We tried the $2,000 bike that earned this billion-dollar startup the 'Apple of fitness' title — here's the verdict

Peloton

Peloton revolutionized home fitness with its high-tech indoor bike, which enables users to stream live classes from home.
The company launched in 2012 and is now valued at about $1.3 billion.
We got to try out the bike that launched it into popularity. Here's our step-by-step review.

Peloton has revolutionized home fitness.

Since launching in 2012, the New York-based high-tech fitness company has gained a cult following of fans who are obsessed with its core product, the indoor cycling bike.

Peloton has grown to become a billion-dollar business in a short period of time. It was valued at about $1.3 billion last May, after it closed a $325 million financing round. Noah Wintroub, a vice-chairman at JPMorgan, has even referred to it as "the Apple of fitness."

It's a buzz that even the company's CEO, John Foley, says he wasn't expecting.

"I was totally surprised by it," Foley told Business Insider's Avery Hartmans in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

"When I started Peloton with my cofounders, I saw clear as day what it was going to look like and how it was going to work — the technology, the hardware, the software, the business model," he said. "I saw everything except the community. The community has blown me away."

In February, it unveiled its newest product, a treadmill that will be available to buy this fall.

But, we also wanted to try the $1,995 product that made Peloton popular in the first place. Here's our step-by-step review of the Peloton bike:

We headed to the Westin Hotel near Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan to trial a Peloton bike, which is available for guests to use.

You can also use the bike at Peloton's studio in Chelsea, New York, where its live classes are conducted. Classes cost $32 each.

The machine is similar to a bike you might use in your local gym. However, there's one glaring difference: its screen, which enables you to stream live and on-demand classes from the saddle.

It costs $39 a month to stream these classes. This charge is made per bike rather than per user, so you can split the cost with roommates or family members.