FORTUNE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2021 29EXERCISECan Peloton KeepUp the Pace?
The fitness-tech company’s
business sprinted ahead
during the pandemic. Now it
faces a pack of new rivals.
BY ROBERT HACKETTA FEW DAYS after pro-Trump riot-
ers storm Congress, I mount my
trial Peloton bike to let off steam.
Curious about the company’s
handling of the chaos, I select a
30- minute “high-intensity interval
training and hill ride” recorded on
Jan. 6, while law enforcement cleared
the Capitol. I clamp on my clip-in
shoes and join the cycling session’s
Adonic trainer, Cody Rigsby, who ap-
pears on an attached tablet screen.
“What we’re gonna do is usemovement and sweat and
resilience and tenacity to
get us through and process
all of that emotion, okay?”
Rigsby sermonizes, legs
whirring in sync with an
electro-house jam.
Sweat drips. Endor-
phins course. As I pedal
harder, Peloton—a busi-
ness I long dismissed from
the sidelines as a frivolous
luxury—begins to make
sense. Something is bub-
bling up within me—a
frisson. It’s the feeling
that John Foley, Peloton’s
cofounder and chief execu-
tive, refers to when he tells
me he wants his exercise
equipment and classes “to
feel like a warm hug.”
Perhaps no one is feel-
ing more snuggled than
Peloton and its inves-
tors right now. During
the COVID lockdowns
that began last year, the
connected-bike maker
quickly became one of the
pandemic’s biggest win-
ners. Millions of suddenly
gym-less people scrambled
to satisfy their fitness fixes
with Peloton’s at-home
gear and workout app. In
response, the company’s
shares have soared. Since
going public in September
2019, Peloton’s stock price
has sextupled to $157.14.
But Peloton is about to
face its most challenging
incline yet. With more
people getting vaccinated,
more gyms are poisedTHE BRIEFPeloton’s exercise
bikes have given it a
major foothold in the
market for at-home
fitness equipment.ORIGINAL PHOTOS: COURTESY OF PELOTON; NICK VEASEY—SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/GETTY IMAGES
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY
ARMIN HARRIS