Go to craigs list. See what’s available. Research and read reviews. Repeat until you find a satisfactory product. Save big money. We got ours via that technique ~8 years ago and it’s still going strong.
Budget? Trying to figure out what’s worth spending for or not…if that makes sense.
Id like to get something higher quality that would have the chance of being as quiet as possible given my office is beside our bedroom. My wife is up early most mornings too…but just on the occasions where she isn’t, I’d like it to be on the quiet side
If I could get something good for 800, that would be great but if there’s something magical about one that is 1500, I could go for that.
I just bought a Sole F65 for $1299, plus $99 shipping and delivery to room of my choice. My previous treadmill was a Sole F63 that went strong for 8 years. If you buy direct from Sole, there is no sales tax, and their prices are the same as Dick’s sporting goods. You can get the F63 for $999, which is decent treadmill; I went with the F65 since it has a slightly better motor and a 2" wider deck.
I went through the treadmill buying process a little under two years ago. I had an initial budget of around $1500 and was looking at NordicTrack and Sole as my two main options. The treadmill was mainly to be used during the winter, up to 55-60 mpw, so I wanted something pretty solid.
After looking at a few stores and reading lots of online reviews (don’t trust the mainstream online reviews - they seem to be swayed by the treadmill companies) I decided to go with a robust engine and no ‘little frills’ that some of the cheaper treadmills include. A fan? - honestly that doesn’t do a thing. Built in music or simulated courses? - not needed. These are just electronics waiting to break.
I ended up with a True PS100. I got it on a Black Friday deal in 2014 for around $2600, and it included two years of 0% financing. I ran on it roughly 6 times a week from November through March and it’s a tank. One of the things I was looking for in a treadmill was the ability to get up to speed quickly for intervals. Some of the lower priced treadmills seem to take their sweet time doing this. The PS100 does this nice and quickly. You want to do downhill running? - stick a 2x4 under the rear of the treadmill.
It sounds like the things that you want weren’t my priorities (folding, google maps, music, etc), so I’m not sure how much help I’ve really been.
I went through the treadmill buying process a little under two years ago. I had an initial budget of around $1500 and was looking at NordicTrack and Sole as my two main options. The treadmill was mainly to be used during the winter, up to 55-60 mpw, so I wanted something pretty solid.
After looking at a few stores and reading lots of online reviews (don’t trust the mainstream online reviews - they seem to be swayed by the treadmill companies) I decided to go with a robust engine and no ‘little frills’ that some of the cheaper treadmills include. A fan? - honestly that doesn’t do a thing. Built in music or simulated courses? - not needed. These are just electronics waiting to break.
I ended up with a True PS100. I got it on a Black Friday deal in 2014 for around $2600, and it included two years of 0% financing. I ran on it roughly 6 times a week from November through March and it’s a tank. One of the things I was looking for in a treadmill was the ability to get up to speed quickly for intervals. Some of the lower priced treadmills seem to take their sweet time doing this. The PS100 does this nice and quickly. You want to do downhill running? - stick a 2x4 under the rear of the treadmill.
It sounds like the things that you want weren’t my priorities (folding, google maps, music, etc), so I’m not sure how much help I’ve really been.
+1 on the True. We actually bought the same model. We got lucky and a local fitness store was selling their floor models which resulted in us getting a good deal on it. It is a solid piece of equipment. If you can stretch the budget or find a deal on one somewhere, it really is worth the money.
I recommend getting a Landice cardio trainer. There plain jane no fluff but are built like tanks . There about $3200 new but you can find good deals for a used one on craigs or ebay.
I bought a Horizon Fitness T101-04 Treadmill after it was recommended on ST years ago for $599 off amazon with $75 to have it put together. It folds. Has speakers. Has fan. Plenty fast. I never thought 5 years later it would still be going strong. Original belt. Never oiled. Darn sturdy. Never broke.
Amazon still sells this one for $649 now but it’s a Prime product only, meaning you have to be a Prime member to get it. If you have a budget this is a killer buy.
Go to craigs list. See what’s available. Research and read reviews. Repeat until you find a satisfactory product. Save big money. We got ours via that technique ~8 years ago and it’s still going strong.
True, but you have to move it yourself, which will require you to dismantle the TM.
I wouldn’t spend more than $1100 on one. I bought one from Norditrack for $990 (Spring Sale 2015). I used that think 3-4 days a week until October, at which time my ex-wife took it in the divorce. She runs once a week and it still looks brand new. I now have a super old one that was given too me. It’s a Nordictrack as well. Looks beat up but works really really well.
The best feature I’ve found is one that shows a 400m track on the display. My coach had me doing a lot of speed work last year, but the local track was being rebuilt. This feature worked amazingly well.
My cheap Norditrack that my wife took did have a feature where you could plug in a running route. I did love that, but at the lower end model I bought, you did have to pay a fee for that. I cold plug in the running route of my next race and the treadmill would show a map display of where I was at and would adjust to the elevation. It was glorious.
True, but you have to move it yourself, which will require you to dismantle the TM.
Unless you have a pickup or a friend with a pickup. Even an isolated, socially awkward introvert like myself was able to find transportation for my treadmill. There are ways to solve your (in the general sense) problem for far cheaper than buying new. Further, CL got me a free treadmill mat. Treadmill sales are rampant by the general public who bought them with good intentions yet failed to follow through. Think of it as being environmentally friendly as well.
I bought the Landice L7 from Leisure Fitness after doing a ton of research. I read reviews that indicated it was a platform less prone to issues and a company that was easier to deal with when issues occurred (relative to Woodway). It makes sense to buy new for the reasons you stated.
I don’t think any really good/high end treadmills are going to fold up. That’s a bit of an oxymoron.
True, but you have to move it yourself, which will require you to dismantle the TM.
Unless you have a pickup or a friend with a pickup. Even an isolated, socially awkward introvert like myself was able to find transportation for my treadmill. There are ways to solve your (in the general sense) problem for far cheaper than buying new. Further, CL got me a free treadmill mat. Treadmill sales are rampant by the general public who bought them with good intentions yet failed to follow through. Think of it as being environmentally friendly as well.
Much like you, I am an introvert and generally don’t like talking to people. I like automated things…like ordering online. But I tried CL and the ones I found required a lot of dismantling that I just didn’t have the time for. If you have the resources, CL is the best option.
I recommend getting a Landice cardio trainer. There plain jane no fluff but are built like tanks . There about $3200 new but you can find good deals for a used one on craigs or ebay.
Yup. Love my :Landice L7. Plus ‘Made in America’ with a great warranty.
Just a little input re uploading courses and routes. Almost all commercial treadmills have a port called a c-Safe port. It’s an RJ45 and wahoo fitness makes a device that you plug in here and you can upload through it no matter how old your machine is. But usually on commercial ones. I bought an old but solid treadmill and make sure it had a c-safe port. DC rainmaker did a short write up on the device.
Some others have recommended Sole treadmills. I recently bought a Sole F80 after reading generally positive reviews online and finding a good sale at Dick’s. I know Sole isn’t as well-made as something like True or Landice, but it was so much cheaper (less than $1k with the sale) that I figured it was worthwhile even if it only lasted 3-5 years instead of a lot longer. After a terrible experience with Sole customer service, I feel much less happy about the whole thing. My F80 was defective, and Spirit Fitness (the company that makes/imports Sole) was truly awful to deal with. I had to hound them to pay attention to me. They sent repair guys to my house twice to try to fix the problems. One problem (a drive motor that was spewing oil all over the floor) was easy to fix, and they did so. The problem they couldn’t fix was that the deck was at a permanent incline that far exceeded what Spirit told me was the spec. (It was at about 3.5* unless I raised the leveling feet all the way and also blocked up the rear feet by about an inch.) It seemed pretty clear that it was a manufacturing defect. After the second failed repair visit, the people at Spirit completely recanted everything they had told me on the phone and via email about the specs for the F80 and told me that my unit was actually just fine and totally within spec. They said that if I wasn’t happy, then I should just return it to Dick’s for a refund because they weren’t going to replace it. In other words, once it got to a point where it needed to be replaced, they totally shirked their warranty obligation and threw me back to Dick’s.
Luckily, Dick’s was really good about the whole thing. They offered to replace my unit at no additional cost and deal with Spirit. That was no small nicety because my unit was a prior-year model, and the replacement is a current-year model. I just got the replacement yesterday, and the incline seems normal. (Whew.) So all is well in the end, but it was a giant hassle dealing with Spirit for several weeks, trying to get them to honor their warranty and then having them totally change their story.
Aside from the terrible customer service, I’ll also point out that the F80 is incredibly slow to change speeds. My old treadmill (an old Pacemaster, a company which sadly has apparently gone out of business) was a LOT faster at changing speeds. The problem isn’t just that you have to press several buttons to dial in a speed (e.g., you press 9 mph or 7 mph and then press the up or down arrows several times to set a specific pace); it’s also that once the speed is entered, it takes probably 10+ seconds to slowly and gradually change to that speed. Not a big deal for a steady pace run, but really hard to do intervals the way I’m used to.
In the end, I got a great deal on the F80, and it’ll be fine while it lasts. But I wouldn’t buy another Sole or any other Spirit treadmill. I’ll probably pony up for a Landice or a True when the Sole dies.
My treadmill is nothing fancy - I’m not even sure of the brand (Horizon?). But is does have a folding deck. The folding part works great, easy, solid automatic lock in the up position and a hydraulic cylinder to smooth the landing on the way back down. But the feature is pretty useless, IMO. The device is heavy and awkward and tries to roll on undersized, hard wheels. And it sits on a mat that makes moving it even more impossible. Do we fold/move it? Sure, a couple of times per year when we are entertaining a crowd and can use the extra space. Folding/moving 1 time a week? Ugh. A few times per week? Insanity. Maybe other brands are easier, but it’s still a bulky, heavy thing to move around and mark up your floors…
