The virtual road to success for exercise brand Peloton has some potholes. First there was the bike’s controversial role in the death of Sex and the City character Big (Chris Noth) in the series update And Just Like That… Stock price challenges followed, putting the purchase of a $US55 million ($77 million) home in East Hampton by outgoing chief executive John Foley under scrutiny and now global job cuts for 2800 employees have been planned.
Part of the severance package for employees includes a year’s free membership to Peloton’s fitness classes. For those choosing endorphins over anger, the problem of where to put their connected stationary bike remains.
Interior decorators recommend keeping exercise equipment out of sight but converts are keeping them on display.Credit:Peloton
The exercise bike which connects to streamed classes, led by cult instructors such as Cody Rigsby, has already infiltrated Australian homes, with fitness equipment now sitting pride of place in living spaces, replacing replicas of Noguchi coffee tables.
Before lockdown, weight sets, stair machines and thigh masters would have been sentenced to spare rooms and garages but designer bikes, including Peloton and Technogym, gave stay-at-home cyclists a domestic gym fix, rapidly becoming sweat status symbols. While many people are returning to the gym, converts are still pedalling beside the pantry or their living room pouffes.
“I have it inside, looking out over the garden,” says fashion designer Rebecca Vallance, who purchased a Peloton for her home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs when her local cycle studio closed during lockdown. “I will exercise with the doors and windows open. I’m obsessed. Don’t get me started on Cody. Occasionally, you get bees, but that’s ok.”
“You have to be pretty happy with where you put them because they are heavy. I don’t care who sees it. My husband also jumps on it, so having it where we can see it means that we are more likely to use it.”
The bathroom was popular with And Just Like That… character Big, but not with interior decorators.
Sharing the living room approach is freelance fashion writer Benjamen Judd, who keeps a Peloton between the kitchen and living space in his home in Sydney’s inner west after liberating it from a spare bedroom.
“My partner and I had a heated conversation about whether we should return it when the gyms re-opened,” Judd said. “It stayed, and he uses it more than I do. It’s quite strange to be watching television and have someone beside you breathing heavily, moving to a beat that you don’t know with headphones on and glistening with sweat.”
Speaking days before the global job cuts were announced, the country manager for Peloton in Australia, Karen Lawson, was confident that customers would continue to embrace the bike, rather than see it become another garage casualty next to bread makers, old air fryers and colourful kettle bells.
“People forget we’ve been going for 10 years,” Lawson said. “Every year it’s grown and grown. Connective fitness is not a new thing.”
Lawson’s Peloton sits at the front of her house, overlooking the street. “It’s like a work of art,” she said. “To own one, there is a sense of real pride. The community is so passionate. You do want to show it off.”
Interior stylist Jason Grant is yet to experience the burning desire to own an exercise bike and is not sure that he would recommend them as part of a client’s domestic aesthetic.
“I definitely couldn’t imagine having one in the bathroom even if you had one big enough to fit an exercise bike,” Grant said. “Quite frankly if you can afford a Peloton you can hopefully afford a place with a space dedicated to exercise. Wouldn’t you rather go outside for a ride?”
The cost of a Peloton begins at $2495, with $3695 for the Bike+, before committing to a subscription of $59 a month for classes.
Blainey North, an interior designer who spends her time working on super yachts, Crown properties and New York residential developments, believes that exercise equipment should definitely have a dedicated space. Tamsin Johnson, author of Spaces for Living agrees.
“If you have the luxury of private spaces and a garage, you should probably keep them there,” Johnson said. “I like furniture that’s a bit more welcoming.”
For exercise addict and leading luxury visual merchandiser Axel Rogers, the Peloton is a welcome addition to his Barry’s Bootcamp workouts, occupying a corner in the sleeping quarters of the one-bedroom apartment he shares with his partner.
“My partner chose it because it fits with the minimalist design of our place,” Rogers said. “When I’m using it I just close the doors and the space becomes my arena spectacular.”
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