 Hey guys, I'm Victoria, I'm the Verge's reviewer for wearables and connected fitness, and this is my review of the Peloton Tread. Listen, we can't ignore that Peloton's first treadmill made headlines after injuring several people and even killing a child. But this isn't that treadmill. Let's rewind a bit. Peloton's got two treadmills. There's the Tread Plus, which launched back in 2018 and costs over $4,000. I don't know about you, but forking over more than $4,000 for a treadmill that I can barely squeeze into my apartment is absolutely bonkers. That's why at the height of the pandemic, Peloton announced it was making the Tread, a sleeker, smaller, and more affordable treadmill that would hopefully expand its reach to new customers. At least that was the plan. The reality is, the Tread has had an incredibly rocky launch. It was supposed to arrive in February 2021, that got pushed to May, and then just before its official launch, the Tread got recalled alongside the Tread Plus because of a wobbly display. Fast forward a few months, Peloton's made some design adjustments, and it got the okay to launch the Tread in August. That's about when Peloton started pedaling itself straight off a cliff. In case you missed the news, Peloton's business is a hot mess right now. In the past month, co-founder and CEO John Foley stepped down and 2,800 employees were laid off. After investing hundreds of millions into its North American manufacturing, Peloton also said that whole project was kaput. And then, some of the fired Peloton employees gate-crashed new CEO Barry McCarthy's first all-hands. You also have a horde of angry investors who want Peloton to be sold to a bigger company like Apple, Amazon, or Nike. It makes perfect sense that they're angry. Peloton's valuation plummeted from a pandemic high of $50 billion to $8 billion. So that's where Peloton's currently at. Which is absolutely wild when you think about how successful the company was during the early days of the pandemic. Usually when a company screws up this badly, it's because they have a bad product. That's not quite the case with Peloton. The Tread is actually an excellent treadmill. It's well built, the rotating display is gorgeous, and these nifty knobs make it so much easier to control speed and incline. Which, if you've ever been in a treadmill class, the last thing you want to do is tap the screen because you can't get the speed down fast enough. It's a lot smaller and quieter than the Tread Plus, to the point where most people would definitely be able to fit it in their homes without pissing off their neighbors. These treadmills are ugly as sin, but I wouldn't be ashamed to have one of these in my home. Peloton's also taken some effective measures to make this treadmill safer than its predecessor. You've got the Treadlock screen that requires you to input a passcode to unlock the display. The treadmill also won't turn on if the safety key isn't in place. Without these two components, you simply can't turn on the treadmill. It's sort of like having two factor authentication. And while the hardware is top notch, the classes are where Peloton really shines. There's so many to choose from, with all kinds of instructors set to curated playlists. I don't love treadmill running. But you know, I felt myself inspired to push it in a few of the classes because you have Jess King there and she's going, girl, can you give it an extra 1%? Which, you know, me running outside, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to go really easy on myself. So once you've taken a class, it's easy to see why so many people are enamored with Peloton's platform. It's always easier to do hard things when someone's cheering you on, even if that person is inside of a screen. Hello, Jess King. Basically, you have a winning combination of excellent hardware and software. Great, right? So what does Peloton's fall from grace have anything to do with you? The most tangible way Peloton's floundering business impacts consumers right now is, you've guessed it, price. I'm going to use the tread as an example again, but reminder, this is the affordable Peloton treadmill, so let's do some math. It retails for $2,500 and that's not including the $40 monthly membership fee. But starting January 31st, Peloton tacked on another $350 charge for assembly and delivery, something that had previously been included in the original price. At their Q2 earnings, Peloton admitted that it did that to boost the bottom line. So it was supposed to be Peloton's more affordable treadmill is now pushing up on $3,000 and the more expensive Tread Plus was a little over $4,000. So we're getting to the point where you're not saving more. It's not really that much more affordable. We don't know for sure whether this price hike is permanent. That depends a lot on McCarthy's vision for where Peloton's headed next. In his first few interviews, McCarthy hinted that he's open to futzing around with Peloton's entire pricing structure. That includes lowering the prices of the machines and possibly bumping up the cost of membership. McCarthy's also floated the idea of creating different subscription tiers. So you could totally buy into Peloton now expecting one thing, but get blindsided down the road if and when things change and let's be real, there's a pretty good chance that things are going to change. Peloton's misfortunes also point to a broader issue within the whole connective fitness industry, closed ecosystems. Let's say you decide to shell out for the Tread. Technically speaking, you only own the hardware. That shiny tablet can't do anything other than play Peloton content. The Tread's tray also isn't big enough to prop up a tablet in case you want to watch your own content. Believe me, I tried. At least the fancy treadmills at my gym can stream Netflix and sync automatically with my Apple Watch. This is a machine that's been meticulously crafted to hook you into Peloton's ecosystem. If you decide to cancel your membership, you're left paying a premium for something that's the same as any other treadmill. Perhaps Peloton's biggest problem so far is that it's been confused as to what its real product is. It's not the bikes, it's not the treadmill, it's the classes. But if Peloton can't sort itself out, then that excellent product disappears, and once again you're left with a bricked device that you paid too much for. A lot about Peloton's future is up in the air. We'll have to see whether Peloton's new CEO can steer the company through a pretty severe cost restructuring plan. But on the bright side, connected fitness is on the rise, and it's not like Peloton's completely given up on its plans. There are a ton of products rumored to be in the pipeline, including a new connected grower, which has been rumored for forever, and the forthcoming Peloton guide. And as we've seen in the past, Peloton knows how to make a good product. So I'm not saying Peloton's destined for failure, it's just something you have to think about. Alright everybody, great job watching this review. Can you give an extra like? Can you hit that subscribe button? Alright, see you guys next time.