Why is Peloton so great?

[Anonymous]

It isn’t. People like to buy expensive things because they “deserve” it. Then they feel the overwhelming need to proclaim how great it is to validate spending a stupid amount of money on a stationary bike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I gotta ask - is it really the software that is the big seller? And not so much the bike itself (although it seems that is a pretty decent exercise bike).

There are a ton of options out there for an exercise bike, no? BUt paying a premium for Peloton gets you all the fancy bells & whistles of the software for your stats, videos, access to a variety of instructors, and other options, no?

A home exercise bike is nothing new. We all agree on the pros of having it in our room/basement/wherever for anytime exercise. So that in itself is nothing novel, but the software capabilities are a new trend and that has become a huge selling point.

It’s not only the software capabilities. It’s the fact that the bike allows you to track cadence and resistance. My understanding is most exercise bikes have a resistance knob, but there’s no way to precisely measure what your resistance is.

During a Peloton spin class, the instructor will give you cadence and resistance instructions. They’ll say something like “we’re going to warm up with a cadence of 80-100 and a resistance of 25-35.” Of course you can deviate from those markers, but it allows there to actually be structure to the class, as opposed to guessing as to where you’re supposed to be. Then the cadence and resistance are combined to form output, which is what tracks you on the leaderboard. More cadence + resistance = more output. A higher output = a higher place on the leaderboard.

So while you can use the bike with just the app, you can’t really get the most out of the classes unless you can actually control your cadence and resistance precisely.

The resistance doesn’t exactly line up with the peloton on other bikes, but you can guess at it. You can buy a cadence monitor (wahoo makes one) for $40ish to attach to any bike. peloton has an output number that’s harder to figure out, but apparently you can also buy special pedals that measure that. You can get 95% of the peloton experience using a cheaper bike.
The real peloton let’s you do live classes and be in the leaderboard and it also allows you to set up profiles for each user (my family shares the peloton app and you can’t do this - all our workouts are lumped together). The app is cheaper at 12.99 even if you purchase the bike. There is still a $40ish fee per month with the peloton bike.

So I have to say, its great that PP has provided all of these cheaper options. But I'm one of the PPs and I actually did like spin class a lot pre peloton and the one thing I actually didn't like about spin is that whole vagueness in effort. I never really knew what my cadence was, and it was always so easy to cheat on a 'half turn' or a 'full turn'. On the peloton there is no hiding your trying to be lame, its right there, you stay in the goals or you don't.

I don't know about all of these tools pp cites but having it right there on the screen with the ranges there for you to see and try to maintain, that is really effective, at least for me.

I thought the bike was insanely overpriced and bought it mostly in desperation during COVID but I'm totally addicted and I am very happy I went with the real deal over the cheaper bike because the on screen live and cumulative metrics are very effective for me both generally in the moment while I'm working out. I don't even do live classes that much but just find the whole interface to be extremely motivating. I think if I had to like, turn on and activate three separate devices and then input the data post ride that it wouldn't be as motivating and I would just do it less frankly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t. People like to buy expensive things because they “deserve” it. Then they feel the overwhelming need to proclaim how great it is to validate spending a stupid amount of money on a stationary bike.

I didn't tell anyone I had it for months. This is a way to make yourself feel superior to people who have found a lot of good in something. It's lame.

[Anonymous]

When we looked at bikes, we wanted something that was a total system. I didn't want to use the app and not have the metrics or muck about with things to get the metrics and then incorporate those metrics from the bike with heart rate and the like. I knew it was doable but it was extra steps and more complicated. The bike itself and the monthly membership fee was less expensive than our family gym membership. We cancelled the gym membership and bought the easy to use system.

I logged close to 30,000 minutes last year through spin, strength, yoga, meditation, outdoor walks, stretching, and bike bootcamps. I am already at 2,000 minutes this year. DH uses the bike a good amount and does some of the strength classes.

I don't see the need for the Bike +, the extras on it would not be worth it to me. The regular bike has more then paid for itself. There might have been a cheaper bike option, but we have found great value in the bike itself and the membership.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t. People like to buy expensive things because they “deserve” it. Then they feel the overwhelming need to proclaim how great it is to validate spending a stupid amount of money on a stationary bike.

I didn't tell anyone I had it for months. This is a way to make yourself feel superior to people who have found a lot of good in something. It's lame.

If you can’t manage to work out in an effective and enjoyable way without a 2500 bike- that is lame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes I believe these threads are some type of advertising. There is nothing amazing about the peloton app. There are better apps or even workout on you tube for free. I have tried the strength training classes and yoga and I get bored with both of them. I also like variety on my workouts so I know that I will get bored doing mainly spinning as cardio.

I can see where some of the classes are not going to work for people. The strength classes are all bodyweight and dumbbell based. They are adding resistance band classes. But there is nothing for people who use barbells, kettlebells, or other forms of strength training. The same is going to be true for barre and pilates. Peloton is going to be limited in the specific type of training that they offer and those classes won't meet everyone's needs.

They do meet the needs for many people, obviously based in the app and equipment sales. I like the strength classes. I get a nice burn and end up with slight shakes at the end of my classes. They meet my needs, which is pretty basic. I want to increase my strength and help maintain bone density. I like the yoga but I am beginner and don't have experience with yoga outside of Peloton really.

I can see where the app and programs would not work for people who are more advanced in their workouts or who have goals that require different types of training.

As for bored with cardio, there are outdoor walks and runs that are available. There are HIIT Cardio classes. I know people who take the tread runs/walks and adapt them for their outdoor routines. It doesn't have to be all spin.

If people are happy with the app or equipment and it is getting them moving and exercising then more power to Peloton. It sure as hell got us more active in our house. It could very well be that we felt more obligated to use it because we spent the money on it and it was here. It is far easier then going to the gym. (shrugs)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t. People like to buy expensive things because they “deserve” it. Then they feel the overwhelming need to proclaim how great it is to validate spending a stupid amount of money on a stationary bike.

I didn't tell anyone I had it for months. This is a way to make yourself feel superior to people who have found a lot of good in something. It's lame.

If you can’t manage to work out in an effective and enjoyable way without a 2500 bike- that is lame.

I am cool with being lame. I struggled with going to the gym, I don't struggle with getting on my bike in the basement. I discovered quickly that it was more than just the bike but that it was strength, yoga, stretching, boot camps, and outdoor activities. I find that the metrics and workout log helps me stay accountable to myself.

Good for you for not needing that. I do. So my bike, and its costs, are helping me do a better job of caring for myself. Hopefully that will translate into an overall savings of more then $2,500 in medical bills down the line because I am in better shape. Maybe it will, maybe it won't but it has been worth it for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t. People like to buy expensive things because they “deserve” it. Then they feel the overwhelming need to proclaim how great it is to validate spending a stupid amount of money on a stationary bike.

I didn't tell anyone I had it for months. This is a way to make yourself feel superior to people who have found a lot of good in something. It's lame.

If you can’t manage to work out in an effective and enjoyable way without a 2500 bike- that is lame.

Do you have a gym membership or pay for class packs? I don't pay for either of those things. And I was working out in an effective way before I got it on a super old and crappy treadmill. But the peloton has made me more effective, has got me in better shape.

I paid 1895, not 2400. I have taken 109 cycling classes and 155 total workouts. Transparently about 50 of those classes are warm ups or cool downs. So I'm already less than $20 a class in a studio. I've had it for three months. If I keep it up for the next year than by the end of the year I'll have done let's say 250 workouts this year (not including warm ups/cool downs), I think this is a conservative estimate. That will translate to me paying about $7 a workout (including 15 months of a $40 membership fee).

To me this is not extravagant and honestly I think peloton has earned my money from the quality of their content.

Once again, trying to make people feel crappy about something that's improved their health is lame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes I believe these threads are some type of advertising. There is nothing amazing about the peloton app. There are better apps or even workout on you tube for free. I have tried the strength training classes and yoga and I get bored with both of them. I also like variety on my workouts so I know that I will get bored doing mainly spinning as cardio.

I am the PP who is 3.5 years into it. I have a free subscription to Aptiv from work, I've used the Variis app, and I've used Youtube classes. The Peloton content is significantly better than all of those. Also, for me, it's been more cost efficient than anything else. It's certainly far cheaper than the gym subscription I used to have.

Peloton isn't my only form of exercise. I am also an avid street biker and I swim. But I still love my Peloton, 3.5 years out. I'm already at over 1k minutes of exercise in 2021 and that's with taking days off so I can do long outdoor rides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t. People like to buy expensive things because they “deserve” it. Then they feel the overwhelming need to proclaim how great it is to validate spending a stupid amount of money on a stationary bike.

I didn't tell anyone I had it for months. This is a way to make yourself feel superior to people who have found a lot of good in something. It's lame.

If you can’t manage to work out in an effective and enjoyable way without a 2500 bike- that is lame.

DP. Does lashing out at people like this make you feel better? What's wrong with you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t. People like to buy expensive things because they “deserve” it. Then they feel the overwhelming need to proclaim how great it is to validate spending a stupid amount of money on a stationary bike.

I didn't tell anyone I had it for months. This is a way to make yourself feel superior to people who have found a lot of good in something. It's lame.

If you can’t manage to work out in an effective and enjoyable way without a 2500 bike- that is lame.

So true! I don't understand these people who buy weights, go to gyms, or any of these other things normal humans do. If you can't manage to work out by just carrying felled trees around in the woods - that is lame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t. People like to buy expensive things because they “deserve” it. Then they feel the overwhelming need to proclaim how great it is to validate spending a stupid amount of money on a stationary bike.

I didn't tell anyone I had it for months. This is a way to make yourself feel superior to people who have found a lot of good in something. It's lame.

If you can’t manage to work out in an effective and enjoyable way without a 2500 bike- that is lame.

Do you have a gym membership or pay for class packs? I don't pay for either of those things. And I was working out in an effective way before I got it on a super old and crappy treadmill. But the peloton has made me more effective, has got me in better shape.

I paid 1895, not 2400. I have taken 109 cycling classes and 155 total workouts. Transparently about 50 of those classes are warm ups or cool downs. So I'm already less than $20 a class in a studio. I've had it for three months. If I keep it up for the next year than by the end of the year I'll have done let's say 250 workouts this year (not including warm ups/cool downs), I think this is a conservative estimate. That will translate to me paying about $7 a workout (including 15 months of a $40 membership fee).

To me this is not extravagant and honestly I think peloton has earned my money from the quality of their content.

Once again, trying to make people feel crappy about something that's improved their health is lame.

Except no one is constantly posting here, entire threads dedicated to how great their gym membership/gym class is. But people are constantly starting threads or bringing up IRL how awesome their peloton is. No one cares. You like it, great. Ride your bike and keep it to yourself. No one cares

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t. People like to buy expensive things because they “deserve” it. Then they feel the overwhelming need to proclaim how great it is to validate spending a stupid amount of money on a stationary bike.

I didn't tell anyone I had it for months. This is a way to make yourself feel superior to people who have found a lot of good in something. It's lame.

If you can’t manage to work out in an effective and enjoyable way without a 2500 bike- that is lame.

Do you have a gym membership or pay for class packs? I don't pay for either of those things. And I was working out in an effective way before I got it on a super old and crappy treadmill. But the peloton has made me more effective, has got me in better shape.

I paid 1895, not 2400. I have taken 109 cycling classes and 155 total workouts. Transparently about 50 of those classes are warm ups or cool downs. So I'm already less than $20 a class in a studio. I've had it for three months. If I keep it up for the next year than by the end of the year I'll have done let's say 250 workouts this year (not including warm ups/cool downs), I think this is a conservative estimate. That will translate to me paying about $7 a workout (including 15 months of a $40 membership fee).

To me this is not extravagant and honestly I think peloton has earned my money from the quality of their content.

Once again, trying to make people feel crappy about something that's improved their health is lame.

Except no one is constantly posting here, entire threads dedicated to how great their gym membership/gym class is. But people are constantly starting threads or bringing up IRL how awesome their peloton is. No one cares. You like it, great. Ride your bike and keep it to yourself. No one cares

I have never posted that. This post is specifically asking people about what they like about peloton? Take your issue up with OP, or scroll on by.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I gotta ask - is it really the software that is the big seller? And not so much the bike itself (although it seems that is a pretty decent exercise bike).

There are a ton of options out there for an exercise bike, no? BUt paying a premium for Peloton gets you all the fancy bells & whistles of the software for your stats, videos, access to a variety of instructors, and other options, no?

A home exercise bike is nothing new. We all agree on the pros of having it in our room/basement/wherever for anytime exercise. So that in itself is nothing novel, but the software capabilities are a new trend and that has become a huge selling point.

It’s not only the software capabilities. It’s the fact that the bike allows you to track cadence and resistance. My understanding is most exercise bikes have a resistance knob, but there’s no way to precisely measure what your resistance is.

During a Peloton spin class, the instructor will give you cadence and resistance instructions. They’ll say something like “we’re going to warm up with a cadence of 80-100 and a resistance of 25-35.” Of course you can deviate from those markers, but it allows there to actually be structure to the class, as opposed to guessing as to where you’re supposed to be. Then the cadence and resistance are combined to form output, which is what tracks you on the leaderboard. More cadence + resistance = more output. A higher output = a higher place on the leaderboard.

So while you can use the bike with just the app, you can’t really get the most out of the classes unless you can actually control your cadence and resistance precisely.

The resistance doesn’t exactly line up with the peloton on other bikes, but you can guess at it. You can buy a cadence monitor (wahoo makes one) for $40ish to attach to any bike. peloton has an output number that’s harder to figure out, but apparently you can also buy special pedals that measure that. You can get 95% of the peloton experience using a cheaper bike.
The real peloton let’s you do live classes and be in the leaderboard and it also allows you to set up profiles for each user (my family shares the peloton app and you can’t do this - all our workouts are lumped together). The app is cheaper at 12.99 even if you purchase the bike. There is still a $40ish fee per month with the peloton bike.

$40/month for all of those classes is well worth it, IMO.

I’m not debating that. But it is odd to me the content costs $40 when you purchase the expensive bike but $12.99 when you buy and use it on a cheap bike. I’ve never understood that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I gotta ask - is it really the software that is the big seller? And not so much the bike itself (although it seems that is a pretty decent exercise bike).

There are a ton of options out there for an exercise bike, no? BUt paying a premium for Peloton gets you all the fancy bells & whistles of the software for your stats, videos, access to a variety of instructors, and other options, no?

A home exercise bike is nothing new. We all agree on the pros of having it in our room/basement/wherever for anytime exercise. So that in itself is nothing novel, but the software capabilities are a new trend and that has become a huge selling point.

It’s not only the software capabilities. It’s the fact that the bike allows you to track cadence and resistance. My understanding is most exercise bikes have a resistance knob, but there’s no way to precisely measure what your resistance is.

During a Peloton spin class, the instructor will give you cadence and resistance instructions. They’ll say something like “we’re going to warm up with a cadence of 80-100 and a resistance of 25-35.” Of course you can deviate from those markers, but it allows there to actually be structure to the class, as opposed to guessing as to where you’re supposed to be. Then the cadence and resistance are combined to form output, which is what tracks you on the leaderboard. More cadence + resistance = more output. A higher output = a higher place on the leaderboard.

So while you can use the bike with just the app, you can’t really get the most out of the classes unless you can actually control your cadence and resistance precisely.

The resistance doesn’t exactly line up with the peloton on other bikes, but you can guess at it. You can buy a cadence monitor (wahoo makes one) for $40ish to attach to any bike. peloton has an output number that’s harder to figure out, but apparently you can also buy special pedals that measure that. You can get 95% of the peloton experience using a cheaper bike.
The real peloton let’s you do live classes and be in the leaderboard and it also allows you to set up profiles for each user (my family shares the peloton app and you can’t do this - all our workouts are lumped together). The app is cheaper at 12.99 even if you purchase the bike. There is still a $40ish fee per month with the peloton bike.

So I have to say, its great that PP has provided all of these cheaper options. But I'm one of the PPs and I actually did like spin class a lot pre peloton and the one thing I actually didn't like about spin is that whole vagueness in effort. I never really knew what my cadence was, and it was always so easy to cheat on a 'half turn' or a 'full turn'. On the peloton there is no hiding your trying to be lame, its right there, you stay in the goals or you don't.

I don't know about all of these tools pp cites but having it right there on the screen with the ranges there for you to see and try to maintain, that is really effective, at least for me.

I thought the bike was insanely overpriced and bought it mostly in desperation during COVID but I'm totally addicted and I am very happy I went with the real deal over the cheaper bike because the on screen live and cumulative metrics are very effective for me both generally in the moment while I'm working out. I don't even do live classes that much but just find the whole interface to be extremely motivating. I think if I had to like, turn on and activate three separate devices and then input the data post ride that it wouldn't be as motivating and I would just do it less frankly.

But that’s not how it works. You obviously haven’t used a different bike. It is very easy to use.
I think the real peloton is great if you have the money to spend. But it’s very expensive.