Sy Reene

I'm suggesting that there's nothing stopping someone from running Spin classes on some platform such as Zwift, just do an audio app so you can hear the instructor yelling at you. I also don't know with certainty that anyone who likes a traditional spin classes would necessarily hate Zwift and how it works with smart trainers -- if the excerpt i posted reflects the goal correctly.

As I said, I'd guess most spin class enrollees probably don't even know such a technology or platform exists. I know personally having had a couple conversations with people who do spin who hadn't heard of a such thing as a smart trainer and the apps out there.

I'm also unclear why any somewhat funded operation (eg. SoulCycle or whatnot) doesn't just make available at-home classes that come with your in-store membership.. if you have your own bike trainer of any kind, and turn on some type of Livemeeting/Webex app on your home laptop, what's the difference vs peloton?

Slightspeed

I have two younger brothers (I'm 70) who ride motorcyles, and they think I'm crazy to still ride on the road. One even said I should get one of those Peleton things and compete online or whatever. I told him that besides the actual ride activity, we enjoy the social aspect of group rides and coffee stops, etc. I asked him how much fun it would be for him to bolt his moto down to the garage floor, and sit out there for hours going nowhere. He told me I was being "snarky". 🤔

When I broke my arm several years ago, I kept in some kind of shape by riding my wife's stationary bike on the patio. Her brother found it in a scrap pile of unwanted stuff and dragged it home for her. She is afraid of real road riding, so for her the stationary is an option. I found it really boring, but it got the job done for me. When I got back on my real bike, I didnt lose that much fittness. I guess stationary spin bikes have their purpose, just not as a continuing activity for me. I'm back on my road bike, and nobody has touched the patio bike in months (maybe years).

livedarklions

Are you proposing this as a business plan or are you just trying to make people who use Peloton feel like they're being cheated because there's some theoretical method of reconstructing their Peloton experience on a perhaps (but not necessarily) cheaper platform?

Could you be more off-topic and forum inappropriate if you tried?

livedarklions

Now I'm going to install the virtual "getting coffee with friends" simulator on my stationary bike!

HarborBandS

I like cycling, and a smart trainer with Zwift.

My wife likes spin classes. She hasn't ridden a bicycle outdoors in years, and is afraid to because of some vertigo and balance issues.

We looked in to a Peloton, and ultimately decided the cost was too high for a mediocre spin bike. And we didn't want to be locked in to the $40/month subscription fees by having a piece of equipment that only works with that one service. So my wife has recently started Zwifting, and actually likes it better than the virtual spin classes she tried. First she did the structured workouts, and now she is doing some solo and group rides. I think a smart trainer is a lot more versatile, and can be used with multiple apps/services. The only issue we have now is that my old road bike is being used by both of us, and it really is better fitted to me.

Sy Reene

Are there lots of Peloton users here that I could be making feel cheated? I apologize to those if I've hurt their feelings.
I guess I'm just trying to answer why many people are buying Pelotons, thinking one main reason is that they're not aware of other at-home instructor-led cycling-based options that yes, might cost less.

livedarklions

At no point in this theoretical techno-cobbling did you ever ask yourself what this has to do with bicycling?

indyfabz

Sounds like that is precisely what you have been trying to do, so any apology sounds insincere.

People spend money as they see fit. Accept it and move on. Do you really care if a someone buys a Ferrari only to drive 5 urban miles to work and back 5 days a week when a Kia would do the same job for less? If so, that's your issue, not the Ferrari owner's.

DMC707

Have a good friend who is a Cat 2 mountain biker who used a Peloton bike (originally purchased for his wife) in the off season last year to get ready for the race season with very good results

Purchased for his wife - but he uses exponentially more than she does

Sy Reene

I'm not sure i ever did say I care how people spend their money. Please quote where I did this. Seems though easier to attack what I'm saying rather than the earlier posters who did opine "fool and their money.." or "$2500 dumb trainers with LCDs bolted to them" etc.
I was offering an explanation as to why some chunk of the population does spend money on Pelotons (ie. marketing) vs. alternatives, as this thread from post #2 onward became about.

embankmentlb

Most of us have our own bicycles and many have trainers for them. Is there not a way to use your on , quality, bike for indoor training? Why buy a $2k mechanism that ends up being a paper weight ?

Atlas Shrugged

How did they end up being paperweights? If you are talking about Flywheel Bikes, Peloton offers an exchange program.

Rollfast

What so wrong about being inventive and cheap? PS This is GENERAL.

livedarklions

This is general cycling, not general indoor exercise machines.

drewguy

+1. If you would otherwise be spending $30/class to attend a spin class at a gym, it's a decent value proposition. $2000+ $40/month for unlimited classes quickly seems small if you would otherwise be going to 8-10 classes/month at a studio, plus no need to schedule or go to the gym - it's whenever you want.

If you're comparing it to sinking $2000 into a new road bike, with a $500 annual budget for parts/upgrades and service, then you're not really making a good comparison.

Just Mark

Maybe you folks want to take your discussion over to here: https://www.pelotonforum.com/
I'm getting the popcorn out for it. Carry on.

burnthesheep

1. The spin bike market and audience is a venn diagram with "cyclists" that has a limited overlap. There is overlap, but it is minimal.

2. It's easier to understand the spin bike market if you view it more as from a "gym" and "exercise business model" point of view instead of as a "cyclist".

3. Peloton did blur the line a touch offering some cyclist style workouts and personalities offering classes. So, you can take legit cyclist workout classes.

4. Spin bike or regular bike on trainer, or Zwift..........you get out what you put in. I did a drop in spin class at a bike shop on a work trip. I show up looking like a roadie looks so kind of hid myself in the back corner out of eye sight of everyone to be modest. At the end though, out of 20 people in the class, only myself and the 80 year old grandma have any visible sweat from the workout. The other 18 schmucks couldn't be bothered to do work. Guess what, 80 year old grandma handed you yours! People are afraid of pain. Shoot, just afraid of even mild discomfort.

Rollfast

They have pedals. Ergo some.

J.Higgins 

We have a Peloton. We live in New Hampshire. Where we live, the roads are rutty, bad, bumpy, and narrow even in midsummer, not to mention worse than that with a little snow and ice. The Peloton is a welcome break from the buzz-harshing roads around here. Yes, I still do brave the cold winds and snow and rain just to say I did it. Just to say I'm a Yankee. Just to say I still got a pair. Its still nice to drink a coffee and a pedal along with some good tunes and a pretty girl coaching you on. Worth it? Hells yes. Would I rather be cycling along the coast in warm weather? Of course! The Peloton is just a way to make the winter easier. People will spend $2500 on a bike that only hangs on the wall. Just saying.

livedarklions

So do cars and grand pianos.

DMC707

I have plenty of bikes and a pretty nice cycleops trainer I keep in my office at work, --- but when im home, I greatly prefer my spin bike to my regular bike plus trainer .

I have the seat adjusted in relation to my cranks to mimic the road bike position - but the spin bike is so much quieter and smoother than the trainer setup if I am just logging mindless miles while watching movies from the Fast N Furious franchise for the umpteenth time

Redrovermiami

Pelotons are great if you can't get outside to ride!

sdmc530

One of my coworkers have a Peleton set up. Him and his wife love it. Its a spin type bike to me. I have used it just to use it and its just like the spin type bikes or similar to what my gym has. I don't think their market is for cyclist but I think more for just general fitness people.

I am a Zwifter in the winter, I like Zwift. I have used both and if I had the choice I would still use Zwift. I just find it more engaging. Besides the Pelaton is kind of spendy but a Zwift set up can be too. I think they both are good options just what you like. I like to see anyone trying to better themselves through fitness of any kind.

J.Higgins 

I wanted Zwift, but since my wife was adamant that Peloton was the way to go (and she was paying for it), I acquiesced. Glad I did now. Its a lot simpler, and having someone coach you - even if it isnt in person, you still feel like part of something. One thing very positive I can report is the leg strength gained from using it daily. Its a full-blast fixie workout -no coasting!

SteelBanana

Stationary bicycles are wonderful places to hang laundry.