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Peloton S-1

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Re: Peloton S-1

#91

Post by JumpCrisscross »

gamblor956 wrote: post #62
jgys wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> compared to driving to e.g. SoulCycle or a spin class Radical idea: rather than choosing between a $2,000 stationary bike for your living room or burning a bunch of fossil fuels to move yourself and your 2,000+ pounds of motor vehicle to a gym to ride somebody else's stationary bike, you could just buy an ordinary bike and ride around outside. You could probably even buy a indoor trainer for your ordinary bike as w…

Radical idea: Peloton's target market is the kind of person who is willing to spend $2000 on an indoor spin bike either as their primary mode of exercise or as one of many bikes they own. Especially people who want to spin during times of inclement or excessive warm weather. The Peloton may not make much sense to people living in pleasant cycling meccas on the West Coast, but east of the Rockies the weather is a lot…

> Especially people who want to spin during times of inclement or excessive warm weather

New Yorker here. If I had the space I’d totally get one of these.

Re: Peloton S-1

#92

Post by aaronharnly »

kjbfojbejib wrote: post #84
uptown wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s a couple writeups on the web. Here’s one I used: https://www.sippingandshopping.org/my-peloton-bike-alternati... Presumably that post has affiliate links. It’s not my page. I guess they’ve raised the subscription price. I think I’m grandfathered in at $13/mo paid via iTunes which I preload with discounted iTunes cards to knock another 15-20% off the price paid. I do wish I had the metrics and integrated solut…

> I do wish I had the metrics and integrated solution. The only metric that matters is how many workouts did you do today, or this week. Unless perhaps you're planning on entering some sort of competitive spinning event all those numbers don't add up to anything.

Unless the metrics are what help you keep showing up, maybe?

Re: Peloton S-1

#93

Post by justinator »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #72
gamblor956 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's really crazy is that the cost of 1 month of a Peloton subscription is less than the cost of 2 spinning classes in a real-world spin studio. If you spin enough, you actually do save money with a Peloton. $40/month + $2000/bike vs $30/class (in LA/NY/SF) results in a breakeven point of roughly 4 months if you spin every weekday, which many spin aficionados do.

What's really crazy to me is how expensive those spin classes are, how many people go to them, how little they pay the stay, and how all those companies still lose a ton of money!

How much do instructors get per class? $25?

Re: Peloton S-1

#94

Post by matwood »

8ytecoder wrote: post #40
slap_shot wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Comments like this remind of the top comment when Dropbox was announced on HN[0]: "For a Linux user, you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem. From Windows or Mac, this FTP account could be accessed through built-in software." No, it isn't just an ipad slapped on an exercise bike. And…

Exactly. I can’t say for sure they’ll succeed but they are definitely onto something here. I explained the things o like in the comments above. It is well integrated. All the pieces work really well together. In comparison it’s a fight to get zwift to connect with my smart trainer, hrm and cadence sensor every single time I hop on it.

I was skeptical until I did some classes on a Peloton, and I was impressed. It’s cheaper than one of the boutique spin studios, and the bike is nicer. It does a great job of making you feel like you are part of the class. I would own one if I already didn’t have multiple other ways I get my daily exercise.

Re: Peloton S-1

#95

Post by mikeyouse »

gamblor956 wrote: post #59
mdorazio wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Under $30 a month for a 24 hour fitness membership via Costco with zero initial cost ;) "Nice" gyms like Equinox are of course significantly more. It's important to segment the gym market into different tiers and niches, and figure out what the market size is for each. Same as for direct equipment sales like this. To your point, though, I suspect the people who would pony up for a Peloton are the same people who woul…

Spin classes cost $30/month at spin studios. The people going to those classes are Peloton's target market, not the people content to spin at the local 24 hour fitness.

Spin classes cost $30/CLASS at many SoulCycle studios with very modest discounts for frequent visitors. This is why they're releasing their Peloton competitor soon as well.

Re: Peloton S-1

#96

Post by justinator »

rossdavidh wrote: post #55
michaelwilson wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's amazing is that they get people to pay _more_ than they would - or would even think of paying - for a streaming service like Netflix or Hulu, but their content creation costs are obviously a fraction of what it take to produce even one show on those platforms.

If they actually use it, it is probably doing them a lot more good than Netflix or Hulu.

I mean, I just plop myself on a spin bike and watch Netflix. It's the only time I really allow myself to.

Re: Peloton S-1

#98

Post by lazerwalker »

kjbfojbejib wrote: post #84
uptown wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s a couple writeups on the web. Here’s one I used: https://www.sippingandshopping.org/my-peloton-bike-alternati... Presumably that post has affiliate links. It’s not my page. I guess they’ve raised the subscription price. I think I’m grandfathered in at $13/mo paid via iTunes which I preload with discounted iTunes cards to knock another 15-20% off the price paid. I do wish I had the metrics and integrated solut…

> I do wish I had the metrics and integrated solution. The only metric that matters is how many workouts did you do today, or this week. Unless perhaps you're planning on entering some sort of competitive spinning event all those numbers don't add up to anything.

I have a smart trainer, rather than a 'dumb' stationary bike, because the thing that gets me to ride a bike in my apartment without the satisfaction of getting somewhere or feeling the wind rushing in my face is getting to measure my performance and see numbers improve over time.

I get that I'm not Peloton's market (they don't care about nerds who build their own kit, and that's probably the right choice) but I 100% understand why this stuff matters.

Re: Peloton S-1

#99

Post by matwood »

tguedes wrote: post #31

Wow I was heavily skeptical of Peloton until these numbers. I would have thought who would pay a few thousand dollars for a machine and then an additional $39 a month. But 92% of all customers who have purchased the equipment are still subscribers at the end of June 2019, that is extremely impressive.

Do you spin, and have you ridden a Peloton? Nearly every person I know who likes spin enough to go to spin studios buys a Peloton after test riding one. They did that good of job nailing and improving the spin studio experience.

Their risk is that spin studios are a luxury item over and above gym memberships and will be the first things cut in a recession.

Re: Peloton S-1

#100

Post by birken »

discreteevent wrote: post #51
gnopgnip wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A spin bike is not really the same thing as a bike on a trainer because of the social aspect, and the classes. And the cost of a Peloton and the subscription is less than traditional spin classes. I am surprised that people are willing to spend 2x-10x as much as competing products when you look at the total cost.

Zwift adds the social to a bike on a trainer. The big advantage of a bike on a trainer is that it's the bike you will use on the road so the fit etc is exactly the same when you do get out (I realise there's a huge market for indoor only) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwift

It is also a disadvantage. The peloton bike is heavier (IE sturdier), has more grip options, takes up less floor space (the peloton is about a foot shorter than my actual bike, not including any potential trainer that would be required), is much more easily adjustable (if multiple people are using it), and is purpose built for the function it serves. I only have experience with one type of trainer, so this may be trainer dependent, but the peloton is also much quieter than the type of trainer I've previously used.

Not to mention that when I want to go out and ride I don't need to detach my bike from the trainer, or when I want to get a workout I don't need to attach my bike to the trainer. As somebody that is primarily a bike commuter, the accessibility alone is worth having 2 bikes. And if you are going to have 2 bikes, why not buy an indoor bike that is specialized for the task.

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