Peloton Bikes have been available for use at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Recreation since 2023. However, the department recently wanted to increase engagement on campus, so the leadership team promoted Peloton’s education discount.
The discount is available to students at $6.99 per month and educators at $9.99 per month. It’s specifically for the use of Peloton App One, and existing members can also login and update their account.
“Promoting this discount is just another way to keep students connected and active,” said Stephanie Smith, the director of MIT Recreation. “The classes and programs Peloton offers through the app are easily accessible for students whether it’s midnight and they’re trying to wind down, studying abroad or they’re in their residence hall and just want a quick 20-minute workout or stretch.”
Smith said the Peloton Bikes have enabled MIT Recreation to diversify fitness equipment and meet the needs of students and community members who either already use the Peloton app or are looking for the connected fitness experience.
“Any time you can reach new or less-engaged students and members it’s a good thing for our campus and for our community,” said Smith. “The commercial bike software is great because they allow users to create their own account that works only on commercial bikes so they can do live or on-demand classes.”
Peloton Benefits and Details
The department’s fitness team initially took a wait-and-see approach and conducted a thorough review with their campus recreation professional network before moving forward with a purchase of the Peloton Bikes.
“MIT students, our Recreation ambassadors and the campus community members have been asking for Peloton Bikes for years, so once they were installed, we saw immediate use and positive feedback,” said Smith. “We have four bikes across two facilities and created what we call our Peloton Pavilion. As a result of the popularity, we’ve found the equipment needs regular preventative maintenance. Our team put new processes in place with our repair and maintenance vendor on servicing our bikes and having more replacement parts on hand to minimize down times.”
Smith said there’s even more potential to think differently around how Peloton can work with campus rec programs to not only reach the non-varsity athletes on campus but also university employees.
“What we’ve done at MIT is start by offering the bikes inside the recreation center and begin promoting app discounts,” said Smith. “Peloton created a marketing toolkit to help with the promotion. You can’t beat the quality of the content and classes. This added benefit for students helps fill the gaps for them and creates options for students who can’t regularly come take our classes in-person or participate in a formal program.”
Future Improvements and Tips
Smith advised to position the bikes with enough space for users to take the Bike Bootcamp classes and to have dumbbells and mats nearby. Their fitness team also hung signage around the bikes explaining login options and student app discount pricing, and they placed screen-specific cleaning rags and solution nearby.
Moving forward, Smith said the department would love to work more with Peloton on measuring downloads, access and engagement for the campus. Using that data helps tell the story of the student discount’s impact.
“I would encourage recreation leaders to treat this initiative like most — start with the data, talk with your stakeholder groups and test the market to see if your campus or community is looking for connected fitness equipment and/or the app experience,” said Smith. “Find spaces for the equipment you’re looking for students to visit more frequently or activate underutilized smaller spaces for the bikes.”
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