Peloton Has New Competition As Fiit Launches Air Bike Workouts
Peloton is facing fresh competition from Fiit, a fitness company that is launching interactive workouts using an air bike. Peloton has dominated the home workout market for many years, providing workout classes that track a user’s activity via their proprietary exercise bike or its Tread treadmills (although those have had some serious issues). Since Peloton’s launch in 2012, it has become a multi-national company with a valuation of almost $30 billion. It has also inspired several competitors, including Tonal, a resistance training device, and Mirror, a smart mirror geared toward cardio workouts. Even Apple has gotten into the space with its Fitness+ subscription service.
These days, there are a lot of options for fixed-position cycling. Along with the traditional exercise bike, there are spinning bikes and even stationary rigs to convert a road bike for indoor use. Still, many consider the air bike the most efficient and challenging of them all. Unlike other bikes, air bikes make use of a fan to create resistance. The harder a rider pedals, the more air they pull into the fan, which makes the session tougher.
Fiit has offered subscription-based workouts since its launch in 2017. The company provides a fitness tracker that sits around the user’s upper torso, gathering data about their workouts. The firm has previously focused on cardio and strength training, with virtual classes for kettlebells, yoga, and more. Now with its air bike classes, Fiit promises subscribers will be able to work out “almost every muscle in the body” and plans to open up "early access" to its new air bike workouts in January, 2022.
Unlike Peloton, Fiit is not providing its own bike (shown above). Instead, the company has partnered with AssaultBike, which is a division of gym equipment firm Assault Fitness. Though the AssaultBike is completely human-powered, Fiit promises it will still be able to pull data from the bike as well as the rider. It remains to be seen how this will work, including whether it will involve any additional hardware.
Although all workout businesses are competition for Peloton, the nature of what Fiit is offering might be different enough that it could carve out its own space. Peloton’s bikes are ostensibly aimed at a broad range of users; from people just starting to get into exercise, to those who workout religiously. By focusing on the notoriously challenging air bike, Fiit is seemingly positioning itself toward those who really want a truly intense workout. As the company notes, its hardest level of classes (dubbed Boss Mode) are its most popular, so zeroing in on the grueling air bike might just appeal to those who view Peloton’s offerings as too easy.
Source: Fiit