Stuff - UK (2021-03)

DAY 01

ONE MONTH WITH THE PELOTON TREAD

£2295 + £39/m / stuff.tv/Tread

Having revolutionised the spin-bike world, Peloton now hopes to do the same for

the treadmill... so marathon runner Kieran Alger spends January going nowhere fast

Peloton’s swapped the equipment
but the angle is the same: get
reluctant gym-goers off the sofa
by combining a cardio machine
with workouts beamed into your
home. Only this time it’s about
running, not cycling.
If you like the sound of that,
you’ll need deep pockets to
join the Tread revolution: for full
annual access to all the classes
plus extra accessories such as
dumbbells, you’re looking at a

combined outlay of £2870. So

is it worth it? Or should you, well,

run a mile?

I’m putting it to the test for

four weeks to find out – and

the first victory is discovering

that it comes assembled. As

treadmills go, it’s a looker, with

cleaner lines and less bulk than

most gym monsters. Into the

spare room it goes.

The 150cm-long belt offers

plenty of roomy running space

and a road-firm running surface.

Kicking off with a 90-minute

half marathon, it’s no trouble at

all: unique controls make shifting

tempo and incline a doddle. One

roller changes speed in 0.1mph

increments, to a maximum of

12.5mph; a second adjusts the

incline from 0 to 12.5% in 0.5%

increments. Each roller also

houses a button for 1mph speed

and 1% incline jumps.

The rollers are easier than

stretching for a touchscreen, but

it’s not always easy to hit the

precise increases that trainers

often recommend. We’d like a

button to jump down in steps too,

because coming off an all-out

sprint into an easy jog requires

tricky backward rolls of the knob

(said with a straight face).

The sweatproof touchscreen is

bright, sharp and responsive, with

a built-in camera for connecting

with training buddies. You can

tilt it for floor exercises too. The

loud four-speaker sound system,

meanwhile, is really bringing the

studio vibes.

Final note: you’ll need reliable

Wi-Fi. Even the on-demand

experience is streamed rather

than stored locally, and a poor

connection causes buffering that

wreaks havoc with your stats.

People get tready

It has cleaner lines and less bulk than

most gym treadmills, and the belt

offers plenty of roomy running space

Linking up

wirelessly to

external devices

like headphones

or chest straps

is simple.