Peloton too expensive? Try Amazon’s $500 Prime Bike

Vroom-vroom.

Tech giant Amazon is zooming into the fitness space and in more ways than one.

The dynamic e-commerce company recently announced presales of the Amazon Halo Band, a fitness device comparable to the Apple Watch and versions of Fitbit bands.

On Monday, Echelon, a company that manufactures products to enhance indoor workouts and at-home fitness, announced a partnership with Amazon to produce stationary workout bikes.

The EX-Prime Smart Connect Bike, also known as the Prime Bike, became available for purchase online for $499 -- a steep price cut from Peloton’s least expensive bike, which goes for about $1,900 plus the cost of all-access on-demand workout videos. The Prime Bike is only available on Amazon for Amazon Prime members.

While the Prime Bike doesn’t come with a screen like Peloton bikes, buyers can purchase an Echelon United Membership for access to thousands of live and on-demand classes. New users are eligible to sign up for a free 30-day trial. Riders are encouraged to use tablets and mobile devices, which can be propped up on the bike to stream on-demand content.

The low-cost spinoff wasn’t created by Amazon, but the Echelon-made bike comes at its price point thanks to Echelon’s exclusive partnership with Amazon. Echelon’s other bikes sell for $840 to $2,200.

“We were built on the idea of attainable fitness for everyone. The Prime Bike was developed in collaboration with Amazon, aiming to create an amazing, connected bike for less than $500 and it’s proven to be a phenomenal match,” Lou Lentine, President and CEO of Echelon Fitness, said in a press release. “Amazon looking to us to partner on their first-ever connected fitness product is recognition of our commitment to deliver quality at a reasonable price-point as reflected in our explosive growth over the last year.”

Cox Media Group