Peloton adds a password lock screen to its recalled $4,295 Tread+ treadmill to improve safety for people who don't want to return them
- Peloton has a new safety feature for customers that choose to keep its recalled Tread+ machine.
- Peloton issued a voluntary recall of its treadmills at the start of May after the CPC advised against using them.
- The new safety update will automatically lock the machine when it's not in use.
Peloton's $4,295 Tread+ has a new safety feature.
Peloton Tread+ customers will be asked to update their software when they next log on to the machine, and activate a new "Tread Lock." This will lock the treadmill when it's not in use, or after 45 seconds of inactivity, and you'll need a password to unlock it.
As per Peloton instructions online, published Tuesday, customers will set the password when they update the software.
This new safety feature comes after Peloton issued a recall of its high-tech running machines following reports that a child had died, and that several others were injured, while using the machine.
As this was a voluntary recall, some customers opted to keep the machine, and this new update is intended to make the machines safer for those customers.
A spokesperson for Peloton told Insider that the screen lock was only available on its Tread+ machine currently, but will be rolled out to the cheaper "Tread" version in the summer.
Peloton issued a recall of its treadmills following an investigation by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which deemed its machines unsafe and advised Peloton members to stop using them.
Despite this, some Peloton treadmill users told Insider that they had no plans to return the machine and get a refund.
"I am NOT returning it. I love it, and even with an eight-year-old daughter and a dog in my two-bedroom apartment, it's not going anywhere," Tread+ owner Peter Shankman previously wrote in an email to Insider, adding that he has a rigorous safety routine in place.
"I taught my daughter from the second I got it that she was never to go anywhere near it unless I was right there and gave her permission. Not even to stand on it," he said.
Whenever his $4,295 treadmill is not in use, Shankman said that he removes the safety key - another feature that prevents the machine from moving - and stores it in a place his daughter can't access.