Speediance Removed the Best Partner Feature in V3 — And It Was Already Broken

The Lost Feature

Speediance removed something in V3 that was in all their original demos. I'm talking about the Free Lift partner mode — the one that let two people lift different weights at the same time on the same machine.

A Speediance community rep confirmed it was a mistake to remove it. They're supposedly bringing it back. But right now, if you're on V3 software, it's gone.

I filmed a demo with my daughter Lily showing exactly what this feature did — and why it was both impressive and fundamentally broken.

What It Actually Did

Here's the thing that made this cool: two independent motors.

Most cable machines give you the same weight on both sides. Speediance has two motors that can operate independently. In partner mode, you could set my weight to 44 lbs and Lily's weight to 8 lbs — and we'd both lift simultaneously.

We did this in the video. Lily pulling 8 lbs. Me pulling 44 lbs. Both of us working at the same time, on the same machine, with completely different resistance.

Tonal can't do this. That's why Speediance highlighted it in their early marketing. It's a legitimate differentiator.

Why It Was Broken

Here's where it falls apart: **it didn't track either person's stats properly.**

When you enable partner mode in Free Lift, it doesn't log into any user profile. Whatever you do counts toward whoever's logged in — usually mine. Lily's 312 lbs got added to my total. My 1,500 lbs got added to my total. The machine couldn't tell us apart.

That's not partner mode. That's just me lifting with my kid standing next to me.

There's a separate partner mode inside regular workouts — that one DOES log users separately. But the Free Lift version? Zero tracking. It just shows two lines on the screen (green for me, yellow for Lily) and calls it a day.

The Barbell Problem

You also can't use barbell exercises in partner mode. The button is disabled.

Why? Because the machine can't apply different weights to each side of a barbell. It would create uneven force. I tested it — one side at 51 lbs, the other at 8 lbs. The bar started tipping immediately. It's dangerous and the machine knows it.

So if you want to do barbell movements together, you're out of luck. You have to switch back to solo mode.

Assist Modes Are Actually Cool

The one thing that works in partner mode: assist modes.

Assist Mode 2 is the useful one. It detects when you're struggling mid-rep and drops the weight automatically. Great for drop sets. Great for spotter simulation.

In partner mode, this works independently for each person. Lily's side drops when she can't complete a rep. My side drops when I can't. That's actually smart design.

The V3 Redesign

The V3 software changed the Free Lift screen entirely. The old V2 layout had two distinct panels — one for each user. You could see both green and yellow lines, both rep counts, both power meters.

V3 consolidated it to look like a regular workout screen. It's cleaner. But it broke the dual-display functionality that made partner mode interesting.

This is a pattern with V3. They removed things that were marginal, replaced them with a more consistent UI, and haven't fully restored the functionality yet.

Why I'm Not Upset

Let me be honest: I don't program my real workouts in Free Lift partner mode. I don't recommend anyone else does either.

Why? **There's no progressive overload tracking.**

Every rep counts toward the logged-in user. There's no PR system, no weight progression, no data to analyze. It's just movement for movement's sake.

That's fun for a dad-daughter workout. It's not training.

The community wants it back, and I get why — the dual-motor capability is impressive. But for actual strength progress, the regular workout mode with separate user profiles does the job better.

What I'd Want Back

If Speediance brings this back, here's what needs to change:

1. **Guest user login** — Let a second person log in so their stats actually count

2. **Separate progress tracking** — Each user should have their own PRs, their own volume, their own history

3. **Barbell support** — Figure out how to handle uneven loading safely, or at least warn users

4. **Saved settings per user** — Don't make us reconfigure every session

Without those fixes, it's a novelty — not a feature worth the upgrade hassle.

The Bottom Line

The removed partner mode was cool in theory. In practice, it was broken and only useful for casual family workouts.

I'm glad Speediance is working on restoring it. But they should take the time to do it right this time — with actual user tracking, not just two colored lines on a screen.