Lanebreak Peloton Review

One of the longest challenges of the human race is how to turn exercise into a game. Recent examples with Nintendo show how when this is done right it can be very successful.  The Wii Sports series has sold over 115 million copies, Wii Fit that came packaged with Balance Board at a premium sold 22.67 million, and more recently Ring Fit Adventure has become the tenth best selling game on The Nintendo Switch with over 13.5 million.  

Sure, going outside sounds great but for many in cold climates exercising in the harsh winter isn’t fun and obviously the pandemic has accelerated home fitness. Peloton saw it’s demand and sales soar through the roof during the early parts of 2020. Peloton has offered live and on demand spinning classes from a variety of instructors with different intensities using many genres of music. You can also do scenic rides from all over the world. Needles to say, you should be able to find something that gets you sweating. 

However, even with all that variety, eventually things start to feel similar. Here is where Lanebreak enters the picture. A hybrid between Peloton, Guitar Hero, Thumper and many other rhythms based games.

How to Play Lanebreak

Obviously the only way to play Lanebreak is on your Peloton. After that the premise is quite simple, even to the point that it feels like the game is over-explained using the nearly five minute tutorial the game offers before you play. You travel as a wheel on a six lane, aqua infused, Tron inspired highway with the far left being the least resistance and the far right being the highest resistance with your goal being to complete “Moments”

The point of Lanebreak is to rack up as many points as possible, score three stars and rise up the leaderboards. There are three different type of moments including “Beats” where adjusting your resistance higher or lower gets on the right track to ride over the beats, which is similar to hitting notes on the highway on Guitar Hero.

“Streams” are another way to boost your score by staying within a cadence range on certain sections of the highway and the final moment is called “Breakers” which are overcharge sections that demand you pedal as hard as possible.

Even if you skipped the tutorial, the UI for Lanebreak is quite smart with audio and visual cues when you are not doing something correctly. Finally before you start your game, you will need select your desired length as well as one of the four difficultly options from beginner to expert, which will change what the resistance parameters for the game. 

Flat Tires

Lanebreak is a very fun way to add some spice into your Peloton life.  Moving forward, it will likely be my method of choice for using the bike but it isn’t without faults. The design is fairly barebones and it could use a little more happening to add excitement because outside of the highway you are on, nothing much is happening.

The other issue and the one that can be remedied the easiest is the lack of playlists at the moment. This could also be a personal preference but most of the music available just doesn’t push me to give 110%. I love rock, alternative and hip hop but even the playlists featuring those genres are lacklustre. Peloton has said that just like the on demand library for instructor based classes, new Lanebreak playlists will be added regularly.

Lanebreak Verdict

Is Lanebreak worth it? Yes, if you already own a Peloton, it’s a great time and well worth trying. Odds are good that if you don’t want to use Lanebreak as your exclusive way of using Peloton, at the very least you will incorporate it into your routine.

***As always consult you doctor before engaging in new physical activity***