- Exercise startup Peloton has exploded in popularity - surpassing even the spin giant SoulCycle in customers, data from last year suggests.
- Equipped with a wifi-enabled touch-screen, the bike allows you to join high-intensity spin classes remotely and, according to the company, get a studio-grade workout from anywhere.
- Over the course of two weeks, I put it to the test by taking a 45-minute Peloton class everyday. To measure my progress, I did a before and after fitness assessment, which revealed some surprising results.
For $1,995, a stationary bike from the exercise startup Peloton could be yours. Then after paying for delivery and setup ($250), essential equipment ($179), and a monthly membership fee ($39/mo) you'd be all good to go.
So, right, these bikes aren't cheap.
But that doesn't mean people aren't paying for them. Since launching in 2012, Peloton has sold more than 400,000 bikes and amassed more than a million members, which helps explain why the company is now worth an estimated $4 billion.
Peloton's recipe for success includes community and convenience. It's not like other popular cycling workouts, which typically involve classes at a studio. With Peloton, you can join thousands of other members for a studio-grade workout, all without leaving home. Just log into a class through a touch-screen tablet attached to the bike, and boom - you're cycling in a New York City studio with some of the nation's best spin instructors.
That sounds pretty ideal. High-intensity workouts. Good instructors. No cold morning walks to the gym. No attempts to look attractive in activewear. But are those alleged benefits really worth that high sticker price?
Over the course of two (very) long weeks in February, I set out to see whether the benefits are worth the sticker price. Every day, I took a 45-minute Peloton class from my 300-square-foot apartment. And to determine just how good of a workout I was getting, I did a before and after fitness assessment at the Sports Science Lab in Staten Island.
I documented the experience on camera, too.
Peloton's equipment makes biking feel smooth and comfortable
Yes, I had to rearrange the furniture in my small apartment to accommodate the bike. No, I will not complain about it. Peloton bikes are sleek and relatively easy to use, assuming you follow the "Peloton 101" tutorial, which is accessible through the monitor. It took a few days to feel snug in the seat, which is barely padded. But once I did - or once my butt grew numb, I'm not sure - biking felt smooth and comfortable.
The touch screen is basic, but does its job. It has a schedule of live classes and a library of recorded workouts. And there are tons of them.
Most frustrating is the audio especially if you get outraged when cords get caught on things. You have little choice but to use wireless headphones, as most cords aren't long enough. I used Apple AirPods, which worked well.
Peloton instructors' motivational language didn't work for me
I've gone through training to become a spin teacher, so I feel slightly above average in my ability to critique instructors. But just slightly. I showed a few Peloton classes to Sean Kuechenmeister, a certified athletic trainer at the Sports Science Lab in Staten Island, to get an expert opinion.
Peloton instructors are strong cyclists and instructors. They have good form. They'll tell you to draw your shoulders away from your ears, which is good for avoiding injuries and tightness, Kuechenmeister said. And throughout the class, they'll cue you on beat to rise out of the saddle.
"To avoid a lot of these overuse conditions, you need movement variability," he said.
Peloton instructors are also undeniably fit and attractive. In fact, they look far more like TV actors than indoor cyclists (which makes sense when you consider that there are thousands of riders watching them on what is, effectively, a television).
And that's actually what I find most irritating: Not their beauty, but their behavior. Much of the instruction feels like acting, or at least, it feels inauthentic. You'll hear phrases like "Rise up out of the saddle, literally and metaphorically." Or "You're here to overcome your biggest obstacles," somehow by upping the resistance on your bike.
I'm all for creative forms of motivation; anything that encourages exercise is probably a good thing. But the language that Peloton instructors use makes me feel uncomfortable - especially because I'm riding from home, where it's hard to ignore the problems in my own life that a 45-minute spin class cannot, in fact, fix.
Don't trust the bike's calorie count
Peloton claims that you can get a studio-grade workout from home, but I found that hard to believe. For a competitive person like me, riding in a studio next to dozens of other people is a great way to push myself. Plus, with thunderous club music, it offers a much-welcomed distraction from the pain of working out.
So I tested it out. For my eighth ride, I signed up for a live class at the Peloton studio in Chelsea, where the company films its classes. That's right, Peloton isn't just for the home. You can still take gym classes if that's more your speed. But if you like mixing it up between home and the gym, the calorie readouts might be different for different bikes.
While biking at home, for example, my independent heart monitor, strapped around my chest, indicated my average heart rate was around 145 beats per minute (BPM) per ride. And the Peloton display indicated that I was burning around 530 calories in that time, which is calculated from the bike's speed and resistance, coupled with factors like my weight and age.
But during the studio ride, my average heart rate jumped significantly - to 165 BPM - according to my chest monitor. So, I did push myself harder, as expected. But to my dismay, the display on the studio bike indicated that I actually burned 130 fewer calories compared to my average ride at home. In other words, I worked harder, but somehow burned less.
A studio employee explained that it's because "each bike is calibrated slightly differently." That means the calorie readout and work output, one of the metrics on which the calorie count is based, isn't accurate across bikes.
According to Peloton, the "more information a rider provides in their rider profile, the more accurate their calorie count will be." But if you really want a precise benchmark, you should only compare your own stats to previous rides on the same bike.
My before and after stats were impressive
After cycling everyday for two weeks straight, I lost - wait for it - a pound and a half. According to Kuechenmeister, that's actually a lot for two weeks. But more importantly, I lost two pounds of pure fat, according to a machine that sent tingling electrical currents through my legs and arms to measure body composition.
"Most doctors will recommend that about a pound to a pound and a quarter of fat per month is a healthy rate to be losing fat," Kuechenmeister said. "So you're well ahead of that."
I also improved my endurance, measured by something called VO2 Max.
"That's a measurement of how well your body is utilizing the oxygen that you're taking in when you breathe," Kuechenmeister said. "The better the use of oxygen, the more it's going to be transported throughout your body and the more efficiently you're going to be able to move and perform whatever exercise it is you're doing."
In two weeks, my VO2 Max jumped from the 47th percentile to the 79th percentile, ranking me with "an elite class of aerobic competitors."
Finally, I gained some muscle, but only in my left leg - again, according to those electrical currents. That's probably due to stiffness in my right knee, Kuechenmeister said, which I had told him about earlier. With my right knee in pain, I favored my left, building muscle there as a result.
Would I buy a Peloton bike?
I probably wouldn't buy a Peloton bike. Realistically, I don't want to spin everyday. And when I am looking to cycle, I'm confident that I can get a better workout in a studio - whether it's at Peloton, SoulCycle, Flywheel, SWERVE, Cyc, Crank, Monster, RYDE, or one of the other cycling studios available to me in New York.
For me, the cost is hard to justify.
But if you love spin classes, yet don't live near a studio, don't want to leave your house, or hate working out in public, then you might find Peloton worth it.
This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.