THE PELOTON BIKE ISN’T PERFECT — HERE’S WHAT BUYERS SHOULD KNOW

WHAT ARE THE NEGATIVES OF PELOTON?

The Peloton bike is an amazing piece of hardware. At the same time, nothing comes without faults and the Peloton is no exception, having multiple recalls over the years. Yes, faulty bike seats are a major issue if they are not replaced. Pedals that haven’t been replaced in years have the potential for injury as well. These are two very valid points, but thankfully in each situation, Peloton offers a free part replacement program for impacted bikes.

While a lot of people complain about certain parts being recalled, price is even bigger than these issues, because this can prevent you from experiencing anything that Peloton has to offer, the good or the bad.

Knowing how critical price is to the stationary bike marketplace, Peloton provides a number of different pricing options that allow users to access the Peloton that they want:

1. Cash Buyer
2. Finance Option
3. Rental Customer
4. Peloton Monthly Subscription

Before deciding on the best purchasing option to acquire a Peloton, learn as much as you can about the stationary bike as possible. This  Peloton Bike: Full Length Review & Hidden Usability Advantages blog post will get you up to speed, so you can feel comfortable with your decision, regardless of how you decide to pay for the bike.

HOW MUCH IS PELOTON PER MONTH?

With multiple purchase options, as indicated above. The answer to the question of how much is a new Peloton Cross Training Bike+ per month really is, it depends. If you have enough cash to buy the bike, the floor mat, the accompanying accessories, pay for taxes, order the assembly option as well and purchase the warranty outright, your monthly payment is $0 after you forked over the $3,617.91 up front. 

Maybe you decide to purchase the bike with Affirm, depending on the time period you select to pay off the balance on the account, your monthly payment is going to differ. You are going to have the highest monthly payment if you chose the 12 month 0% interest path.  The lowest possible payment is going to be over the course of 36 months, but due to the effects of interest, this is actually the most costly path.

To bring the Affirm example to life, I’m going to calculate your monthly payments across the different time periods for the Cross Training Bike+ and all the specified added features and benefits that were referenced previously.

**Separate $49.99 a month fee for the Peloton All Access Membership fee.

Keep in mind, a 4.99% interest rate is for someone who has exceptional credit. Not everyone is going to get 4.99% interest rate and the higher the interest rate along with a longer term to pay the loan back is going to spike the monthly payment. The higher the monthly payment over the course of the 24 or 36 month term, the more you are actually paying for the bike. This simple cash analysis is the reason why many people forget about ever owning a Peloton and decide to lease one instead.

HOW MUCH TO RENT A PELOTON?

To rent a Peloton is definitely going to be easier on your pocket book, when you take into consideration the interest rate that most people get is going to be higher than 4.99% due to credit worthiness. To rent the same bike, you pay a one time $150 set up and installation fee, after that the rental membership fee is only $124.99 per month. This price includes a worry free warranty and Peloton All Access Membership, which gives users access to all the content that Peloton has to offer. You can even structure the rental program so that you have the option to buy the Peloton Bike at any time that you desire. 

From a financial perspective, this is a very cost effective option, but if you are someone who is in the military or simply moves around every few months, this is a viable option as well, as opposed to having to breakdown and set up your Pelton in every new destination that you are assigned to. Neither purchasing or renting the Peloton Bike may be viable for you, but if you still like the workout content, you can look into Peloton’s various app subscriptions.

HOW MUCH IS PELOTON PER MONTH?

When people ask the question, how much is peloton per month, they are normally talking about the app subscription fees after the acquisition costs, whether that be purchasing it outright or financing it, there are four different price points. Each of these price points comes with various levels of access to the Peloton content library and of course has varying costs.

1. Peloton App One – $12.99
2. Peloton App+ – $28.99
3. Peloton Strength+ – $9.99
4. Peloton All Access Membership – $49.99

The Peloton App One is going to cost user $12.99 per month. In this app, you will have access to cardio equipment classes, yes, that includes cycling, treadmill and rowing classes. Other classes include, strength, pilates, meditation, yoga, stretching, dance cardio, barre, HIIT, boxing and outdoor running. Unfortunately, you only get access to three of those classes per month. This level of access is good for starters, but for those users that want a bit more, you definitely want to check out the other app memberships.

For $28.99 per month, Cycling, treadmill, rowing, strength, cardio, pilates, meditation, yoga, stretching, dance cardio, barre, HIIT, boxing and outdoor running classes are available in the Peloton App+ as well, thankfully there are no limitations here and you can take as many of these classes as you like. The great thing about this level of membership access is the real time metric tracking from third party devices. As long as you are riding on a Bluetooth FTMS enabled rower or treadmill, you will be able to track your metrics from that piece of equipment. Peloton App+ members also get access to Peloton Strength+ as a part of the package, but everything that you need to take full advantage of Peloton Strength+ isn’t available here.

Peloton Strength+ by itself is only $9.99 per month. As the name implies, the only type of content available with this level of membership is the strength content to get you ripped up for summer. Where the Peloton Strength App really shines is the instructional clips that shows how to set up the equipment and perform the exercises. On top of that, audio guidance gives in ear coaching cues and technique tips. If you’re really dialed into strength training, this is a great option, but this app membership level is only available on IOS devices, unlike Peloton App One and Peloton App+, which you can stream on your favorite smart devices.

DON’T FORGET ABOUT PELOTON ACCESSORIES

Regardless of what purchase option you decide to go with, purchase, finance or lease, you are going to need additional accessories to get the most out of your Peloton App subscription. You may want to focus on strength, having a wide range of dumbbell weights is imperative for something like this. Getting a versatile bench that allows you to do bench press, shoulder press and  incline bench press is essential as well. If you want to take it to the next level, getting a wall rack will increase the amount of exercises that you can do. Strength training might not be your thing, you may want to focus more on meditation and yoga and to be fully engaged in the courses in the Peloton app, you are going to need yoga blocks, a yoga mat and blankets as well if you want to fully enjoy Shavasana at the end of a yoga workout. 

Considering all the different types of workouts that Peloton has to offer you are going to want to take into consideration the added cost of the accessories for whatever workout discipline that you are going to be focused on. There are some classes that don’t call for accessories, but a lot of them do and you don’t want to feel limited if you don’t have a certain piece of equipment. So if you are going to purchase a Peloton bike, make sure to go all in and get everything you need to be fully immersed in the workout experience.

WHAT ABOUT REPAIRS?

You’ve thought about total cost, how you’re going to purchase the Peloton Bike, how much the monthly app subscription is and you even thought about the cost of accessories to take the classes in the Peloton App. When making this purchase, people often forget about repairs, if you’re buying a new Peloton Bike, there probably won’t be a need for repairs for a very long time. Even in the event that there is a need for repairs, it more than likely is going to be covered by the initial warranty. My wife and I can personally vouch for this as well, we bought our Peloton Bike in 2001 and bought our Peloton Tread+ shortly after in the latter part of 2002, none of these products have required a substantial repair. The only maintenance that was performed on our Peloton Bike was when we switched out the bike seat and pedals due to the Peloton Recall, but those parts were free under the part replacement program offered by Peloton.

Repairs are more of a concern if you are buying a second hand bike where you don’t know the mileage that was put on the bike or how the bike was maintained and treated. The one sticker shock moment that we had as it relates to getting our Peloton Tread+ repaired was when our monitor on the treadmill started acting up. After discussing this issue with multiple reps via email and going through the various steps that they discussed with us to correct the issue, we thought we were going to have to replace the monitor and that was going to be $700+. Thankfully, our situation ended up being a non issue, but if you’re in a situation where you bought a second hand Peloton Bike that wasn’t maintained as well and consistently needs repairs, while your cost to maintain it might not be as expensive as a Peloton Tread+, you’re going to be responsible for parts and labor. Whether you’re talking about a bike, treadmill, car or refrigerator, parts and labor can be expensive. To avoid the hassle and cost of constantly having to repair your bike, it’s best to either buy a new Peloton bike with the extended warranty or if you buy a second hand bike, be sure to check the repair history of the bike and see if the bike is still under the warranty, either the initial manufacturers warrantY or an additional extended warranty that was purchased by the current owner. 

PELOTON VS MEDICAL COSTS

Is there sticker shock when looking at the overall costs of a Peloton, absolutely there is, but health is wealth. You can keep the money in your account, not maintain your health, because your busy schedule doesn’t allow you to go to a gym and end up paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for a variety of health problems down the road. Or you can purchase the Peloton and work on maintaining your health every day and avoid major issues later in life. I constantly battle high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The Peloton is expensive, sure, but what’s even more expensive is a stroke or clogged arteries, the Peloton is totally worth it.