Hacker News Reader

Comment by bluedino | Hacker News Reader

$2k isn't absurt for an exercise bike once you think about it. These are the same people who buy a $10,000 bike for recreational riding, remember.

You are dead on with the point about the instructors. My wife hated biking but they have Pelotons in her work gym, and she loves them, and talks about the instructors like they are real people.

People are fitness crazy right now. Crossfit gyms are $100-200 a month, Rogue has whole website of fitness equipment, you could easily spend $4,000 outfitting your house. And how many of us own a $600 blender?

View on HN

talks about the instructors like they are real people

That’s because they are real people! Working people who are doing a job, not actual friends of course. But still: real living, breathing, actual human beings.

Although I do wonder if buried somewhere in the business plan is the expectation of replacing them with AI-equivalents that don’t cost as much & don’t require pesky things like holidays or sick pay.

Probably what they mean is that she has a parasocial relationship[0] with the instructors i.e. she knows the instructor but the instructor does not know her.

[0]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasocial_interaction

Some of these instructors do a great job on social media too - promoting their rides on instagram, etc. It helps build the community aspect of it.

I actually think that's a small price to pay for how many people are taking their class. 1 instructor can draw 10k participants for a single ride.

Never thought I'd read exercise bike FUD. So much misinformation here. Thanks for clearing it up.

It's not remotely the same people who buy $10k regular bikes. I'd guess the cross-section of those two populations almost don't intersect at all.

I don't think the target is serious cyclists: for those people a bike trainer plus trainer road is clearly a better fit.

the first time i heard about the vitamix was when someone emailed the company for-fun mailing list asking for blender recommendations and immediately got 5 replies suggesting vitamix. its better than any other blender. it will change your life. buy them, they're a customer (of the company we were working at).

i seriously thought everyone was pulling an inside joke and i just didnt get it. i looked at the website, a $600 blender??

The instructors aren't real people?

"Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

I get what he means. You feel like they are people you know, not just instructors on a screen thousands of miles away.

They're real in the sense that the dude in the P90X videos is real. There's a difference between a personal trainer who works with you, and a remote team of drill sergeants relaying instructions to an indeterminate number of strangers following them online.

Have you ever tried a spin class at a gym? No one goes in with the expectation that it should be an experience like working with a personal trainer. So many absurd comments here, my head is starting to spin. (pun intended)

The whole point of the instructor is to instruct you and encourage you to work harder. They are there to keep you focused on the task. Never once felt like these people are virtual drill instructors, which insinuates a demeaning, impersonal experience.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com