- 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 $4 billion.
- SoulCycle is an indoor cycling workout brand that launched in 2006 and now has 90 studios across the United States 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 $36 a class.
Then Peloton came along. The high-tech fitness company, which launched in 2012, enables users to stream live classes from anywhere, making it possible to get a SoulCycle-style experience without ever leaving your bedroom.
And it seems to be paying off. Peloton was valued at $4 billion after it closed a $550 million financing round in August.
New data released by analytics firm Second Measure,which tracks the credit and debit purchases from a pool of four million US customers, showed that for the first time ever Peloton overtook SoulCycle with 4% more customers during the third quarter of 2018.
A spokesperson for SoulCycle disputed the data in a statement to Business Insider.
"The data is not only incomplete, it's wrong. SoulCycle is highly profitable. Studio revenue has increased year over year, paid rides are up, total rides are up and our active ridership has not decreased. We're also seeing an increase in the number of classes our active riders take each month," the spokesperson said.
Peloton said that its user base has doubled in the past year.
Earlier this year, we put these two cult-favorite brands to the test to see which offered 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.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider