The Complete Buyer's Guide to Peloton Treadmills

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Peloton was the leading name in home fitness tech, as arguably the first brand to seamlessly blend the experience of boutique fitness classes with top-line home machinery. Now that the country — really, the world — has resigned to exercising largely at home, the brand's reign has only expanded, with its subscription base nearly doubling in the last year alone.

And Peloton's latest product launch aims to make its devices accessible to even more people: In September, they announced the production of a second treadmill, a smaller and more affordable sibling to their top-of-the-line Tread+. The new machine, simply named the Tread, was forecasted for sale in early 2021, and runners and boot camp obsessives alike have been waiting in anticipation for more deets ever since.

Well, it's finally, OK, almost, here: The Peloton Tread will be available for sale nationwide starting May 27, 2021.

Sure, you could go the less pricey route and try to snag a treadmill on Amazon for less than $1,000 — but it just can't compare to this fine piece of fitness equipment. And if the last year is any indication, home workouts are here to stay, so it might be time to invest in a quality machine you'll actually use. (

If you're thinking about investing in a Peloton treadmill, you might be wondering whether the Tread or Tread+ is for you. Here, a complete guide to both cardio machines, and how to know which Peloton treadmill is worth your money.

Here are the need-to-know stats about the Tread and how it compares to the Tread+:

Specs	Peloton Tread	Peloton Tread+
Price	$2,495	$4,295
Size	68"L x 33"W x 62"H	72.5"L x 32.5"W x 72"H
Weight	290lbs	455lbs
Belt	Traditional woven belt	Shock-absorbing slat belt
Speed	0 to 12.5 mph	0 to 12.5 mph
Incline	0 to 12.5% grade	0 to 15% grade
HD Touchscreen	23.8-inch	32-inch
USB Charging Port	USB-C	USB
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.0	Bluetooth 4.0
Available	May 27, 2021	Now

The Peloton Tread

Overall, the Peloton Tread is ideal if you're looking for a more affordable but still high-quality treadmill option, or are working with limited space in your home. Granted, $2,500 certainly isn't cheap for a treadmill (especially compared to these under-$500 treadmill options), but it's significantly more affordable than the Tread+. The Peloton tread packs most of the same features in a lower-profile package.

Available: May 27, 2021

Price: $2,495 (includes delivery fee). Financing available for $64/month for 39 months. Prices not including $39/month subscription for unlimited live and on-demand classes.

Trial period and warranty: 30 days (with free pickup and full refund), 12-month limited warranty

Size: 68 inches long, 33 inches wide, and 62 inches tall (with 59 inches of running space).

Weight: 290 lbs

Belt: traditional woven belt

Speed and incline: Speeds from 0 to 12.5 mph, Incline from 0 to 12.5% grade

Features: 23.8" HD touchscreen, built-in sound system, speed and incline knobs (with +1 mph/+1 percent jump buttons) on the side rails, USB-C charging port, headphone jack, Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, front-facing camera with privacy cover, built-in microphone

The Peloton Tread+

Consider the Peloton Tread+ the ~ Rolls-Royce ~ of treadmills; it packs top-of-the-line features and an incredibly smooth running surface, thanks to a shock-absorbing slat belt. If you're a serious runner or have the cash and space to invest, you can't get any better than this Peloton treadmill.

Available: Now

Price: $4,295 (including delivery fee). Financing available for $111/month for 39 months. Not including $39/month subscription for unlimited live and on-demand classes.

Trial period and warranty: 30 days (with free pickup and full refund), 12-month limited warranty

Size: 72.5 inches long, 32.5 inches wide, and 72 inches tall (with 67 inches of running space).

Weight: 455lbs

Belt: shock-absorbing slat belt

Speed and incline: Speeds from 0 to 12.5 mph, Incline from 0 to 15% grade

Features: 32" HD touchscreen, built-in sound system, speed and incline knobs (with +1 mph/+1 percent jump buttons) on the side rails, free mode (aka unpowered mode; when you push the slat belt on your own), enhanced audio quality, USB charging port, headphone jack, Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, front-facing camera with privacy cover, built-in microphone

Overview: Peloton Tread vs. Tread+

For a smaller price point and physical footprint, the new Tread offers many of the same features as the Tread+ (and the rest of the Peloton device family), including a large HD touchscreen, a built-in sound system that rivals that of an actual fitness studio, and access to all of Peloton's live and on-demand classes and tracking metrics (with the subscription, of course). Both Peloton treadmills can accommodate runners from 4'11" - 6'4" tall and between 105 - 300lbs.

Like the Tread+, the new Tread has the same ultra-efficient speed and incline knobs on the side rails, allowing you to dial your speed and incline up and down with ease — so you can hop off for a strength interval, push your sprint pace, or transition to a hill run without having to punch semi-blindly at buttons, throwing off your stride in the process. The knobs also feature jump buttons in the center that automatically add 1 mph speed or 1 percent incline, for fast, incremental adjustments. Both treadmills ditch the plastic front shroud (that bumper/barrier on the front of the running surface) so you can run freely as if you're logging miles outside. (That's actually where most traditional treadmills house the motor; Peloton's product development team worked hard to hide the motor inside the belt in both treadmills so you don't have to worry about limiting your range of motion.)

One key difference is that the new Tread has a traditional running belt while the Tread+ has a shock-absorbing slat belt. This allows the new model to sit lower to the ground and knocks the price a bit lower for people who don't need the most suped-up treadmill. (

"When we started with the Tread+, we were like, alright, if we're going to build a tread, let's build the best," says Tom Cortese, Peloton co-founder and COO. "We focused on this crazy running surface and the slats and the wheels, and innovated this really unique and very special system. But the problem with that system — as comfortable as it is and all the value that it provides — is that it costs a lot of money, and it makes the device bigger and louder. Now that we figured out this formula with the Tread+, we wanted to continue to find ways to be increasingly accessible. So we put all this knowledge that we've built over multiple years of engineering into this type of tread to see if we can bring the same experience onto a classic running surface, bring the cost down, bring the size down, and create a device that can be accessible to more people."

"If you've ever run on a slat belt and a band belt, you can always feel the difference between the two, but it doesn't take away or alter the great, full-body workout that Peloton offers," says Jess King, an NYC-based Peloton instructor. "It doesn't feel like a large piece of fitness equipment. It feels like something you can put in your home and it won't be obtrusive. I love that it's so accessible and that it'll allow us to welcome more members to the Peloton community and we can all be experiencing the same workout together."

So if you've been itching to get your hands on a piece of Peloton equipment, the smaller Tread might be exactly what you've been waiting for. On the other hand, if you want a device stat — and have the space and cash to invest in Peloton's top-of-the-line machine, you can't go wrong with the Tread+. Worth noting: If you don't want to fork up the cash straight away, you can finance the Tread for for $64/month for 39 months or the Tread+ for $111/month for 39 months (neither include the $39/month subscription). Which, to be fair, is less than a luxury gym membership, or equal to the cost of a couple fancy studio classes; plus, you get to keep the tread in the end. (Interested in a bike as well? Check out these affordable Peloton bike alternatives.)

To tide you over until your device arrives, you can tune into Peloton's incredible workout content (spanning cycling, running, yoga, strength, and more) for just $13/month via the Peloton app or your own device.