Are You Okay, Peloton?
Thoughts on 200 weeks on my bike to nowhere and the future of the brand
Last week, the biggest news in the Peloton universe was that three of their current roster of 60+ instructors (Kristin McGee, Ross Rayburn, and Kendall Toole) would be leaving the platform by the end of June.
While employee turnover is normal for any company, the departure of three instructors at once was something that hasn’t happened before in the Peloton universe. While these three instructors aren’t the biggest names or most popular instructors in the Peloverse, it still became big news for those who follow the brand. In addition to folks who were sad to lose two of the older instructors (Ross and Kristin), it wasn’t long before there was breathless speculation in the user forums and in the media that this was another warning sign about the longterm viability of a company that grew too fast during the pandemic and has been slowly (too slowly for some investors) coming down to a post-pandemic reality.
Last week, in Peloton news that nobody else cares about, I hit a new milestone: 200 weeks of using the bike and app.
I’m one of the reasons Peloton got cocky during the pandemic. Buying a Peloton was never on my radar before 2020, other than the moments when I happily made fun of the company’s terrible commercial with the woman with the terrified eyes. We had a cheap spin bike in our basement, but I rarely used it. I had my gym membership and my group fitness classes and loved them, even if I never quite made it to the gym as often as I planned to.
And then there was the pandemic and my gym closed and my group fitness classes closed and my work life exploded1 and my stress levels were through the roof. One day I decided to do a free trial of the Peloton app on my cheap Costco bike and it immediately clicked for me why people liked it so much. We ordered the bike a week later.
I’ve talked before about my relationship with Peloton (both here and over at Culture Study) and how, even though it is an imperfect company, the platform has demonstrably changed my life for the better. I’m stronger, saner, more fit, and have a much cuter workout wardrobe thanks to Peloton. In the course of 200 weeks, I’ve done almost every kind of classes they offer, except for rowing2.
For me, and a lot of other users, Peloton is a core part of how we move our bodies. The company, for all of its reported financial troubles, continues to have a low churn rate of paying users3, especially given that the monthly payment isn’t cheap compared to other fitness apps4. The Peloton bike is a well made piece of equipment and there continue to be a wide range of instructors and class types to choose from.
And yet.
And yet, my “just for fun” investment in Peloton stocks continues to be the worst single company investment I’ve made5, with the current value of my shares down 74%. Since I’ve bought my bike the company has had lay-offs and leadership transitions, closed stores and pulled the brake on building a massive US factory. There have been issues with inventory management and safety concerns (that have now been addressed) with the treadmill (I would still buy the Tread in a heartbeat if we had room for it in our house, but we do not).
For me, and other dedicated users I see on the Reddit forums, Facebook groups, and other social media sites, there is a thrum of low level anxiety about the future of the company. Sometimes it seems unbelievable to me that a company whose product has literally changed my life and that I use daily could just… not make it. But then I remember that there was a time when it would have seemed unimaginable to people that stores like Kmart or Toys-R-Us would disappear. Sears was the biggest retailer in the country in the 1980s and now only 11 stores remain. Peloton is certainly not too big too fail, by anyone’s estimation.
But after 200 weeks, it’s hard to imagine my fitness life without Peloton. I love my bike, I workout much more regularly (especially in the winter) when I don’t have to drive somewhere to do it, and I grateful that the platform has made it easier for me to incorporate things like yoga and mobility classes into my routine6.
I’m optimistic that the company does continue to have enough intrinsic value as a content creating brand that it will figure out how to right size or, maybe, get bought out by a more financially stable company (people seem to hope for Apple and fear Amazon, but all of that is just speculation now). I’m still happy to hand out my referral code to anyone who considers buying a piece of equipment, I don’t think the end is near just yet.
I’m still hopeful… but also trying to convince myself that the 200 week streak is really *my* accomplishment, not the brand’s. Peloton helped me figure out how to find joy in movement and what kinds of exercise and metrics make my brain and body happy. I might not have figured that out without the platform but I know it in my bones now.
If Peloton has really changed me and how I think about movement and what I think I’m capable of as a very busy, not particularly naturally athletic woman in her 40s… then maybe I just have to have confidence that those changes are permanent enough to continue, even in the worst case scenario where Peloton doesn’t.
I was a college vice president when the pandemic started and I have never worked harder or longer in my life… seven days a week, 12-14 hours a day, it was the most intense my work life has ever been
Adding the rower is, I think, one of the dumber moves Peloton made. When I think about how, in almost every gym I’ve ever been a member of, there are maybe one rowing machine for every 15 treadmills… it seems pretty clear that the number of people who want to suffer in that particular fitness modality is awfully small compared to potential Tread and Bike users.
The churn rate has increased lately but is still much lower than other fitness apps
I will note that, for my family, the monthly cost for our bike is about 1/3 of what we were paying for a family gym membership, so the Peloton has saved us money in the long run. All four of us use the bike and app to varying degrees so it is worth it for sure.
Buying Costco stock BEFORE the pandemic though? That one makes me look smart.
I have no wish to do a 60 minute yoga class, so I love the option to do 10, 15, 20 minute classes instead.
Re: what it means for instructors to leave—I think in a way that is healthy. In an academic department or university, it’s a sign that faculty are doing well and have value that is recognized outside their current university. That is what I think is going on for Kendall and Ross, and seems like a sign of a good company, actually!
Thank you for this! I am also a fan of Peloton and have been on Reddit trying to figure out how to feel about the recent departures. We finally sold our “just for fun” stock after losing 50% of its value. And congrats on the 200 week streak, that is nothing to sneeze at! I ended my longest week streak with a rafting trip down the Grand Canyon—a great reason to break a streak but still felt sad …