Peloton/Swift HAcks

[dsimon]

Okay so lets discuss this also please show your setups as
well.
So my wife has been taken by the awesome job that peloton does for advertising there product. so we discussed it and we talk all the finance pieces. She also stated that it is a lot of money and she might not use it enough to justify it. so I researched. and figured a Craigslist Cycleops300 for 300 bucks a new Ipad because mine is so Old it wont run the Peloton app. and the App is way cheaper monthly than the actual Peloton?
Second Im trying to convince her to use a smart trainer she has a road bike get the Peloton App..... and then I get to use it with Sufferfest Still cheaper.
What are your thoughts.

[sloanfiske]

We have a Kikr Snap.

She uses the Peloton app via the AppleTV sharing from her phone.

I can use the Kikr with the smart integration for Zwift/Sufferist/Kinomap/etc.

Win Win. And I get to use my Campy ride, while she uses her Shimano.

Cheaper than a Peloton. I think they’d make a mint if they partnered with Zwift or someone. It’s a great spin bike, but I have no interest in having someone tossing commands at me that early in the morning.

[dsimon]

Great Thanks thats what im trying to lean toward. So when you wife uses the Peloton App how do you measure the metrics? does it display on Peloton or does she know what/where to be on revolutions. As my wife is not that into cycling so I would have to say stay between 80-90 rpms etc etc

[false_Aest]

3 people I know got Peloton set-ups for xmas last year. They're non-riders. Their "bikes" are gathering dust. Have been for over 6 months.

It boils down to this:

If you don't wanna do it you're not gonna do it. And it doesn't matter how bling-bling 'spensive the product is.

It's hard to treat your S.O. like a kid though:
"I'll buy you that super-awesome baseball glove/hockey stick/MTB/violin/etc once you prove that you're gonna stick with it."

"But dad, I'm not gonna wanna stick with it if I'm using POS equipment."

I did that with a previous S.O. (genetically talented AF but also lazy AF) it didn't end well.


----
FWIW, I like your idea of a smart trainer and the app.

[sloanfiske]

Originally Posted by dsimon

Great Thanks thats what im trying to lean toward. So when you wife uses the Peloton App how do you measure the metrics? does it display on Peloton or does she know what/where to be on revolutions. As my wife is not that into cycling so I would have to say stay between 80-90 rpms etc etc

My wife just wants the workout, so she doesn't bother with all the metrics. She does what feels right to her.

[AngryScientist]

for me as the consumer onlooker, one of the most attractive things about the commercials is the space where they have these machines set up.

my trainer is located in my cluttered dungeon of a basement, and my wife would never go down there.

i think any set-up that fits reasonably well and has a decent interactive user interface can work very well if it's set-up in a nice, clean, open, well lit space.

setting up a nice "studio" feel in the home creates an attractive place to go work-out, and that's a big psychological part of the battle, i think. for casual fitness riders, i think the actual hardware is less important as long as it fits OK enough.

[William]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

for me as the consumer onlooker, one of the most attractive things about the commercials is the space where they have these machines set up.

my trainer is located in my cluttered dungeon of a basement, and my wife would never go down there.

i think any set-up that fits reasonably well and has a decent interactive user interface can work very well if it's set-up in a nice, clean, open, well lit space.

setting up a nice "studio" feel in the home creates an attractive place to go work-out, and that's a big psychological part of the battle, i think. for casual fitness riders, i think the actual hardware is less important as long as it fits OK enough.

While I agree with you for the most part, I personally don't care if my workout area is a dungeon, it's the workout I'm after. Heck, I could workout just about anywhere. I also realize I'm more like a 1%'er when it comes to training, I don't need bling bling atmosphere.

If it will work and you are cool with the price, what ever works for you/them is good.






William

[teleguy57]

Originally Posted by angryscientist

for me as the consumer onlooker, one of the most attractive things about the commercials is the space where they have these machines set up.

My trainer is located in my cluttered dungeon of a basement, and my wife would never go down there.

I think any set-up that fits reasonably well and has a decent interactive user interface can work very well if it's set-up in a nice, clean, open, well lit space.

Setting up a nice "studio" feel in the home creates an attractive place to go work-out, and that's a big psychological part of the battle, i think. For casual fitness riders, i think the actual hardware is less important as long as it fits ok enough.

You nailed it, a@angryscientist. +100

[dsimon]

Its always about the price with me and im trying to sway her toward an etrainer because if she doesnt like it I still Will win win... Right? Maybe not I dont know

[benb]

If there is a delay the indoor spin cycle bubble is bound to burst and the decision can be put off indefinitely.

Not sure what the half life is on fitness fads but this one is a few years old so it can't be long before the masses declare it to not work and the serial fitness entrepreneurs move onto something new.

If you add up the cost of the Peloton Bike + the subscription it should be enough money to just go to a local studio for a year or two till the next big thing happens.

From my office I can walk to 3 spin studios in < 10 minutes/less than 0.5mi. A local non-chain one, a "Rev X" one, and a "Cycle3" one, along with an Orange Theory Fitness (which includes spin I think), a Pure Barre, and a Crossfit gym.

Most of these can run you $200+ per month for unlimited memberships, I don't believe for a minute they are all going to survive. Probably only the Crossfit one will, that's the only one that's more than 2 years old.

edit: Amazing how hard it is to get the straight answers on the Peloton fees on their website... the reviewers complain about fees that are not mentioned on the website.

[ScottW]

Originally Posted by benb

Not sure what the half life is on fitness fads but this one is a few years old so it can't be long before the masses declare it to not work and the serial fitness entrepreneurs move onto something new.

I remember when NordicTrack was all the rage. My parents had one. Today people are (PSA alert!!!) giving them away.

I did a few spin classes at my gym earlier this year when weather was crappy, got some good workouts but the scenery never changed. Wouldn't feel like spending "real bike money" on a Peloton just to bring that experience into my living room. Especially if you already own a road bike, I'd think a smart trainer should get you working out for a lot less money.

[cinema]

zwift will probably be a lot more fun with the trainer, though i've never tried it. peloton looks like a fad/marketing gem.

on a semi tangential note, last year after i quit my job and subsequently my long commute, I did do some indoor cycling to maintain my fitness that i lost from commuting as well as not going outside for a couple months due to fires around here. one thing that totally threw me was the amount i sweat indoors. there's no wind! it's like a car revving in park. watch that temp needle creep up. totally forgot about that. super uncomfortable. could never 'spin' cause of that. and i don't sweat all that much.

[benb]

The first wave of spin popularity back around 2004-2006 that I remember was so different, the fitness business people hadn't figured out the "studio" model yet. It was just another thing at the gym, I used to go and didn't have to pay anything beyond my normal gym fee. At some point interest died and the classes disappeared but the bikes stayed around.

I listened to an NPR show last week with the founder of Barre3/Barr3 however you say it. I am guessing she & her husband are the founders of Cycl3 as well.

What was so interesting was they had no ballet background. They are/were serial fitness entrepreneurs, they had owned a gym chain before that was in one of the older models.

The Studio model seems to really rack in the $$$$. I'd be real interested in the history of it and when it first started. I would guess technically martial arts was probably the first since that is the traditional model for martial arts.. lots of money and you have to go at the assigned time, not whenever you want like a weightlifting/fitness gym.

[echappist]

Originally Posted by benb

If there is a delay the indoor spin cycle bubble is bound to burst and the decision can be put off indefinitely.

Not sure what the half life is on fitness fads but this one is a few years old so it can't be long before the masses declare it to not work and the serial fitness entrepreneurs move onto something new.

If you add up the cost of the Peloton Bike + the subscription it should be enough money to just go to a local studio for a year or two till the next big thing happens.

From my office I can walk to 3 spin studios in < 10 minutes/less than 0.5mi. A local non-chain one, a "Rev X" one, and a "Cycle3" one, along with an Orange Theory Fitness (which includes spin I think), a Pure Barre, and a Crossfit gym.

Most of these can run you $200+ per month for unlimited memberships, I don't believe for a minute they are all going to survive. Probably only the Crossfit one will, that's the only one that's more than 2 years old.

edit: Amazing how hard it is to get the straight answers on the Peloton fees on their website... the reviewers complain about fees that are not mentioned on the website.

i remember we shared our similar views on this topic in a particular thread, how it's just all a fad

a few months after that initial thread, I came upon this article. Basically, few are surviving past three years, with very few doing well. Lots of hustling needed in what appears to be a dog-eat-dog business

I don't like glossy lifestyle magazines like this, but I was looking for their Cheesesteak guide but instead saw this article. This particular reporter writes about all things exercise-related, or should I say, all things re: exercising fashionably. Seems like new ones are still sprouting up, but i really doubt if the new owners have done proper feasibility studies. Somewhat of a coincidence, the instructor whom they profiled was in my French class back some 15 years ago

[Dekonick]

Pick up a used computrainer on the cheap. Sure, the graphics suck, but lots of courses to pick from.