Thoughts on peloton

24

Replies

  • maja124moxie
    maja124moxie Posts: 14 Member
    I've had a Peloton bike now for 6 months. What I like about it is the ability to get a sweat on anytime of the day. It can be 4 AM or 9PM and I can get a good workout. It doesn't matter if it's snow on the ground or 100F, I can still get a good workout. It also provides a great low impact cardio that for someone that is out of shape helps get moving in the right direction. I found that with Peloton, it takes away a lot of excuses for me. I also enjoy the instructors a lot. Matt is my favourite!
  • Jennliftsandspins
    Jennliftsandspins Posts: 150 Member
    I did a lot of research on spinning bikes before deciding. For me a subscription service seems like a waste of money when there are so many great options on YouTube. So I went with best quality bike rather than concerning myself with the subscription and onboard screen.

    The highest rated one I could find was the Sole SB900. The actual cycle was rated better than Peleton, Escelon and Nordictrack. It is very heavy duty, whisper quiet with a smooth “ride”. Extremely comfortable. So sturdy it doesn’t wiggle, shake or budge with a really vigorous rolling hills work out.

    It’s only drawback is it has no subscription based workouts (you could subscribe if you have a smart tv or tablet) and the onboard computer is small with limited features (though it does have a tablet/phone holder). All I need it for is RPMs so not a drawback for me.

    I use YouTube for my spinning. My favourite is Kayleigh Cohen Fitness.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    If you can afford it, Peloton is definitely amazing. The Peloton community is incredible, the bike is an amazing piece of equipment, and Peloton offers so many varied classes with different instructors, and they add new content every single day! I've had my bike for 2 and 1/2 years and it was absolutely worth the price. I love their non-cycling classes, too, especially their strength classes!

    I think you'll find that people who have a Peloton love it. People who don't have a Peloton talk negatively about it.

    Meh...I don't think it's that. People have their own inherent biases when they enjoy something or like something and just because one person loves one thing doesn't mean another is going to find that thing of particular interest.

    I'm a cycling enthusiast...I love to ride either road or mountain...doesn't matter to me other than what I'm feeling on a particular day. For me, my smart trainer along with Zwift was a game changer as far as indoor training is concerned. I could talk all day about cycling and my belief that it is the most fun and engaging way to exercise and how Zwift to some extent mimics that experience virtually and how great it is. As a cycling enthusiast, I also have numerous RL friends who do and feel the same, so where cycling is concerned, I live in my own little echo chamber. Outside of that, there are many who don't like to ride...don't find riding particularly enjoyable and for whom the nuances of something like Zwift for virtual cycling would be completely lost no matter how much I talked it up.

    When you're talking specifically about a piece of exercise equipment, I think the waters can get pretty muddy as well. I would wager that for every Peloton owner who loves it and uses it regularly and talks about it, there are 2 or 3 or 5 or more people for whom their Peloton bike is being used as an expensive coat hangar. Nothing against Peloton there...it's just statistically the nature of exercise equipment and trends in popular equipment. If a scientific poll was conducted I'd wager that there would be a much higher percentage of owners of any one particular piece of equipment who would say "don't waste your money" as it will ultimately just sit there doing nothing relative to a much smaller percentage of users who love said piece of equipment and use it on the regular.

    I feel like people who feel like they made a mistake buying their Peloton might be less vocal about it than those who talk about how it changed their life for the better. Who wants to loudly admit that they made a $2,000 mistake?
  • msmalich
    msmalich Posts: 6 Member
    I LOVE Peleton! I use the app with a Bladez spin bike I bought 2nd hand. I'm new to cycling, I started with this bike & the app back in November. I've lost 20lbs since then. I love that spinning burns more calories than walking on the treadmill ( I am not a runner!) in 1/2 the time. Also, this is the first time I've lost weight and toned at the same time. I love it so much I bought a real bike and have started riding trails in my area. The Peloton trainers are wonderful. They are all so body positive and make exercise fun!
  • msmalich
    msmalich Posts: 6 Member
    If you can afford it, Peloton is definitely amazing. The Peloton community is incredible, the bike is an amazing piece of equipment, and Peloton offers so many varied classes with different instructors, and they add new content every single day! I've had my bike for 2 and 1/2 years and it was absolutely worth the price. I love their non-cycling classes, too, especially their strength classes!

    I think you'll find that people who have a Peloton love it. People who don't have a Peloton talk negatively about it.

    I'm always looking for new Peloton friends! If anyone wants to add me, my screen name is NoGoatsNoGlory
  • hist_doc
    hist_doc Posts: 207 Member
    If you can afford it, Peloton is definitely amazing. The Peloton community is incredible, the bike is an amazing piece of equipment, and Peloton offers so many varied classes with different instructors, and they add new content every single day! I've had my bike for 2 and 1/2 years and it was absolutely worth the price. I love their non-cycling classes, too, especially their strength classes!

    I think you'll find that people who have a Peloton love it. People who don't have a Peloton talk negatively about it.

    I feel like this would be true for most expensive purchases. Most people are going to do some research before they spend a couple thousand on a piece of exercise equipment, so the people who have them are a self-selecting group for whom the Peloton concept appeals. The much larger group of humans to whom it doesn't appeal are simply not going to buy one because we know it's not for us.

    It may be totally true that those who have Pelotons love them, but it would be a mistake for someone to buy one on that basis, assuming they will also love it. You'd still want to carefully consider your own preferences and habits to make sure that it's a good fit for you.

    I love the Peleton concept, but their equipment isn't actually all that great. You are starting to see stories online where Peleton owners have their equipment break and they can't get it fixed. They will eventually get it figured out, but there's nothing justifying the price for the equipment, other than the business model of community workouts.

    I don't know who those people are... I happened to have an issue with the audio on my screen after 2.5 years. Peloton replaced it at no cost. I was well out of the warranty period. After five years my bike was still in pristine condition--I am an avid spinner and use the bike almost every day. To me, that is a decent piece of equipment.

    Any piece of equipment is going to require care and maintenance. This isn't unique to Peloton. I also own a treadmill, which currently needs to have the bearings replaced. I am not writing reviews of the company complaining that they have somehow failed me as a consumer because it is difficult to have it repaired (which it is, given the manufacturer of my treadmill.)
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    hist_doc wrote: »
    If you can afford it, Peloton is definitely amazing. The Peloton community is incredible, the bike is an amazing piece of equipment, and Peloton offers so many varied classes with different instructors, and they add new content every single day! I've had my bike for 2 and 1/2 years and it was absolutely worth the price. I love their non-cycling classes, too, especially their strength classes!

    I think you'll find that people who have a Peloton love it. People who don't have a Peloton talk negatively about it.

    I feel like this would be true for most expensive purchases. Most people are going to do some research before they spend a couple thousand on a piece of exercise equipment, so the people who have them are a self-selecting group for whom the Peloton concept appeals. The much larger group of humans to whom it doesn't appeal are simply not going to buy one because we know it's not for us.

    It may be totally true that those who have Pelotons love them, but it would be a mistake for someone to buy one on that basis, assuming they will also love it. You'd still want to carefully consider your own preferences and habits to make sure that it's a good fit for you.

    I love the Peleton concept, but their equipment isn't actually all that great. You are starting to see stories online where Peleton owners have their equipment break and they can't get it fixed. They will eventually get it figured out, but there's nothing justifying the price for the equipment, other than the business model of community workouts.

    I don't know who those people are... I happened to have an issue with the audio on my screen after 2.5 years. Peloton replaced it at no cost. I was well out of the warranty period. After five years my bike was still in pristine condition--I am an avid spinner and use the bike almost every day. To me, that is a decent piece of equipment.

    Any piece of equipment is going to require care and maintenance. This isn't unique to Peloton. I also own a treadmill, which currently needs to have the bearings replaced. I am not writing reviews of the company complaining that they have somehow failed me as a consumer because it is difficult to have it repaired (which it is, given the manufacturer of my treadmill.)

    If a piece of equipment is difficult to repair or presents challenges in finding technicians who are capable of doing the repair, I think that's a very relevant factor to note in a review. It's certainly something I'd want to know before I spent thousands on a piece of exercise equipment.

    It doesn't mean that a company has "failed you" (that's a very personal way to describe it), but it's a factor many consumers would take into account before making a purchase.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    hist_doc wrote: »
    If you can afford it, Peloton is definitely amazing. The Peloton community is incredible, the bike is an amazing piece of equipment, and Peloton offers so many varied classes with different instructors, and they add new content every single day! I've had my bike for 2 and 1/2 years and it was absolutely worth the price. I love their non-cycling classes, too, especially their strength classes!

    I think you'll find that people who have a Peloton love it. People who don't have a Peloton talk negatively about it.

    I feel like this would be true for most expensive purchases. Most people are going to do some research before they spend a couple thousand on a piece of exercise equipment, so the people who have them are a self-selecting group for whom the Peloton concept appeals. The much larger group of humans to whom it doesn't appeal are simply not going to buy one because we know it's not for us.

    It may be totally true that those who have Pelotons love them, but it would be a mistake for someone to buy one on that basis, assuming they will also love it. You'd still want to carefully consider your own preferences and habits to make sure that it's a good fit for you.

    I love the Peleton concept, but their equipment isn't actually all that great. You are starting to see stories online where Peleton owners have their equipment break and they can't get it fixed. They will eventually get it figured out, but there's nothing justifying the price for the equipment, other than the business model of community workouts.

    I don't know who those people are... I happened to have an issue with the audio on my screen after 2.5 years. Peloton replaced it at no cost. I was well out of the warranty period. After five years my bike was still in pristine condition--I am an avid spinner and use the bike almost every day. To me, that is a decent piece of equipment.

    Any piece of equipment is going to require care and maintenance. This isn't unique to Peloton. I also own a treadmill, which currently needs to have the bearings replaced. I am not writing reviews of the company complaining that they have somehow failed me as a consumer because it is difficult to have it repaired (which it is, given the manufacturer of my treadmill.)

    It's nice to know what you could potentially be getting into though, especially when you're talking about spending a lot of money...doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the company "failing you".

    When I was researching my direct drive smart trainer for purchase I discovered that the company who made the model I was looking at had an overall good track record (tons of positive reviews), but the particular model I was looking at had some defects in units made between certain dates...I believe it was somewhere towards the end of 2019 through Sept or October of 2020. It wasn't every unit, but it was clear from reading consumer reviews that the same issue was popping up with enough frequency to make me think. I also discovered through these reviews that while replacement did eventually happen, it took some time and was somewhat difficult because the primary market for this company is the UK and Europe and only sold this one particular model in the USA. There was also a note from the manufacturer stating they had resolved the issue and units manufactured after whatever date it was should no longer have said issue.

    I ultimately did buy it, but all of that information was pertinent to me and my decision. In fact, overly positive reviews and nothing but, "this is the best thing in all the whole wide world" generally make me feel uneasy. Having as much information as I could helped me make an informed decision.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    If you can afford it, Peloton is definitely amazing. The Peloton community is incredible, the bike is an amazing piece of equipment, and Peloton offers so many varied classes with different instructors, and they add new content every single day! I've had my bike for 2 and 1/2 years and it was absolutely worth the price. I love their non-cycling classes, too, especially their strength classes!

    I think you'll find that people who have a Peloton love it. People who don't have a Peloton talk negatively about it.

    Meh...I don't think it's that. People have their own inherent biases when they enjoy something or like something and just because one person loves one thing doesn't mean another is going to find that thing of particular interest.

    I'm a cycling enthusiast...I love to ride either road or mountain...doesn't matter to me other than what I'm feeling on a particular day. For me, my smart trainer along with Zwift was a game changer as far as indoor training is concerned. I could talk all day about cycling and my belief that it is the most fun and engaging way to exercise and how Zwift to some extent mimics that experience virtually and how great it is. As a cycling enthusiast, I also have numerous RL friends who do and feel the same, so where cycling is concerned, I live in my own little echo chamber. Outside of that, there are many who don't like to ride...don't find riding particularly enjoyable and for whom the nuances of something like Zwift for virtual cycling would be completely lost no matter how much I talked it up.

    When you're talking specifically about a piece of exercise equipment, I think the waters can get pretty muddy as well. I would wager that for every Peloton owner who loves it and uses it regularly and talks about it, there are 2 or 3 or 5 or more people for whom their Peloton bike is being used as an expensive coat hangar. Nothing against Peloton there...it's just statistically the nature of exercise equipment and trends in popular equipment. If a scientific poll was conducted I'd wager that there would be a much higher percentage of owners of any one particular piece of equipment who would say "don't waste your money" as it will ultimately just sit there doing nothing relative to a much smaller percentage of users who love said piece of equipment and use it on the regular.

    I feel like people who feel like they made a mistake buying their Peloton might be less vocal about it than those who talk about how it changed their life for the better. Who wants to loudly admit that they made a $2,000 mistake?

    Watching the evolution of my brother-in-laws Peloton experience was interesting. He bought it in 2017 as a Christmas present for he and my SIL. He had it set up in his study to make it easier for him to get a workout in during lunch or taking a break from work. For the first few months, his FB news feed was Peloton, Peloton, Peloton and what workout he was doing or he had just completed this or that.

    A bit later it was moved to their basement recreation room as it would be more accessible for the whole family vs. being in his study. My niece who was 13 about that time eventually became the only user. We visited in late 2019 and the basement had more or less become my 17 year old nephews "teen cave" and the bike was piled high with dirty laundry. I wanted to take it for a little trial spin so we had to move those clothes and whatnot.

    My nephew is now getting ready to go off to college and my niece is into horseback riding and my BIL & SIL lost interest in the bike long ago. It is now sitting in a walk in closet off a hallway. BIL and SIL are now into the Mirror...which I don't understand that thing at all...

    Not that I can talk...between my wife and I, we've had a treadmill, elliptical, air rower, dumb trainer, and now a smart trainer over the last 10 years or so. I'm the only one that uses the smart trainer, and I use it 2-3 times per week...everything else just sat there and was sold off (donated the dumb trainer to my mom...which I believe it is sitting in the corner of her garage not doing anything). Even with the smart trainer and Zwift, I can only do so much as ultimately I am keenly aware that I'm not actually going anywhere and that I'm staring at a screen.
  • NationalCapital
    NationalCapital Posts: 108 Member
    edited April 2021
    If you are looking at a Proform bike, then they will likely include a free IFIT family 1 year membership. IFIT is amazing. I started with a treadmill, then got a rower and then finally a bike. My suggestion would be to try out IFIT and see if you like it. There are so many amazing trainers with outdoor and indoor programs. Also, depending on the type of bike, IFIT will take over and adjust the speed, resistance and incline.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    edited April 2021
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    If you can afford it, Peloton is definitely amazing. The Peloton community is incredible, the bike is an amazing piece of equipment, and Peloton offers so many varied classes with different instructors, and they add new content every single day! I've had my bike for 2 and 1/2 years and it was absolutely worth the price. I love their non-cycling classes, too, especially their strength classes!

    I think you'll find that people who have a Peloton love it. People who don't have a Peloton talk negatively about it.

    Meh...I don't think it's that. People have their own inherent biases when they enjoy something or like something and just because one person loves one thing doesn't mean another is going to find that thing of particular interest.

    I'm a cycling enthusiast...I love to ride either road or mountain...doesn't matter to me other than what I'm feeling on a particular day. For me, my smart trainer along with Zwift was a game changer as far as indoor training is concerned. I could talk all day about cycling and my belief that it is the most fun and engaging way to exercise and how Zwift to some extent mimics that experience virtually and how great it is. As a cycling enthusiast, I also have numerous RL friends who do and feel the same, so where cycling is concerned, I live in my own little echo chamber. Outside of that, there are many who don't like to ride...don't find riding particularly enjoyable and for whom the nuances of something like Zwift for virtual cycling would be completely lost no matter how much I talked it up.

    When you're talking specifically about a piece of exercise equipment, I think the waters can get pretty muddy as well. I would wager that for every Peloton owner who loves it and uses it regularly and talks about it, there are 2 or 3 or 5 or more people for whom their Peloton bike is being used as an expensive coat hangar. Nothing against Peloton there...it's just statistically the nature of exercise equipment and trends in popular equipment. If a scientific poll was conducted I'd wager that there would be a much higher percentage of owners of any one particular piece of equipment who would say "don't waste your money" as it will ultimately just sit there doing nothing relative to a much smaller percentage of users who love said piece of equipment and use it on the regular.

    I feel like people who feel like they made a mistake buying their Peloton might be less vocal about it than those who talk about how it changed their life for the better. Who wants to loudly admit that they made a $2,000 mistake?

    Watching the evolution of my brother-in-laws Peloton experience was interesting. He bought it in 2017 as a Christmas present for he and my SIL. He had it set up in his study to make it easier for him to get a workout in during lunch or taking a break from work. For the first few months, his FB news feed was Peloton, Peloton, Peloton and what workout he was doing or he had just completed this or that.

    A bit later it was moved to their basement recreation room as it would be more accessible for the whole family vs. being in his study. My niece who was 13 about that time eventually became the only user. We visited in late 2019 and the basement had more or less become my 17 year old nephews "teen cave" and the bike was piled high with dirty laundry. I wanted to take it for a little trial spin so we had to move those clothes and whatnot.

    My nephew is now getting ready to go off to college and my niece is into horseback riding and my BIL & SIL lost interest in the bike long ago. It is now sitting in a walk in closet off a hallway. BIL and SIL are now into the Mirror...which I don't understand that thing at all...

    Not that I can talk...between my wife and I, we've had a treadmill, elliptical, air rower, dumb trainer, and now a smart trainer over the last 10 years or so. I'm the only one that uses the smart trainer, and I use it 2-3 times per week...everything else just sat there and was sold off (donated the dumb trainer to my mom...which I believe it is sitting in the corner of her garage not doing anything). Even with the smart trainer and Zwift, I can only do so much as ultimately I am keenly aware that I'm not actually going anywhere and that I'm staring at a screen.

    I did a few runs on one of those treadmills with a screen that simulates great running routes. It was more fun than a regular treadmill, but I'd still rather run outside than do a simulated run through a national park or the Seattle pier district. Maybe someday we'll be able to create machines that break that barrier, but it hasn't happened yet.

    (That said, if someone enjoy the atmosphere of a spinning class, Peloton may provide what they're looking for).
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Curious if it did auto-changes to incline for at least that aspect of running outside?
    Of course I've never seen a treadmill that does downhill to add that realism.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    heybales wrote: »
    Curious if it did auto-changes to incline for at least that aspect of running outside?
    Of course I've never seen a treadmill that does downhill to add that realism.

    Yes, it did the automatic adjustments. But just to uphill and level -- we don't have the downhill technology yet, which is yet another reason why running outside still wins!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    heybales wrote: »
    Curious if it did auto-changes to incline for at least that aspect of running outside?
    Of course I've never seen a treadmill that does downhill to add that realism.

    I think that might eventually come with smart treadmills. Zwift does this with a smart bike trainer...both assents and descents as well as drafting and pulling, but as of yet they don't do so with a treadmill and you have to manually adjust incline which on Zwift would be extremely tedious and almost constant...but I think it's coming eventually.
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
    edited April 2021
    hist_doc wrote: »
    If you can afford it, Peloton is definitely amazing. The Peloton community is incredible, the bike is an amazing piece of equipment, and Peloton offers so many varied classes with different instructors, and they add new content every single day! I've had my bike for 2 and 1/2 years and it was absolutely worth the price. I love their non-cycling classes, too, especially their strength classes!

    I think you'll find that people who have a Peloton love it. People who don't have a Peloton talk negatively about it.

    I feel like this would be true for most expensive purchases. Most people are going to do some research before they spend a couple thousand on a piece of exercise equipment, so the people who have them are a self-selecting group for whom the Peloton concept appeals. The much larger group of humans to whom it doesn't appeal are simply not going to buy one because we know it's not for us.

    It may be totally true that those who have Pelotons love them, but it would be a mistake for someone to buy one on that basis, assuming they will also love it. You'd still want to carefully consider your own preferences and habits to make sure that it's a good fit for you.

    I love the Peleton concept, but their equipment isn't actually all that great. You are starting to see stories online where Peleton owners have their equipment break and they can't get it fixed. They will eventually get it figured out, but there's nothing justifying the price for the equipment, other than the business model of community workouts.

    I don't know who those people are... I happened to have an issue with the audio on my screen after 2.5 years. Peloton replaced it at no cost. I was well out of the warranty period. After five years my bike was still in pristine condition--I am an avid spinner and use the bike almost every day. To me, that is a decent piece of equipment.

    Any piece of equipment is going to require care and maintenance. This isn't unique to Peloton. I also own a treadmill, which currently needs to have the bearings replaced. I am not writing reviews of the company complaining that they have somehow failed me as a consumer because it is difficult to have it repaired (which it is, given the manufacturer of my treadmill.)

    It was all over the news a while back. I'm sure everyone's experience is different. I see this as a normal growing pain except some of the things that are breaking shouldn't break on something that costs nearly $4,000.

    https://www.businessinsider.com/peloton-members-describe-customer-service-issues-for-broken-bikes-pedals-2020-9

    For what it's worth, I had quite a bit of Peloton stock at the time the article came out. I love the concept of it and I think interactive fitness is going to be around for a long time. But as a startup, you better look a bit harder at where you're sourcing if you're going to charge that much for equipment. You are putting yourself at the top echelon of the fitness industry. They had better prove they are worth it other than the interactive aspect of it. Handling repairs is already a huge issue for others in the industry -- Bowflex and Nautilus come to mind. Concept2 and Rogue are at the other end of that spectrum, famous for great customer service. Peloton is at a dangerous point where they can't afford to be like Bowflex or Nautilus.
  • 33gail33
    33gail33 Posts: 1,155 Member
    There might be a recall in their treadmills - the US Consumer Protection Agency has advised against using them if you have kids or pets in the house. Kids apparently are getting sucked under them and one died. I watched a video on agency Twitter (not the death of course) and the kid got sucked under the belt and the treadmill actually moved over top of him - it was awful (he got out).
    I know the bike is different but this can’t be good for their brand. Are their treadmills different than normal ones? It seems like maybe it is higher up and the belt is stronger but idk.
  • VegasFit
    VegasFit Posts: 1,232 Member
    33gail33 wrote: »
    There might be a recall in their treadmills - the US Consumer Protection Agency has advised against using them if you have kids or pets in the house. Kids apparently are getting sucked under them and one died. I watched a video on agency Twitter (not the death of course) and the kid got sucked under the belt and the treadmill actually moved over top of him - it was awful (he got out).
    I know the bike is different but this can’t be good for their brand. Are their treadmills different than normal ones? It seems like maybe it is higher up and the belt is stronger but idk.

    I watched that video. Unfortunate people can't take personal responsibility nowadays. Those kids were clearly not supervised.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Does the Peloton treadmill have that magnet or other instant off key you are supposed to tie to your body in case you fall?
    My mom never used that on her treadmills over the years. Then again I was never a little kid with them around either.
    But it seems hang that up out of way of kids, and you've taken care of at least the accidental curious hands aspect.
    I know, doesn't take care of the parent with headphones on to hear the trainer and not the kids aspect of accidents, or positioned in a way to allow sneakups or pointing to a TV on wall.
  • LoveyChar
    LoveyChar Posts: 4,335 Member
    It's like the thigh master of the 80's or any other fad, except its higher priced, more technical garbage cluttering up a house. In a few years it will be phased out by the next best thing. I can afford one but I wouldn't waste my money.