Peloton is recalling nearly 2.2 million of its exercise bikes over safety concerns.
The issue involves a faulty seat and affects Peloton exercise bikes sold from January 2018 through May 2023 in the U.S., the company said in a release posted on Thursday.
A notice on the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website said the bike’s seat post assembly “can break during use, posing fall and injury hazards to the user,” and warned owners to stop using the bike “immediately.”
The commission added that it had received 35 reports of the seat post breaking and detaching from the bike during use, with 13 of the reports involving injuries including a fractured wrist, lacerations, and bruises caused by falling off the bike.
A recalled bike can be identified by its PL-01 model number on the label located on the inside front fork (near the flywheel), the red “P” logo followed by the white-colored Peloton brand name on the bike’s frame, and by its non-swivel display, the company said.
Instead of returning the bike to the seller or to Peloton itself, the company said those affected will be sent a free replacement seat post that can be installed at home, without the need for a service call. Customers can begin the process of getting a new seat post by visiting this web page.
Peloton has created a video and a set of PDF instructions showing how to install the replacement seat post.
To be clear, the recall only applies to the Peloton original Bike sold in the US. This matter does not affect international and North America Bike+ nor international Peloton original Bikes.
Peloton enjoyed a boom during the height of the pandemic when restrictions forced gyms to close, prompting people to exercise at home instead.
But the company faced controversy, too, when in 2021 it emerged that it had failed to report in a timely manner a defect in one of its treadmills that led to a child’s death and more than a dozen injuries. Earlier this year, Peloton agreed to pay a $19 million fine to settle a charge brought by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in relation to the incident.
