Exercise company Flywheel Sports has settled with competitor Peloton to end a lawsuit that began back in 2018. Peloton sued Flywheel that September claiming corporate espionage and intellectual property theft. As part of the settlement, Flywheel admitted that it “copied elements of the Peloton bike in developing its Fly Anywhere bike”.
Peloton accused Flywheel of violating a pair of patents with Fly Anywhere, which Peloton called “a copycat of the Peloton Experience”. Peloton specifically took issue with the workout metrics displays and live riders being able to compete against one another. The filings do not go into detail on how Flywheel apparently tried to obtain Peloton’s secrets.
According to the terms of the settlement, Flywheel will stop offering virtual classes on March 27th while live classes will end on March 1st. Subscriptions for the at-home classes that renew on their own will be terminated automatically. Flywheel says it’ll stay in the in-studio virtual class business and several of its in-person cycling studios will continue to operate.
Peloton is also now giving current Flywheel customers the option to trade in their At Home Flywheel bikes for a refurbished Peloton-branded one. A Peloton spokesperson said, “In order to make sure that Flywheel Home Bike owners can continue to get the benefits of indoor cycling at home, we have worked with Flywheel to create an exclusive opportunity for them to join the Peloton community by trading in their Flywheel Home Bike for a like-new Peloton Bike at no cost to them. We look forward to welcoming these new members into the Peloton family.”
Flywheel Sports is not the only competitor that Peloton has sued. Last year, Echelon Fitness LLC was accused of copying Peloton’s logo, imitating the Peloton Bike experience, and lying to its customers about Peloton’s offerings. That lawsuit is still ongoing.
