Peloton · CHI Company Investigation · Technology & Software
PelotonPeloton Interactive, Inc. · NASDAQ: PTON · Bike, Bike+, Tread, Tread+ and Row hardware · All-Access Membership
Conclusion: Supports · Scope: control over hardware after it has been sold · Not a finding of fraud, deception or unlawful conduct · No score assigned
You own the bike. Peloton owns the reason you bought it.
Peloton does not disable its hardware when a subscription ends. The machine still rides, runs or rows. The CHI issue is what happens after the hardware is already yours: Peloton charges some second-hand buyers to activate it, waives that fee inside its own marketplace, ends warranty protection at resale, controls which generations retain full access, and has raised membership pricing without grandfathering hardware owners.
The central question. Once I own the machine, how much control does Peloton still retain over what makes it valuable?
A fee to attach a membership to a machine Peloton did not sell you.
Since late August 2024, a new US or Canadian member who buys a used Peloton from a private seller and attaches a membership pays a one-time used-equipment activation fee of $95 (C$125). Peloton announced the fee in its fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 shareholder letter on 22 August 2024.3,5
“All used equipment will incur a mandatory one-time Used Equipment Activation Fee of $95.”
Peloton Support, “How to Activate Your Peloton Product and Membership”, read 16 Oct 2026
The fee applies to qualifying Bike, Bike+, Tread, Tread+ and Row hardware. It is collected on the activation payment page, alongside the first monthly All-Access charge: “The payment page will reflect both this one-time Used Equipment Activation Fee as well as the recurring monthly All-Access Membership charge.”2
A buyer who never activates a Peloton membership does not appear to pay the fee; Peloton’s documents tie it to membership activation, not to powering on or riding the machine. The fee is not charged in the UK. It was waived in the US for promotions from 22 January to 3 February 2026 and for March 2026.2,10 CHI reading
Precise wording. Peloton charges a $95 activation fee when a new member attaches a membership to qualifying hardware bought from a private seller. It does not charge everyone who buys a used machine.
One description for customers. Another for investors.
Peloton has described the fee to two audiences in different terms. Both descriptions are Peloton’s own.
“…ensures continued feature functionality and a smooth onboarding experience.”
The fee includes a $25 spare-parts credit, a 50% off coupon for up to three pairs of Peloton cycling shoes and a Bike mat, and a virtual onboarding session.3
“…a source of incremental revenue and gross profit.”
Interim co-chief executive Chris Bruzzo on the fiscal 2024 fourth-quarter call, 22 August 2024.6 On the next call, interim co-chief executive Karen Boone said the fee “increases the LTV for new customers who join Peloton via the secondary market.”7
Peloton’s annual reports for fiscal 2025 cite activation-fee revenue as a partial offset to declining subscription revenue, and list it among new revenue models alongside possible future “shipping and return fees, or tariff surcharges.” Peloton has never disclosed how much the fee earns.32
How CHI reads the pair. One explanation does not automatically invalidate the other. A fee can fund onboarding and also be margin. The point is that Peloton’s own investor language describes the fee as monetisation of the second-hand channel, not only as cost recovery. CHI reading
The fee applies outside Peloton’s marketplace and disappears inside it.
Peloton Repowered is Peloton’s own peer-to-peer resale marketplace, run with the resale platform Archive. It opened in June 2025 and went nationwide in the US for sellers on 29 July 2025. The seller receives 70% of the sale price; Peloton and Archive share the remaining 30% in an undisclosed split.8,9
Private sale
Peloton Repowered
“New members save $95 by having the used equipment activation fee waived.”
Peloton Repowered, “About buying”, read 16 Oct 2026
Peloton charges the activation toll when the secondary transaction happens outside its marketplace, but waives it when Peloton participates economically in the sale. The onboarding benefits the fee is said to fund are offered either way. This is not proof of wrongdoing; it shows that the fee functions in practice as a channel price, not only as a cost. CHI reading
What Repowered does well. Sellers receive a managed sale and 70% of the price; listings carry Peloton’s History Summary, and recalled or rental units are screened out. At launch in 2025 the buyer’s fee was discounted rather than waived; by October 2026 it was waived in full.8,9
The machine keeps working. Most of what made it a Peloton stops.
Peloton hardware is not disabled without a membership. Peloton’s own support article sets out what a non-member keeps: “If you choose to cancel or not activate your All-Access Membership, you will not have access to our extensive workout library or live classes on your Peloton device. However, you can still access some content directly on your Peloton product.”1
Still works
- The mechanical workout, with manual resistance, speed and incline
- Just Ride, Just Run and Just Row
- Live basic metrics on screen while you train
- Three pre-recorded classes, “pre-selected” and “subject to change at any time, without notice”1
Stops
- Live classes and the on-demand library
- Scenic rides, runs and rows: Just Ride, Run and Row “Does not include Scenic”1
- Lanebreak, the leaderboard and connected features such as auto-resistance
- Saved history and progress
- Peloton Entertainment and Peloton IQ
“Please note that while metrics may display while in these classes, no metrics, workouts, or progress will be saved to your Peloton profile.”
Peloton Support, “What Content Can I Access Without A Peloton Membership?”, last modified 5 Aug 2025
Why this section matters. A non-member’s Peloton is a working exercise machine with a large screen that shows live numbers and forgets them. It is a limited free mode, not a disabled machine. Membership is required for Peloton content and applicable features, and Peloton discloses that on every hardware page.1,25
The machine changes hands. The protection does not.
Peloton’s guide to buying used equipment states both limits plainly.3
“Peloton’s Limited Warranty is not transferable to second-hand owners.”
A second-hand buyer receives no transferred base warranty, however recently the machine was first delivered.3
“Only the original owner is eligible to purchase a Protection Plan.”
A second-hand buyer cannot buy a new Protection Plan at any price.3
The exception. Protection Plans purchased on or after 5 April 2022 can transfer to a new owner for their remaining term, so some second-hand hardware does carry coverage. A private-sale buyer outside that case has no Peloton-backed repair route. Peloton itself markets an uncovered screen replacement as costing “up to $750”.3,15
Twelve months for a household. Three years for a business.
What this shows, and what it does not. The comparison does not prove exploitation; commercial contracts are priced differently. It shows that warranty length is a commercial policy choice rather than purely a limit of the hardware’s durability. CHI reading
One category of machine Peloton will never activate again.
Peloton rents the Bike+ on a monthly plan that bundles the hardware and a Rental Membership. Its used-buyer guide says rental-program Bikes “cannot be resold or transferred. Resold rental Bikes are ineligible for an All-Access Membership.”3,17
“Peloton will NOT activate an All-Access Membership on a resold Peloton Rental Program Bike or Bike+.”
Peloton Support, “Buying Used Peloton Equipment”, last modified 17 Jul 2026
The renter never owned the bike
A renter can cancel at any time with free pickup, and Peloton has every right to recover its own leased hardware. Repowered screens rental serials out of its listings.17
A permanent block on the serial
If a rental unit nevertheless reaches a downstream holder, Peloton blocks membership activation on it for anyone, permanently. It is the only serial-level activation block Peloton documents.3
Eight flat years, then two increases. Owners were repriced; renters were not.
Peloton kept the hardware membership at $39 a month for roughly eight years before its first increase in 2022. Neither increase grandfathered existing hardware owners.11,12
In October 2025 Peloton raised the Bike+ Rental Membership to $124.99 for new members only: “This change does not impact existing rental Members.” Owners who had already purchased the hardware were repriced. Existing rental customers, whose hardware Peloton still owned, were not.11
Context. The 2022 increase came with same-day hardware price cuts; the 2025 increase came with 30 days’ notice, honoured prepaid and promotional rates, and left special discounts for students, military, medical workers, teachers and first responders untouched. Peloton told investors the 2025 increase produced a short-term rise in cancellations that quickly stabilised. CHI does not infer intent beyond what the economics show.11,12,31
Existing owners paid more while the newest features required newer machines.
The October 2025 membership increase was announced the same day as Peloton’s Cross Training Series and Peloton IQ. Camera-based features, including real-time form feedback, rep counting, suggested weights and voice control, are limited to the new Cross Training Plus models.18,19
“We don’t have plans for upgrade kits yet.”
Peloton Chief Product Officer Nick Caldwell, October 2025, as reported by Pelo Buddy
Precise wording. Peloton did not take features away from existing owners. Existing owners paid the higher membership rate while a growing share of Peloton’s newest feature set became hardware-dependent. CHI reading
For about eleven weeks in 2021, a safety update made Just Run a paid feature.
After the May 2021 Tread+ recall, Peloton shipped a mandatory safety update adding Tread Lock, a passcode that locks the treadmill when idle. For non-subscribing Tread+ owners, Just Run became unavailable.20,21,23
“…due to current technical limitations, Tread Lock is not yet available without a Peloton Membership.”
Peloton statement, June 2021, as reported by Consumer Reports and CBS News
The CPSC recall required a passcode safety lock. It did not require a paid membership; coupling the two was Peloton’s implementation.23 Classification: Fixed Under Pressure. Under CHI methodology the correction is credited in full for the customer’s current experience; it is historical, reversed and not current policy.
Peloton sunset class access on its oldest touchscreen, and left riding intact.
First-generation Bike tablets, sold from 2014 to September 2016, stopped receiving software updates in 2019 and lost class access on 19 June 2024. Peloton’s used-buyer guide now says first-generation touchscreens “only have access to the ‘Just Ride’ feature.”3,24
Counterweight. These tablets were roughly eight to ten years old, received six months’ notice, and the fix is a screen Peloton sells for DIY installation. No other screen generation has been sunset. The case matters because it shows that a server-side support decision can reduce what an owned machine does. CHI reading
On the entry bike, the membership overtakes the hardware in month 34.
At $49.99 a month, All-Access costs $599.88 a year and $2,999.40 over five years. Hardware prices are Peloton’s current US list prices.11,25
Not concealment. Peloton discloses that All-Access is separate. The CHI question is not concealment; it is how much of the purchased hardware’s intended value remains dependent on Peloton after the initial sale.25
A 30-day trial, with a return fee in the US.
The US home trial runs for 30 days from delivery. “Please note that return fees apply, and membership fees and expert assembly costs are non-refundable upon return.”26
Supporting evidence, not the thesis. Thirty days from delivery is a reasonable window and pickup is free. Peloton’s US trial page still says “full refund” in one answer while listing the fees elsewhere; the fee table governs.27
Easy to cancel and easy to pause.
All-Access cancellation is self-service online, with no phone call required. Access continues to the end of the billing period, “at which point your All-Access Membership will cancel rather than renew.”13
Ordinary subscription friction. No proration and a 60-day limit on billing disputes are standard terms, not a major CHI finding.13,14
Parts you can buy and fit yourself.
Since June 2024 Peloton has sold replacement parts directly to owners, with installation guides.29
Why it matters. Direct parts, published guides and tolerance of third-party refurbished screens materially weaken any broad right-to-repair hostility thesis. Core drivetrain parts such as crank arms and bearings remain service-only.28,29
Hardware prices have fallen as often as they have risen.
The Bike+ fell from $2,495 to $1,995 in April 2022 before the Cross Training Bike+ launched at $2,695. Peloton’s Certified Refurbished Bike+ was cut from $1,995 to $1,395 in May 2026, with refurbished promotions lower still.12,19,30
Not a one-way ratchet. Peloton has not simply raised every price. Its refurbished channel also caps what private sellers can charge, which helps second-hand buyers. CHI reading
What Peloton gets right.
The strongest evidence against a hostile reading, with full credit to Peloton. These are why the verdict is Supports, not Strongly Supports.
One membership, a whole home
Clean cancellation
- Self-service online cancellation and a 1–3 month pause.13
- 30 days’ notice of the 2025 increase, with prepaid and promotional rates honoured.11
- App One’s web price left at $12.99; only Apple-billed members rose, with a published way to avoid it.11
- The 2021 Tread Lock lockout reversed within about eleven weeks, with three months waived.22
A subscription business that acquires customers without building machines.
Peloton is listed on NASDAQ as PTON. Figures are for fiscal 2026, the year ended 30 June 2026. This is not investment advice and makes no prediction.31
Secondary-market activations made up roughly 40% of new subscriber additions in the second quarter of fiscal 2025. By the third quarter of fiscal 2026, chief executive Peter Stern said second-hand sales “generated more than half of our gross adds.”33,34
How the mechanism connects to the economics. Secondary-market hardware is economically valuable because Peloton can acquire another subscription customer without manufacturing another machine. The $95 fee is additional monetisation on top of that, and the price increases kept subscription revenue flat in fiscal 2026 on a smaller subscriber base. CHI reading
Eight flat years, a reversed lockout, then a toll on the second-hand market.
- 2014Hardware membership launches at $39 a monthPeloton
- 2019Gen 1 tablet software updates endPress
- May – Aug 2021Tread Lock disables Just Run for non-subscribers; reversedCPSC · press
- Jun 2022All-Access rises $39 → $44Peloton
- Dec 2022Certified Refurbished programme launchesPress
- Jun 2024DIY replacement-parts store launchesPress
- 19 Jun 2024Gen 1 class access ends; Just Ride remainsPeloton
- Aug 2024$95 used-equipment activation fee introducedSEC filing
- Jun – Jul 2025Peloton Repowered marketplace launchesPeloton
- Oct 2025All-Access rises to $49.99; Cross Training Series and Peloton IQ launch; existing rental members grandfatheredPeloton
- 2026Activation fee waived during selected promotions; second-hand sales exceed half of gross adds in Q3 FY26Earnings call
What this page does not claim.
About conduct
- That Peloton bricks, remotely disables or renders useless any machine. Basic functionality remains.
- That Peloton charges every used buyer $95, or that the fee is a resale tax as a matter of fact.
- That Peloton took features away from existing owners or forces upgrades.
- That the activation fee or the rental block is unlawful.
About the evidence
- How much the activation fee earns; Peloton has not disclosed it.
- Whether the fee is refundable; Peloton does not say.
- Whether first-time setup can be completed without entering payment details.
- That any court or regulator has ruled against Peloton on these practices.
Final CHI assessment · Supports
Owning the machine is not the same as controlling what makes it a Peloton.
Peloton does not disable its machines when customers stop paying. The hardware retains a basic free mode, cancellation is easy, repairability has improved, and the company has repeatedly lowered hardware prices.
The stronger CHI case begins after the machine is already owned. A second-hand buyer may pay Peloton $95 to activate hardware Peloton did not sell them, while the fee disappears inside Peloton’s own marketplace. Warranty protection generally ends at resale. Some rental hardware can never be activated by a later holder. Membership prices have risen twice without grandfathering owners, while Peloton has shown that software decisions can materially reduce the purpose of older hardware.
Peloton’s business model therefore preserves a distinction between owning the machine and controlling the ecosystem that makes it a Peloton. No numerical CHI, CVI or CFS score has been assigned.
Peloton sold the machine once,
and kept a toll on every door it opens.
Sources
- Peloton Support, “What Content Can I Access Without A Peloton Membership?” (last modified 5 Aug 2025), read 16 Oct 2026. support.onepeloton.com Peloton
- Peloton Support, “How to Activate Your Peloton Product and Membership”, read 16 Oct 2026. support.onepeloton.com Peloton
- Peloton Support, “Buying Used Peloton Equipment” (last modified 17 Jul 2026), read 16 Oct 2026. support.onepeloton.com Peloton
- Peloton, “Used Bikes” (US), read 16 Oct 2026. onepeloton.com Peloton
- Peloton, Q4 FY2024 Shareholder Letter, 22 Aug 2024. sec.gov Primary
- Fox Business, “Peloton to charge sizable activation fee for used equipment purchases”, 23 Aug 2024, reporting the Q4 FY2024 earnings call. foxbusiness.com Secondary
- Peloton Q1 FY2025 earnings call, 31 Oct 2024, transcript via MarketBeat. marketbeat.com Primary
- Peloton Repowered, “About buying” and FAQ, read 16 Oct 2026. repowered.onepeloton.com, repowered.onepeloton.com Peloton
- Retail Dive, “Peloton launches Repowered peer resale platform”, Jun 2025. retaildive.com Secondary
- Pelo Buddy, used-equipment activation fee waived, 22 Jan 2026 and 3 Mar 2026, quoting Peloton’s offer terms. pelobuddy.com, pelobuddy.com Secondary
- Peloton Support, “Membership Fee Changes”, read 16 Oct 2026. support.onepeloton.com Peloton
- Pelo Buddy, Peloton membership increase and hardware price cuts, 14 Apr 2022, quoting Peloton’s statement. pelobuddy.com Secondary
- Peloton Support, “How to Manage Your All-Access Membership”, read 16 Oct 2026. support.onepeloton.com Peloton
- Peloton Membership Terms (last updated 1 Oct 2025). onepeloton.com Peloton
- Peloton Protection Plan page and Protection Plan Terms. onepeloton.com, onepeloton.com Peloton
- Peloton Commercial Warranty. business.onepeloton.com Peloton
- Peloton Support, “Rental Program” (last modified 2 Jun 2026), read 16 Oct 2026. support.onepeloton.com Peloton
- Peloton press release, Cross Training Series and Peloton IQ, Business Wire, 1 Oct 2025. businesswire.com Peloton
- Pelo Buddy, Cross Training Series announcement, 1 Oct 2025, and “Upgrade kit yet?”, 7 Oct 2025. pelobuddy.com, pelobuddy.com Secondary
- Consumer Reports, Peloton Tread+ safety update and non-paying users, 23 Jun 2021. consumerreports.org Secondary
- CBS News, Peloton Tread+ subscription requirement, 22 Jun 2021. cbsnews.com Secondary
- Engadget, “Peloton treadmill owners will be able to run again without a paid subscription”, 5 Aug 2021. engadget.com Secondary
- US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Peloton Tread+ recall, 5 May 2021. cpsc.gov Primary
- Pelo Buddy, Gen 1 tablet software updates ending, Jul 2019, and Gen 1 tablet support sunset, 20 Dec 2023, quoting Peloton’s notices. pelobuddy.com, pelobuddy.com Secondary
- Peloton, Cross Training Bike product page, read 16 Oct 2026. onepeloton.com Peloton
- Peloton Support, “Peloton Return Policy” (last modified 5 Jun 2026), read 16 Oct 2026. support.onepeloton.com Peloton
- Peloton Home Trial pages, US and UK, read 16 Oct 2026. onepeloton.com, onepeloton.com Peloton
- Peloton replacement parts: Bike touchscreen and Bike+ / Row touchscreen. onepeloton.com, onepeloton.com Peloton
- The Clip Out, “Peloton now offering DIY replacement parts”, 14 Jun 2024. theclipout.com Secondary
- Peloton Certified Refurbished, read 16 Oct 2026; Pelo Buddy, Certified Refurbished launch, 26 Dec 2022. onepeloton.com, pelobuddy.com Peloton
- Peloton Interactive, Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 30 Jun 2026, and Q4 FY2026 results, 6 Aug 2026. sec.gov Primary
- Peloton Interactive, Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 30 Jun 2025 (risk factors and MD&A). sec.gov Primary
- Peloton, Q2 FY2025 Shareholder Letter, 6 Feb 2025. sec.gov Primary
- Peloton Q3 FY2026 earnings call, 7 May 2026, transcript via The Motley Fool. fool.com Primary
Limits carried onto this page. CHI did not hold a Peloton account or activate hardware, so the activation and cancellation flows were not observed first-hand. Peloton’s support articles were read in a browser on 16 October 2026; the Internet Archive was unavailable, so historical page versions rest on dated press reporting. Peloton’s consumer warranty page could not be rendered; its terms are corroborated by Peloton’s Protection Plan and commercial-warranty pages rather than quoted. Second-hand prices and activation-fee revenue could not be verified.
Status. Research frozen 16 October 2026. No numerical CHI, CVI or CFS score has been assigned; scoring is reserved for a later calibration stage.
Reading this beside the rest of the index
Hardware you own, and the service that makes it work.
Peloton is assessed on what owners control after the sale, not on its classes or instructors. WHOOP shows a membership-contingent wearable in the same sector; the Lexicon entries describe the patterns in general.