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So I'm actually in on PTON right now and feeling some pain, but what made it click for me was that the bike was completely unusable without a subscription. At

So I'm actually in on PTON right now and feeling some pain, but what made it click for me was that the bike was completely unusable without a subscription. At this point, returns and people just burning/destroying their Pelotons are the only risk. In addition two things made me think about it: - The kind of people who buy pelotons are usually not the people who worry about that amount of monthly charge and may keep it aspirationally - The new game they put out (kind of guitar hero-y) actually doesn't look half bad, and the product itself is quite polished. - In addition to buying the bike, people often buy one or two pairs of clip in cycling shoes -- Peloton could actually start becoming a go to for riding gear and have quite the audience to sell to from day one. Anxious to read their recent earnings report tomorrow.

Johnny555 4y ago
what made it click for me was that the bike was completely unusable without a subscription That's why I went with a Keiser bike instead of Peloton, it was the same price for the bike, but no subscription needed, and I can easily use it with any spinning app. Plus I didn't like having a big expensive display on the bike, the Keiser has a simple 4 line LCD display. I like the Peloton instructors, so I subscribe to the Peloton service, but I only pay $13/month for it (which makes the $40/mo they charge to Peloton bike owners seem like even more of a ripoff). I track my workouts with my watch, so if they raise the price too much, I'm not tied at all to Peloton and I'll just switch to another service.
- hardwaresofton 4y ago
  Thanks for sharing, this makes a lot of sense, it looks like peloton has another win in the interior department but clearly less of a moat in the hardware department. I think you’re more of a power user (and willing to tolerate set up pain) than most of the customer base would be, but how easily you’ve found a solution and competitor that works well with your method has been eye opening
mikeg8 4y ago
> - The kind of people who buy pelotons are usually not the people who worry about that amount of monthly charge and may keep it aspirationally I think this is a very limited market that may be getting close to saturation. Most people don’t want to spend $40 a month to own a bike
- hardwaresofton 4y ago
  Yeah I don't disagree with you there (I don't own one) A bit more of my very basic reasoning was that at current prices the company was being as if it hadn't shown progress at all in the last ~2 years. They have at least sold units, added subscribers, and that's gotta be worth something even if a bunch of it is pulled forward. Actually for a SaaS service (we'll leave aside whether it's worth it or not :), this is one of the best things that could happen right? If possible you want that LTV to be pulled forward so you can try to reinvest it in the business or make moves earlier rather than later?

Johnny555 4y ago

what made it click for me was that the bike was completely unusable without a subscription That's why I went with a Keiser bike instead of Peloton, it was the same price for the bike, but no subscription needed, and I can easily use it with any spinning app. Plus I didn't like having a big expensive display on the bike, the Keiser has a simple 4 line LCD display. I like the Peloton instructors, so I subscribe to the Peloton service, but I only pay $13/month for it (which makes the $40/mo they charge to Peloton bike owners seem like even more of a ripoff). I track my workouts with my watch, so if they raise the price too much, I'm not tied at all to Peloton and I'll just switch to another service.

hardwaresofton 4y ago
Thanks for sharing, this makes a lot of sense, it looks like peloton has another win in the interior department but clearly less of a moat in the hardware department. I think you’re more of a power user (and willing to tolerate set up pain) than most of the customer base would be, but how easily you’ve found a solution and competitor that works well with your method has been eye opening

mikeg8 4y ago

> - The kind of people who buy pelotons are usually not the people who worry about that amount of monthly charge and may keep it aspirationally I think this is a very limited market that may be getting close to saturation. Most people don’t want to spend $40 a month to own a bike

hardwaresofton 4y ago
Yeah I don't disagree with you there (I don't own one) A bit more of my very basic reasoning was that at current prices the company was being as if it hadn't shown progress at all in the last ~2 years. They have at least sold units, added subscribers, and that's gotta be worth something even if a bunch of it is pulled forward. Actually for a SaaS service (we'll leave aside whether it's worth it or not :), this is one of the best things that could happen right? If possible you want that LTV to be pulled forward so you can try to reinvest it in the business or make moves earlier rather than later?