daughters were obsessed with it!) and the magnetic resistance results in a smooth and quiet ride—ideal if you want to do a workout early morning or late at night when the kids are asleep.
The Proton automatically adjusts the resistance, too, so you don’t need to worry about changing it (unless you want to) and you can just concentrate on pedalling.
The app is free—no monthly fees for once!
Fans of Peloton might bemoan the lack of inbuilt screen and instructor-led classes, but one thing I loved about the bike is that you don’t have to pay for the excellent Wattbike Hub app.
There is a subscription option if you want to unlock premium features like personalized workouts, but honestly, you don’t need to.
I worked my way through multiple workouts—from HIIT, endurance, speed, aerobic all-rounders and climbs—and I still had plenty of classes to try. There are even workouts designed to improve your running performance.
And in just 30 days I felt like my cycling ability had improved. Cycling felt easier, especially riding the heavy longtail cargo bike I cart the kids around on.
You can also connect it to many of the popular cycling apps, including Zwift and Rouvy, and it will sync happily with Apple Health and Strava.
The data helps you stay motivated
When I first started using the bike, the amount of stats on the app was a little overwhelming. But as I got the hang of things I found them really motivating, and enjoyed the traffic light system that indicated when I was hitting my targets for both power output and cadence.
I’m still a little baffled by the PES (Pedalling Effectiveness Score) system, which gives a visual depiction of how well you are pedalling. Not very well in my case. My left leg was always pushing harder, according to my stats, generally around 54% compared with 46% for my right. But I put that down to my physio’s assessment that my pelvis twisted in childbirth, causing my right leg to be slightly weaker than the left.
“A perfect PES score is 75, but it’s just a guide of where you are,” Wattbike’s Tom Crampton told me. “We have some beginners who get on and just nail it and some seasoned riders who are still hovering around the 55 mark. The key thing is that it’s a visual aid and you can improve it with the simple coaching points on the app.”
The Proton is well designed, but I have some notes
The Proton is set up like a road bike with drop handlebars and a very thin racer-style saddle. It’s fine for short rides, but not that comfortable for longer ones. Padded shorts were definitely needed for any workouts longer than 40 minutes.
The Proton has two bottle holders and caged pedals, but these can be swapped for ones with toe clips if you prefer.
There’s no inbuilt screen, but it has a small media holder, which I used for my iPad and I balanced my phone on the smaller shelf below, however it fell off several times. Something more sturdy or slightly bigger so you can use a tablet and phone at the same time would be helpful.
