It won't be good for you as you are smart connected already, but many treadmills are not.

As for Zwift controlling incline etc, It is not the same anyway as most treadmills don't decline properly. Mine goes to minus 3, but many do not decline at all. Plus for example while descending of the Alpe, folks on bikes can climb off, take a shit and eat a sandwich all while their bike is descending at full speed.

most treadmills are fully capable to interact, assuming the BT hardware is there. Its more of the industry afraid to let a third-party control what their product does. Some treadmills allow custom workouts (speed and incline intervals) to be created, but that is all contained in the software of the treadmill console (including warning messages that a change will happen). All it takes is one communication or software glitch happen to the wrong person causing an injury, for lawsuit and the CPSC to step in. Have any idea how many people fall off treadmills that are going at a steady rate on the daily in gyms and at homes? The number is shocking. my point being that technologically newer treadmills are there, its just the industry will to take that leap of faith.

I think we should be careful about the term 'smart treadmill.' I agree with the smart vs connected vs dumb terminology DC Rainmaker applies to trainers. This makes any treadmill into a connected treadmill. If a similar unit could also control the treadmill then it would be a smart treadmill. That would be the game changer.

I get nothing out of zwift running. I used it for every treadmill run for a couple months, but it just didn't provide any value for me. I have an at home treadmill and a foot pod on my shoe, but at this point I just skip zwift for my runs as it isn't even worth waiting the 60-90 seconds to start the run in zwift. I know that is a harsh review, but I have really tried to get into zwift running and it just isn't for me.

There is a spreadsheet out there that allows you to pretty easily build your own custom run workouts that you can use in Zwift. I've built plenty and it's pretty easy once you figure out basics and have built a few. Check this post out here:

https://zwiftinsider.com/create-run-workouts/

I just did the New Balance Run Group workout and it was awesome hard. 8 x 400 at 7 minute pace up 5% incline and then 400 recovery in between at 8 minute pace and no incline. Plus of course warmup and cool down

if you search the forums , there was a post last year about a developer who made a simple program to control speed and incline if your nordic track was connected to your home network. i've tested it and it works perfectly, but the interface is still minimally developed. at it's simplest it could be some thing where you set the interval distance, time and repeats and hit start and your workout would proceed as planned with pre programmed speed , distance and incline, moving from one interval to another . if you really want to push the boundaries this could feed real time incline from zwift to the treadmill. as someone noted before , constant changes may be too much for the screw drive to take, so it may have to be simplified output to average incline/quarter mile or something along those lines. i think that would make zwift running and racing "almost" as good as cycling.

I'm just waiting for a chance to eat a virtual meal, with my virtual family. Hell, I could just spend my entire life in one room if I could get a virtual job too.

I know people will think this is a predictable jibe; but it's a genuine philosophical discussion. At what point do you decide enough is enough with replacing real-world experiences with the virtual.

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29 years and counting

ready player one?

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

Hah! Thanks for not biting. I did edit my post above.

I do use Zwift to bike 1-2x a week; normally to 'race' and love it for that; but otherwise, I'm out there in pretty much all weathers.

I wonder if at some point in the future, outdoor events will be the 'niche'...

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29 years and counting

What I'd really love to see (beyond a smart treadmill) is that runners go into a virtual hyper-loop or something. The biggest problem I have with Zwift running versus cycling is that it's so slow. If they could gamify the experience and also speed up the scenery or something so you could feasibly explore more or have more visual interest, that would be a game changer for me.

Otherwise, I still use Zwift running for all my treadmill workout. My coach builds the workouts in training peaks and it syncs seamlessly with Zwift...so no issues there for me.