Looking to buy a treadmill for home gym. Advice on which treadmills you liked and didn't like?
a little background: I run about 70-80mpw. I don't need to go that fast (most runs anywhere from 6-9mph) but occasionally I do tempos at sub6 pace so I think something that goes faster than 10mph and maybe 12mph tops would be good. Most of the time I run outside but with air quality pollution issues, snowstorms, and avoiding the whole gym entirely situation due to covid, I've/we've decided it's time to get a treadmill. Wife would use the treadmill a lot too.
A couple models wife and I are considering:
- Sole F80
- Lifefitness T3
- Precor TRM200 line
- NordicTrack 1750 Commercial
Don't need anything fancy but want something sturdy that's going to last and tell me the time and distance run. Thought maybe Sole would be best given this. Nothing overly fancy but the thing does what it's supposed to do and there's a lifetime warranty. No bells and whistles or BS. Another nice thing is it's the cheapest of the options above and it seems like actual runners like it and the Lifefitness reading the past letsrun threads.
Looked into the Nordictrack 1750 but didn't like that it has the iFit stuff integrated. not only would I /we not use that (i think it has some TV screen guided workouts), but apparently it costs ~$400/year after it's free for the first year (you give a credit card number to activate it the first year and then charged a year later unless you cancel it). I understand you can still run the Nordictrack 1750 in manual mode and bypass the iFit stuff but not sure if it's worth trying to pay for a whole treadmill where it has something major that's integrated with it that my wife and I don't need and likely will never use. Also, I read reviews on this Nordictrack treadmill and people say they sometimes have problems with the thing not working after 6 months and Nordictrack not responding too well.
Lifefitness and Precor I don't know much about but I assume best of the best in quality. They are more expensive but could be worth it-not sure. my parents had a Lifefitness treadmill I trained on in high school and they still use it today (20+years later). When i go visit my parents it's still there and running well even after this many years...Precor I've seen and used at gyms and seems like they know what's up
Many thanks in advance!
Looking to buy a treadmill for home gym. Advice on which treadmills you liked and didn't like?
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I like Woodways the best, followed by Precor.
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I'd avoid Sole, personally. The one I had was a flaming turd.
Have you considered True or Landice. I have tried both. Was impressed with both. The ones i looked at had simple, basic controls. -
Honestly I'd avoid Lifefitness. I don't know what it is with the newer models but I bought one for 4000 only for the motor to bust after a week. I bought the same one again...same problem. I'm also in the market for a treadmill so let me know what you decide on. Sole F80 is a folding treadmill FYI
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sqr rt of -1 wrote:
I like Woodways the best, followed by Precor.
+1 on Woodway. -
True is good.
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Sole is solid choice and can usually get a good price on them. Have the F80 and no problems. Not the most exciting treadmill but solid for price. Lifefitness and Precor are solid brands. NordicTrac consistently seems to over gimmick their machines and miss the mark on quality and stability for some distractive feature. Had a NordicTrac and motor was replaced three times under warranty. They use refurbished motors for warranty replacement vs new.
There is a website, can’t remember company name, that makes motors for 70% of home treadmills. Many brands have same motor with different name on it, so only difference is the deck, etc. I will try to find it. Helps to see how much you are paying for bells and whistles. -
i'm in the same boat. i just about pulled the trigger on the 1750 yesterday. i probably still will. i've read reviews all over. some good, some bad. mostly good, imho.
i also agree with the iFit. I need a treadmill. i don't understand how you can do a yoga class on a treadmill.
runnersworld had a decent review of the nordictracks. -
Dunno bro lemme know 🤷♂️
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I owned a Landice L7 for years and it was a very good treadmill, no issues and treadmills is all they make. About 4 years ago I upgraded to a Life fitness treadmill but I bought not a home model but a professional model but one that has a very simple screen. It has the same mechanicals as the gym model but cost a little under $4K instead of say $6K. It has been perfect
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We have a Landice L7. Its 10+ years old and we're happy with it. We didn’t look at too many others. The quality is good. The service has been good. We've had a couple service calls and it's always been really easy. I think most were covered under warranty. It's really heavy (moving is a pain), but I'm sure most treadmills are.
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I'm selling a nice Landice Pro Trainer treadmill because I don't run anymore.
Let me know if anyone's interested. -
I have had two NordicTrack's for the last 20 plus years. Not expensive ones. I understand the new models only have speed not pace which I'd hate. Also, mine goes from 59:50 to 1:00 so only good to the closest minute past an hour. I prefer a TM that goes to 99:59 but that's just me. Consider when the TM stops. I've never run on a Precor that goes past an hour. I absolutely hate doing long runs and having to stop and reset the treadmill and start again.
5 minute miles on the treadmill shouldn't be a problem. Those used to be pretty rare but now are quite common. My first NT TM didn't go below 1.5% incline. My second did.
Just a few things I need to think about. -
Life fitness is garbage ....mine stop all runs at 99 minutes. I had to break up long runs. Also replaced the main control panel & the motor within 3 yrs. I sold it soon after
I have a Nordic track with iFit. The treadmill itself is solid ... goes fast, up to 15 incline (-3 down) . Nice big touchscreen & real buttons. I’ve had it for 18 months
IFit is not worth the price. Guided runs & workouts for $400/yr. it’s dumb. -
Forgot to mention that I had a T3 and currently have an NT 1750.
Also that life fitness only counted to the 1/10 of a mile . Maybe it won’t bother you but it drove me nuts ....couldn’t do 1/4 miles workouts -
Who needs a treadmill here? Are you in California, or are you one of those poor suckers in a crappy state? Only poor people choose to not live in California. What do you say to that, treadmill boy?
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The Life Fitness Integrity can freakin rip, it goes all the way down to 4:17 pace if you want to do strides or something. It's the one they have at planet fitness, it's really easy to use. I think you can even put a TV on it if you're into that.
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Sole f80 sucks. I had it, the calibration was waaaay off and no one could fix it. The treadmill said I was running 9 min miles when I was clearly running sub-7 min miles based on HR and perceived effort.
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NordicTrack is fine. You can run in manual mode and not give them anything. The iFit workouts are pretty entertaining, and sometimes educational. God bless Tommy Rivs.
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Bought a Spirit XT685 last spring for running through the cold wet winters in the PNW.
No BS; just a powerhouse running tool. Max 12 mph, up to 15% grade, large platform, no goofy apps.
