Spin is a great cardio exercise. It’s safe, fun and efficient. The best studio is Soul Cycle. (AGEIST tip: the all-time, all-world instructor is MB Regan. She just makes life better.) But getting to Soul is not always convenient, so we have recently been trying out the strangely compelling virtual instructor experience of Peloton. It’s a spin bike with a large flat screen video attached to the front. You can attend a live class, but we prefer to pick a class based on difficulty, length, music and instructor.
I have been trying to understand why it is that I think about Peloton on days that I am not using it. There is a certain compulsive element to it. Clearly, they have put a huge amount of thought into the experience, between the gamification of the on-screen data, the look of the instructors, the lighting, the music…nothing is random. You are meant to make an account with an email and they will send you your weekly updates, adding to its emotional traction.
But aside from the bio-monitoring, which is easily bypassed, it’s an incredible program. Our offices are above a gym that has a couple of the bikes that can be used for free, and 3 times a week I am on one of them. If I lived somewhere less urban, I would buy one of these bikes in a second. They are brilliant. One ride and the company’s $4 billion valuation becomes completely understandable. But, should you be in a city where MB is teaching, do her class. Real life always beats virtual.
