First Impressions After a Month of Running on the Peloton Tread

It’s been a little over a month now since I’ve gotten my Peloton Tread. The timing was perfect, too, because we’ve had a couple brutally cold weeks here in New Jersey that called for running indoors.

My wife picked the Peloton, in part because she already had a Peloton Bike. So, the same all access membership that she had for her bike covered the both of us on the treadmill.

The Peloton replaced my older, cheaper XTerra treadmill, which had seen several years of use. I got a lot of good miles out of it, and it was more than worth the $300 or so that I paid for it at the time.

The Peloton is a lot more expensive – and it certainly is nicer. It’s been five weeks now, and I’m ready to share some of my first impressions of the Peloton Tread. I’ll likely write up a more thorough review later on.

It’s Definitely a Premium Product

Look, this thing is not cheap. It’s around $3,000 – although they were running a sale before Christmas that made it a little cheaper. But no matter how you dice it, it’s going to cost a pretty penny.

And it shows. The deck is solid and spacious. The arms on the sides are sturdy.

The screen – and the speakers. Oh, they’re amazing.

You can speed the belt up to move fast, and you can increase the incline quite a bit.

This product definitely doesn’t have any of the limitations that cheaper treadmills have, nor does it look like they cut any corners in materials and production. It’s just an all around, nice, luxury item.

The Screen and the Speakers Are Amazing

My typical use case for a treadmill is to use it when it’s too hot, cold, or otherwise uncomfortable for me to do my easy runs outside.

I don’t bother a lot with structured workouts. I do that outside. I just want to turn on the TV, watch my show, and jog for 45 minutes to an hour. Occasionally, if I really can’t avoid it, I’ll fire up a movie and do my long run on the treadmill, too.

In the past, that meant setting up my old Macbook Air to double as an entertainment center. The screen wasn’t huge, and the speakers weren’t loud. For the most part, I was left to read the subtitles – because I could hardly hear over the sound of the belt.

The Peloton Tread comes with a screen that’s almost 24″, and it’s right in your face. The speakers are a great quality, and when the volume is turned up I can easily hear it over the treadmill. When my wife is working out downstairs, we can hear it echoing up through the vents all over the house.

The entertainment options are a little limited. But as long as you subscribe to the available options, it’s a great way to watch TV while you work out. Personally, I spend a lot of time on Disney+ (Star Wars and Marvel) and Netflix (all kinds of stuff).

If your streaming package of choice isn’t included, though, that’s a problem. As far as I can tell, you can’t just stream things off a computer or another service – unless you go to the trouble of altering the software on the tablet.

It’s a Big Machine

The first thing I thought when my wife told me she ordered the Peloton Tread was, “Is this thing going to fit?”

My gym is in the basement, and we have a low drop ceiling. The ceiling is about 7′ high, give or take. When I bought my old treadmill, I was careful to purchase one with a very low deck so I wouldn’t have any issues.

Well, the Peloton is taller and bigger than she expected. The sides of the machine are just shy of 9″ off the ground. The belt itself is slightly below that, but you’re talking 8.5″ to 8.75″ off the floor – before you account for any incline.

As a result, my head is roughly in the ceiling.

When I stand on the deck, I have about an inch or so of clearance. I can walk fine, but once I break into a jog, I’m bumping up against the ceiling tile.

Luckily, I was able to remove the ceiling tiles directly above the treadmill and it works pretty well. I can’t raise the ceiling itself, because the HVAC vents are directly above it. There’s absolutely no additional clearance.

But removing the tile gives me an extra two inches or so between my head and the duct, so I can comfortably run. It does have the unfortunate consequence of creating a static charge which raises my hair sometimes … but I can live with that.

And here’s the treadmill next to the Peloton Bike.

Our gym is about 9 feet across. The treadmill takes up the entire front space, with about two to three feet behind it. I had to move the treadmill almost directly up against the front wall (which is a mirror) to make it fit.

Our gym is 13 feet wide, and the bike and the treadmill take up a little over a third of that space. On the other side is a weight rack with a bench. And if you move the bench, there’s just enough room in the middle to lay down a yoga mat.

It’s tight. But it works. And if you’ve got a tight space, make sure you measure and think carefully about whether this will fit. It looks smaller in the store – but if you’re putting it in a small space, it’ll look big.

Downsides of the Entertainment System

One thing I don’t like about the entertainment workouts is that it appears each streaming provider built its own interface for the app.

That means a) they’re not consistent and b) you can’t easily switch between them.

Here’s Netflix. It’s nice.

The video extends to the edge of the screen, and the data is in a small overlay to the right. It’s a sleek interface that’s a great use of space.

And here’s Disney Plus. Not the same.

The video is centered in the middle of the screen, and the data is displayed in its own containers around the edge. If you hide the data elements, the video area increases.

But if you want to see the data – including basic things like speed and time – you’re going to lose a lot of real estate. And the worst offender is the heart rate component. It pops out of the side and cuts the width of the screen almost in half.

I hate the design… And it doesn’t help that the majority of what I watch while running is on Disney Plus instead of Netflix.

The other annoying thing about the entertainment workout is that if you start a workout in one streaming provider – say Netflix – you can’t switch to a video in another – like Disney Plus. You have to stop the workout, switch providers, and create a new workout.

Not a huge deal … But annoying.

The Bottom Line on the Peloton Tread

So what’s the verdict?

I like it.

So far, I’ve logged about 25 hours and 160 miles across 28 workouts. It’s helped me survive the arctic blast we got this week, and it’s been a fairly enjoyable experience.

It’s still a treadmill, and I’d still prefer to run outside. But if I have to be inside …

The Peloton Tread is a good way to do it.

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