Love my Horizon AT 7.8 treadmill, I bought it pre-pandemic and it's been flawless. The treadmill is a solid beast and the motor is the best you can get in the price range.

I had a Spirit treadmill that luckily had a warranty, because I completely beat it up over the 5 years I had it. I broke the deck 2x, needed a new motor and a new belt. I was patient and kept searching for a used Woodway. I found one that was in really good shape, for $3700, but it was 8 hours away. I made the 16 hour round trip and have not looked back. It's been an incredible purchase and I have it serviced for $150 every 18months. It's so nice to not maintain the track and worry about lubing. I always recommend people who might want one to keep an eye out on craigslist or facebook marketplace. Mine was 12 years old at the time of purchase, but it's still supported by Woodway and runs like a horse!

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Blog: https://davidkoppeltriathlon.blogspot.com/
Coaching: https://dkendurance.com/

I don't understand the physics of how the middle of a treadmill belt could run slower than the outside of the belt. That would require the belt to split into multiple parts!

I totally understand what you are saying...but I don't run on both the middle or the sides at the same time.

If I run on the outsides it is a smoother run and the speed is better-more accurate.
If I run on the middle, the speed reduces greatly. I don't manually change the speed-it just slows down. The belt itself is also more "worn" on the underside in the middle-even though I lube it thoroughly.

Does that make more sense?

I remember your post...was jealous of your find. But, I am sure you put a lot of time and effort into finding it. Must have been a nervous drive hoping it would have been there when you showed up!

I will be happy to find the same thing.

So, Woodway honors the warranty even though you aren't the original owner?

They just support the old model I have, meaning that if the screen goes bad, I can replace it, etc. But, they did have a Woodway tech go through the treadmill prior to me going down there to get it, so I knew it was going to be in good shape. I see lots of used woodways for sale, but many are gym used and have likely taken quite a beating. From what I was told, usually that just means you may need to replace the rubber treads, which I think are a couple thousand. If you can read "Woodway" on the rubber treads pretty easily, that's a good sign that it may not have been used very hard, in addition to knowing the hours/miles on the unit.

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Blog: https://davidkoppeltriathlon.blogspot.com/
Coaching: https://dkendurance.com/

Ah, that makes sense.

I do think that pattern of wear and speed is normal with these low-midrange treadmills. My Sole F80 probably does the same thing, but I just keep running in the middle so I haven't noticed any speed changes.

The area of wear is def going to be where you run on it the most, no matter what you do. I'd say if the machine is running consistently if you're in the middle, just go with it since nothing's breaking, and adjust the speed to the appropriate level (it's never going to perfectly match outdoors anyway.)

Gotcha. I wouldn't complain if the belt and deck had a lot of miles on them, but they don't. That's my frustration, they changed the belt thickness by a few millimeters and it is not working. This will be my third belt in well under a 1,000 miles. I got one replacement under warranty, but doubt they will do this one too.

Consider a used Landice.

Nothing to add, but wanted to commiserate with regret over my Sole purchase. We got the F85 based on Sole's reputation. But it's been a bit of a disaster. I barely even run on it anymore because I'm scared of breaking it. We got it at the start of the pandemic and they were good about sending out replacement parts... but it seemed to take weeks for parts to arrive and then weeks to get a tech to do the work. I think we went through the control panel, incline motor, motor, deck, rollers, and two belts... and other parts that I don't even remember. It basically had some type of 'thumping' noise that they could never resolve. Kept blaming various parts and would never do a full unit swap. So the issue just persisted and persisted. Finally something electronic just 'blew' and everything was fried. This happened right at the end of their labor warranty. They claimed this was unrelated to my previous complaints spanning multiple years. So while they shipped out new motors, I had to pay for the labor. It's working now and every month or two I hop on it, but it's basically a walking treadmill for my wife. The thumping noise has never returned, so it was likely always related to the motor. Just thought I'd throw another 'poor experience' with Sole for those contemplating a treadmill.

Man, that sucks. Sorry to hear. I definitely am not happy with how things have turned and am ready for a change. Just not looking forward to getting this thing out and something else to replace it.

Came here searching for Sole F80 feedback. Shame it's not still the treadmill everyone loved just a few years ago. Also curious what everyone is using now? Seems Horizon 7.4 comes up a lot.

I own a SOLE F85 and the original belt got screwed after 3 years and many miles, and probably not enough lubing.
Bought a non-SOLE belt from a local multibrand supplier, that was a bit thicker and it works wonders. Just an idea, if you havent explored this?

I bought a Sole F77 from Costco last March. It was a great deal, had the nice iPad like screen, but right from the start it was a disaster, just full of defects. Thankful Costco has a fantastic return policy.

I ended up sucking it up and doing the "buy once, cry once" thing and bought a Landice L7. Made in the US, lifetime warranty and very well made. I love it. However, they are over your $3k budget.

I did find the Matrix treadmills to be pretty good quality too when I saw that in store, they should be near your budget, maybe slightly over. Although in my opinion, they are overpriced considering they are made in China.

Thanks. I found a belt that is thicker as well. I am having a company come out in a few weeks to get this set up. I want him to make sure everything is right so that if it does get messed up it will be the product fault and not me...I am looking at moving on to a landice treadmill if this doesn't work out. Hopefully I can get a deal at black Friday!!

Great - best of luck with that. I changed the belt myself, watching some Youtube videos. Its doable but took me a bit over an our! Runs perfectly smooth now :) Danish Proverb: "Self-done is Well-Done"