Treadmill Recommendations

I’m looking to expand my home gym and add a treadmill. It would be used for both speed work and long easy efforts whenever weather is bad. I was looking at the True Form treadmill but am open to any suggestions for otherones to look at. Thanks!

Hello, I would like to try and revive this thread and hopefully get some suggestions as I am also looking into a treadmill (TrainerRoad and cycling is still the focus though :slight_smile: ).
Wirecutter seems to like some Pro-Form models, however, I think they may be hard to get where I live (Vancouver, Canada).
Looking for a good quality treadmill but doesn’t need to be super deluxe.
My wife will do some casual easy running, 30-60 min couple times a week maybe, likely flat or 1-2% grade.
I would run 1-2 times per week for about an hour per session. I could see myself doing some intervals and hill work.
Thank you and hopefully we can get some recommendations out there this time.

A couple thoughts on Treadmills - sorry no specific rec’s per say

I’ve had 3 over approx. 15 years

1st was a basic level one from Costco - I broke it and returned it within 6 months

2nd was Norditrack - bought online - another basic level one - the motor failed pretty quickly and was repaired by Norditrack - the treadmill lasted another couple years till the deck cracked (at this point it was out of warranty - 2 years) and I was wanting to get something nicer as I was using it frequently

3rd was a special buy on Amazon - it was more of the middle to upper end $1200 USD by a company no longer in business, but it keeps on working. I did have to replace the belt, but it was easy to find by a 3rd party company and they have a video on how to install it.

When the time comes for my next treadmill what would I do differently? more a message to myself I would go run on it as a demo! I want to see how the motor handles surges, such as intervals. How does the deck feel? Some are hard, some are softer. What is the warranty of the different parts? How will they service it if it breaks (Norditrack sent a 3rd party to my house to repair, Costco just had me drop it off at the warehouse which is a pain as they are freaking heavy and awkward to move).

Additional thoughts - Treadmill fans (built in usually suck), generally so do the built in monitors and speakers, so seeing these in person would be nice. I am not going to pay extra for frills like fans, monitors if I am just going to add my own anyway. Do you want Bluetooth? Have it connect to Zwift?

So long story short(er) - Search google for fitness stores and go run on few - kick the tires - ask some questions

1 Like

I have a SOLE f80 and love it. I just recently had the deck replaced free and got a new belt (normal wear after 8 years). I would recommend that or the f85.

I am also intrigued by the NordicTrack line. They seem to have decent treadmills, and Peloton has a new one that is cool

The Sole prices should be anywhere from 1250-1500. The other ones are likely to be more expensive possibly.

Right now I have a Pro Form 2000 that I bought 3 years ago for approx. $1100. I don’t think I’d recommend one if your going to be a heavy user/do serious training on it. My wife and I use it pretty heavily and so far we’ve had to replace the belt (worn down) and the walking board (cracked). Total repairs cost around $500 to date. I’m hoping to get another year or two out of it but have already committed myself to saving up and buying a higher quality machine next time around.

I’d take a close look at Landice treadmills. They are built like tanks and come with a solid warranty. Downside is that they are expensive ($4K), but from what I’ve read, seem to last forever. Another option would be trying to find a used commercial distributor in your area and see what they have to offer. I have a number of friends who had good luck with that approach.

One other thing to keep in mind when purchasing is to look closely at what the manufacturer’s warranty covers. I’ve found that a lot of manufacturers will offer you warranties on the engine but many won’t cover the rest of the machine (unless you pay extra). Obviously there is no issue in having a warranty on the engine, but it wont be worth much if the rest of the machine goes first, which has been my experience.

2nd the Landice treadmill. Love mine, never a problem in 6+ years. Lifetime warranty and no maintenance. The deck feel is solid, almost like running on the street / sidewalk. The other thing that sold me on a Landice is how quickly it increases/decreases the speed and incline/decline. I purchased the L7, at the time is was $3K, but I was able to negotiate down a little bit.

The main thing I would add is be careful with the max speed. A lot of them don’t go fast enough at 2% gradient.

Also the platform size matters more than I thought it would. Not so much for the running as it can be done in a relatively small area, but for the purposes of relaxing you want to move around a bit.

If you’re not going to use the up down much you they’re simple things and ones with broken up/down mechanisms can be super cheap. I got mine (lightly used) for about £100, just needed to angle-grind off the lifting mechanism & replace the belt (£65). I’ve fixed it at 2% gradient but I was never one for adjusting the gradient much anyway & the discount on broken ones is huge. You can end up with a much better one than you’d have got with just a missing feature you’d not use much anyway. There’s an impression that they can’t be repaired but they’re actually really simple.

We have an Air Assault curved manual treadmill. It is nothing like running on a standard treadmill. Max speed is limited by your legs. Any given speed is about 20%-30% harder than running outside.

Recommended.

2 Likes

I have a Precor that is still running strong after about 8 years of daily usage. I also bought a Life fitness 3 years ago which has also served me well.

Both these treadmills had very simple interfaces but very robust decks. A lot of these cheapish treadmills have these fancy full of crap interfaces that look outdated one year later. So make sure you get one with a very simple board but a robust deck.

We’ve got the Nordic Track 2950 for my wife (I’m the cyclist, she’s the runner). It’s an extremely nice looking treadmill and from a comfort and performance standpoint it’s very solid.

My issue is the iFit software. It’s absolute garbage compared to something like TrainerRoad. It’s got this beautiful 22" screen, but the software moves extremely slow and the navigation is very clumsy. It takes multiple swipes and button presses just to start running. Plus, despite all the connectivity built into it you can’t even upload your workout to something like Strava, Garmin, Training Peaks, etc…

If you’re into all the features that come with iFit (workouts, videos, virtual coaches) I’d say go for it, but for me i’d rather just hop on the treadmill and press go.

I’m hoping to purchase a treadmill that will work with my Forerunner 645 or Connect on my phone. I know that some pro-level devices can interface with apps that handle the program, allowing me to regulate the speed with a Garmin programmed workout.

I haven’t been able to find any internet references to anyone accomplishing this especially with Garmin workouts, but it should be possible if Zwift can control it. Has anyone tried this before, and if so, what brand/model did you use?

1 Like

I haven’t heard of anyone successfully figuring this out yet—basically turning your treadmill into a smart trainer of sorts with speed/incline auto adjusting. It’s definitely been talked about before, and the conclusion I always see to why nobody in the market has done anything yet is liability (i.e., the speed adjusts and the user flys off—not a problem you have with self-adjusting trainers). That said, it’s definitely possible, and I’m sure someone that knows what they are doing could easily write the appropriate software and interface it with the treadmill (though doing so might void warranties). Just nothing commercially available that I’m aware of yet.

iFit software will do that of sorts. I mapped out the course I wanted from iFit website (some running races and run portions of triathlons) then put it on my schedule. It automatically adjusts incline but not sure about speed since I preferred to adjust that myself during the run, although I think there is a speed setting when mapping the run so maybe you get one start speed and thats it. I had the NordicTrack 2950 for about 5 years - I burned through 2 motors, 3 rollers and a software chip. I used it heavily including many 2+ hr runs. The iFit was handy for previewing courses and running in interesting parts of the world.

1 Like

My son has a NordicTrack T6.5; he is an ultrarunner, so ‘speed’ isn’t quite as important as just outright durability. He has used the thing non-stop for almost 3 years with zero issues.

Of course last night, he decided to put our Corgi puppy on it… so who knows.

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/660018956

Using a Stryd and Garmin running pod were (are) needed for him to get additional metrics that iFit doesn’t really offer.

I almost bought the Sole F85 which looks good value, but in the end decided to splash out on a Technogym MyRun. This was mainly for the small footprint and aesthetic tbh as it is in our living room. But had it for a year now and I really rate it - perfect deck size and cushioning, quiet operation, modern minimal controls (which I prefer) but with the option to expand them via a tablet running the very good Technogym Live software. What’s probably impressed me the most is the simple, rock solid integration to Zwift, Garmin Watch, Apple Watch and Spotify. If Technogym can get this right on a free app, why is it so difficult for the likes of Zwift and TR?

1 Like