If you could chose between both treadmills which one would you take: Woodway Curve or Desmo HP? It’s for workouts at or above 10k race pace. I noticed many elite athletes are using the Woodway Desmo HP, but the non-motorized Curve seems to have some advantages according the Woodway website. I always taught the benefit of running on a treadmill is the steady pace you can program and the only things you need to do is run, think about your form and suffer. Without an engine you don’t have this benefit. So what am I missing here?
Oh yeah, I need to decide within 2 days…
Haven’t used the curve enough, but both are nice. Is this for you? Get some demo days in on both before you have to decide. I have logged many miles on a Woodway and just a TOP and far from elite, but I would push towards motorized with no good reasons.
Go with the Desmo HP. The curve feels far from a natural feel.
I’m gonna be honest. The curve looks stupid.
You should obviously getting this one: http://www.woodway.com/performancetreadmills/elg.html
you can also ride your bike on it.
Side note, I use the Desmo on a regular basis and love it. It’s the softest, smoothest treadmill I’ve ever used. You have to buy it before 12/31 though because that’s when my elite status expires 
Yes, it’s for me. But luckily I’m not the one who’ll pay for it 
I asked my coach to buy a Woodway and when he contacted the national distributor they suggested the Curve and he ordered one. We had to decide quickly to change the order if we found out the the Curve isn’t what we want. So thank you guys and the Slowtwitch forum for the help! I’ll make sure it’s in one of the my next webisodes.
Sorry you originally got the wrong suggestion. Woodway actually has this question come up on a regular basis. In fact the question Curve vs. motorized treadmill came up last week on our FaceBook site. Below is the response. The first part was answered Paul Robbins the former metabolic specialist at Athlete’s Performance specifically how he uses the Curve with endurance athletes and the second portion is from us as to how each piece can be used. I hope this helps clarify when and why you would use a Curve vs. the Desmo HP. Regardless, I hope you enjoy the Treadmill.
When we first starting using the Curve we used it for short power intervals. Over time we started using it for our endurance athletes for 400-800 m split runs to work on race pace and AT. Because you have to general additional power to move the belt we saw great improvements in leg strength ( endurance) for these athletes. Over time we have had some do 20-30 minute runs on the Curve as well. For them it was not a long run but it was very effective because the work to do these distances on the Curve was harder than running outside. It is like running up a slight incline for the whole distance while reducing the impact that road work would give you- great leg strength/endurance. – Paul Robbins
The Curve would not be the only piece used for Endurance training, but like any good program your workouts should have some variety. The Curve is ideal for speed and interval work which should be a component of distance training and it also is a great tool for leg strength when running distances.
If you ran outside or on a motorized treadmill (ideally a Desmo for comfort and accuracy) for your long or tempo runs the Curve would be a natural compliment for your other runs. It can also assist you in enhancing your gait / running efficiency since the self powered and Curved surface help guide you naturally into using better posture, dorsiflection and core stability.
Would we suggest that you train exclusively on the Curve, no. However we would recommend that you not train exclusively on any method as it increases your risk of overuse injuries and wouldn’t optimize your training outcomes. -EW
Thank you Eric for you opinion, but now I’m even more confused…
Your best overall bang for the buck is the Desmo. While I agree the curve has some potentially unique benefit, it does not span the full complement of workouts like a regular motorized treadmill and could limit carry-over for overground distance running as it is less specific than a treadmill that has already drifted away from road kinetics/kinematics.
The Woodway treadmill is by far the best ride out there!
Cheers!
Agreed, if you can only buy one the Desmo gives you the most training versatility. For an Endurance Athlete the Curve is a specialized supplemental piece but not as broad a solution as the Desmo.
By the way you can put the Desmo in a what we call “dynamic mode” and it disengages the motor allowing the belt to move freely (the challenge is you have to put it on a fairly steep incline to run without using the handrails). In theory you can do a few of the things you can do on the curve, but in practicality it is not as smooth. Bottom line, Desmo with higher speeds should be your choice.