Alls I know is a prerequisite for being popular is getting your arms outstretched whilst sitting up on the saddle and shouting what I call fauxsperational remarks (vapid inspirational tropes). If you do those things you can become popular as an instructor

I don't understand your point. It seems to work really well for millions of people who have the Peloton, so I am not sure what you trying to say.

And one of the other "doubters" who chimed in earlier mentioned that many of the instructors are not even that fit. Apparently he is not aware that Matt Wilpers produces 4.3 w/kg on the bike. He has obviously also never taken a class with Olivia Amato or Emma Lovewell.

I'm trying to say that a lot of people love that guru type gobbledygook in spin instructors, I'm not saying anything about the quality of the platform or it isn't good exercise, just that there's a certain type of look and demeanor that goes with being a popular instructor. Spin instructors try to be so deep and inspirational, sometimes it's just a workout. So yeah I do think shallow vapid stuff is popular. Doesn't mean it's not good for people's health, but I sure as heck am going to make fun of the cliched approach

My knowledge on measuring power is very limited, so maybe one of you can help me out here. If my power meter is not accurate to actual power (lets assume its out 15%), if I am always using the same bike, trainer, wheels, pedals, etc to measure power does it really matter? If for example i ride 7 days for a month and improve my ftp 10% with no change in weight would this still not be a 10% improvement regardless (just 10% of an initially high value that was calculated 15% higher originally)? I understand the inaccuracy creates problems for Zwift racing or if I switch from say a Peloton to a roadbike with a different power meter there will be a delta. I also understand that some people may say my FTP is not that high if I tell them based on my inaccurate power meter but assuming I can live with the tongue lashing does it really matter?

Just wanted to pass along my thanks - your in-depth review was a big part of why my wife and I bought the bike+, and I decided to ditch my *brand redacted* smart trainer. I've really enjoyed using it and I've found it to be a highly underrated training tool for triathlon.

Scientists who invest in their study for >20 years, create original research that no human has previously known, and then come up with new ways to cure/prevent/treat diseases that kill thousands or more every year do not make that much. You could be the guy/gal who came up with the solution to avoiding the next plague (post-covid) that prevents millions from dying and loss of trillions of $$... The amount that a person is worth is subjective to the person that is willing to pay them based on how much they feel those people are worth (and in the case of scientists, we are viewed as pairs of thumbs by business types). The question of value could be raised about any actor, singer, politician, CEO, etc. It is a valuation based on soft metrics.

Stephen J

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I believe my local reality has been violated.
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Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2

I think a little yes, and a little no. I think that it comes down to luck...do you think that there could not be a ton of people that could also act as good as any other actor/actress that is currently in Holywood? A bunch of makeup, and even I could look presentable...but they got their 'big break'. They got LUCKY. They had enough skill while being in the right place at the right time. It is classic anthropic principle. Yes pro triathletes are leaving money on the table, but they are also at the wrong table; and the table keeps appearing and disappearing at random.

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I believe my local reality has been violated.
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Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2

I'd say big gym chains, like movie theatre chains, are very endangered species. They were anyway. COVID just ramped up their decline about 10 years in 1. That's not to say they will go away, but diminished for sure...and going away in probably how we know and think of them by 2030.

The at-home training (and movie watching, and food takeout, and...) phenomenon has been brewing for last decade...2020 is ripping it forward.

Ever heard of sunk cost fallacy? To the extent you are trying to help me, yes sometimes I take for granted that people make rational decisions and you are reminding me that many people are in fact irrrational. The fact that I paid $2000 for a bike shouldn't be a motivation to continue to pay $50/month for a subscription indefinitely if I lose interest, just so I can feel like I got my moneys worth. What I will agree with, is the high entry costs for Peloton means they are operating in a higher income market, where people have more disposable income (and paying $50 per month, even if there is minimal value just doesn't matter). But I wouldn't really call that stickiness objectively, because its mostly a relic of the market you are operating in, not the actual product. I'm just saying a Peloton customer with a $200,000 household income may be less likely to cancel than someone with an $80,000 household income, but this is all based on household income, not the actual product. So its no wonder companies are always trying to operate in this market, because once you are there its a lot easier to be sticky.

Also, I think you are misrepresenting what I said. Someone claimed peloton subscriptions were "sticky" because his wife didn't cancel for some reason. Cool story bro.

All I've really said in this thread, is people keep attributing their subscriptions to some specific instructors and all I have said is no one has actually presented any evidence that is true. All I said is it is an interesting question and there would be multiple ways to evaluate it using analytics (and at a pretty low cost). And maybe Peloton has done that, or not, but nobody here knows that. So all I am doing is pushing back on people claiming to have knowledge of things that none of us know, unless the analytics manager from Peloton posts here and gives us the straight dope.

That's been true for a long time. However, in the past 10 years there has been an analytics/data revolution and the most successful businesses are moving to quantitative models of everything. And if not to absolutely make the decision using an analytics model, to make sure the model results are considered, so people are not making large financial business decisions based strictly on how they "feel" about.

If Peloton is actually making their compensation decisions for their instructors, without information from an analytics based model of the importance of that element of their business then they aren't as smart as I thought. If anything, the advantages for prospective instructors to improve their own personal brand (by exposure through Peloton) would seem like a reason they wouldn't need to pay anywhere near the amounts being suggested.

Depends on the type of error when you say not accurate.
- If everything is offset (e.g., reading 10 watts high), not a big deal except for the points you listed
- If everything is scaled (e.g., 1.2x 100 -> 120, 200 -> 240) you'll mess up calculations that use power like NP (Normalized Power) which "counts" higher intensity efforts higher ( https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...culator..._P3097774/ )
- If the errors aren't consistent across power ranges, then you might as well have a random number generator

But those models are flawed because they are unsustainable based on a belief that everything that will ever be made/invented is already here...Relating this example to triathlon; it is like an athlete looking to get faster...so they buy fast clothing, a new bike that fits better, faster shoes, faster wetsuit. Eventually they will run out of things to buy to make them faster; and the only way to get faster is to train more (i.e. invest in an outcome that involved risk that it will not result in becoming faster). This is the trap that business has fallen into and it is completely understandable because this is what they teach in MBA school about how to make money. People stick to what they know, because change is really hard to do for most of our species.

So in this case, it looks like Peloton is compensating by purchasing into a know quantity...just like a large company that buys up a small business that has come out with a flavor candy that everyone claims is soooo good and innovative. And just like a small company has an exit strategy of being bought by a large company for (hopefully) more than they are really worth the same analogy could be drawn here.

At least that is my take on it; but what do I know, Im just a pair of thumbs.

Stephen J

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I believe my local reality has been violated.
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Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2

Haha...just keep slaving at NEE and don't be too tired from training to help the EPS....its on a good run. thank you :-). Shape of the stock price is similar to PTON but different rate of growth in the last 6 months, except PTON is a house of cards waiting for the poor retail guy holding the bag on a hype stock LOL

I thought this was hilarious:

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

That was hard to watch, just because of all the wrong saddle heights!

L O L no corny inspirational speeches here......love the Larry David show trombone music bit too.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Random addition, but somewhat on topic............somebody from our old church that I follow on Facebook posts up EVERY workout they do on their Peloton online. All.

Always interesting seeing a calorie estimate that's like 1.5x the "kilojoules" reading. Kilojoules in quotes as we already know the often dubiously inflated figures of these things.

I'm all for folks doing something like riding their Peloton instead of cruising conspiracy theories from their mom's basement..........it's just eye opening the 30min and 45min workout KJ figures they post up versus what I'm used to for a 2 hr tempo Zwift ride. Like, some of those Peloton rides I could probably eat those KJ's in a matter of seconds.

I just hope folks stick with it and grow in their abilities. I know it's worked for some folks. If you can grow into burning more KJ per workout.

Not related at all

Peloton instructors don’t swim and run

Saw that and immediately thought 'Oh, that's gonna be on Slowtwitch tomorrow'

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin