• Light/Dark

Peloton bricks treadmills for non-subscribers

Syriel

Syriel

Banned
Dec 13, 2017
11,088
You bought a $4k treadmill?

Can't use it without a monthly fee anymore because the "Just Run" option was removed in a software update.

TIME TO SUBSCRIBE!!!

AALjRGt.img


Peloton's treadmills and fitness bikes have "Just Run" and "Just Ride" modes, which people could previously use without memberships. It meant owners could use their machine even if they didn't want to pay for classes, or if they wanted to cancel their membership at any time.

Jennifer Strong, 39, is one such user. She prefers to use her $4,000 treadmill on her own without Peloton's instructors, she told Insider. This means she gets the benefits of the high-tech machine without the monthly fee, she said.

On Wednesday, Strong turned on her treadmill and found that the "Just Run" feature had disappeared after the machine downloaded an automatic software update. This update was rolled out to add a new safety lock feature, which Peloton introduced after recalling the machines over safety concerns.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Source:
 
Orayn

Orayn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,238
Time for the CFW scene to give people access to their devices again, like they did with tractors, nebulizers, etc.
 
Wrexis

Wrexis

Member
Nov 4, 2017
21,639
What's disgusting about this is that they're selling this as a preventative measure as a child was killed due to a design flaw in the treadmill.
So now a child can't just hit the start button on the treadmill I guess?

If you want to see the design flaw, there's a video here. It's very disturbing but the child was okay. But fuck Peloton for not fixing this.
 
impingu1984

impingu1984

Member
Oct 31, 2017
3,457
UK
As a peloton user

I want to pay a monthly fee

So that I can use my $4k peloton exercise equipment..

Great user story that..
 
BlackJace

BlackJace

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
5,513
The blowback against printers doing this bullshit was in the consumer's favor, so I think they're gonna roll this back, fast.
 
Aurongel

Aurongel

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
7,065
This will surely help rebuild their public image after their recent PR blunders.

Sounds to me like they're discontinuing the whole damn line and want their current customers to stop using it immediately. They should just issue a blanket refund at this point.
 
entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
61,404
Lots of boneheaded moves from Peloton of late with that treadmill.
 
TheCthultist

TheCthultist

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,459
New York
Now that is impressively scummy... never owned one of these things, but I'm assuming there was no way of seeing this coming before now?
 
sfedai0

sfedai0

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,159
I still find it incredulous that people would not only buy a incredibly over priced treadmill but then also pay a large sub fee on top of it.
 
Fuzzy

Fuzzy

Completely non-threatening
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
18,211
Toronto
I'm assuming now that everyone is getting vaxxed they're cancelling their subscriptions and Peloton is looking for a way to keep them subscribed? 😆
 
chefbags

chefbags

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,353
lol that black mirror episode coming through every day. Can't wait to watch some ads to make my peloton work so I can run lol
 

slothrop

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Aug 28, 2019
3,976
USA
I know this isn't the gaming side, but man this is why stuff like Epic's lawsuit against Apple's closed platform really does have broader resonance. It comes from the same general place and strategy. It at least reveals where regulatory pressure is needed even if it is not currently against the law.
 
Dyle

Dyle

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
30,321
It's wild how quickly Peloton has made it into the bottom tier of tech companies. Just absolutely nothing worthwhile about the entire company at this point
 
Kernel

Kernel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,104
Hey they give you 3 months for free! Lol.

This sounds like when Keurig created K-cup DRM. Blowback should be savage.
 

Deleted member 83599

Banned
Oct 22, 2020
6,280
sfedai0 said:
I still find it incredulous that people would not only buy a incredibly over priced treadmill but then also pay a large sub fee on top of it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
The fact that they don't even throw in the subscription for the first 6-12 months is what really shocks me about Peloton.

I understand not giving people a lifetime subscription with each bike; you've gotta have a long-term revenue stream, after all. But not even offering a few complimentary months when we're talking about $2K+ pieces of equipment is just insane to me.

(Note to all: Correct me if I'm wrong on any of this.)
 
entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
61,404
sfedai0 said:
I still find it incredulous that people would not only buy a incredibly over priced treadmill but then also pay a large sub fee on top of it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
That's the whole point though. Their classes. Otherwise, you can get another treadmill.

What's funny is that you can get Peloton Digital (their tablet/phone subscription) and just use a regular treadmill too.
 
Grouch Douglass

Grouch Douglass

Banned
Nov 9, 2017
3,777
Reminds me of that time Kuerig tried to only allow officially barcoded K cups by installing a scanner on the machine. As far as I am aware they never really recovered the momentum they once had after that move.
 
anariel

anariel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
961
I imagine for anyone buying one of these that subscription price is pretty much a drop in the ocean, but the way they went about implementing this is about the scummiest way possible. They could have just made any new series of treadmills require a subscription going forward rather than making it retroactive and it wouldn't look nearly as bad. (Don't get me wrong that would still suck, just slightly less so)

What an awful idea.
 
Last edited:
Swiggins

Swiggins

was promised a tag
Member
Apr 10, 2018
11,560
Peloton seriously reminds me of Juicero from a few years back.

A needlessly overcomplicated ""redesign"" of something that already worked with a subscription model for absolutely no reason.
 
Boy

Boy

Member
Apr 24, 2018
4,638
If no one pays for the subscription then how are they gonna keep the treadmill servers running?
 
The Argus

The Argus

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,307
I love my Bike Plus, but this is a bad look for the company. Even when the internet drops I can't do a free-ride, but I can if my sub were to expire.
 
Aurongel

Aurongel

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
7,065
Dust said:
When your treadmill has WiFi access you already fucked up.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Why? The prospect of easily having something to watch during a workout as a distraction has very real benefits to one's ability to "tune out" an otherwise boring fitness regimen. Just because it's poorly (see: greedily) implemented here doesn't mean it's a bad concept overall.
 
DJ_Lae

DJ_Lae

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,941
Edmonton
I love the 'we care deeply about our users' bullshit that it opens with.

I guess someone was bound to try this sort of thing with exercise equipment. They must figure they have the brand clout to not make people furious...which I very much doubt. People will be pissed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.