Fitness maker Peloton to wheel out its bikes for a grand tour down under

US connected-fitness maker Peloton will enter the Australian market in the second half of this year.

Peloton is bringing its popular exercise bikes and real time online fitness classes to Australia.

US connected-fitness maker Peloton will debut in Australia this year. It will bring its Peloton bikes down under, along with its signature streaming fitness classes that display on a screen on your handlebars.

Peloton originally launched as a start-up in 2012. The story goes that John Foley, founder and CEO, and his wife Jill could no longer fit studio classes into their days with two children at home, and so Peloton was born. Instead the classes come to your Peloton screen

The following year, 2013, Peloton raised funds on Kickstarter and over time gained momentum and grew. The word peloton is the main group of riders at a cycling event.

As the world went into lockdown, Peloton’s sales of fitness equipment blossomed with a reported 61 per cent increase to $US420.2 million ($545.3 million) in January to March last year. Its subscribers almost doubled. The company claims to have more than 4.4 million members now.

Peloton said Australian customers can choose from thousands of workouts with real-time motivation, and curated playlists featuring their favourite artists, including Beyoncé and The Beatles.

Classes are live and available later from Peloton’s library. They are various lengths, anything from a 10-minute intense hill climb to a 45-minute or 60-minute ride.

The Peloton app includes classes in indoor cycling, outdoor and indoor running, cardio, strength, yoga and HIT (high intensity training). Lessons are available live and recorded.

Kevin Cornils, Peloton’s managing director International, said users can select between about 25 instructors and levels of difficulty. Thousands of recorded classes were available in the Peloton library.

He said Peloton produced its fitness classes in studios in New York and London. Asked whether the timetable would accommodate Australia’s time zones, Mr Cornils said they would coincide with US classes in the mornings timewise. Australian trainers were being employed to host them.

Peloton Bike

“You‘ll have Australians in the evening doing a class being taught in the morning in New York.

“It‘s important that all of our members in the markets we operate in have access to live content and this will be the same for our Australian members so they can get the full Peloton experience.

We’re in the process of interviewing Australian instructors.”

He said the Australian launch was slated for the second half of this year. Australian will be able to buy the Bike and Bike + models online or through Peloton’s retail showrooms. He said these initially would be built in Sydney and Melbourne and consumers can test Peloton’s products before buying them.

The Peloton Bike and Bike+ will cost $2895 and $3695 respectively and membership will be $59 per month per household. Both bikes have a 120x60cm footprint with the Bike+ having a 23.8-cm high definition touch screen with 360 degrees rotation. The regular model has a 22-inch touchscreen.

Peloton Bike+

Peloton also sells two treadmill options, but these won’t be available in Australia for now. Potential members can register their interest now online.

Mr Cornils said users optionally can display their performance metrics and during live sessions view a live leaderboard. He said communities were important in Peloton; you could “high-five” other members, and people could join riding groups.

“It’s competitive. You can see where you‘re ranking against everybody else in that class. In any live class, there’s typically several thousand people in that class with you.”

Instructors occasionally can “shout out” to riders but it’s a positive shout out, such as when a rider hits a milestone.

Users can warm up and warm down with virtual rides shown on the display. There’s a 30-minute Sydney scenic ride, 20-minute New Zealand Westland scenic ride, 15-minute French Alps scenic ride, and 15-minute Golden Gate Park scenic ride.

“There are dozens and dozens of locations that you can take rides in.”

Streamed classes on Peloton

He said Peloton’s classes weren’t limited to cycling exercises. You can attend classes via the bike screen or using the Peloton app away from it. The app is also available through Apple TV and Amazon Fire.

“We‘ve done a lot of our own research before entering the market, and this will be no surprise to you obviously, but we know Australians love a variety of workouts. They love their high intensity interval training classes.

“Boutique fitness in a lot of ways is more penetrated in Australia than in current markets where we are in Europe and probably only similar to the US. It’s a very sport and fitness minded culture.”

Peloton is not alone in the indoor training market. Echelon also offers live classes with bikes and treadmills. Zwift specialises in offering virtual rides using a modified regular pushbike attached to a smart trainer.