To ask if a Peleton is worth the money?

[Frustratedbypossiblescammers]

I’m thinking of getting a Peleton treadmill for my husband’s upcoming 40th birthday. We are both quite unfit but are also short of time, so I’m hoping it will make us get much better at fitting in exercise.

Has anyone tried either the treadmill or the bike, and are they worth the extra money, in your opinion?

@GreenlandTheMovie you may not mean it but you come across as you are being critical of how others choose to exercise. The end goal is the same. Exercise is great for the body and soul.

I love being outside I often walk for miles, but I don’t like doing it in the rain for miles on end. Our winter weather is wet, cold and windy. Not everyone wants to exercise in that. Good that you can and want to but sorry not for me.

I haven’t got a Peleton bike I have a cheaper spin bike, I don’t need to use it to help my bike handling skills as I don’t have an outdoor bike. I use it for intense cardio to get my heart rate up. It actually does help my balance however as I also do yoga regularly and I can see the difference in my leg strength so you are wrong there.

I have plenty of discipline to get out of bed to want to exercise and spend time on exercise I enjoy on a regular basis: which I actually want to do. I don’t want to go and bike or run in the rain so I don’t do it! I wouldn’t exercise if that was my choice.

They sound like a massive rip off to me but I guess if spending that sort of money will guilt you into actually using it then it might be worth it. OTOH if you aren't normally self starters when it comes to exercise it seems more likely that your very expensive peloton will become a very expensive clothes rack.

There are much more cost effective ways of exercising indoors. My DSD is normally a gym bunny and was horrified when they closed in March. However an enterprising gym owner locally hired out a lot of his equipment. So for £30 a month she has rented a professional spin bike that is hers until the gym can reopen without the 2m distance require the. With that and a subscription to Les Mills online (about £100 a year) which gives her access to a huge range of exercise classes she has stayed fit throughout lockdown.

Sorry, I just realised you asked about the tread! I haven’t got one yet but are getting one soon and I just know I’ll love it too because we are so happy with the bike.

The way the instructors talk would drive me mad! 😆 ‘You’ve got this Peleton...’

I know people that rave about them. We thought about it as I do an hours turbo most days to keep weight down. Reason we didn’t is I get so bored exercising I watch box sets while on my turbo as takes my mind off it so the extra classes etc would not be used. About to do a session watching the new call the midwife.

Good lord Greenland, you're sounding like a fucking rude preachy weirdo. Was that your intention? Because you're not doing your viewpoint any favours.

Still waiting for mine due to delivery times so can't say yet.

Was amused by And a Pelton indoor bike will do nothing for your balance or bike handling skills. Who cares about bike handling skills. Surely there only matters if you want to ride outside which I categorically don't.

It's the £30 a month subscription fee for me..... i don't understand how they can charge thousands for the bike and expect you to pay an additional £30 a month!?
I looked at one the other month and then found a bike in wowcher for £165. Does the exact same thing without the large price tag

Yep it’s pricey. I bought a bike from Argos! But a spin bike but I use YouTube videos for interval training. Works for me!

Get a decent bike and mount it on turbo trainer. Peleton justify the cost based on all the videos and "training" etc. But if you need that much pushing to motivate you, you will not use it enough anyway to justify the cost.

Well it’s dark the wind is howling and rain lashing in the windows 🙄. No bloody way would I do 90 mins bike ride in that but will do so on my machine. To me exercise a necessary evil means to an end - lost 2 stone and want to keep it off. Couldn’t give a shit about bike handling skills 🙄. I ride with friends in spring and summer

@GreenlandTheMovie i know nothing about this area but understood it all fine, it seems a bit disingenuous to suggest it was too opaque to follow. Off the top of my head the top reasons i and friends don’t run for exercise:

1. live in less salubrious areas of the city where a woman running by herself after dark (currently 3.50pm-8am, so all out of work hours) is inadvisable.
2. dodgy knees from previous exercise which are exacerbated by running but not by cross-trainer or rowing machines.
3. Personal preference - a lot of people (me included) hate running and the way it makes them feel, but are fine with other forms of exercise.
4. live rurally with small single track winding roads, no pavements, no street lights, and cars that think hooting is a good substitute for slowing down on corners.
5. getting back into exercise after a break and prefer the motivation of classes and company to solitude.
6. exercise because being fitter/losing weight is a necessary evil to health and have no interest in self-discipline or “pushing through” anything, so take the path of least resistance.

I’m sure there are more, but it doesn’t take post-apocalyptic scenarios for people to have different preferences

@GreenlandTheMovie because people are all different? Some have commitments at home that doesn't make it easy to pop out for a run, or health conditions, or they just don't want to. If you're exercising purely for the health benefits rather than actually enjoying it, something like Peleton can be great for motivation and tracking progress to spur you on.

If you have plenty dish why not?

My DH as anyone exercise bike and just uses YouTube. Works v well

I can’t run or cycle on the spot. Hurts my brain!

For days I can’t get out to exercise I do weights inside and also have a rebounder. Brilliant fun and has helped my pelvic floor too!

Is that the thing where you pay a lot of money for a glorified exercise bike with someone thin in a leotard shouting at you?

I have the peloton app which is £12 per month. I don't have an exercise bike or a treadmill and don't plan to get one. I run outside (sometimes guided runs with the app when I want to do intervals or hiit or similar) and sometimes without. I also use it for strength training.

I really like it. There are a wide range of classes which cover loads of types and durations - les mills is similar but most of the classes are longer and personally I find a 20 minute or 30 minute exercise slot much easier to find 4x per week than an hour plus.

I tried the peloton app over the summer on their free 30 day offer. I really enjoyed the outdoor running interval sessions, and the stretching sections of it. So much so I bought a peloton in August having never done a spin class (although used to cycle 12 mile return trip to work pre- children). Have cycled 700 miles on it since then and worth every penny IMO.
I am still using the app for outdoor running too, and there are all sorts of other things eg yoga/ pilates/ cardio/ strength which I try bits of.

They do a 30 day trial of the bike, and will let you send it back for a full refund if you don’t like it.

We have the bike and absolutely love it. Had it a year now and my husband is on his 52 week streak and I’ve done more than 5000k mins of exercise that this year especially I can honestly say I wouldn’t have done otherwise. The £40 subscription is less than we would have paid for two gym memberships and we then pay £59 a month for the bike. It’s honestly worth it - TO US. I’d love the tread. I don’t think you’ll find many real life users at the minute as it was only released yesterday for deliveries in feb. But, they did gift some out for user experience so you may see some reviews from that. It looks great but is very heavy. We just don’t have the space for a tread, sadly, but will continue with the bike happily. The programmes are great and the instructors fantastic: there’s someone for everyone and a huge range of music too. All very professional.

It’s a shame there are so many negative opinions from people who don’t have one. You can always do a 30 day trial and return if not happy. Have a look at Facebook peloton groups for feedback too

I recently bought the peloton bike. I'm an outdoor runner which I love, but I wanted something else to do on the days I don't run or when the weather is so bad that I don't want to go out to run.

I quite like it, but I can't say I love it. It doesn't give me the buzz that running does. The classes are motivating and varied, and they do sustain my interest and challenge me while I'm doing them, but I do really force myself to get on it and start a class, so I'm not sure it's something I'm going to stick with long term. Having said that, I hated running for the first few months but then fell in love with it, so maybe this will be the same eventually.

My husband loves it though, so it is worth it for him. If it was just me using it, I'd likely return it.

I have a bike and I love it. I have had it over a year and more than justified the cost by how much I use it. Yes it’s expensive but for me was worth it, and instead of going to the gym for spin classes I now just jump on my bike and in a second I am in a spin class with a great trainer. The classes are varied and there is something for everyone. I tend to use it most days.

I would love the tred but can’t really justify the cost right now. I do have a cheaper older treadmill and just use that with the app. It’s an ok and cheaper way to use the treadmill classes but can easily see it’s not quite as immersive as the real thing would be, you don’t get the progression stats and can’t use the leaderboard function which helps to make you feel like you’re in the class. I normally hate running on a treadmill but a 45 minute class easily passes and I do enjoy them. With a young family running outside is not always an option. With the app you get a lot of other classes, strength, Pilates, yoga, outdoor running. I don’t need a gym anymore and am much fitter than before. The app basically is a PT on demand. No more gym for me as I do it all at home.

The bike and tred are very sleek pieces of kit, yes there are cheaper versions but you get what you pay for. As for the cost if you want and can afford for me it’s worth it. But it really is a personal choice.

The 3 things that put me off about Peleton (the company, so this is relevant for bike and treadmill):

1. The fact you have to buy the bike/treadmill but then have to pay a monthly subscription on top. I get that you can go on YouTube and run spin classes etc off your tablet but they're selling you the whole experience, so ideally you're meant to get the best experience by plugging into the Peleton "world" with all the other members.

1. Customer service is apparently very hit and miss. If you go on Trust Pilot you can read of some of the absolute nightmares people have had getting the equipment set up. If something goes wrong, brace yourself for an arduous time sitting for hours on their customer service line waiting to be dealt with.

1. Things that you don't think about - the equipment turns up by courier, and from what .I've read it's a lottery as to whether you get someone who just wants to dump and run, versus someone who spends time locating the item in the place you want it, eg if you want it in a garage or an upstairs bedroom etc. Don't assume is my advice, check when you order, exactly what are they committing to. Also make sure your wifi signal will successfully connect - eg if you're putting the equipment in a garage) if you want to use their subscription service.

During lockdown I was really tempted, but the more I looked into it the more I was put off. It's a big slug of cash to part with, and for me too many downsides and uncertainty to justify it. Counting down the days when I can get back to studio spin classes!

I have kept up my fitness with Yoga on YouTube, literally hundreds of free sessions, from 10 mins to 90 min, plus I have done outdoor cycling every day since March - for those worried about the bad weather (I agree!) I have found the free BBC weather app (Met office feeds) really user friendly and Ive been very successful in timing my daily cycle rides according to the weather conditions. Yesterday I did a longish ride in good time before storm Bella started to whip up - the BBC predictions were spot on!

Hope this helps with things to consider

@zzizz

Good lord Greenland, you're sounding like a fucking rude preachy weirdo. Was that your intention? Because you're not doing your viewpoint any favours.

I'm not interested in promoting a "viewpoint" and you think that women who exercise outdoors and do competitive sport are weirdos? Nice...

I'm simply making the point that the benefits of exercising ideally include training your mind and discipline and help you become independent from Les Mills or American corporations. So while you might be doing the activity, indoors on a peleton, you aren't getting the whole range of benefits that sport gives you.

It's a shame that pointing that out makes you think I'm "weird" . I grew up in another country, where its pretty normal to cycle to school. So I guess you must think a lot of non Brits are "weird" too. All this indoor exercise is so American. Britain has some lovely countryside and parks and the winters are really quite mild...

No. The way you express yourself and dismiss posters here so unpleasantly makes you sound like a rude weirdo.

Not the actual idea of exercising outdoors - you haven't discovered anything revolutionary there.

@zzizz

No. The way you express yourself and dismiss posters here so unpleasantly makes you sound like a rude weirdo.

Not the actual idea of exercising outdoors - you haven't discovered anything revolutionary there.

Sounds to me as that you've spent too much time "dissing homies down the hood". Are you American?

I'm not really into this boasting about expensive but really quite useless currently fashionable sports equipment. Lace up a pair of trainers or out on my mountain bike which I got for £45 off FB marketplace. How weird I know!

Or stick the bloody mountain bike on a turbo trainer and download a programme off the Internet. Britush Cycling does ones included in the cost of your basic membership, and also provide insurance as part of their silver membership I think. Not expensive either.

@GreenlandTheMovie did you just wake up this morning and think “I feel like a fight. What’s the most innocuous post on Mumsnet i can pick on? Ooh, exercise bikes. I bet i can be aggressively rude to everyone there and derail the thread for no good reason. Bonus points if i can get some random unconnected anti-American racism in!”
Or are you just having a bad day?