Why You Can Trust CNET Peloton Tread Plus review: Makes running at home much more fun for rich people
I don't like running, but the Peloton Tread Plus was surprisingly fun to use.
Editor's note, May 19, 2023: After a recall in 2021, Peloton resumed selling the Tread in 2022 and will offer a free Rear Safety Guard for Tread Plus owners later in 2023. You can sign up to be notified when the Tread Plus is available for purchase again.
Peloton Tread Plus
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Also note that Peloton raised the price of its subscription service from $39 to $44 in April 2022, after we first published this article. Read more here.
Our original review of the product, first published in January 2020, is below.
The Peloton Tread Plus is an excellent treadmill. Its modern design, complete with simple controls and a 32-inch 1080p high-definition touchscreen, makes it incredibly simple to use (and nice to look at). My only issue with it is its price. It costs $3,995 up front -- and that doesn't include the $39 monthly fee for the large database of classes designed to keep you motivated when you're working out at home. If you are a serious runner who'd rather skip the gym on bad-weather days, the Peloton Tread could still be worth it to you, despite its high price.
Read more: Peloton Bike review: Is Peloton worth it, or is the cost of this indoor bike just too high?
The Tread Plus has yet to launch in the UK, but the US price translates to roughly £3,100. The monthly fee will likely be the same as for its Bike, £39. Peloton is not yet available in Australia.
Getting to know the Peloton Tread Plus
Delivery and installation is included with your purchase of the Peloton Tread Plus. This thing weighs over 450 pounds (over 200 kg) with the display, so it isn't something you ever want to move yourself.
Once it's installed, the setup is simple. You'll have to sign up for the $39 monthly service that gives you access to Peloton's guided classes. Without that, the touchscreen is essentially useless, since it unfortunately doesn't directly link up with Netflix, YouTube or any other third-party media streaming services. Fortunately, everything you need to access from signing into your account to selecting a class is right on the touchscreen display.
The Peloton Tread Plus has a slotted aluminum belt, a carbon frame and room enough up front for two water bottles, your phone and pretty much anything else you'd ever need while running. Simple knobs on the right and left control speed and incline and a safety clip in the front stops the treadmill if your legs get away from you. A simple stop button just above the safety clip stops the treadmill too. The speed goes up to 12.5 miles per hour and the incline goes up to 15 percent.
There's also something called "free" mode. When the treadmill speed and incline is turned off, press the free button next to the stop button and you can drag the belt with your body weight, rather than running at a specified belt speed.
Zippers on each side of the treadmill reveal compartments where you can store a yoga mat, resistance bands, your heart rate monitor and other equipment.
Using the Peloton Tread Plus
Once you've created your account and have signed up for the $39 monthly service, you are ready to get started.
Navigating around the touchscreen is similar to using any other tablet or touchscreen device. Go into settings and update your profile information as needed, scroll around to search for different classes from a beginner's guide to training for a 5K to more advanced classes.
The monthly subscription also gives you access to non-running classes. Just like the Peloton Bike , the Tread Plus has the same supplementary classes — stretching routines, strength training, yoga and more. But, again, they are supplements to your training rather than replacements. Once you finish a run, for example, you might do a 10-minute yoga session or a 5-minute strength training routine, but they aren't long enough to constitute standalone workouts.
That's where Peloton differs from in-home fitness services like Mirror and ClassPass Live . Mirror and ClassPass Live don't come with a treadmill or other exercise equipment. Instead, they focus on in-home instruction in a variety of disciplines with a lot more class options. So one day you might want to do a difficult high intensity interval training routine, but another day you might want to do an easier relaxing yoga session.
While Peloton does offer a lot of non-running classes, you don't get the same breadth of options within each discipline that you would with Mirror or ClassPass Live.
A question of price
So, is the $3,995 Peloton Tread Plus actually worth it? Absolutely not if you aren't interested in Peloton's guided running classes for $39 per month. You could instead snag a very basic treadmill for around $300 (and I do mean very basic). Or you could splurge on a high-end non-smart treadmill, like this $1,799 Bowflex if you want better specs than the $300 model, but aren't interested in a touchscreen display, an app or any other Peloton-level connectivity.
As far as direct Tread Plus competitors go, NordicTrack sells a smart treadmill for $2,700 (the MSRP is $3,599, but the company sells it for $2,700) -- roughly $1,300 less than Peloton's treadmill. One year of "interactive coaching" via NordicTrack's iFit Coach subscription is included with your purchase, too. iFit costs $12 per month after that. Delivery and installation is not included and costs an additional $249, taking the pre-tax total up to $2,949.
The NordicTrack has a 22-inch touchscreen display and similar specs to the Tread Plus-- speed settings go up to 12 miles per hour and a 15 percent incline with a 300-pound weight capacity.
I haven't tried out the NordicTrack model (yet), but it's clearly missing the Tread's bold design. It doesn't have a slatted belt, storage compartments, a large area up front to set your phone or tablet -- or any other stand-out elements. It also has a much smaller touchscreen display. But you're saving about $1,050 up front and you get iFit for a year for free.
That said, the Peloton Tread Plus is an excellent treadmill with a wide range of running and non-running classes. It's attractive and it's easy and fun to use, which says a lot coming from someone who dislikes running. If you're looking for extra motivation while running at home -- and you have a large budget -- look no further than Peloton's high-tech Tread.