More evidence that Peloton is not interested in the cycling market, but the fitness market…
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Precor was certainly devalued, as both its target markets, gyms and hotels, have been hard hit. Peloton gets the channel-to-market of Precor for those customers, and the manufacturing capacity. Doesn’t mean they’re not into cycling - more that they’re into fitness, and that includes a portion of the cycling market.
Look at how much energy Zwift say they’ve been spending to “facilitate onboarding”, and you can see that many players are targeting the wider public than the sweet-spot-over-under-powermeter FTP-TSS crowd we know and love.
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That was the point I was making…they are targeting the wider “fitness” market, not the cycling market specifically. Sure, some cyclists will come along, but that isn’t the market they are pursuing.
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Smart of them. Get some real hardware expertise, and access to commercial distribution. I wonder if it was an all stock deal. Would be a good way to make use of that valuable currency - up 400% this year.
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I never really thought Peloton were in the cycling market…when you think you can have a decent bike and a top of the range Kickr/Tacx neo for the price of the Peloton bike plus a subscription to TR, Zwift and Sufferfest for the monthly cost then any serious cyclist would have to be nuts to go near it! 
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I’m all for trainers, bikes, and TrainerRoad… but I’ll be honest: my wife has a Peloton. She loves it. Whenever I ride it (or do the Peloton workouts on my regular Drivo or rollers) I love it too. There’s something refreshingly fun about an instructor, new/exciting music, and a ‘spin’ class.
Peloton’s new bikes notwithstanding, it’s not power-based training – and it’s not intended as such. But it is fun. If the only thing I did for indoors cycling was stare at those damn “blue-blocks of doom”, it would a be a crappy long winter.
Zwift works for some, TR for others, Rouvy, RGT, etc too. Peloton fits that mix too. In my case the lion’s share of my work is on TrainerRoad. Hell, I’ve been a subscriber since before the Sufferfest divorce (in 16?) of Reid Weber. So Peloton is a nice diversion. Somebody once said “make your hard days hard, make your easy days easy”. I’ll add: “make your fun days fun”.
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Haha…I just use European heavy metal to keep me entertained…but as you say each to his/her own. My major misgiving is the cost - just seems a very over priced product aimed at (at least in the UK) people with plenty of money…2k for a spin bike (you can have a Wattbike for similar money)…seems OTT - but anything that gets the masses exercising and cuts the rates of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and strokes has to be a good thing I suppose 
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Pelotons target audience is not what you describe. Most people just want to ride indoor with great instructors and get a good workout in. Plus honestly all that Peloton offers in other activities (treadmill, mediation, yoga, pilates, strength, etc) blows away just having a bike and only riding.
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Well I suppose it depends why you ride …so for the majority of the population provided they have 2k for the bike and £40 a month for the subscription that may well be true. I ride and use TR to race TT, in the same way as I use to run so I could compete in marathons so I suppose we can surmise I am not their target clientele…that said riding is what most of us on here do
This, think SoulCycle but the ability to get into a class. Watching GCN’s paid promotion of the suffer fest training that included yoga, well I wouldn’t mind having TR fold in some structured stretching/flexability training into the mix.
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This deal is for domain-relevant manufacturing primarily (and it is cheap) . . .
Demand for Peloton bikes continues unabated. Despite buying one of its manufacturing suppliers earlier, Peloton continues to be unable to meet customer demand for the foreseeable future (1-2+ years out). Customers are not happy having to wait several weeks, and in some cases, months, for the bikes.
With a market capitalization of $48.1B, the cost of Precor is under 10%!. Even if Peloton got nothing more than domain-relevant manufacturing, the deal would be well worth it to them. Of course, there are other potential benefits as well pending Peloton’s assessment and ability to capitalize on them, such as Precor’s engineering, products, markets, distribution and service.
Another good article on the transaction is in the WSJ:
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This just in: Facebook to acquire Peloton!
Ha, just kidding.
@QuittingBikes right now…
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I’m hoping that all this excitement over Peloton ends up spilling over into biking in general. Seems like it’s a great “gateway drug” for our sport. I hope they keep up their momentum.
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That is a great thought!
I think that is a real possibility. While Peloton users are generally not Watt-fanatics like indoor cycling training users (do you know any? 
), what is clear is that they are getting a lot stronger - a combination of addiction to usage, class leaderboard competition, and complementary in-app activities (esp. strength training). Post Covid, many will be surprised at how such training translates to the road. My wife for example, a non-athlete and non-roadie, is coming up on 4 years as a Peloton user. When we go on casual off-road MTB rides, she is dramatically faster and seems to enjoy the experience a lot more. I’m expecting that she will want to do a lot more of such riding post Covid.
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This comparison is exactly right and when viewed in the context that SoulCycle classes are $30ish per class, for those who want a similar instructor led-upbeat music experience, Peloton looks down right cheap.
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Even lower “standing” spinning classes here are often $10-15 per hour. Twice a week, 50 weeks per year, that starts to make a $2k bike plus subscription not that crazy. Add the bike-less Peloton Digital offer, and no wonder they seem to be doing well.
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Most Peloton users tend to take 5 or more classes a week too if you include cycling, yoga, strength, meditation…
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That’s how it is with my wife too (she’s 5+ days/week on the Peloton), and both my son and I have accounts on the Peloton too – with no additional charges. It’s funny how many people sneer at the Peloton price, advertising, or ‘spinny-ness’ vs. cycling. But in reality, it keeps a whole lot of people exercising rather than eating M&M’s on the sofa while watching Real Housewives.
And lastly, there’s nothing more enjoyable (for me) than being in the midst of a TrainerRoad workout when my wife comes down to the paincave, gets on her Peloton, and promptly steals my Lasko fan. D’oh!
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Time to get more fans.
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