BrittanyMakes

This post is not sponsored by Peloton, and all thoughts and feelings are my own. A few of you have asked how I’m liking my Peloton Tread, and I’m happy to share my experience so far!

Longtime readers know that I’ve always been a runner. Before I had kids, I’d run at least 20 miles a week. If I needed to mix it up I would throw on an at-home program like P90X or Insanity (old school now haha), and last January even did Kayla Itsine’s BBG Program for 24 weeks. 

But with opening the shop late last year, my running fell to the wayside. The only time I could squeeze in a workout was at night, after everyone else had gone to bed. 

I looked into getting a Peloton Bike to accommodate my constantly shifting schedule, but I’ve never been big on spin classes. When they came out with the Tread last year, it felt like a sign. The Tread is Peloton’s modern interpretation of the treadmill, complete with high-energy live classes, a sleek carbon frame, and a 32 inch touchscreen. This ain’t your parents’ treadmill. 

I took it for a test run at one of their showrooms, hoping that it would kill my enthusiasm, but instead I was hooked. 

For a monthly fee, anyone can access and use Peloton’s thousands of live and on-demand classes. I briefly considered signing up for the service and using it as motivation for my occasional run outside. I also thought about hacking together my own version of a Tread by finding an old treadmill on Craigslist and then just using an attachment to hold up my iPad. 

But I never pulled the trigger. 

Was it really going to be that much better than a regular ole treadmill? I feel like every household in the 90’s had a dejected, dusty workout machine (usually a Bowflex, in my experience) sitting in the basement or the bedroom covered in dirty laundry. I didn’t want to resign such a beautiful piece of machinery to that fate. 

Enter Santa

Last Christmas, after a rough year, Antonio surprised me with the best present ever: the Peloton Tread!! 

And five months into owning the Peloton Tread, I’m a total convert. Here’s why.

👍What I love about the Peloton Tread

1. Every run on the Tread is a run I wouldn’t have done otherwise

I love hopping on the machine after the kids have gone to bed. I’ve even done a middle of the night workout when my thoughts just needed a rest (or a run, apparently). I don’t have to think about safety or noise or putting together a gym bag; it’s eliminated all of the logistics of getting in a workout. 

It’s always there. No excuses.

2. The design is intuitive and quite frankly, brilliant

I get it, I was skeptical until I took it for a literal test run last fall. How could this possibly be any different from a normal treadmill? But the design of the machine is unlike any other piece of equipment I’ve ever used or seen. They took the concept of an indoor treadmill and completely reimagined what it could look and feel like.

Instead of smashing an upward arrow button to increase speed or incline, you simply roll a knob forward. The actual tread is made up of rubber slats and there’s zero slip with the belt. It’s almost like a tank tire– wonderfully cushioned but firm at the same time. 

The frame itself is incredibly stable, which means it hardly moves even when I’m sprinting at full speed. I’m never worried about waking up the house when I go for one of my late night sessions because this thing is quiet. 

The result is a sublime running experience. If you were to close your eyes (which, uh, I wouldn’t recommend) it feels like you’re running outside.

3. You feel like your coach is right there with you

I probably don’t need to wax poetic about the quality of the app, which is probably the source of a lot of the Peloton hype. But it’s killer. And the instructors are easy to fall in love with. (Rebecca Kennedy is my favorite!) 

The monitor is a touch screen TV with a high-quality speaker system. It’s so immersive that you feel like you’re in a live class. Or like you have your own personal trainer cheering you on. Or yelling at you to hustle, depending on the instructor. 

I’ve only done a handful of live classes, preferring to choose from their on-demand ones. But last week I ended up taking a live class with a friend and got a call-out from the instructor! There’s something so motivating about that personal acknowledgement as you’re sweating it out

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4. You feel–and see–yourself improving

There’s a whole social element of the Peloton universe. You can take classes with friends or run short competitions against people you know. But I find I’m more motivated by the concept of beating myself. And Peloton makes it easy with leaderboards, scores, and achievements to unlock that feel juuuuust challenging enough. It feels like one big game. 

It really lights up the competitive part of my brain that wants to keep a streak going or to pushes me to go a little harder when I’m close to unlocking a new milestone. I’m so close to achieving a 50 runs milestone!

👎Things I don’t love about the Peloton Tread

1. Size & Weight 

There’s no getting around it–this thing is BIG. It takes up a significant amount of our soon-to-be master suite (which we’ve dubbed ‘the rec-room’). It’s also worth mentioning that we had to put a mat under the front wheels. The wheels dented our flooring the first time I used with incline! It’s just SO heavy. Most treadmills aren’t what I would call dainty, but the Tread is particularly large and in charge. 

Sometimes, I actually appreciate the visual reminder. If I’m working in the rec-room, I can feel my Tread staring at me: Maybe it’s time for a quick workout. It’s been a few days, girl. I miss you.

2. It’s $$$$

For me, the Peloton Tread has been worth its weight in workouts. Which, as I mentioned above, is HEAVY. But that $4300 price tag can be tough to swallow. They do offer a payment plan with no money down and 0% APR financing–meaning that you slowly pay it down over the course of a couple of years. For most people that comes out to roughly $100 a month–less than the cost of a premium gym membership in a high COL area.

3. You may find yourself cleaning up after it 

This is a weird one, but I haven’t seen it mentioned on any other review. The belt kicks up dust behind the machine, so I find myself sweeping that corner way more than I usually would. It’s a pretty minor drawback, all things considered.

4. That giant screen? It only streams classes.

Occasionally I’d love to catch up my favorite shows (Little Fires Everywhere, anyone?) while running. Unfortunately, that beautiful screen only streams classes. You can’t hook it up to Netflix or any other streaming service.

So does the Peloton Tread live up to the hype? And the price tag?

After five months of heavy use, I give the Peloton Tread my full-hearted endorsement. I have never loved a piece of machinery more. Yes, even more than my Nespresso machine. 

I work out more–and harder when I do it–and that’s something that’s hard to put a price on. 

Try it yourself

I just noticed, for users who sign up before April 30th, Peloton is offering 90 days free on their app. They have a whole host of workouts outside of running, including strength, toning, yoga, meditation, HIIT, and of course, cycling. 

The trial might be a good opportunity to dip your toe into the water and test out whether or not the Peloton ecosystem is for you. Though I will say, for me, the magic of Peloton is really in the combination of their platform and their physical products. If you do feel called to pull the trigger, you can use my code 92CXCZ at purchase and you will receive $100 towards accessories!

Note: Due to COVID-19, Peloton has temporarily paused sales of the Tread since it requires extensive setup. They have implemented a contactless delivery for their bikes, and I believe those are still shipping as usual.

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