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Decoding the Peloton

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Re: Decoding the Peloton

#101

Post by rconti »

rkangel wrote: post #14
hombre_fatal wrote: post #6

I was floored when I realized the Peloton has no games and it's closed to third-party developers. It seems to just have group classes which couldn't be less interesting to me. I'd ask "what were they thinking?" but it apparently sells like hotcakes, so it's me who's out of touch.

I'd guess that it's actually a classic razorblades model - the real product is the classes and the bike is just a way to be able to do the classes from home. It's probably not surprising that a group of tech people tends more towards introversion and exercising alone, whereas the general population likes the group aspect for motivation.

I didn't want to make (yet another) reply, but I was tempted to ask the parent what they were comparing "group classes" to. I mean, .. individual classes? You're riding at home. By yourself. What's group about it?

Yes, pre-pandemic, there were other people in the room where they recorded the classes. And likely there are other people taking the same class as you, right now. You can see where they're at on the leaderboard. But they're also irrelevant to you. You can just ignore it. You take the class any time you want, and there's one instructor, and the fact that someone in south america happens to be watching the same stream as you isn't really relevant to your experience.

I'd say in the Zwift world, where you race other people on-screen is more of a "group" experience, but again, both of these workouts are highly individual.

Re: Decoding the Peloton

#102

Post by rconti »

ramphastidae wrote: post #12
hombre_fatal wrote: post #6

I was floored when I realized the Peloton has no games and it's closed to third-party developers. It seems to just have group classes which couldn't be less interesting to me. I'd ask "what were they thinking?" but it apparently sells like hotcakes, so it's me who's out of touch.

Peloton is a fad and will be dropped for the next exercise fad in 2-5 years, just like SoulCycle was. For now, they are feasting.

Will it be around in 20 years? Probably not. Does that make it a fad? I don't know. I've had one for 4 years and I'll certainly be riding it for another 4. That's good enough for me. I tend to be allergic to fads and trends, but as long as one is happy with what they get for the price paid, what's the problem?

Re: Decoding the Peloton

#103

Post by rconti »

hedberg10 wrote: post #18
ramphastidae wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Peloton is a fad and will be dropped for the next exercise fad in 2-5 years, just like SoulCycle was. For now, they are feasting.

You can ridicule fads, but I think it's interesting. I know people will pay a reasonable price for a product they might not even need, but an unreasonable price? How the hell does that happen?

Is it unreasonable? My wife bought the Peloton bike for us 4 years ago. What were they, $2k? I think the first year's subscription was free, and now she pays whatever the monthly fee is. $40, I think, right?

Why's that unreasonable? When I was trying to get back into shape and add some strength training, I started seeing a personal trainer, which I honestly, probably stuck with for too long. Given per-session costs, it was costing me upwards of $500/mo. Of course that includes use of gym facilities and 1:1 training and advice. Probably one of the best things I ever did.

Basic gym memberships have gotta be at least $100/mo. I'm sure there are countless people paying $200/mo and up. Obviously you get access to a lot more equipment, but you have to go there, too.

I just don't see $40/month as a lot. Maybe I'm strange.

Since then, my wife also added a Peloton treadmill to the mix, which is over 4k. It uses the same subscription. As do the Yoga and stretching and bodyweight strength classes.. and meditation if you're into that. Both of us, 2 pieces of equipment, unlimited classes, on your phone, appletv, whatever. $40/mo.

On the average evening we've got the treadmill and bike going at the same time and when she finishes with her run she's doing stretching and core stuff in the living room while I do more on the bike. The subscription starts to sound like a pretty good deal. But don't tell them that, because we're locked in thanks to the hardware :)

Re: Decoding the Peloton

#104

Post by rconti »

cosmodisk wrote: post #29
hedberg10 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can ridicule fads, but I think it's interesting. I know people will pay a reasonable price for a product they might not even need, but an unreasonable price? How the hell does that happen?

The demographics for these kind of products is very different. It's either those who do have enough money not to care about the cost or the so called aspiring ones: who don't have money but want to fit in or relate to the better off groups. It reminds me when the latest Iphone came out( the most expensive version). Guess who bought it? Our CEO and a member of my team,who was probably on the lowest salary in the compa…

I've actually found most CEOs I know have beat to crap old smartphones.

I tend to look down on the classist assignment of folks' motivations for buying things. It's almost always projection. How many years did we have to hear about the "status symbol" of a starbucks cup? If only $2 for a cup of black coffee could buy you status, right?

Re: Decoding the Peloton

#105

Post by rconti »

cols wrote: post #80

Avid mountain biker here. I like to ride outside 4-5 days a week in good weather when I can. I only own a mountain bike and had been looking all summer for a way to get hard core cardio during the winter months. Also, as a resident of the PNW, this year we experienced horrific fires, oppressive smoke, and awful air quality for a significant chunk of September. This meant no cycling. Mountain bikes generally don't wor…

Granted, Peloton Digital classes are more expensive than Zwift, but if you're ever interested, there's a whole culture of folks who use Peloton content on other bikes. Search for "Peloton app riders".

It looks like the IC4 supports power, so I highly recommend doing power training on Zwift, particularly for mountain biking. (I'm an ex-PNWer :) )

Re: Decoding the Peloton

#106

Post by darkwizard42 »

cols wrote: post #80

Avid mountain biker here. I like to ride outside 4-5 days a week in good weather when I can. I only own a mountain bike and had been looking all summer for a way to get hard core cardio during the winter months. Also, as a resident of the PNW, this year we experienced horrific fires, oppressive smoke, and awful air quality for a significant chunk of September. This meant no cycling. Mountain bikes generally don't wor…

Pretty similar to what I did given the weather issues (right down to the Schiwnn IC4 purchase). However, I'm more of a road biker and so definitely haven't felt great about the lack of dynamic resistance but better than not biking at all.

We even had the Peloton subscription for a little while but opted for other classes in the end.

Re: Decoding the Peloton

#107

Post by pkulak »

kcmastrpc wrote: post #36
pkulak wrote: post #5

Wonderful! I've got one of these things and love it, but hate the classes and never do anything but Just Ride while I watch the news. Seems silly to be paying $40 a month, so at some point I want to find a way to get my stats without a connection to a Peloton server.

https://github.com/ptx2/gymnasticon/pull/12 I've already done this.

Starred. Thank you!

Re: Decoding the Peloton

#108

Post by InitialLastName »

thebean11 wrote: post #84
onion2k wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adding games would get "people who want serious exercise equipment that they can play games on" to come to the product, but it might also put off "people who want serious exercise equipment to focus on exercise". In other words, adding games could actually make their market smaller . This is similar to Nintendo's rigourous curation of their platforms - allowing the latest Call of Duty game on the Switch might add a f…

Nintendo absolutely would allow it. There are many CoD games on Nintendo consoles.

This. Playing CoD on the Wii (with the rifle Wiimote holder, circa 2008) was astonishing. It really felt like the next step from the arcade shooters and Duck Hunt in terms of the fun/immersion balance, in a way that had been missing from a generation of games.

Re: Decoding the Peloton

#109

Post by mikestew »

rconti wrote: post #99
mikestew wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Peloton, as I understand, doesn't dynamically adjust its resistance. On a $4K machine? The $800 NordicTrack rower we bought automatically adjusts resistance with their iFit programs. So people were just paying for an exercise bike with a big LCD screen? I'm astounded that they stayed in business long enough to release a second version that fixes this. VC money can fix that problem, but I'm also astounded that any…

It's less than half the price now. That's a pretty big detail to get wrong. You may be thinking of the Kickr bike, which is much more full-featured, and $3500 (so, still not $4k), but doesn't have a screen at all from what I can tell.

I'm actually thinking of their treadmill, which is $4K. But okay, fine; it's "only" $2K. My question is just as valid: "on a $2K machine? My half-that-price rowing machine can adjust resistance on the fly."

Hell, the pricey-but-not-as-pricey-as-Peleton computerized trainer I had almost 15 years ago could adjust the resistance on the fly. I just figured that was table stakes these days.

Re: Decoding the Peloton

#110

Post by veggieburglar »

ghaff wrote: post #50
hedberg10 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can ridicule fads, but I think it's interesting. I know people will pay a reasonable price for a product they might not even need, but an unreasonable price? How the hell does that happen?

Fads (at all price classes) are interesting. There are definitely products/activities that become very popular for a time and then just sort of fade out for no discernible reason. One good example is in-line skating/rollerblading. It was a very popular activity--at least in urban areas--a number of years back and it just sort of petered out. You rarely see someone skating these days.

Skating/rollerblading is coming back into style, at least here in coastal California. Everything old is new again, and everything new becomes old at some point.
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