Peloton Live Spin Class
Discussion
pablo said:
I think there’s a psychological element to it too and Peloton have done a great job of replicating the gym experience, people I know who choose peloton over zwift did so because for them, the most important part of exercise is to be seen doing it.... they’re the ones who would drive to the gym to do a spin class, essentially, they’re not cyclists. You couldn’t have a conversation with them about le tour or the merits of 28s over 23s.
But when gyms reopen, I’m sure that the need to be seen exercising will encourage people to go back and peloton subscribers will drop...
I’m not really sure about that. Peloton have clearly tapped into the gym market. The company isn’t aiming at cyclists because in general, spin classes aren’t really aimed at cyclists. I’m not a cyclist, but I love spin classes. I also like cardio/strength classes. In that respect, zwift was never on my radar. For gym goers, peloton is a great proposition (and I can confirm that no one sees me doing my classes!). I’m pretty sure that once gyms are back, the subscription rate will fall, but as to whether it will eventually fail as a platform, I’ve honestly no idea. It has a fair bit going for it.But when gyms reopen, I’m sure that the need to be seen exercising will encourage people to go back and peloton subscribers will drop...
ukwill said:
pablo said:
I think there’s a psychological element to it too and Peloton have done a great job of replicating the gym experience, people I know who choose peloton over zwift did so because for them, the most important part of exercise is to be seen doing it.... they’re the ones who would drive to the gym to do a spin class, essentially, they’re not cyclists. You couldn’t have a conversation with them about le tour or the merits of 28s over 23s.
But when gyms reopen, I’m sure that the need to be seen exercising will encourage people to go back and peloton subscribers will drop...
I’m not really sure about that. Peloton have clearly tapped into the gym market. The company isn’t aiming at cyclists because in general, spin classes aren’t really aimed at cyclists. I’m not a cyclist, but I love spin classes. I also like cardio/strength classes. In that respect, zwift was never on my radar. For gym goers, peloton is a great proposition (and I can confirm that no one sees me doing my classes!). I’m pretty sure that once gyms are back, the subscription rate will fall, but as to whether it will eventually fail as a platform, I’ve honestly no idea. It has a fair bit going for it.But when gyms reopen, I’m sure that the need to be seen exercising will encourage people to go back and peloton subscribers will drop...
It’s pure “pop psychology” but no one sees your £350 Stella McCartney Adidas trainers on Peloton, they do at the gym. We’re a social species, we need to be seen and validated, we go out to seek approval from others. And I know you don’t wear trainers on peloton but you get the point.
pablo said:
They appeal to the gym market at a time when gyms are closed. I don’t think peloton will fail but subscriptions will stabilise soon and then fall when lockdowns ease. It’s expensive for what it is and Some people will be forced to make a decision between it and a gym subscription and as the David Lloyd-esque gyms are more social, with their bars, classes, PTs etc etc, that will win over.
It’s pure “pop psychology” but no one sees your £350 Stella McCartney Adidas trainers on Peloton, they do at the gym. We’re a social species, we need to be seen and validated, we go out to seek approval from others. And I know you don’t wear trainers on peloton but you get the point.
I agree regarding subscriptions. When gyms reopen it will have a detrimental effect. How much is anyone’s guess - my own thoughts are it won’t be affected as badly as some people think. I think the demographic it appeals to is relatively wealthy. I really don’t think £13 pm is expensive for what is offered. However, I do think buying the bike and paying £40 pm is. It’s pure “pop psychology” but no one sees your £350 Stella McCartney Adidas trainers on Peloton, they do at the gym. We’re a social species, we need to be seen and validated, we go out to seek approval from others. And I know you don’t wear trainers on peloton but you get the point.
Richtea1970 said:
I've been going through this exact process with my wife.
We got a standard spin bike about 6 months ago and use it a lot. The wife using YouTube spin videos and me using Zwift (with a cadence sensor and HR2VP).
As times gone on we've both decided we want a better set up so started looking at Peleton/ Echelon etc. Having spent hours looking at the pros and cons of each, we've decided on a Wattbike. Whilst there are pros and cons for each set up, in the back of my mind is that the Peleton is a basic spin bike with a screen, which will cost another £40 a month on top of the bike. The Wattbike is a standalone bike but we have a TV in the gym anyway which i stream the Zwift and we've just started to trial the standalone Peleton app, which seems good value for money.
Hopefully this will meet both our needs but time will tell (currently a 10 -12 week delivery time on the Wattbike)
For anyone that's interested I ordered the Wattbike Atom about 4 weeks ago. Expecting a 12 week wait, got an email today to say it is being delivered tomorrow! So don't be put off by the quoted lead time.We got a standard spin bike about 6 months ago and use it a lot. The wife using YouTube spin videos and me using Zwift (with a cadence sensor and HR2VP).
As times gone on we've both decided we want a better set up so started looking at Peleton/ Echelon etc. Having spent hours looking at the pros and cons of each, we've decided on a Wattbike. Whilst there are pros and cons for each set up, in the back of my mind is that the Peleton is a basic spin bike with a screen, which will cost another £40 a month on top of the bike. The Wattbike is a standalone bike but we have a TV in the gym anyway which i stream the Zwift and we've just started to trial the standalone Peleton app, which seems good value for money.
Hopefully this will meet both our needs but time will tell (currently a 10 -12 week delivery time on the Wattbike)
If anyone is interested I'll try it out with the various apps as my wife uses the Peleton app and I Zwift, Bkool and RGT. Hopefully it will be a nice compromise for us both.
Piginapoke said:
You have to wonder how many people will stick with exercising at home for the convenience and cost, compared to a gym.
Exactly. I bought a Peloton in November and I've been really enjoying using it. I use it for approx 30 mins every other day so not a 'hardcore' user but it's been really easy to fit in to my life (obviously especially working from home) but more so having a young family, and I feel a million times better for doing it as well. Previously I was really struggling to find time to fit the gym or any kind of fitness in to my life but this has been great. The biggest criticism people have of Peloton is that it's too expensive; and yes it is a chunk of cash. One way to justify it can be if you have multiple people in your household that will use it, and compare to gym memberships, but another way to think about it is if you sink cash in to something like this - you're fully invested - you have to use it!
Richtea1970 said:
For anyone that's interested I ordered the Wattbike Atom about 4 weeks ago. Expecting a 12 week wait, got an email today to say it is being delivered tomorrow! So don't be put off by the quoted lead time.
If anyone is interested I'll try it out with the various apps as my wife uses the Peleton app and I Zwift, Bkool and RGT. Hopefully it will be a nice compromise for us both.
that is interesting because I have certainly been put off by the lead time. Feeling its getting a bit to close to the end of winter / lockdown now to warrant ordering at the moment but I will be really interested to hear how you get on.If anyone is interested I'll try it out with the various apps as my wife uses the Peleton app and I Zwift, Bkool and RGT. Hopefully it will be a nice compromise for us both.
Lovey1 said:
that is interesting because I have certainly been put off by the lead time. Feeling its getting a bit to close to the end of winter / lockdown now to warrant ordering at the moment but I will be really interested to hear how you get on.
Yep, friend of mine had a watt bike on order and its arrived about 8 weeks earlier than quoted.Regarding Peleton, I've been asked a lot this last year by friends if they should get one (I'm sure you all know what its like to be the 'cyclist friend') and I confess other than the s
t and near constant adverts for them on YT I didn't know anything about them until I recently got to have a look at a friend who'd bought one for himself and one for his wife (yeah, I know).As a Zwifter and a watt bike user in the gym they aren't for me, I like a spin class as much as anyone but they don't make much sense for the price and quality of product. Its a cheap bit of tat dressed up as an all in one solution. Don't get it at all.
I would put heavy money on the vast majority of Peloton users are not regular cyclists / have no special interest in cycling.
Peloton is a fitness ecosystem, not just a spin class. That's what you're buying into / that's what is being sold. That's when it begins to make sense.
(But you can still enjoy it all by subscribing to the app and using your own bike - then it makes far more financial sense!)
dazmanultra said:
Piginapoke said:
You have to wonder how many people will stick with exercising at home for the convenience and cost, compared to a gym.
Exactly. I bought a Peloton in November and I've been really enjoying using it. I use it for approx 30 mins every other day so not a 'hardcore' user but it's been really easy to fit in to my life (obviously especially working from home) but more so having a young family, and I feel a million times better for doing it as well. Previously I was really struggling to find time to fit the gym or any kind of fitness in to my life but this has been great. The biggest criticism people have of Peloton is that it's too expensive; and yes it is a chunk of cash. One way to justify it can be if you have multiple people in your household that will use it, and compare to gym memberships, but another way to think about it is if you sink cash in to something like this - you're fully invested - you have to use it!
As well as being a part time cyclist I'm a keen user of a 'meathead' gym which is about 20-30 mins drive away.
As much as I enjoy going (partly for the banter / cameraderie of a load of other miserable middle aged blokes and to keep fit) if I had all the gear at home I probably wouldn't go.
Peloton fills the gap for the gym user (like my wife) who goes once in a blue moon and struggles with motivation yet won't cancel her membership.
£40 a month sounds expensive for what is a glorified spin bike but it's still half the cost of her gym membership so potentially she'd be saving money
Ballistic said:
Does anyone know what the music/song is that they use in the current tv add?
This is the one from what I think is the latest advert. It’s a fantastic track - SAINt JHN, Roses https://youtu.be/2zToEPpFEN8
We've had out Peloton for a bit over 6 months now, and for me it's been life changing.
I'm 53, and worked in an office for 30+ years before semi-retiring July 2019. I'd done no real exercise for at least 25 years, and smoked since I was 14 (a pack a day for over 30 years)... but I'm lucky in so far as I've never carried any weight (190cm & 77-80kg)... someone once described me as fit on the outside and fked on the inside 
My wife had done some Peloton classes whilst working in Miami and NY, loved them, and decided to order one for us for here in Spain... they aren't available here yet, so we had to buy it in the UK and then ship it down... overall, a decent financial commitment as there was £350 of shipping on top of the purchase cost.
I was skeptical... like lots of people, I've joined gyms in the past, been a couple of times and then never again... I didn't enjoy the experience and just couldn't be bothered. But I've ended up a complete Peloton convert and now have 30 weeks straight with at least 3 cycling classes a week (excl. warm ups/cool downs).
For the 1st couple of weeks I was just picking random classes based on music and instructor, but after I found the Power Zone program that's pretty much all I've done since.... my current weekly schedule is 1 x 45 min PZ Max or Pro Cycling (max effort class), 1 or 2 x 60 or 90 min PZ endurance, and 1 x 20 or 30 min HITT/tabatta (max effort and preceded by an easy 30 min PZ endurance as a warm up). I also do some yoga for core strength and flexibility. My wife does 6 cycling classes a week, plus daily strength classes. Combined we do over 20 classes a week.
My fitness has improved significantly. My 1st FTP test (2nd ever ride) was 198w. 4 weeks later I improved to 218w. Yesterday I tested again at 259w... chuffed as I smashed my 3w/kg goal. When I started, my resting HR was 80. It's now 63, and it's been the catalyst to finally stop smoking (7 weeks, 4 days and counting). I feel healthier than I have done in years (possibly decades!)... just need to reduce the bottle of wine a night habit now!
The key benefit of Peloton for me has been accessibility - I don't have to think about going to the gym... getting ready, getting in the car, looking presentable, having a change of clothes for after the shower, being tied to a certain time. It sits just outside, under my covered terrace, and all I need to do is put on some shorts & shoes, grab some water and a towel and I'm good to go... I don't have to wear a shirt, or worry about the sweat on to the floor, and I can gasp of breath and swear at myself when I'm out of the saddle in the last 30s of a HIIT class.
But there are other reasons I like it too... there's a great variety of instructors - I've got a few I like and non of them are 'cheer leaders'. There are a few good groups to join as well... I'm a member of 'the power zone pack' and there's usually a minimum of 30 other members in a ride to measure yourself against and push you on... sometimes there can be 250+... I've found the competitive side highly motivational.
I'm sure there are other ways to get a similar result, but for me at least, it's been a life changer.
Oh, and it's good value to me... I spend more on wine in a week than the monthly subscription.
I'm 53, and worked in an office for 30+ years before semi-retiring July 2019. I'd done no real exercise for at least 25 years, and smoked since I was 14 (a pack a day for over 30 years)... but I'm lucky in so far as I've never carried any weight (190cm & 77-80kg)... someone once described me as fit on the outside and f
ked on the inside My wife had done some Peloton classes whilst working in Miami and NY, loved them, and decided to order one for us for here in Spain... they aren't available here yet, so we had to buy it in the UK and then ship it down... overall, a decent financial commitment as there was £350 of shipping on top of the purchase cost.
I was skeptical... like lots of people, I've joined gyms in the past, been a couple of times and then never again... I didn't enjoy the experience and just couldn't be bothered. But I've ended up a complete Peloton convert and now have 30 weeks straight with at least 3 cycling classes a week (excl. warm ups/cool downs).
For the 1st couple of weeks I was just picking random classes based on music and instructor, but after I found the Power Zone program that's pretty much all I've done since.... my current weekly schedule is 1 x 45 min PZ Max or Pro Cycling (max effort class), 1 or 2 x 60 or 90 min PZ endurance, and 1 x 20 or 30 min HITT/tabatta (max effort and preceded by an easy 30 min PZ endurance as a warm up). I also do some yoga for core strength and flexibility. My wife does 6 cycling classes a week, plus daily strength classes. Combined we do over 20 classes a week.
My fitness has improved significantly. My 1st FTP test (2nd ever ride) was 198w. 4 weeks later I improved to 218w. Yesterday I tested again at 259w... chuffed as I smashed my 3w/kg goal. When I started, my resting HR was 80. It's now 63, and it's been the catalyst to finally stop smoking (7 weeks, 4 days and counting). I feel healthier than I have done in years (possibly decades!)... just need to reduce the bottle of wine a night habit now!
The key benefit of Peloton for me has been accessibility - I don't have to think about going to the gym... getting ready, getting in the car, looking presentable, having a change of clothes for after the shower, being tied to a certain time. It sits just outside, under my covered terrace, and all I need to do is put on some shorts & shoes, grab some water and a towel and I'm good to go... I don't have to wear a shirt, or worry about the sweat on to the floor, and I can gasp of breath and swear at myself when I'm out of the saddle in the last 30s of a HIIT class.
But there are other reasons I like it too... there's a great variety of instructors - I've got a few I like and non of them are 'cheer leaders'. There are a few good groups to join as well... I'm a member of 'the power zone pack' and there's usually a minimum of 30 other members in a ride to measure yourself against and push you on... sometimes there can be 250+... I've found the competitive side highly motivational.
I'm sure there are other ways to get a similar result, but for me at least, it's been a life changer.
Oh, and it's good value to me... I spend more on wine in a week than the monthly subscription.
Me and the Mrs bought one and I’ve done more exercise in the last few weeks than the previous year.
Yes it’s expensive but if there’s a few people in the house using it then it makes more sense.
I’m not a cyclist and being able to throw on some shorts and a t shirt and go into the attic for half an hour for a quick session appeals to me.
The resistance is manually set on the ‘live’ workouts but the on-demand ones can be set to auto so I tend to do those, you can adjust your starting point so the resistance alters proportionately to how hard a workout you want.
You can track your progress by seeing how much total effort you expended and as a newbie it is quite motivational seeing your average power output improving over time.
I don’t have any experience of Zwift or whatnot but each to their own, if it gets you fitter it’s a good thing.
Yes it’s expensive but if there’s a few people in the house using it then it makes more sense.
I’m not a cyclist and being able to throw on some shorts and a t shirt and go into the attic for half an hour for a quick session appeals to me.
The resistance is manually set on the ‘live’ workouts but the on-demand ones can be set to auto so I tend to do those, you can adjust your starting point so the resistance alters proportionately to how hard a workout you want.
You can track your progress by seeing how much total effort you expended and as a newbie it is quite motivational seeing your average power output improving over time.
I don’t have any experience of Zwift or whatnot but each to their own, if it gets you fitter it’s a good thing.
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