Life Fitness enters the fray against Peloton

Peloton keep shooting itself in the foot. By now you've probably heard about the negative publicity for its recent TV ad, this Inc. article being just one of many.

I've been decrying Peloton for its new, counterproductive policy of refusing to sell its bicycles to apartment building owners for use in their communal fitness centers, on the theory - completely untested and frankly stupid - that individual renters will buy their own Peloton equipment - at $2,400 or so, plus a monthly fee - for their apartments. Has anyone at Peloton checked out how much space there is in a typical 500-600-sf studio apartment?

Now we learn (thanks to an article by Robert Channick, of the Chicago Tribune) that Life Fitness, which caters to hotels and health centers, is going to be adding classes to its cycles, although the classes will be prerecorded, not live like Peloton's. It's an open question whether Life Fitness will sell its bicycles to apartment building owners. We hope so.

CHICAGO DEVELOPER FIGHTS BACK

Meanwhile, the battle goes on. Nick Vittore, Vice President at Chicago-area multifamily developer Svigos Asset Management - who's been doing some beautiful work restoring decommissioned Chicago Public Schools like the Mulligan School into elegant apartment communities (with the aid of architect Pappageorge Haymes Partners) - has written me tht he's going with Nordic Track commercial equipment for future exercise cycles.

Their next project: renovation of the Motley School, Chicago, into market-rate apartments. Stay tuned for more on that project.