Terre Pruitt's Blog

So, if you are on Facebook you may have experienced the situation where you look at something on the internet, or you talk to someone about something, or you click on something and the next thing you know all the ads on your Facebook feed are that thing.  Have you had that happen?  Two of the last four things I had that experience with surprised me with how many different ones were out there.  Recently my feed has been full of fake eyelashes – as you may know, nail polish, tiaras, and stationary bikes.  The two things I didn’t realize there were so many of were the fake eyelashes, the magnetic kind and the stationary bikes.  Well, these are not the ordinary stationary bikes, the kind that are just bikes that don’t go, these are the kind that have a monitor attached to them and where there is some sort of monthly subscription to classes that you get roped into.  I used to see the commercials for Peloton on TV all the time, but we are – thankfully – primarily watching shows without commercials.  But it is me looking at the Peloton that got me into this bikes-on my-Facebook feed situation.

I really thought that Peloton was the ONLY bike that had live classes you could “attend” and that was why and HOW it was so expensive.  I thought they had the market cornered, but NO!  Wow, there are a lot of bikes out there that have subscription based classes.  I had NO idea.  Do you know the type of bikes I am talking about?

The Peloton is a stationary bike — it goes NO WHERE — that has a monitor on it and you can ride it as you take live classes.  I am not going to get into all that each of these bikes has to offer, I am just throwing out some info and the fact that there are these bikes.  As I said – I HAD NO IDEA.  Peloton has different bikes and different levels of subscription, but one of their bikes is linked up to where your bike responds to what the trainer in class is setting the levels at.

There is the NordicTrack which has a lot of scenic rides and the bike actually goes up and down.  So if you are riding up a hill it gets more difficult (from what I understand) AND the bike inclines!  So you can feel like you are actually riding outside.

There is a bike called the CAROL bike it looks like it has its own subscription or you can use Peloton digital.  CAROL website says: “AFTER THREE “CALIBRATION RIDES”, CAROL GETS TO KNOW YOU AND EXACTLY HOW HARD TO PUSH YOU.

CAROL’s algorithms calculate and instantly apply the exact resistance you need to reach “supramaximal” power. In each ride, multiple metrics are measured. CAROL re-calculates the resistance in your next ride to reflect your progress and ability.”  WHOA!

There’s the Pro-form, Echelon, MYXFitness, Stryde, and Bowflex . . . . these are just the ones I am seeing on my Facebook feed.  I did a quick internet search and so many more came up.  I had no idea!

I guess I am just amazed that there are so many.  I didn’t realize there were so many people that like to ride stationary bikes.  It seems that many of the memberships include classes other than just spin (old-school name) classes, some have yoga, stretch, stretch, and more. Some of them, like Paloton, NordicTrack, Pro-Form, Echelon, and Bowflex have equipment other than bicycles that also tie into their class memberships.  So with some of the platforms you don’t even have to buy any of their equipment, you can just become a member and do their workouts.

I also guess that with gyms being closed in many places these types of things have become more popular.

So QUESTIONS . . . I want answers, please.

Have you heard of Peloton?  Have you heard of NordicTrack?  Have you heard of any of the others ones I mentioned?  What ones have you heard of that I have not mentioned?  Do you have a stationary bike?  Do you have a treadmill?  Do you every get inundated with ads on Facebook from something you looked up on the internet or just talked about?