Peloton's New Treadmill Folds to Free Up Floor Space
Peloton's Tread Flex folds its deck upward and rolls aside on its wheels, turning a treadmill that usually stays put into one that tucks away after each run.
Photo source:
onepeloton
Peloton's New Treadmill Folds to Free Up Floor Space
A
treadmill is usually the largest piece of equipment in a home gym, and often
the hardest one to put away between workouts. Peloton built the Tread Flex, a
folding treadmill for small spaces, to fold down and roll aside instead of
taking up permanent floor space, cutting its length by nearly half once folded.
Peloton,
the fitness technology company known for its connected bikes and treadmills,
designed the Tread Flex as its first foldable treadmill. The company built it
to run the same workout types as its other treadmills, including running,
Pilates, and strength training, while fitting into rooms too small for a fixed
machine. Peloton CEO Peter Stern described the launch as part of an effort to
expand the company's treadmill lineup to reach a wider audience in the at-home
fitness market.
How the Tread Flex Folds and Moves
The
Tread Flex uses a hinge built into the deck that lets the running surface swing
upward and lock into place, cutting the treadmill's length by nearly 50 percent
once folded. Wheels and casters built into the base then let it roll to the
side of a room instead of staying fixed in one spot, a departure from Peloton's
earlier Tread models, which remain flat on the floor at all times.
A
21.5-inch HD touchscreen sits at the front of the machine on a swivel mount,
meaning it can rotate to face a mat on the floor rather than only the running
deck. Classic control knobs with a center button sit below the screen, letting
a runner adjust speed and incline by feel, without looking down at a touch
panel mid-run.
Exploring the Practical Benefits of a Swivel Screen Treadmill
A
brushless motor drives the belt, which Peloton states keeps the machine at
around 70 decibels even at its top speed of 12.5 miles per hour and maximum
incline of 12.5 percent, matching the performance of Peloton's Tread Vision
model despite its smaller folded footprint. Because the screen swivels to face
the floor, the same machine can shift from a treadmill run to an instructor-led
strength or yoga session on a mat, without moving the treadmill itself or
switching to a separate screen.
The
Tread Flex also runs on Peloton IQ, software that builds personalized training
plans around a goal such as building strength, improving speed or general
health, and adjusts incline automatically to follow an instructor's cues during
a class. The same system powers IQ Pace Targets, which recommends a running
speed suited to the person on the machine rather than a single fixed pace for
everyone, alongside Heart Rate Zone Workouts, which structure a session around
effort level, and ReRuns, which let someone repeat a past class to compare
their performance.
What It Takes to Get the Tread Flex Running
Peloton
requires a magnetic safety key to be attached to the Tread Flex before it will
operate, a feature carried over from its other treadmills that stops the belt
if a runner steps away or falls.
Running
the Tread Flex's full class library and IQ features requires a Peloton
All-Access Membership, the same subscription used across the company's
connected bikes and other treadmills. Peloton sells this membership separately
from the treadmill itself, rather than bundling it into the purchase.
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