I bought a Bowflex BXT 216 about 18 months ago. Bought it from Bowflex.com for $1,799 and paid the $200 or so fee for setup. It’s awesome. Connects to Zwift via Bluetooth and is super comfy to run on. Tons of value in this treadmill. also, you can raise and lower the deck very easily. Highly recommend.
I have a Sole F85 that I picked up used for $500. It has been great for the 2.5 years I’ve owned it. The wide belt is nice as it allows you to relax more or even take some diagonal steps to break up the straight line running.
I bought a used Woodway off of eBay about year and half ago. Didn’t have the coin to drop on anything new but had been looking at the classifieds here on ST, FB, Craigslist, and eBay for about three months. Ended up paying about $3.5K. Treadmill was a 2014 but only had 180 hours and 30 miles on it. This week I replaced the electric motor which had gone bad. Not sure how it happened since there has been very little use on it other than that I have had zero issues with it.
Love running on it. Utterly sublime to do intervals on. Built like a tank. Weighs about the same as one too. Only downside other than price for the Woodway is its weight. Looked at other brands but the quality of the Woodway belt cannot be beat. Personally, it is difficult for me to transition to running on the road after running on those treadmills that “flex” when you land. So much easier for me to transition from treadmill to open road on the Woodway.
Other reason for the Woodway was simplicity. The “extras” you get on other brands such as fans and speakers break repeatedly due to sweat and vibration. I use a Lasco fan with a remote switch and computer speakers that sit close to the treadmill but are not subject to sweat and vibration.
Sounds like you are in a similar position that I was last year. I did a lot of looking and decided to keep my eye out for a good clearance type of deal on a new machine or just a decent used one. I’d recommend looking for one just above the “entry” or base models, so that would be something with a 3HP motor, goes up to 12mph and a 60x20 deck. I know I won’t be maxing this thing out and I this size of deck works (I’m 6’ 3" and most runs are around 8-9 min miles). Found a Proform 995c that was a few years old, but minimally used, on craigslist for $450, has been great.
I’m in the same boat somewhat. I need to supplement my outdoor runs with a treadmill due to not being always able to leave the house.
I’m currently stuck between an F80 or 85, and going reconditioned commercial, Star Trac or Life Fitness. About the same price, but I have NEVER had a bad run on a LF treadmill, so I’m really leaning that way if I can find one. I have a line on a reconditioned Planet Fitness one, but damn I don’t want that purple in my house.
Landice
I have one that is 13 years old, used daily in the winter and works great. The touch screen went on it last winter and Landice replaced it under warranty (!).
Landice
I have one that is 13 years old, used daily in the winter and works great. The touch screen went on it last winter and Landice replaced it under warranty (!).
Was waiting for someone else to post this so I can say :
x2
Bought mine used for $500 (12 years old) it’s a tank and gets the job done, keep an eye on Craigslist
Landice L8 here. Bought new, pricey, think I paid 5k for it. Thing is a tank so far, owned for nearly 3 years.
I bought a used precor for $500. It is a commercial unit and weighs a ton it will go all the way down to a 4 minute mile. Running on a cheap lightweight treadmill is awful if you can get a used commercial model that runs off standard house current or if you have access to 220 those models can be even cheaper.
What would be the top brands to look for? Looking to pick up a used one as well for the winter.
Precor, startrac, life, woodway, landice
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Honestly, in the TM world, it’s so competitive you get what you pay for.
Note that this does not mean necessarily that a $800 treadmill is ‘crappy’ and that you need a $4k TM to do quality workouts - TMs are so good nowadays that you can def get away with a solid $800 treadmill for legit triathlon/run training, even if you’re fast.
What the extra money does go for, though is:
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More durable parts. TMs have moving parts and multiple wear points, including motor, deck, rollers, belt, console. I have literally replaced every single one of these on my 8 year old Sole F80 (like Lionel Sanders on his Nordictrac has!) and the only thing I haven’t replaced is the frame. I’ll guarantee that a $4k Landice will take a lot longer to wear out some of the parts compared to the Sole F80 (which I would still recommend and I still use happily - esp now that I know how to service it!)
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Better warrantee. Pay CLOSE attention to the warrantee, esp for <$2000 TMs, as there’s a real chance you will have to use it. My Sole F80 motors (as are most TM motors nowadays) are lifetime warantee, they are sent out for free no questions asked, but I have had to pay for the belt and console replacement several years out. This is likely the real ‘gotcha’ about the cheap sub $1000 TMs - really limited warrantee and likely limited service access.
I still think that most TMs in the $1500 range are fine for most users, although you might want to consider stepping up to a pricier one if you run and sweat a lot on it every day and plan to do so for 8+ yrs (I do) or have it in a challenging environment (like mine - my garage causes the TM to get condensation buildup in the mornings which eventually shorts out consoles and rusts parts). My Sole F80 actually is more pleasant to run on that the $$$ Precor gym TMs and even the strange Woodway curve which I tried to like but ended up finding it more annoying than useful.
Thanks for the thoughts. I’m hoping to find one on Facebook marketplace or Craigslist. As so many pieces of gym equipment are hardly ever used, I’m hoping to save some money off a new one. I’m willing to pay around 1K +/-. Seeing a lot of True, Nordictrack, Sole and then there are some that are being sold from gyms closing or liquidation centers. We’ll see.
I think most treadmills sold in stores aren’t actually for running. More for walking/jogging. They just aren’t designed to hold up to the pounding.
I can’t recommend a specific brand, but when i have thought about buying before, I was going to ask at my gym if they had machines they would be replacing. Since those are designed to be ran on. I bought one years ago and it had a bunch of features. Then realized those features were best used for people who just want to walk (big digital interface, iPod docking (back when that was a new thing), etc).
If the TM costs over $1200 in the stores, you can run on it. Haven’t seen one that doesn’t fit this criteria at this price point.
The ones <$800 are pretty much for walking though and not built to withstand day in day out pounding of running.
Sole F80 here. Been beating it for around a year or so now, running intervals in the high six minutes on occasion and it’s so far very sturdy for the price.
Sole F80 here. Been beating it for around a year or so now, running intervals in the high six minutes on occasion and it’s so far very sturdy for the price.
Do you know if it is capable of hooking up to zwift? Thx
For those that have gotten a Woodway, do you recommend the curved ones?
Most gyms release their treadmills after a 3-year lease to big sporting equipment superstores. These superstores often also set up the treadmills in gyms and big offices spaces for the treadmill brands. A nice Precor is new about $8000, but after 3 years at a gym it is usually $1,600 to 2,300 with maybe 150 to 200 working hours.
But as others have said, if you are patient and scouting ads you might find one that was bought with enthusiasm and then set idle forever. But many of these personal ads on ebay and FB etc are often Superstores who sell through these portals.
Sole F80 here. Been beating it for around a year or so now, running intervals in the high six minutes on occasion and it’s so far very sturdy for the price.
Do you know if it is capable of hooking up to zwift? Thx
it doesn’t have any sort of native bluetooth speed transmitter.