I am looking for a treadmill for myself and my wife and I am having a hard time sorting the hype from the facts about treadmills. I have found a site that has good prices on Keys brand, and have looked at some of the local retailers for other brands, but can’t sem to get pointed in the right direction. Part of me thinks that I should not have to break the bank and spend over $1,000 but I don’t know what the extra dough will get me. I read about some of the Keys models that will adjust incline to maintain hr, but also that the HR might not be very accurate.
Most of the stuff in the search threads is pretty old.
Can anyone help?
I have a Keys treadmill and I have used it now for 2 years w/o any problems. I can give you further details, i.e. model # etc. later. I just got home from work and it’s late so I’ll get back to you with the real scoop.
Rooster
We bought a Keys 8800 a couple of years ago. The heart rate moniter on it has NEVER worked very well, although I haven’t spent a whole lot of effort trying to “fix” it.
I just use my wrist moniter and don’t mess with the heartrate dependent programs.
I love everything else about it. It feels very stable, the belt feels comfortable and the running surface is a good size. We both use it regularly and have done a lot of miles on it to include long runs and interval training.
As far as I can tell it is fairly accurate as far as speed is concerned.
Absolutely one of our best triathlon purchases ever. There is no way that I could train and race without it (schedule, little kids, and Colorado winter). We spent north of 2k on it and don’t regret a penny of it.
Hope this helps.
By the way - I have been very impressed with the Precor treadmills at my health club and would probably take a look at those if I were in the market.
I am no expert, but I would strongly encourage you to take several different models for a ride if you can.