你已經看到廣告了。一位整潔的年輕職場人士正在設備齊全的高層公寓里騎著動感單車，他的面龐被面前的平板電腦照亮。你聽不到屏幕里傳出的教練的聲音，但你可以想象騎手正在喊著充滿鼓動性的話語。

這就是Peloton，它是繼身著健美褲的簡·方達帶動一波健身大潮之后的又一次現象級事件。這家公司成立于2012年，它的專利動感單車售價2,245美元，直播與按需課程的視頻訂閱費用為每周39美元。去年，該公司還推出了4,295美元的跑步機，拓展了其產品類型。

營銷攻勢已經讓Peloton的用戶基礎超過了競爭對手SoulCycle。Second Measure分析的信用卡交易顯示，Peloton在2018年讓SoulCycle黯然失色。Peloton并未公布用戶數量，不過表示訂閱數在去年翻了一番。

如今，Peloton正在為SoulCycle在2018年放棄的一件事情做著準備：上市。公司提交文件的那一刻，分析師將會迫不及待地了解其高價設備和訂閱的利潤空間。這對投資者來說是難以抵抗的。公司募集了不到10億美元的私人投資，上一輪融資的估值為40億美元。

想要獲得進一步增長，挽留用戶將是關鍵。Peloton的教練本身就是社交媒體上的名人，他們很好地維持了家庭健身愛好者的參與度。不過隨著課程人數的激增，他們這種私人接觸有著減少的風險。

如果公司可以把這種精英階層的感覺維持下去，即使同時健身的用戶只有1萬名，Peloton也能在市場上繼續保持領先。（財富中文網）

本文另一版本登載于《財富》雜志2019年4月刊，標題為《Peloton的崛起》。

譯者：嚴匡正

By now you’ve seen the ads. A trim young professional is riding an exercise bike in a perfectly appointed high-rise apartment, his face lit by the glow of a tablet in front of him. You can’t hear the instructor on the screen, but you can imagine the sort of motivational spiel being called out to the riders.

This is Peloton, and it’s the biggest thing in home exercise since Jane Fonda in leggings. The company, founded in 2012, sells its proprietary bike for $2,245 and a monthly subscription to video streams of its live and on-demand classes for $39. Last year it introduced a $4,295 treadmill and expanded its class offerings.

A marketing blitz has pushed Peloton’s user base past that of rival SoulCycle. According to credit card transactions analyzed by Second Measure, Peloton eclipsed SoulCycle in 2018. Peloton hasn’t released user numbers but says it doubled its subscribers last year.

Now Peloton is preparing to do what SoulCycle backed out of doing in 2018: go public. When it files, analysts will be keen to learn the margins on both its high-priced equipment and subscriptions. It’s that combination that has been irresistible to investors. The company has raised just short of $1 billion in private money, with a valuation as of its last round of $4 billion.

With further growth, user retention will be key. Peloton instructors, social media celebrities in their own right, do an impressive job at keeping home riders engaged. But as classes balloon in size, they risk losing that personal touch.

If it can keep that boutique-class feel, even as 10,000 people ride along concurrently, Peloton will continue to lead the pack.

A version of this article appears in the April 2019 issue of Fortune with the headline “Peloton’s Climb.”