After Peloton announced a major recall in May, the company decided to require all Tread and Tread+ owners to maintain an active subscription of $40 per month to continue using their fitness devices. Those who choose not to pay will have their devices deactivated. This is only a problem for some users who do not have a subscription but enjoy the "Just Run" feature.

An agreement with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) allows owners to receive a full refund of $2,495 and $4,295 for the Tread and Tread+ treadmill, respectively. The refunds come after reports of safety problems that have injured at least 70 people and killed one child. Users may return the Tread+ treadmill subject to the terms of the voluntary recall.

The contract change was first revealed by Peloton user Brianna Wu. The change makes it virtually impossible to use the Tread or Tread+ as a stand-alone treadmill, which is a big ask for a fitness device costing over $4,000.

In a statement to Tom's Guide, a Peloton representative said, "In an ongoing effort to make our products more secure, and as part of a voluntary recall in cooperation with the CPSC, Tread Lock, a four-digit passcode to protect Tread+ from unauthorized access, has been We have released it."

stated.

Unauthorized access could refer to people, especially children, who may be using the device without supervision. Peloton requires subscribers to use the Tread Lock feature, which locks the treadmill with a passcode.

"Unfortunately, due to current technical limitations, Tread Lock is not yet available without a Peloton membership," a Peloton representative said.

It is unclear if Peloton will be able to implement a similar pincode system in the future for those who do not want to pay the $40/month membership fee. Fortunately for all users, the next three months of all-access memberships are waived.

"We have waived the 3-month All Access membership for all Tread+ owners, so if you do not have a subscription, you must activate your free 3-month All Access membership before you can access Just Run and Tread Lock must be activated," said a Peloton representative.

Apart from that, it appears that after the three-month window, users will need to start paying if Peloton is unable to resolve the issue.

Tom's Guide asked Peloton what percentage of customers choose not to get an all-access membership subscription, but did not receive a response.