Echelon Stride review: a full-size treadmill that folds flat

The Echelon Stride is the ideal treadmill for those that want a decent home workout without taking up too much space. Echelon is well-known in the fitness world for their line of Connect Bikes, Smart Rowers, and the Echelon Reflect Smart Fitness Mirror. The Echelon Stride is the company’s first foray into treadmills, and the new addition doesn’t disappoint.

While the Echelon Stride doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as some other models on the market (for example, a built-in touchscreen), it has all the essentials you need for a challenging treadmill workout, whether you want to focus on speed, endurance, or inclines. It’s also extremely easy to store; compact, making it ideal for smaller spaces; and comes with connection capabilities to Echelon Fit, the company’s fitness platform that offers both live and on-demand classes to help you get the most out of your treadmill experience.

In this review, I’ll cover why the Echelon Stride deserves a spot on any best treadmills list, as well as potential drawbacks that may make this model not quite the right fit for some more serious runners.

Echelon Stride review: Price and Availability

The Echelon Stride is currently available for purchase directly from Echelon US, where it retails for $1299.99, and from Echelon UK, where prices start at £1,599. (An Echelon United membership, which provides access to Echelon Fit classes, is required when purchasing an Echelon Stride. The cost of Echelon United membership varies by subscription; currently, members can choose from monthly, annual, and two-year subscriptions.)

Echelon Stride review: Setup

My experience with Echelon’s delivery service fell somewhere between basic and white glove. While the delivery team didn’t setup the treadmill or haul away the packaging, they did offer to leave the treadmill in the room of my choice – which, in my house, meant using a furniture dolly to haul the box up a flight of stairs into a guest room (which, with a weight of 156 pounds, would have proven challenging to manage on my own).

Full disclosure: I am not a person that excels with assembling furniture or putting things together. So, in order to get the Echelon Fit set up and ready to use, I enlisted the help of my personal handyman, AKA my husband. According to him, once the treadmill was unboxed, assembly was a breeze; from start to finish, he said the entire process took about 15 minutes.

Once the treadmill was assembled, the first thing that caught my attention was how compact it was. At just 69.3 inches long, 31 inches wide, and 49.2 inches tall (176x78.7x125 cm) the treadmill didn’t feel like it was monopolizing the space, even though it was housed in the corner of a fairly small guest room – a room that was already furnished with a bed, dresser, and two side tables.

Echelon Stride review: the running experience

Using the Echelon Stride was just as – if not more – simple and straightforward as the setup experience. The dashboard has all the metrics you’d expect to see on a treadmill; distance and time are visible throughout your entire workout, while the dashboard intermittently toggles between incline and altitude, steps and pace, and speed and calories burned – delivering all the data you need to get a comprehensive view of your run.

The handlebars, which include integrated heart rate sensors, allow you to easily adjust your speed (right handlebar) and incline (left handlebar). The dashboard also features Quick Speed and Quick Incline capabilities that allow you to immediately adjust your speed and/or incline to 3, 6, or 9 mph/incline level with the touch of a button.

Running on the Echelon Stride is a great experience; the treadmill feels steady and stable, and even though the treadmill is on the second floor, my husband has yet to report any loud noises downstairs while I’m on a run. The only feature that might cause an issue for some runners is the limited speed and incline ranges; the Echelon Stride maxes out at 12mph and 10 percent incline. While those ranges are more than adequate for a casual runner like myself, more serious athletes may want a treadmill that allows for faster runs and steeper climbs.

Echelon Stride review: Echelon Fit classes

What really sets the Echelon Stride apart from other treadmills is the machine’s compatibility with Echelon Fit, the fitness platform that offers access to a huge variety of both live and on-demand fitness classes developed for use with Echelon’s fitness equipment.

The Echelon Stride doesn’t come equipped with a built-in touchscreen, so you’ll need a phone or tablet to access the classes while on the treadmill (the Echelon Stride has a built-in device holder to keep your phone or tablet secure while you’re using the app). Once you log into your Echelon Fit account and sync your Echelon Stride, the dashboard of the treadmill goes blank save for a text message that says “APP;” while you’re taking a class, all of your metrics (like calories burned) are visible on the bottom of your device’s screen.

As mentioned, Echelon Fit offers a huge variety of treadmill classes. Depending on what you’re working on or what kind of workout you’re in the mood for, you can choose between 12 different categories: running basics, beginner runs, outdoor runs, walking, rhythm runs, sprint runs, interval runs, race runs, endurance runs, hill runs, warm up and cool down runs, and scenic runs. The app also offers Stride Bootcamp classes, which splits the class time between the treadmill and strength training.

What I like about Echelon Fit is how many classes – and class types – there are to choose from. If, like me, your schedule is unpredictable it’s nice to know that you have plenty of workout options when you hop on the Stride – whether you’ve got a full hour for an endurance run or only 15 minutes to squeeze in a quick sweat session. Plus, with all the different themes and music genres to choose from, you’ll never get bored (although nine times out of 10 I’m going for the 80s themed runs).

Echelon Stride review: Storage

Generally, I keep my Echelon Stride fully assembled; that way, if I want to hop on for a quick jog, it’s ready to go. But because the treadmill is in the guest room, it’s important to be able to quickly and easily store it when we have friends or family come to stay, and luckily, it delivers on those parameters.

The Echelon Stride comes equipped with auto-folding functionality. All you have to do is release the console (by pressing down on levers on the underside of both handlebars), pull the handlebars upwards, then push down on the pedal lever (located on the left side of the treadmill). From there, the treadmill will automatically fold until it’s flat. And because it’s only 10 inches tall when folded, it’s easy to stash under most beds or standing up in a closet – perfect for my guest room storage needs.

Echelon Stride review: Verdict

The Echelon Stride has a lot to offer for a home treadmill. The easy setup, compact design, and auto-folding functionality are major selling points, particularly if you’re looking for a treadmill that you can easily use and store in a smaller space. And thanks to Echelon Fit, Stride users also have access to a huge library of fitness classes, which can help to add variety to your at-home fitness regimen and keep your treadmill workouts from veering into boring territory.

That being said, the speed and incline caps may not be enough for serious athletes. And for the price point, some shoppers may question why the Stride doesn’t come equipped with a built-in touchscreen (and why they have to use their phone or tablet to access classes).

Final verdict? The Echelon Stride has everything I want and need in a piece of at-home cardio fitness equipment. In my eyes, the compact design, ease of use, and access to high-quality classes more than justify the Stride’s price tag.

Echelon Stride review: Also consider

If the Echelon Stride’s price tag gives you a bit of sticker shock, and you’re looking for a more basic model, you might consider the Mobvoi Home Treadmill. This bargain option, which retails for USD $449.99/£399.99, may not come equipped with a bunch of added features, but it has both walking and running modes – and, similar to the Echelon Stride, its compact design makes it a good choice for smaller spaces.

The ProForm Pro 2000 is a fraction cheaper than the Echelon and offers a folding design and a 10-inch touchscreen for the iFIT classes, which is similar to Echelon Fit. It also offers a slightly greater 12% incline and a -3% decline too. While this unit does fold, it folds vertically, so while it saves space, it won’t slide under the bed.

If you’re looking for a treadmill with more speed and incline options, you may want to check out the NordicTrack Commercial 1750. This is an elite folding treadmill that will aid any user in reaching their personal fitness goals. It’s built to last with endless workouts to choose from the iFit Coach workout library. An easy machine to use and recommend for both beginners and the experienced embarking on their fitness journeys.