- Peloton has revolutionized home fitness with its high-tech indoor bike, which enables users to stream live classes from home. The company launched in 2012 and is now valued at about $1.3 billion.
- SoulCycle is an indoor cycling workout brand that launched in 2006 and now has 85 studios across the US and Canada. It's known for inspiring a cult-like following of fans.
- We compared the experience of taking a class with each brand, and there was a clear winner.
Indoor cycling is becoming the most competitive space in the fitness market. Until 2012, SoulCycle seemed to be invincible with its cult following of fans who were prepared to pay as much as $34 a class.
Then Peloton came along.
This high-tech fitness company, which launched in 2012, enables users to stream live classes from anywhere, making it possible to get the SoulCycle-style experience without ever leaving your bedroom.
And it seems to be paying off. Peloton now has a cult following of fans who are obsessed with its core product, the $1,995 indoor bike. Noah Wintroub, a vice-chairman at JPMorgan, has even called Peloton "the Apple of fitness."
In May 2017, the company was valued at about $1.3 billion after it closed a $325 million financing round with investors including Wellington Management, Fidelity Investments, Kleiner Perkins, and Comcast NBCUniversal. In February, it unveiled its latest product, a treadmill that will be available to buy this fall.
SoulCycle, which is now majority-owned by Equinox, has been around since 2006. It has 85 studios across the US and Canada and is reportedly looking to open up in London in 2018.
The company is private and therefore does not report financials. However, when the company made plans to go public in 2015, it reported a total revenue of $112 million that year, up 76% from its $36.2 million total revenue in 2012.
We decided to put these two cult-favorite brands to the test to see which offers a superior experience:
We headed over to the Westin Hotel near Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan to trial a Peloton bike, which is available for hotel guests to use.
The first thing that struck us is how much better the size of the bike is compared to its newest product, the Tread.
This bike could easily occupy a corner of your apartment without being too intrusive.
Each bike has a touchscreen from which you can stream live and on-demand classes. It costs $39 a month to stream these classes.
Peloton has a cycling studio in Manhattan, where you can attend these classes in person if you'd like. There are between 11 and 13 classes a day, and you can also stream these classes from home.
The touchscreen was user-friendly, and at 22 inches in size, it's easy to see.
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