The Peloton Cross Training Tread ($3,295, plus $49.99 a month for a Peloton All-Access membership) is one of two treadmills in the company’s current lineup of home gym machines with swiveling displays that make them ideal for classes beyond those tied to their core function—like bootcamp, strength, and stretching. Beyond the rotating screen, not much has changed from the previous-gen Peloton Tread ($2,995): The device’s top speed remains 12.5mph, the max incline 12%, and the running belt still has a generous 20-by-59-inch (WL) surface. If you want a movement-tracking camera for strength workouts, or a slatted running belt for reduced joint strain, you’ll need to spring for the $6,695 Cross Training Tread+, but the standard Tread's more reasonable size and price make it the better option for most people. With slickly produced live classes for a huge range of disciplines and an ever-expanding library of on-demand workout content, the Tread makes fitness fun and earns our Editors’ Choice award for smart treadmills.

Pricing and Subscription: Still Cheaper Than Many Gym Memberships

On top of the price of the machine itself, you need a $49.99 monthly Peloton All-Access membership to take classes on the Cross Training Tread. That’s moderately pricer than the iFit membership ($39 monthly) available on NordicTrack treadmills, but it’s still more affordable than many gym memberships, and the range of classes Peloton offers is incomparable.

(Credit: Craig Rawlins-Wilson)

The All-Access membership offers unlimited access to Peloton's class library and the ability to create up to 20 user profiles on the machine, so everyone in your household can track their workout stats and get personalized workout suggestions. With an All-Access membership, you also use the Peloton app on your Android or iOS mobile device to stream classes while traveling.

In addition to the vast on-demand catalog refreshed daily with archived live classes, Peloton frequently adds new workout styles and programs. In the three months I tested the Tread for this review, Peloton added sculpt flow yoga, an ACL recovery program, and 10-minute meditations for commuters. Last fall, the company rolled out an AI system called Peloton IQ, which offers customized weekly plans that combine classes from different disciplines into a schedule tailored to what you want to achieve and how often you want to work out.

(Credit: Craig Rawlins-Wilson)

We’ve detailed Peloton’s various categories, programs, games, streaming apps, and other entertainment options in our Cross Training Bike+ ($2,695) review. Suffice to say, it’s an incredibly comprehensive platform, and worth the money if you'd rather work out at home than hit the gym. Without a subscription, you can only use the treadmill's Just Run mode, which displays your metrics but offers no entertainment features. 

Delivery and Installation: Seamless and Speedy

Peloton charges $150 for expert assembly, which includes delivery to your room of choice, setup, and removal and disposal of packaging. Self-assembly is free, but Peloton warns that the process can take up to 120 minutes and requires two people.

Peloton provided expert assembly for this review, and the delivery and collection of the Cross Training Tread were effortless. In both instances, the delivery team arrived on time and took around 30 minutes to assemble or disassemble the Tread. Once it was set up, all I had to do was connect it to my home Wi-Fi and sign into my Peloton account. Before leaving, the team made sure the device was running the latest firmware and showed me how the controls and safety key worked.

Design: Reassuringly Hefty, Yet Compact

The Peloton Cross Training Tread measures 65 by 33 by 68 inches (HWD), has a step-up height of 8 inches, and weighs 286 pounds. That makes it significantly smaller and lighter than its pricier sibling, the Cross Training Tread+, which measures 70 by 37 by 75 inches, has a step-up height of 11 inches, and weighs 460 pounds.

(Credit: Craig Rawlins-Wilson)

The Cross Training Tread supports users between 4'11" and 6'4" tall, weighing 105 to 300 pounds. Peloton recommends at least 20 inches of clearance between your head when you’re standing on the Tread and the ceiling. I only had about 10 inches of clearance in my basement where I tested it, but I’m only 5’9", so it was more than enough, even with the Tread at maximum incline. I wouldn’t have been able to fit the Tread+ in my space, however, because of its additional step-up height.

A crossbar connects to each side of the Cross Training Tread with four bolts per side and houses the physical controls as well as the 21.5-inch 1080p swiveling touch screen. That’s smaller than the 23.8-inch screen on the original Tread and the Cross Training Tread+, but it feels more than big enough, and it’s bright and sharp. The larger displays have the same resolution.

The running belt on the Cross Training Tread measures 20 by 59 inches (WL), and it felt spacious to me, even when sprinting. The Tread+ offers a larger running area of 20 by 67 inches and instead of a conventional running belt, uses a rubberized belt with 59 individual slats. Thanks to its cushioned slat belt, the Tread+ is the superior option for those with hip and knee issues, as well as long-distance runners. 

(Credit: Craig Rawlins-Wilson)

The screen’s swivel mechanism is pleasantly firm and doesn’t move during intense running sessions. However, the crossbar and display wobbled a bit when I was running at 6.5mph or more, or when the incline was set to 7% or more, likely because it only attaches on the sides. Despite this, the Tread feels extremely well-made. It’s covered in a matte, textured rubber, and the rails that flank the running belt are thick enough to comfortably stand on and don’t flex. A Peloton logo is embossed near the back of the left rail, and there’s a broken red line printed on the center of the running belt.

In addition to offering 360 degrees of rotation, the display can be angled up or down, which is great if you’re doing a class with a lot of floor work. The more expensive Cross Training Tread+ features an AI-powered movement-tracking camera above the display that lets you see yourself on the display as you work out and enables new strength-training capabilities, such as rep counting and form corrections. We detailed these features in our review of the Peloton Cross Training Bike+, so be sure to read that if you're interested in Peloton IQ coaching.

Speakers are situated behind a cloth-covered grille above the Tread's display. The sound quality is much better than on my first-generation Peloton Bike, which has rear-facing speakers. Audio from the Tread is more than loud enough even when huffing, puffing, and sprinting through a challenging interval. Beneath the display attached to the crossbar is a small storage area with room for two bottles and a flat section in between that can hold a phone.

The physical controls are limited to the essentials. In the center is a large, red stop button, and beneath it on the underside of the crossbar is a magnetic safety key that can be clipped to your clothing. On the right edge of the display are three buttons: power/wake near the top, and a pair of larger volume buttons near the bottom. On the crossbar are two large dials. The left dial controls incline (up to 12%, in 0.5% increments) while the right controls speed (up to 12mph in 0.1mph increments). In the center of each is a button; pushing it jumps you to the next whole number, so if your incline is at 1.5% and your speed is at 5.2mph, pressing the button on the left dial will increase the incline to 2.0% and pressing the right will increase the speed to 6.0mph.

Every time you adjust the speed or incline, you also get three on-screen shortcuts above the respective metric. Above speed, for example, you get 3.0, 4.5, and 6.0mph. Tapping any of them will adjust the treadmill accordingly. These shortcuts can be customized, which is helpful once you’ve completed a few classes and gotten a sense of your comfort zone. Although you can choose to have the Cross Training Tread adjust incline automatically to match what an instructor calls out during a class, you always have to adjust speed manually.

(Credit: Craig Rawlins-Wilson)

Many classes on the Peloton Tread use pace targets, which are the treadmill equivalent of power zones on Peloton’s bikes. During the initial setup, you’re asked how fast you run a mile, and are assigned to one of 10 difficulty levels. If you don’t know or are just starting out, you can choose a difficulty level and adjust it later, before or during a class. I initially set my pace target range to level five, but within a couple of weeks, I found it too easy and adjusted it to level six.

Pace targets allow Peloton instructors to discuss speed in terms of intensity zones rather than mph. There are seven zones: Recovery, Easy, Moderate, Challenging, Hard, Very Hard, and Max. This means runners of different capabilities can follow the same classes and be appropriately challenged. It also means that as you get fitter, you can adjust your difficulty level to continue making progress, or you can dial it back if you’re, say, coming back from an extended break or recovering from an injury.

The Cross Training Tread includes Wi-Fi for connecting to your home network and accessing classes, and Bluetooth 5.2 for connecting to wireless headphones or heart rate monitors. I found that the Peloton heart rate monitors on my original Bike would intermittently lose connectivity, but my Apple Watch (connected via the Peloton watchOS app) remained reliable. I prefer to hide the live heart rate data on the Tread display (tapping any on-screen metric hides or shows it), but I appreciate being able to see my average heart rate and related graphs after a class.

Safety Features: Multiple Ways to Lock It Down

In the early days of the Peloton Tread and Tread+, a number of incidents resulting in one child fatality and injuries to kids and pets forced the company to halt sales while it revamped its safety features. The Cross Training Tread has multiple ways to ensure those who shouldn’t be using the device don’t or can’t.

(Credit: Craig Rawlins-Wilson)

First, there’s the need to input a PIN code every time you start it up, or after 45 seconds of inactivity. Second, there’s the safety key, which stops the Tread when removed and has to be reattached to its magnetic mount before you can restart it. That means you can stash the key somewhere and ensure that even the PIN code isn’t sufficient. Last, before every class, the instructors remind you to make sure there are no children or pets around before starting the session.

Tread Classes: Hike, Run, Walk, or a Combination

Peloton offers an enormous selection of classes for Tread, including hiking, running, walking, and bootcamp (which combine treadmill-based exercises with floor-based strength moves in a single class). I’m a longtime Peloton Bike user, and I’ve also been doing strength classes on the platform for a few years, but when I first started using the Tread, I realized how much my running fitness had slipped in recent years. Nonetheless, after only two weeks of run-walk classes (which include intervals) and some surprisingly intense hiking classes (prolonged, fast walking at a 12% incline is no joke), I was back to running for the entire duration of a 20- or 30-minute class.

The range of class types is one of Peloton’s strongest features, because any smart workout equipment is only as good as its ability to get you using it over and over again. I found the running pace targets a fantastic way to make sure I was getting the most out of my time on the Tread. As my fitness improved, I moved toward the upper end of each zone, and sometimes I would ignore the calls to pull back and see how long I could maintain a Challenging or Hard pace. I also enjoyed being able to choose from different types of running classes, including endurance (sustained effort with little variation), music (genre-focused), speed (with many tempo changes), and more. It made it easy to mix up my training and stay interested, while the in-class metrics and post-workout graphs motivated me to push harder and beat my previous personal bests.

In three months of testing, I spent more than 1,000 minutes on the Cross Training Tread and ran over 100 miles. I brought my average pace down from around 12 minutes a mile to a little over 10, and I’m very nearly at my goal of getting back to running a 5K in 30 minutes (like I used to do, 10 years ago). I’m also about ready to move up to level seven, because I’m regularly running at the upper end of each pace target range.

At the same time, I’ve continued using Peloton’s strength classes and programs in between runs to improve my overall fitness. I seldom follow Peloton IQ’s weekly training schedule to the letter, but I find it an excellent way to make sure I’m combining upper-body, lower-body, and core routines with cardio sessions, especially in weeks where I’ve got a lot on my plate and don’t have the bandwidth to plan a balanced workout routine, too.

I also appreciate the Peloton IQ Insights, which make suggestions based on recent activity and trends and let you jump to a filtered list of appropriate classes at the touch of an on-screen button. Once, for instance, I received a message that read, “Integrating interval training twice a week can boost power and calorie burn while preserving strength gains.” Another time, I received a suggestion to add a full-body stretch to my weekly routine, with a “browse workouts” button that brought up a list of applicable classes. In the past, I’ve found myself prevaricating for 10 minutes choosing a class, but that happens less now, which means more time spent working out.

Because I have limited space in my gym/laundry for both a Peloton Bike and the Cross Training Tread, I did most of my strength, stretching, and yoga classes in the adjacent basement living room, which was easy thanks to the ability to stream classes from the app to a Chromecast or Apple TV.

(Credit: Peloton/PCMag)

Occasionally, I also used the Peloton app to listen to sleep meditations in bed when I was having a hard time drifting off. With the exception of Apple Fitness+, it’s hard to beat Peloton’s range, variety, and volume of classes, and while other smart workout machines offer live classes or games, the production value Peloton delivers is unmatched.