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A friend of mine got a Peloton, and I as a good friend razzed him about it a couple times. Like a $2k stationary bike, come on! But now I get it. He is a busy

by bruceb 7y ago

A friend of mine got a Peloton, and I as a good friend razzed him about it a couple times. Like a $2k stationary bike, come on! But now I get it. He is a busy professional who would not always have time to go to the gym. He is also a bit of a special case as he legally blind and could walk fast to exercise but could never ride a regular bike. This being said he has lost a decent amount of weight. Part of it is the instructors, they do a good job of making you feel connected to the Peloton community. You see their friendly faces (who of course are all good looking) every day encouraging you . The instructors get followed on social platforms and there are active FB groups where users talk about their own lives and trade/sell Peloton gear. I half joke it is like a good cult. He has a few friends with accounts and they use his bike and chip in for the monthly fee. This lead to one couple to eventually buy their own. As a side note, the music lawsuit they are facing is a big deal, it is a major part the experience. It doesn't work without the music. So they have to settle that. Would I buy the bike for $2k+? No. but I can see why people do. This isn't Juiceroo.

bluedino 7y ago
$2k isn't absurt for an exercise bike once you think about it. These are the same people who buy a $10,000 bike for recreational riding, remember. You are dead on with the point about the instructors. My wife hated biking but they have Pelotons in her work gym, and she loves them, and talks about the instructors like they are real people. People are fitness crazy right now. Crossfit gyms are $100-200 a month, Rogue has whole website of fitness equipment, you could easily spend $4,000 outfitting your house. And how many of us own a $600 blender?
- inscionent 7y ago
  The instructors aren't real people?
  - bruceb 7y ago
    I get what he means. You feel like they are people you know, not just instructors on a screen thousands of miles away.
  - rchaud 7y ago
    They're real in the sense that the dude in the P90X videos is real. There's a difference between a personal trainer who works with you, and a remote team of drill sergeants relaying instructions to an indeterminate number of strangers following them online.
    - bstar77 7y ago
      Have you ever tried a spin class at a gym? No one goes in with the expectation that it should be an experience like working with a personal trainer. So many absurd comments here, my head is starting to spin. (pun intended) The whole point of the instructor is to instruct you and encourage you to work harder. They are there to keep you focused on the task. Never once felt like these people are virtual drill instructors, which insinuates a demeaning, impersonal experience.
  - dang 7y ago
    "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- pja 7y ago
  talks about the instructors like they are real people That’s because they are real people! Working people who are doing a job, not actual friends of course. But still: real living, breathing, actual human beings. Although I do wonder if buried somewhere in the business plan is the expectation of replacing them with AI-equivalents that don’t cost as much & don’t require pesky things like holidays or sick pay.
  - bstar77 7y ago
    Never thought I'd read exercise bike FUD. So much misinformation here. Thanks for clearing it up.
  - mikemac 7y ago
    Some of these instructors do a great job on social media too - promoting their rides on instagram, etc. It helps build the community aspect of it. I actually think that's a small price to pay for how many people are taking their class. 1 instructor can draw 10k participants for a single ride.
  - dqv 7y ago
    Probably what they mean is that she has a parasocial relationship[0] with the instructors i.e. she knows the instructor but the instructor does not know her. [0]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasocial_interaction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasocial_interaction
- matthewowen 7y ago
  I don't think the target is serious cyclists: for those people a bike trainer plus trainer road is clearly a better fit.
- foolfoolz 7y ago
  the first time i heard about the vitamix was when someone emailed the company for-fun mailing list asking for blender recommendations and immediately got 5 replies suggesting vitamix. its better than any other blender. it will change your life. buy them, they're a customer (of the company we were working at). i seriously thought everyone was pulling an inside joke and i just didnt get it. i looked at the website, a $600 blender??
- eitally 7y ago
  It's not remotely the same people who buy $10k regular bikes. I'd guess the cross-section of those two populations almost don't intersect at all.
sneak 7y ago
I had one, and I sold it. The music is abysmal and the video streams are low res. The classes and subscription offer nothing over free YouTube videos. All the bike’s electronics do is detect the resistance level (you have to set the resistance yourself, mind you) and the RPM. Combined with a bluetooth heart rate monitor, they give you some charts and graphs. You can do this all yourself with an app and a bike that costs a third as much. It’s mostly just an overpriced android tablet. Kudos to them to following the Dyson and Beats by Dre model of margin-building to the letter. Their greyhat astroturfing campaigns on social media are second to none, though. I might buy their IPO, although I staunchly advise my friends and associates to avoid their products.
- servercobra 7y ago
  I'm doing just that (using a bike that costs a third as much), and I'm really happy to have saved like $1500. All you need is any decent bike ($200-$600), a bluetooth cadence and heart rate sensor ($70), plus their cheaper $20/mo app and you get most of the experience at a reasonable cost. I don't get the output number and can't compete on the leaderboard, but that's fine. If they keep supporting things non-Peloton bikes like this, I can see them making a ton of money. I wouldn't be surprised to see an entry level bike in the next year or two. I personally love the music (classic rock and EDM for most of my classes) but that's personal preference, and haven't had any issue with video stream.
- buckminster 7y ago
  > Their greyhat astroturfing campaigns on social media are second to none, though. Yeah, it's noticeable on this thread that mildly critical comments (like yours) are being down-voted.
- ousta 7y ago
  you compare dyson - a leader doing innovation and revolutionizing multiple fields - to beats a marketing company rebranding schenzen components
JumpCrisscross 7y ago
> Like a $2k stationary bike For reference, a trainer costs about that much a quarter.
- seattle_spring 7y ago
  A trainer also teaches you to be self sufficient, and works on a full body strength and cardio workout instead of fully cardio with the same motions.
alasdair_ 7y ago
I’m a huge fan and recently bought a second one so my wife and I don’t have to share. The bike itself is well made - heavy, easily adjustable, zero wobble even with a heavy guy on it. The classes are superb - I had never done a spinning class before and I was quickly hooked. The combination of music synced to the workout cadence and a live human (and leaderboard) make me want to compete and thus push a lot harder than if I was solo.
criddell 7y ago
One of the BoingBoing editors made his own Peloton bike [1]. He's posted a few times since making it and seems happy with how it works. [1]: https://boingboing.net/2017/04/05/diy-peloton-for-introverts.html https://boingboing.net/2017/04/05/diy-peloton-for-introverts...
- eitally 7y ago
  I wish this comment was higher. Not because it's Boing Boing, but because literally the entire rest of this comment thread focused on the bike part and not the subscription part. What people need to know is that the subscription via the bike is $40/mo, but the iPad/mobile app is only $15/mo. With the app, you get access to all the same training programs, but you miss out on the metrics. But, you also get access to Peloton's running workouts as a positive trade-off. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/peloton-digital/id792750948?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/peloton-digital/id792750948?...

by bruceb 7y ago

bluedino 7y ago

$2k isn't absurt for an exercise bike once you think about it. These are the same people who buy a $10,000 bike for recreational riding, remember. You are dead on with the point about the instructors. My wife hated biking but they have Pelotons in her work gym, and she loves them, and talks about the instructors like they are real people. People are fitness crazy right now. Crossfit gyms are $100-200 a month, Rogue has whole website of fitness equipment, you could easily spend $4,000 outfitting your house. And how many of us own a $600 blender?

inscionent 7y ago
The instructors aren't real people?
- bruceb 7y ago
  I get what he means. You feel like they are people you know, not just instructors on a screen thousands of miles away.
- rchaud 7y ago
  They're real in the sense that the dude in the P90X videos is real. There's a difference between a personal trainer who works with you, and a remote team of drill sergeants relaying instructions to an indeterminate number of strangers following them online.
  - bstar77 7y ago
    Have you ever tried a spin class at a gym? No one goes in with the expectation that it should be an experience like working with a personal trainer. So many absurd comments here, my head is starting to spin. (pun intended) The whole point of the instructor is to instruct you and encourage you to work harder. They are there to keep you focused on the task. Never once felt like these people are virtual drill instructors, which insinuates a demeaning, impersonal experience.
- dang 7y ago
  "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
pja 7y ago
talks about the instructors like they are real people That’s because they are real people! Working people who are doing a job, not actual friends of course. But still: real living, breathing, actual human beings. Although I do wonder if buried somewhere in the business plan is the expectation of replacing them with AI-equivalents that don’t cost as much & don’t require pesky things like holidays or sick pay.
- bstar77 7y ago
  Never thought I'd read exercise bike FUD. So much misinformation here. Thanks for clearing it up.
- mikemac 7y ago
  Some of these instructors do a great job on social media too - promoting their rides on instagram, etc. It helps build the community aspect of it. I actually think that's a small price to pay for how many people are taking their class. 1 instructor can draw 10k participants for a single ride.
- dqv 7y ago
  Probably what they mean is that she has a parasocial relationship[0] with the instructors i.e. she knows the instructor but the instructor does not know her. [0]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasocial_interaction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasocial_interaction
matthewowen 7y ago
I don't think the target is serious cyclists: for those people a bike trainer plus trainer road is clearly a better fit.
foolfoolz 7y ago
the first time i heard about the vitamix was when someone emailed the company for-fun mailing list asking for blender recommendations and immediately got 5 replies suggesting vitamix. its better than any other blender. it will change your life. buy them, they're a customer (of the company we were working at). i seriously thought everyone was pulling an inside joke and i just didnt get it. i looked at the website, a $600 blender??
eitally 7y ago
It's not remotely the same people who buy $10k regular bikes. I'd guess the cross-section of those two populations almost don't intersect at all.

sneak 7y ago

I had one, and I sold it. The music is abysmal and the video streams are low res. The classes and subscription offer nothing over free YouTube videos. All the bike’s electronics do is detect the resistance level (you have to set the resistance yourself, mind you) and the RPM. Combined with a bluetooth heart rate monitor, they give you some charts and graphs. You can do this all yourself with an app and a bike that costs a third as much. It’s mostly just an overpriced android tablet. Kudos to them to following the Dyson and Beats by Dre model of margin-building to the letter. Their greyhat astroturfing campaigns on social media are second to none, though. I might buy their IPO, although I staunchly advise my friends and associates to avoid their products.

servercobra 7y ago
I'm doing just that (using a bike that costs a third as much), and I'm really happy to have saved like $1500. All you need is any decent bike ($200-$600), a bluetooth cadence and heart rate sensor ($70), plus their cheaper $20/mo app and you get most of the experience at a reasonable cost. I don't get the output number and can't compete on the leaderboard, but that's fine. If they keep supporting things non-Peloton bikes like this, I can see them making a ton of money. I wouldn't be surprised to see an entry level bike in the next year or two. I personally love the music (classic rock and EDM for most of my classes) but that's personal preference, and haven't had any issue with video stream.
buckminster 7y ago
> Their greyhat astroturfing campaigns on social media are second to none, though. Yeah, it's noticeable on this thread that mildly critical comments (like yours) are being down-voted.
ousta 7y ago
you compare dyson - a leader doing innovation and revolutionizing multiple fields - to beats a marketing company rebranding schenzen components

JumpCrisscross 7y ago

> Like a $2k stationary bike For reference, a trainer costs about that much a quarter.

seattle_spring 7y ago
A trainer also teaches you to be self sufficient, and works on a full body strength and cardio workout instead of fully cardio with the same motions.

alasdair_ 7y ago

I’m a huge fan and recently bought a second one so my wife and I don’t have to share. The bike itself is well made - heavy, easily adjustable, zero wobble even with a heavy guy on it. The classes are superb - I had never done a spinning class before and I was quickly hooked. The combination of music synced to the workout cadence and a live human (and leaderboard) make me want to compete and thus push a lot harder than if I was solo.

criddell 7y ago

One of the BoingBoing editors made his own Peloton bike [1]. He's posted a few times since making it and seems happy with how it works. [1]: https://boingboing.net/2017/04/05/diy-peloton-for-introverts.html https://boingboing.net/2017/04/05/diy-peloton-for-introverts...

eitally 7y ago
I wish this comment was higher. Not because it's Boing Boing, but because literally the entire rest of this comment thread focused on the bike part and not the subscription part. What people need to know is that the subscription via the bike is $40/mo, but the iPad/mobile app is only $15/mo. With the app, you get access to all the same training programs, but you miss out on the metrics. But, you also get access to Peloton's running workouts as a positive trade-off. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/peloton-digital/id792750948?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/peloton-digital/id792750948?...