Treadmill advice

[Patrick425]

Looking to buy a treadmill. Looked at consumer reports and I was a bit shocked at what a "top rated" treadmill costs (as much as $4,000). We don't want a second hand treadmill or a "cheap" one. We have done that in the past and have been dissapointed (we have two in our basement right now that we will be throwing out to the curb). Went on the 2nd Wind web site and was expecting to see "deals", but it did not seem like the costs were much different that that of new treadmills.

 

Not looking to spend more than $2,000 and would actually prefer to keep it below $1,500. Would like some "bells and whistles"...i.e., different programs, heart rate/calorie monitor, perhaps even some sort of connectivity to the internet to monitor progress and keep a "log". Saw a commercial the other day for a Nordic Trac treadmill that looked pretty nice and seemed "reasonably" priced on their web site.

 

If anyone has any thoughts or advice about Nordic track tread mills or any other treadmills it would be greatly appreciated.

[reillymcshane]

Patrick, I just bought a treadmill a month ago. I went through the research and talked to folks. The Nordic Tracks are all pretty well received - my mom has one she bought a year ago and is happy. Paid about $1000 at Sears. She's just a walker.

 

I ended up with this one:

 

http://www.dickssportingg...=4406646.4413986.4417717

 

It's the Livestrong line. We've had it a month and been very happy with it. It was really easy to put together as well (but really heavy, so beware). My wife and I both walk, my son is a runner. We all use it.

 

It is only a month, but I'm pretty happy with it.

 

It costs about $900, but I got it for $800 right after christmas.

 

I really liked this site for overviews on products: http://www.treadmilladviser.com/index.html

 

Lots of details on the site - far more than most. Then when i found a few that I liked, I then went and looked them up on Amazon and places like that.

 

Good luck.

[TURBO]

I bought a Reebok RX4000 at Dick's Sporting Goods 10 years ago and it is still running as good as the day I bought it. It is used daily by me and my wife both. Running or walking, it is a great unit!

 

I paid $999 for it, on sale, at the time.

 

My sister has the same exact one which she bought about a month after I bought mine, and she has had no complaints either.

 

I doubt they make it anymore, but if I was in the market for a new one, I'd go straight to reebok!

[pitchleague]

This is kind of nice to see. My wife and I were thinking of perhaps spending some of our tax return on something like this because it's so bleeding hot to get a walk in during the summer months. Even at 7:30 pm or so, when we would usually stroll as the sun sets, it would routinely be over 100 degrees yet. 7:30 am would also be over 90 so that was out, too.

 

Glad to see some ideas from others!

[pitchleague]

heh, too funny! A treadmill up on woot today. Anybody want to give any advice on that thing? $600 is a steal of a price, as is the $5 shipping. But based on the comments by woot users it seems almost too good to be true, perhaps?

[Patrick425]

Thanks for all of the advice. I have not had time lately to look into all of this but I will. Someone at work also suggested a site called treadmilldoctors.com for treadmill reviews, etc.

 

I really wish I would have checked out this thread yesterday when the treadmill was on woot!

[pitchleague]

I ended up passing on the woot treadmill--this time. It gives me more time to research rather than make a spur-of-the-moment buy just because it was a good deal and then be "disappointed" over this or that had I researched better.

 

However, by the time woot puts it up again (in a woot-off, I would assume) I should be better educated on it and might be able to pull the trigger at that time.

[Patrick425]

So, based on online reviews and the type of treadmill we are looking for, I just ordered the NordicTrack 1750. They have a President's sale today (an extra 10% off).

 

If anyone else is looking to buy a Treadmill and they end up selecting a Nordictrack - a few notes:

 

- It appears Sears is the only other place (other than directly through NordicTrack) that you can purchase NordicTrack equipment. Unfortunately they did not have the model that I wanted in our delivery area (although, can't believe in this day and age there are "delivery areas" with a company as large as Sears. Where is the nearest delivery area where it is available? Put it on a truck and bring it here!).

 

- Before ordering online through NordicTrack, call and negotiate. I called them because we are going on vacation in a few weeks and I was concerned about a possible delivery while we were gone. They have 4 delivery options ranging from just dropping it off in the box, unasembled, on your doorstep (free) to delivering it to the room you want, assembling it, making sure it runs, and discarding all packing materials ($249). I told the sales guy I would like to get the full delivery option but it's too expensive. He told me he could give me that option for $139. I took it.

 

-I also had some questions about Ifit. This feature is free for the first year, then there is an online subscription fee of $15 a month (or $180/year). He told me he could give me the 2nd year for $79 and that this subscription would be fully cancellable (and refundable) at any time during the first year. Seemed like a no brainer to me, so I got that too, but I don't think he ever would have brought it up had I not started asking questions about IFit.

 

It will not be delivered until we get back from vacation. I'll try to remember to give a "review" of it after we have used it for a month or so.

[Patrick425]

In case anyone is looking to purchase a treadmill as part of a New Year's resolution, I wanted to revive this thread and give some advice in regards to Nordictrac treadmills (or any exercise equipment that uses Ifit.com for programming workouts).

 

As I mentioned in my last post in February, we purchased a Nordictrac treadmill with 2 years of Ifit. If you are unfamiliar with Ifit.com, the concept is great. It's basically supposed to work as a website or app that you can use to design workouts or use some of the pre-programmed workouts they have on their site. Then you basically put these programs on your "workout schedule" and these workouts then get downloaded to your equipment (after you log in on your equipment).

 

Ifit came out with a new web site in November. The old website was ok, but could have used some improvements. When I saw that they came out with a new website, I was excited and hopeful. However, I and many other Ifit users, are longing for the days of the old web site. I won't go into all the issues with the new web site, but it's counter-intuitive and not user friendly at all. From reading other user comments on the Ifit support page and the Ifit facebook page, it sounds like many people can't even get the workouts from the new website to download on their equipment at all! At least I don't have that problem.

 

The treadmill itself has worked great. Other than a calibration I had to make after it was set up, we have had no problems with it. However, one of the main reasons people fork over the extra cash to get a Nordictrack or other Ifit capable machine is because of the extra added features that Ifit promises. It is nice to get on the machine basically push a button and know that it's going to take you on a run through Central Park or around your neighborhood, or that its going follow a program that you already entered and automatically increase speeds and incline and decline as you have directed it to do. Not being able to have those features greatly reduces the values of the machine.

 

So..if you are thinking of purchasing an Ifit capable machine, I would hold off for now until they hopefully get the issues related to their new web site fixed.