I got an old Woodway mercury from a member here when he moved and couldn’t get it into his new apartment. It’s a very old frame that got refurbished at some point. When I got it the slats on the belt looked new and it’s been awesome for about three years now. A couple of months ago I noticed the incline control wasn’t going up and down reliably so I called their tech support (this was during COVID, but they were still able to answer me and ship out parts). When I gave him the serial he laughed because it’s a very low number but he was able to diagnose the problem over the phone, identify the parts, ship them to me and give me instructions on exactly how to install them. $60 later it’s running perfectly. It is completely devoid of bells and whistles but it runs smooth, soft without bounce and very responsive.
When I was looking for a treadmill the woodway was definitely on my shortlist. I ended up going with a used Nordictrack X9i because the ability to go above 15% (goes up to 40%!) and -6% was really important to me as I’m hoping to focus more on trail/ultra. I had read a lot of complaints about their customer service and buggy interactive offer but so far I love it … I bought it used for a few hundreds so really didn’t have much to lose. The incline capabilities are priceless, on days where you can’t or don’t feel like running you still get a killer strength workout. I didn’t care about the interactive features and didn’t think I’d use it but I actually really enjoy their ifit workouts and videos. I haven’t had any issues with it yet but I was told that even if nordictrack customer service sucks they are actually very easy to work on and parts are widely available.
If you go with woodway, I’d get the upgrade.
If money is not object, then the two brands to consider are Woodway and Lifefitness.
Also, do not buy a refurbished unit, unless you get it from Woodway.
You would only recommend buying a new Life Fitness treadmill, or just in some other condition than refurbished? Almost bought a new Sole F80, but have become very interested in used commercial units, if there are any that are recommended. Used Woodways are too rich for my blood, but I’d spend more than the $1600 + tax a new Sole F80 costs if I were able to secure a solid commercial unit.
I will throw a different hat into the ring… The True Form Trainer
I have ran on many different treadmills (Canadian Winters) and its the only way I do any brick workouts or before/after work runs in the winter. If the weather is half what decent (re: not a complete sloppy mess) I always prefer to run outside. Because of this I have never enjoyed treadmills, only tolerated them - and by tolerate I mean, as long as a 3 hour endurance runs on a Sunday morning for IM training!
We just recently outfitted our new gym and this is why we ended up with the trueform treadmill… Its dumb (not integrated), lacks incline and the pace seems to be WAY off because anything under 4:30/km (again I’m Canadian) and my HR is through the roof. but it is the BEST treadmill I have ever run on FULLSTOP!
I had trialed the woodway curve and the assault air runner as well. I took a leap and though I had not used a trueform prior to my purchase, I was aligning with what others reviewers had felt with the other two units so I felt safe enough when they said it felt better / liked it more - and I’m glad I did!
It forces you to maintain form, it REALLY works the posterior chain, its quiet, built like a tank and I love everything about it!
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to give you some perspective as to why I like it and why it may not be suitable for everyone…I don’t jog, I don’t meet up on zwift for group socials and I don’t particularly find motorized treadmills to be realistic. I primarily do all of my biking indoors, I don’t have a lot of time with a demanding consulting job and when I do workout I TRAIN! and for training, I can’t think of a better treadmill. I also dont care if the pace is off, because I track my indoor distances / paces differently than outdoors, so when I do a workout I have separate logs and all my intervals are typically by time anyways (which can also be extrapolated from your outdoor paces/distances).
Happy hunting!
If money is not object, then the two brands to consider are Woodway and Lifefitness.
Also, do not buy a refurbished unit, unless you get it from Woodway.
You would only recommend buying a new Life Fitness treadmill, or just in some other condition than refurbished? Almost bought a new Sole F80, but have become very interested in used commercial units, if there are any that are recommended. Used Woodways are too rich for my blood, but I’d spend more than the $1600 + tax a new Sole F80 costs if I were able to secure a solid commercial unit.
Are you aware that Sole also sells a commercial treadmill?
I am not sure what you weigh and your usage and speed, but my f80 has been great. The heaviest I have been was 215. No issues. The company did replace my deck for free (cracked after 8 years of use) and I bought a belt. Solid Customer Service. Was the new f80 available for delivery right away or a long wait?
If money is not object, then the two brands to consider are Woodway and Lifefitness.
Also, do not buy a refurbished unit, unless you get it from Woodway.
You would only recommend buying a new Life Fitness treadmill, or just in some other condition than refurbished? Almost bought a new Sole F80, but have become very interested in used commercial units, if there are any that are recommended. Used Woodways are too rich for my blood, but I’d spend more than the $1600 + tax a new Sole F80 costs if I were able to secure a solid commercial unit.
Are you aware that Sole also sells a commercial treadmill?
I am not sure what you weigh and your usage and speed, but my f80 has been great. The heaviest I have been was 215. No issues. The company did replace my deck for free (cracked after 8 years of use) and I bought a belt. Solid Customer Service. Was the new f80 available for delivery right away or a long wait?
I appreciate your reply! I’m 230 right now and typically between 210 and 220. The pandemic has been very kind to my belly and not so much to my fitness, haha!
I’d definitely be open to the TT8 or even the F85, but began to get the impression that used commercial units from Life Fitness, Precor, and such were what this forum’s members see the most value in. Let me know what your thoughts are, please!
My wife is between 185 and 190, and tops out around 6.5 mph, for about 30 minutes or so, a few times a week. I have topped out around 40 mpw before injury (damn hamstrings…), with 7.5 to 8.0 mph being my highest and 5.5 to 6.5 mph being typical for easy runs. I wasn’t sure if the two of us at higher body weights might call for a more stout unit than an F80, or not.
I can buy the F80 from Dick’s tonight and have it delivered in 2 weeks or so.
Thanks again for any insight!
Hi — We have a lot of extra space in our new house, so wife gave me the all clear to build out a full-on 650 sq foot home gym. I am looking for treadmill advice. What is the best treadmill for individual home use (only users will be my wife and I), money being no object. I’m also happy to get an electrician to come in as I recognize commercial treadmills require upgrades. I was planning to get a Woodway 4Front, but want to get some additional input here. Are there any notable cons of the Woodway. It does “feel†a little different but I like it. I need it to be reliable, max speed of at least 12 mph for pace work. Ability to decline would be nice to have. Easy to maintain is a huge plus.
The best treadmill is one that doesn’t cost $10,000.
Thanks for the advice.
After 3 months without access to a treadmill, I realized that I absolutely hate treadmill running and only would use it when weather was too miserable to do outside.
I ended up getting a commercial LifeFitness. I don’t recall the specific model. It’s slightly cheaper than the Woodway but not by much. Price wasn’t of any importance. The clincher was I went to the treadmill store and it was the quietest by far (so I can listen to conference calls that require minimal participation without issue) and it felt the most natural to me. I didn’t much care for running on the slats.
I’ve only used it a few times, but wife loves it.
Thanks for the advice.
After 3 months without access to a treadmill, I realized that I absolutely hate treadmill running and only would use it when weather was too miserable to do outside.
I ended up getting a commercial LifeFitness. I don’t recall the specific model. It’s slightly cheaper than the Woodway but not by much. Price wasn’t of any importance. The clincher was I went to the treadmill store and it was the quietest by far (so I can listen to conference calls that require minimal participation without issue) and it felt the most natural to me. I didn’t much care for running on the slats.
I’ve only used it a few times, but wife loves it.
You have to ‘practice’ using the treadmill, seriously. Depending on how much ‘bounce’ or deck flex your TM has, it can be a bit disorienting, not just from ‘running in place’, but also bobbing up and down.
Keep doing it and you will def get used to it. If I don’t run on my TM for awhile, if I’m using Zwift or a TV show, the first 5 minutes feel somewhat strange as the world seems to be bouncing up and down more than I’d ever want. It settles out though.
Nothing compares to the Woodway …snip… Beauty of this new machine- it connects directly to Zwift.
We just took delivery of a new Woodway 4front (June-ish 2020). I love the machine and find it much quieter than our old treadmill (granted it was a low/mid range model).
I do have two issues though:
We got the fancier screen, but in hindsight I would have skipped it. I find the interface a little slow and watching netflix on it is not very good IMO. I now just use a regular TV to stream shows.I could not connect to Zwift directly. I ended up buying the NPE GEM Retro adaptor; it required me to remove the back panel on the screen and plug the module into the CSAFE2 data port. Once I did that zwift (via apple TV) found the treadmill right away. It was my understanding that the WW would be able to connect to Zwift right away but for whatever reason it didn’t work out for me. First world problem of course.My 2c
That might be a fancy screen issue. Heard that from another person. I have the very basic screen
My Woodway also sends elevation date to Strava
Damn you fancy screen!!!
I figured as well that I would rather replace my big screen or iPad at a certain point. And not have to worry about a big display on my treadmill. I mostly run with a newer generation iPad Pro sitting right in front of it, on a small cut down ribbed thin trivet
Yeah, not sure what to say. I spent quite a bit of time trouble shooting then just gave up and ordered the adaptor from NPE.
The install was easy, just popped off back panel , plugged it in, and reinstalled panel.
I also agree with Herbert; I would have preferred the basic version as I find displays and electronics get outdated fast.
Anyway, still love the treadmill.
If money is no object, I think Woodway is as good as it gets. Nearly all professional sports teams have them, and they are bullet proof. I’ve tried a ton of treadmills in high end gyms, and nothing comes close to a Woodway, in my humble opinion.
Is that still your opinion now? What was next best (even if still not close to a Woodway) in your experience?
Have you tried any other slat treadmills, like these (some of which didn’t exist at the time of your original comment above)?
Technogym Skillrun or RunMatrix Performance PlusTRUE Fitness StrykerXebex FreeRunPeloton Tread+Sole ST90 (2020 or 2023 models)
Have you tried the Star Trac 10TRx FreeRunner?
The Unity interface is super easy to use, speed/elevation paddles are great, and I really prefer the running surface over the Woodway. Downside is they cost like $15k new and there isn’t much of a used market. The Unity 3.0 adds something like $3k alone.
Still want to try the Peloton at some point. Looks interesting and not a ludicrous price point
Would you mind explaining more specifically what you preferred about the Skillrun running surface over the Woodway? Have you tried the Peloton Tread+ (or any other slat treadmills) yet?
Nothing compares to the Woodway in terms of feel, plus Woodway has also refrained from adding fancy controls that are often the Achilles heel in terms of trouble and repairs. Plus I have never been on any other treadmill that responded as swiftly to input as the Woodway. They are amazing.
I assume you mean the swiftness of speed and incline changes. Did the “fancy Technogyms†(which you mentioned in another comment that you’ve run on) include the Skillrun, and do you have experience with any other slat treadmills?