Why is Peloton so great?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I honestly felt the same way and was pretty grumpy about the upcharge when I ordered the bike but honestly you get way more out of the app when you have the bike. The metrics, cadence/resistance/output, live classes, hopefully soon we'll have sessions again, you just can do SO much more. I think in pelotons mind, the app alone is more for strength/yoga/running and their main thing is cycling. So when you get the bike and have the full range of cycling classes use of the app changes dramatically. Or did for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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, and obviously thousands of others, disagree with you. I’ve used Les Mills for spinning. They have such limited content compared to the peloton app. Peloton has a huuuuuuuge amount of content to access.

Yeah I mean as someone who was a Shaun T / Insanity / Beachbody (the workouts, not the sales aspect) devotee, there's literally no comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It is I'm not saying its the only way, just the reason I like having the real bike. I think it would be great if you would explain to the PP how it is not like that because they, like me, have never used that setup. I can't really picture it so it just seems like a lot to me. If you want to really illustrate how it can replicate peloton then please tell them! Save them money!

[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.

This is just false but as they say, if you don't get it, you don't get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I honestly felt the same way and was pretty grumpy about the upcharge when I ordered the bike but honestly you get way more out of the app when you have the bike. The metrics, cadence/resistance/output, live classes, hopefully soon we'll have sessions again, you just can do SO much more. I think in pelotons mind, the app alone is more for strength/yoga/running and their main thing is cycling. So when you get the bike and have the full range of cycling classes use of the app changes dramatically. Or did for me.

Did you use the spinning classes on a non-peloton bike before?
They are fantastic no matter what bike you use. Therefore my answer to the OP is that it’s the content of the app that makes it so great. The bike itself is nice but nothing out of the ordinary. People don’t want to take the time (or have enough money) they want the easy quick peloton experience and buy the real bike (nothing wrong with that).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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, and obviously thousands of others, disagree with you. I’ve used Les Mills for spinning. They have such limited content compared to the peloton app. Peloton has a huuuuuuuge amount of content to access.

Yeah I mean as someone who was a Shaun T / Insanity / Beachbody (the workouts, not the sales aspect) devotee, there's literally no comparison.

They do have a huge content but I think the workouts are for middle age people who have never exercised before.

[Anonymous]

I don't have a very cultlike personality and have always been into my own fitness routines (and never craved the community of classes). For this reason, I never got the appeal. But if people are into Peloton and it works for them, ::shrug::

You do you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a very cultlike personality and have always been into my own fitness routines (and never craved the community of classes). For this reason, I never got the appeal. But if people are into Peloton and it works for them, ::shrug::

You do you.

I’m just like you (never got into cult fitness) but considering a Peloton just because it’s so convenient. Is there anyone else in this thread who isn’t typically a fitness devotee type who really fell in love with their Peloton?

[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. So what kind of exercise do you do? Type and frequency? And how much does it cost for equipment, membership, coaching, etc.?

When I didn’t have a whole lot of money, I trained for marathons. I still needed shoes, race fees and travel, treadmill, running watch. No gym membership or expensive equipment, but it wasn’t free. I signed up for the Peloton app ($12.99/month) when they were running a free trial (not expecting much) and I must say it has been a game changer for my motivation. Their run coaching and music selection is top notch and the gamification/badges aspect is super motivating to me. I bought an off-brand spin bike off Amazon for a couple hundred bucks so I can cross-train. I use the strength, stretching, and meditation content as much as I use the running content.

I guess I drank the Koolaid because I ordered a Tread+ to replace my 11-year-old tread. I don’t need a $4500 tread but it looks pretty and is rated very well by Consumer Reports. I can afford it now and what’s wrong with feeling I deserve something nice? I managed to qualify for the Boston Marathon without all these bells and whistles so I don’t consider myself “lame”. I plan to give my cheap, but functional spin bike to a relative and buy the Bike+ too. Why? Because I like matching things and I have the money. Why should I be judged for that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a very cultlike personality and have always been into my own fitness routines (and never craved the community of classes). For this reason, I never got the appeal. But if people are into Peloton and it works for them, ::shrug::

You do you.

I’m just like you (never got into cult fitness) but considering a Peloton just because it’s so convenient. Is there anyone else in this thread who isn’t typically a fitness devotee type who really fell in love with their Peloton?

I can't speak personally (though seriously considering it after this pregnancy) but my sister got one a few months ago and she is obsessed... and she has frankly never been into fitness at all. Barely worked out haha. And her husband is into it now too I believe. She did enjoy cycling outside, which was why she got it but that was still a pretty limited activity in terms of how often she was doing it and I would still say she is absolutely not a cult fitness type - never got into classes or anything like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a very cultlike personality and have always been into my own fitness routines (and never craved the community of classes). For this reason, I never got the appeal. But if people are into Peloton and it works for them, ::shrug::

You do you.

I’m just like you (never got into cult fitness) but considering a Peloton just because it’s so convenient. Is there anyone else in this thread who isn’t typically a fitness devotee type who really fell in love with their Peloton?

I can't speak personally (though seriously considering it after this pregnancy) but my sister got one a few months ago and she is obsessed... and she has frankly never been into fitness at all. Barely worked out haha. And her husband is into it now too I believe. She did enjoy cycling outside, which was why she got it but that was still a pretty limited activity in terms of how often she was doing it and I would still say she is absolutely not a cult fitness type - never got into classes or anything like that.

Sorry to follow up, even though she is not the cult fitness type and had never done spinning or other classes, she got it because she has a very busy healthcare job and wanted something she could do quickly and easy. This fits the bill and she is happy and says she is working out/enjoying working out more than she ever has.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think I’m really a cult fitness person either - I do things that I think I can do as I am now - not how I hope to be aspirationally because then I don’t do it & it’s a waste of money.
I was intrigued about peloton for a while but ultimately after two fairly serious running injuries decided I really needed something else to add to my repertoire. I work & have kids and was never great at live classes because I have to get my workouts in wherever I can & not on someone else’s schedule- but I like that you can do Peleton demand too. I’ve never taken a live class. And I like that I can do really easy for my level. I am interested in yoga but terrible at it but like their 5 minute standing yoga classes for example.

I don’t care if you do or don’t want one. Just get it if you think you would like it & do it!

[Anonymous]

we have one, before we got it had a gym membership at a nice gym with classes etc everything we needed but found we usually did some form of cardio and and weights/bands.

For half the price of the gym memberships we got the bike plus, and use it more than we used the gym. no driving to the gym in the cold and dark mornings.

We started using the app at the gym but found it to be a hassle, no everything is in one place and i always thought it wasn't worth it but so glad we got it. hoping they come out with a rower soon but if not we will get one of the other rowers

[Anonymous]

I have the tread and the bike. Honestly, for me it's convenience. I just go downstairs and do 60-90 minutes of exercise, 4-5 days a week. Before I had my Peloton equipment, I would never do that at the gym for as long or as consistently.

The programs are great with live, on demand and all lengths. Being able to just do 20 minutes if I am feeling lazy is so much better than doing nothing.

I do think the Peloton community is a bit cheesy with all the inspirational chatter, etc, but for me, the convenience of having the equipment and the programs ready to go in my house is the benefit. I am so much more likely to engage in exercise now than before I had them.

I try to stick to the less annoying instructors (mostly the men TBH) and ignore the culty stuff.

[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.

What is lame is your decision to criticize how people spend their own money. MYOB. If you don't like it, don't buy a Peloton.