Everything people ask me before they buy a walking pad

No, and most people expect the opposite. Nothing sets a pace for you. Push off and the belt follows, ease off and it slows, stop and it stops with you. It feels odd for a day or two, and after that you stop thinking about it.

It is what most people search for, yes, but it is the manual kind. There is no motor in it. The belt moves because you do, and that is exactly why it is quiet, draws nothing and lasts. I call it a walking pad.

Not perfectly on day one, and I am not going to pretend otherwise. It takes a day or two. Wrist rests help more than anything else. After that you are back to your usual speed, and because it only moves when you do, you can stop dead for the fiddly bits.

As fast as you walk. There is no motor and no speed setting. We have tested it well above 3 km/h and nothing happens to it, but past about 3 km/h you will find that actually working and concentrating gets hard.

Starting from €1,149, excluding fees. Shipping, VAT and duties are charged after the campaign.

More than two years of research and development, and more than 30 prototypes. Tens of thousands of kilometers of testing across multiple units (in the studio, on a separate test rig, and in a lab in Nuremberg), covering wear, heat and load, not just whether it runs. It is built by hand in Berlin from wood and steel rather than plastic and aluminum, and it runs on Italian steel bearings, which is the part cheap pads skimp on. Every single unit is tested for a few kilometers before it ships, because every one is made by hand. And it is a 25kg object: international shipping on something this heavy is genuinely expensive, whoever is selling it.

There is no motor, so there is no hum, no power draw and no part that burns out. It is quieter, it lasts longer, and you repair it at your desk. It costs more up front and less over its life.

Same manual, quiet, repairable idea, in something that fits under the desk you already own. It is 114 x 54 cm, weighs 25 kg, and stands upright against a wall.

No. Those listings use our photos and sell at around a third of the price without ever shipping anything. The internal mechanics have never been made public, so a working copy is not what they are selling. The only places to get a real one are our Kickstarter today, and this store once ordering opens.

Yes. You can visit our Berlin workshop by appointment. Write to us and we will arrange a time.

There is no daily limit, use it as long as you like. Our test unit at Intertek in Nuremberg has logged over 3,000 km with no visible wear, and a second rig presses 150 kg onto the deck for over 100,000 cycles. Maximum user weight is 150 kg, tested.

No. It runs at 33 to 45 dB in daily use. You can take the call while walking and the person on the other end will not know. Listen to the recordings yourself on the quiet page.

For short bursts, yes. We have jogged on it at 5 to 6 km/h and it handles that fine. But it is built for walking while you work, not to replace a treadmill. For long sessions I recommend about 3 km/h, past that you can't concentrate on work anyway. When I want to really run, I go to the gym.

Probably not. We have tested it comfortably with people of 190 cm and above. The limit is usually the desk rather than the pad: yours needs to rise 14 cm above your comfortable standing height.

The curve gives you a gentle, natural incline. It is not adjustable, and that is deliberate. Changing the incline on a curved manual pad would change the resistance with it.

It is a protective cover that mounts at the front of the walking surface. If you would rather not have it, you can take it off.

Yes. The surface is soft touch covers on the slats, comfortable barefoot or in socks, and you can wash them.

114 by 54 centimeters on the floor, and it adds 14 centimeters under your feet, which most standing desks absorb without complaint.

Most standing desks work. Raise yours to a comfortable standing height and check it can go 14 cm higher than that. I am 183 cm, I stand at 107 cm, and I walk at 121 cm. If you are buying a desk anyway, a four legged frame wobbles less at walking height than a two legged one.

You order the part, not a new pad. We ship it to you, and you fit it with tools you already have at home, usually in about 10 minutes. Inside the warranty, if the wear is not your fault, the replacement is free.

Almost always. It opens for self repair, every part swaps out in about 10 minutes, and there is a video guide for every repair. We send you the part.

Every part is on the shelf, whatever the reason you need one, and we ship it to you. Replacement parts are stocked until 2031.

A pilot run of 30 to 40 units goes out at the end of September to test the packaging and the shipping. The first full backer batch of 250 ships in October, and fulfilment carries on pledge tier by pledge tier. Waitlist orders open from mid November.

Roughly 5 to 7 business days from dispatch, in both the European Union and the United States. That is an estimate rather than a binding delivery date, and it runs from dispatch, not from the moment you order. The detail is in Shipping and returns.

We ship anywhere our shipping partners DHL, FedEx and UPS deliver, as one standard package.

Worldwide, in one standard package, insured and tracked, and delivered against signature unless you ask us otherwise. It weighs about 25 kg, so someone needs to be there to take it. The packaging is paper and cardboard, plastic free, and it arrives assembled.

In the European Union, no. The Office Walker is made in Germany and ships from Germany, so the package never crosses a customs border. For the United States we prepay duties and tariffs before dispatch, so nothing is owed on delivery; state and local sales tax is calculated and shown at checkout. See Shipping and returns.

Yes. What applies depends on where you live and where you ordered. Orders placed on this website follow our terms and our return policy, on top of the statutory rights in your country. Kickstarter pledges are subject to Kickstarter's own rules and terms, which we cannot override. The details are in Right of Withdrawal and Returns and our Terms.

You bear the direct cost of sending it back. We can arrange a label and deduct the actual cost from your refund, shown to you before it is booked, or you can arrange your own. We bear the cost where the goods are defective, damaged on arrival, or not what you ordered. More in Shipping and returns.

Write to johannes@office-walker.com with your order or serial number. If you can, photograph the outer packaging before you open it, which helps us claim against the carrier faster; it is a request and not a condition of any of your rights. We arrange a repair or a replacement at our cost, at your choice, and we pay the return shipping. See Shipping and returns.

Short bursts, yes. We have jogged on the Office Walker at 5 to 6 km/h and it handles it fine. But a walking pad is not a treadmill and isn't built to replace one. It is built for steps while you work, and for long sessions I recommend about 3 km/h, past that you can't focus on work anyway. If you want to really run, use a treadmill at the gym. We do too. Read the pros and cons in my guide to manual walking pads.

A motorized walking pad has a belt sliding over a deck, and that needs lubricant. With daily use, lift the belt about once a week and touch the deck. Still greasy: leave it. Dry: add a few drops of silicone treadmill lubricant and keep walking. The Office Walker has no belt sliding over a deck, so there is nothing to oil. Just wipe the walking surface now and then. More on upkeep in the desk treadmill guide.

Yes, on most carpets. We tested the Office Walker on a lot of different ones, and on a normal pile of a few millimetres up to 1 to 2 cm it runs as usual. On very high pile, a thick Moroccan rug for example, lift it. If you hear it rubbing on the carpet, it needs a little more height: owners can request extra feet through the Owner hub that attach to the existing ones.

The one you will still use after a year. For a few minutes a day almost any pad works. For hours at your desk, check four things: how loud it gets after months, not on day one; whether it is built for a full workday; whether parts can be replaced; and whether it fits under your desk. Most cheap motorized pads fail at least one of these. See the full checklist in the desk treadmill guide.

If you sit most of the day, yes. A gym session can't make up for eight hours of sitting, but walking for part of those hours can. I have walked at my desk for more than four years. Read what changed for me after 4 years.

It can, slowly. Walking burns calories at a low rate, so what makes the difference is the hours: a few hours a day at your desk adds up over months. You still need a calorie deficit in your diet. Check out my notes on walking pads and weight loss.

Motorized walking pads start under €200. Manual and wooden ones cost more, because they are built from heavier materials to last for years. The Office Walker starts from €1,149, excluding fees.

Your choice. On the Office Walker, barefoot and socks both work well, and barefoot gives a bit more grip. Shoes are fine too, they just leave some dust, so give the surface a quick wipe now and then. There are more tips for the first days in Your first walk.

No. A treadmill is built for running: a bigger motor, a longer deck, a handrail and higher speeds. A walking pad is built for walking at your desk: low, flat, no handrail, and it fits under a standing desk.

Motorized pads have set speeds. At a desk, most people walk at 1 to 3 km/h: start around 1 km/h and work up. The Office Walker goes as fast as you walk, with no speed setting.

Your steps move it. The walking surface runs on bearings over a slightly curved frame, so when you push off, it rolls with you. Walk faster and it speeds up, stop and it stops. There is no motor, no plug and no electronics. Compare both kinds in my guide to manual walking pads.

Motorized ones, yes, more than most people expect. We measured an electric pad at 60 to 68 dB, loud enough to hear through a closed door, and they tend to get louder as the motor wears. The Office Walker measured 33 to 45 dB in the same room. Hear both recordings side by side on the quiet page.

A motorized pad draws a few hundred watts at walking pace. Three hours a day at 500 W is about 550 kWh a year, around €164 at 30 cents per kWh. A manual pad uses none. Check what a motor would cost you on the electricity calculator.

Both exist. Most sold are electric, with a motor that moves the belt at the speed you set. Manual ones have no motor: your steps move the belt. See which suits you in my guide to manual and electric walking pads.

Some do. Rubber feet can stain a floor, and we found that out the hard way on a prototype, so the Office Walker ships with feet made from a material that doesn't stain. Read the story of the feet that stained our floor.