A social phenomenon across the Atlantic, Peloton indoor bikes accumulate setbacks

All it took was one heart attack. In December 2021, the days following the broadcast, on the HBO Max platform, of the first episode of the series And Just Like That (which resurrects the heroines of Sex and the City after eighteen years of absence), have been hell for the leaders of the American company Peloton. The brand’s action, battered since November and the announcement of larger than expected losses, lost 11.3% of its value the next day, then another 5% the following day. In question ? The spectacular death of one of the main characters, struck down by a heart attack just after his training session on his Peloton.

This connected exercise bike, whose popularity across the Atlantic borders on a social phenomenon, is not yet on sale in France. In the United States, England, Germany or Canada, on the other hand, everyone has heard of the Peloton and its flagship model, the Peloton Bike+. Inducted “Netflix of well-being” by magazine Hollywood Reporter, the machine can be purchased online or in one of the brand’s 150 showrooms for the modest sum of 2,495 dollars (2,200 euros). Count 1,495 dollars for the entry-level model. If you’re feeling expensive, add $145 for the specially designed shoes. You will then have to pay from 12.99 dollars to 39 dollars per month to have access to the application and therefore to the online courses (about twenty per week and hundreds of archived sessions) which make all the salt of Peloton.

Physical exercise and entertainment

Created in 2012 by two former members of the Barnes & Noble bookstore chain, the Peloton (which has been available as a treadmill since 2018) has become essential to many wealthy Americans during the Covid-19 pandemic. Confined and therefore deprived of sports halls, the addicts started to pedal at home. And the Peloton won.

Zeke Crane, 36, lives in New York and acquired a Peloton “Preparation”. “I used it a little, but I really used it a lot during the confinement. » The most, according to him? ” Teachers, he replies without hesitation. They look you in the eye, crack jokes… Besides being a great workout, there’s a vaguely erotic connection to them. » One-way and entirely virtual relationship, of course.

This is the promise of Peloton which, in addition to calves of steel, can be summed up in one word: community. The application, the microphone, the screen and the integrated camera allow you to chat on video with your friends during class and to measure yourself against your fellow believers in terms of calories burned and heart rate. The popularity of the thing can also make it seem like training like a star (actor Hugh Jackman, sportswomen Megan Rapinoe or Venus Williams, singers Alicia Keys, Lizzo and Miley Cyrus posted live videos on Instagram of their Platoon)…

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