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Peloton Seemingly Rolling Back GymKit Support [Updated]
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Hi would you mind letting me know details on what the Bluetooth adapter is? Thanks
people complaining have no reasonable understanding of how much workout machines cost, even without considering a "connected" "smart" machine such as this.
similarly, instead one make go acquire a smart bike from costco for a few hundred bucks, but after a year the current offerings require subscribing to that particular brand's membership or else the bike just does not work at all.
complaining about the cost of apple fitness is simply pure laziness. we sub to the local gym for ~$16/week with all hours access. usually in there for avg. 4-5 days per week so we definitely get our money back in terms of results and they've got a good variety of equipment.
again, fitness in general does not *have* to cost a great deal, and i agree with you that many people can seek to create their own results by doing their own workouts at home / running outside etc.
Never been a member at a gym? Those are overpriced scams that you have to get yourself to in order to participate. At least this one is in your house and provides fewer excuses.
I don’t know why they are a scam but
I don’t need or want it connected to the internet.
Tonal has said they plan to include GymKit support, but I will believe it when I see it.
They added a slightly larger screen, the ability to rotate the screen, GymKit and the ability to use the Apple Watch as a heart rate monitor, improved the sound system, and took away Ethernet. They also added the ability for the program to automatically adjust the resistance (something I thought was already in the regular bike), but only in the non-live classes (and some sources say if one has a heart rate monitor connected).
In other words, the three most useful features (GymKit, Apple Watch heart rate support and the swiveling screen for non-bike guided workouts) now specifically do not work together. In other words, this update makes the rest of their system less useful, and even makes the GymKit and heart rate support less useful, as now I need another heart rate monitor to do their classes.
No, Apple has not made it impossible to use Fitness+ if one has a Peloton bike. Peleton advertised a feature and then took away most of the benefit of the feature to make it harder for people to use both products together.
I am sure that they did it because of Fitness+, but Fitness+ in no way co-opts their entire model. Most of their model is based on their live classes and social features, neither of which Apple offers at this point.
Their problem is that someone who is outside their ecosystem but is an Apple user, is now much less likely to consider them as an option. With GymKit, they are competing on the quality of their user experience, without it, they are trying to compete exclusively through lock-in. Might work out well for them, and it might not. Especially if they get a lot of negative press over this, and even if they decide to add it back, they have made it clear it can go away at any point. That is not confidence inspiring.
No need for a bluetooth adaptor, if you buy the iPhone app called BlueHeart, with its corresponding Watch app, you can get it to be the conduit between the Watch and Peloton bike.
It's a little clunky of a process, in that you have to pick a ride on the Peloton, in settings on the bike go to connect to heart rate monitor, then launch the app on your iPhone, launch the app on your Watch, and it usually connects. Sometimes you have to go through the sequence a couple of times to get it connected, which can be frustrating.
I've gotten so used to it (I spin 6 days a week), that it is habit for me now. The developer who created the app is a Peloton user, so he built the app for his own use, which is awesome.
Fitness+ is $10 a month, $80 a year or included as part of Apple One Premier. Those can also be shared by up to 6 people in a family plan (although in many ways they are more comparable to the Peleton $12 a person digital subscription).
So each of you pays the same price as Fitness+ a month, the same price as Planet Fitness per person per month. Planet fitness also has weights machines, rowing machines, free weights, and does the maintenance and allows all 4 people to work out together on whichever machine they choose. Oh, and the PF member did not need to spend $8,000, up front.
Why can't you just pick a non-bike workout on the Peloton using the swivel screen and choose a corresponding workout from the apple watch options (cardio, strength, etc)? It won't show up on your screen but it will tell you on your watch?
I'm not asking this to be a smart@$$, I just don't see the need to continuously monitor my heart rate during a workout.
I’m thinking the same thing as this is a workaround.
This article and the comments in this thread certainly have me worried as someone who is now mulling over cancelling their upcoming order.
I've had the normal bike for a couple years now, almost at 600 rides. I've gotten by just fine with starting a class on the bike and starting a workout on my apple watch. When the announced the bike+, I literally had 0 interest in getting it!
That’s like what’s going to happen. Peloton’s not going to convert anyone to their $39 plan because many with that kind of money are likely in the Apple ecosystem already and think it’s cool to do things with their watch, phone, AppleTV, etc.
I doubt they’ll remove it, I don’t think the bike ever officially supported GymKit for anything outside cycling anyways. They were maybe trying it out/beta testing it, but I’m pretty sure the official documentation only ever mentioned cycling alone from the start (At least that’s what I remember reading a few months ago)
It looks like the nearest Planet Fitness is about 30 minutes away, compared to a 10 second walk. Also, two of us don't drive, and one is a minor, so the logistics get complicated. Oh, and we kept at it all during Covid lockdown. This is not equal value.
Even more to the point, the minor (our child) gets to see us work out and have fun doing it. We used to go to the nearest gym (at about $100 a month per person). The kiddo would see us procrastinate on going to the gym, something mysterious would happen, then we would come back all sweaty. To him, this looks terrible.
Instead, after watching us use the Peloton equipment and have fun, he wanted to do it, too. He's developed a healthy attitude towards exercise because he's seen us actually laugh out loud while working out. What's the value of that?
Makes sense for Peloton to make their own Watch and build their own eco system.
Nike had their Fuel Band, and were working to integrate their system in equipment, andd found only a couple of vendors that would agree to do it. I remember an article about how surprised they were that it was such a hard sell. It could have been one of the first cross platform systems to encourage people to exercise, and share their data, and encourage others to get off the couch. Instead, it all fell apart, and Nike dumped it. Others have tried to do it, and failed. Apple, and GymKit *could* be the one to bring them all together andd bind them, but I think the industry is so paranoid, they won't see a great thing that could help them market, without thinking that it's a way to drag them down to the same level as everyone else, which I can see, but dang... Look at the bicycle market. There are two bike computer linnes now, and they all use the same frequencies. So why can't the home exercise market standardize on something? Are they that paranoid. Sad... It's all so silly...
People ripping the Peloton don't have a clue what it offers.
When I started out on the Peloton, I was overweight, and needed an excuse to get busy. I liked a couple of the coaches right off, and was riding every day, sometimes twice a day. Since then, they have introduced a much wider variety of exercise options. They offer a community for support. There are people that have never exercised in their life who have bought into the Peloton and it's changed their life.
But anyway, flame on...
The industry needs to coalesce around an IT solution that allows people to own, and/or use equipment from different vendors to save their telemetry, and allows them to see their improvements over time. I had a LeMond spin bike that had a 'computer', and actually used the ANT+ frequency to send telemetry to their head unit. The data was encrypted, and couldn't be accessed by any other device but theirs. I dumped that bike in favor of the Peloton which shares data with quite a few different web based data pages. A major step up for many.
When I started out on the Peloton, I was overweight, and needed an excuse to get busy. I liked a couple of the coaches right off, and was riding every day, sometimes twice a day. Since then, they have introduced a much wider variety of exercise options. They offer a community for support. There are people that have never exercised in their life who have bought into the Peloton and it's changed their life.
But anyway, flame on...
The industry needs to coalesce around an IT solution that allows people to own, and/or use equipment from different vendors to save their telemetry, and allows them to see their improvements over time. I had a LeMond spin bike that had a 'computer', and actually used the ANT+ frequency to send telemetry to their head unit. The data was encrypted, and couldn't be accessed by any other device but theirs. I dumped that bike in favor of the Peloton which shares data with quite a few different web based data pages. A major step up for many.
First off - I bought the Peloton Tread +. While many of you are loosing your minds over the removal of gym kit - how bout there’s ZERO integration with Tread. As a executive in the media industry - I’m more in the realm of “take this brick back” bc of the lack of Apple integration. In fact they are idiots.
I can’t stop thinking about what could be versus what this closed ecosystem they have is a utter failure. Yea I’m PISSED that my watch won’t connect, my AirPods can’t connect, my workouts aren’t connected to my health app, etc. What’s LAME is how great this equipment could be WITH integration NOT without it. And yeah I’m so angry by the lack of integration that i want to return it. I don’t want to be chained to Pelotons third rate overpriced and under delivered experience. The real fact that I can’t even use Apple Music or Spotify through it for just MY OWN walk or run is lunacy.
Apple created Fitness+ bc this is yet another industry that’s totally disrupt-able. Integrate able content for consumption any device that’s integral to active lifestyle is a no brainer. Peloton betting the farm on a closed expanded ecosystem is suicidal. Just what I want to do is remove my Apple Watch and put on another device that isn’t compatible with my Apple gear. Ok.
I can’t stop thinking about what could be versus what this closed ecosystem they have is a utter failure. Yea I’m PISSED that my watch won’t connect, my AirPods can’t connect, my workouts aren’t connected to my health app, etc. What’s LAME is how great this equipment could be WITH integration NOT without it. And yeah I’m so angry by the lack of integration that i want to return it. I don’t want to be chained to Pelotons third rate overpriced and under delivered experience. The real fact that I can’t even use Apple Music or Spotify through it for just MY OWN walk or run is lunacy.
Apple created Fitness+ bc this is yet another industry that’s totally disrupt-able. Integrate able content for consumption any device that’s integral to active lifestyle is a no brainer. Peloton betting the farm on a closed expanded ecosystem is suicidal. Just what I want to do is remove my Apple Watch and put on another device that isn’t compatible with my Apple gear. Ok.
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