Which treadmill do you recommend?

it's all about how often you will do exercise. if you won't use machine everyday maybe you don't need expensive treadmill. i did use one of Sole treadmills on my gym and it works fine.

At the risk of promoting an locally unpopular magazine, Runner's World's latest issue compares 10ish treadmills. Might be worth a glance.

I have the nordictrack t17.5. I ran about 100km per week on it. It is a good mill, but after 8 months it started speeding up in the middle of my run. Thats really annoying when you are doing a tempo or interval. I called the customer service and they fixed it now.

Actually it's good to know that they support doing good job in case of any trouble, thanks. Did you try other treadmills on gym or somewhere else to have comparision in NordicTrack?

I bought a used sole85 about 5 years ago and put lots of miles on it. Required no maintenance. Paid about $350 for it.

It only goes up to 12mph but it is not long enough to go any faster and feel safe. There is a hump right down the middle which can sometimes lead to loss of balance and change of stride (if you strike too close to it) so that is why I would have preferred something a little longer. But when you use the incline it does the job.

The running surface is nicer on some of those TRUEs I use in hotels but the programs are a bit confusing.

For the amount I paid for my Sole85, there is nothing better.

Neither. The speed ranges are limited on both.

Yep, $350 is bargain for that kind of treadmill. But I think that I prefer to buy the new one. I had bad memories with used equipment ;) Thank you for the review. I think that I'll go for Sole 85.

@Plantar Fascia

Which model of treadmill do you recommend? Sole 85 has 4.0 motor which provide max tempo of 12 MPH. It's enough for me but I'd like to know your type if you have any other?

That's strange: I think I've taken 15 mph treadmills for granted, as I've never bought one myself and have used those at my gym. The reason I think it's important to have a nice max speed is for cold weather or other instances when you can't/don't want to run outside, to do some semblance of 'speed work.' The model I've found that goes 15 mph is the ProForm Boston Marathon 4.0.

Highly recommend True treadmills. Simple, stable, reliable, and don't cost a ton. Mine peaks at 12 mph which should be fine for most winter running.

@Plantar Fascia

Hmm, on my gym max speed of treadmill is 12 MPH. But maybe just my gym sucks :) Anyway I also play football so high intervals I do on the field, I need treadmill mostly for cardio so 12 MPH will be good for me. ProForm Boston Marathon 4.0 which you mentioned is also very good but the price is even higher than Sole 85 so I think that this will be my choice. Thank you for your help!

I will check also TRUE treadmills, thanks @Tread titan.

Yes I ran on a Life fitness treadmill in the gym. Apart from the sound (Life sounded a bit 'smoother', but also 8k more expensive), I felt no difference. I'm verry happy with my nordictrack!

+1 for the True

Still using the one we bought in 1996.

Two runners for most of it's life, three now.

Early years were heavy load - wife almost daily as a stay-at-home mom. Me most days over the winter.

Last dozen years have been mostly to avoid bad weather days outside, so it sits idle a lot, but gets used for many hours over a couple days when it's used.

Unfortunately, I think it's about at the end of life, as the motor struggled last winter, and it's due a new belt as well (which has to be custom made it's so old!)

I vote for Sole too. I have different model (Sole F80) and I love it. Despite it's very heavy, machine is very solid. No noise, treadmill working smooth. I have it over half year and no repairs so far.

U.N.O. Fitness LTX6Pro. Still going strong, purchased it in 2006.

U.N.O. wrote:

U.N.O. Fitness LTX6Pro. Still going strong, purchased it in 2006.

Maximum speed 25km/h / 15,5mph, 2:24 km pace, 3:51,7 per mile. Although I believe that if you calibrate it you will probably see that max speed is closer to 2:30 per km. It is heavy though to move, you will need help.

I sell fitness equipment for a living. Here are my suggestions for you.

The treadmills you are looking at are home treadmills. They are higher quality home treadmills. Instead of buying one of those new, I would instead recommend finding a commercial fitness equipment dealer in your area (they don't have stores) and see if you buy a refurbished heavy commercial quality (the kind you see in a gym) instead. You will be getting a much higher quality treadmill for a better price. Check with the company to see what they mean by refurbishing. For some companies, it means giving the treadmill a good cleaning and slapping on a new belt to make it look nice. A good company will strip the unit down to the frame and rebuild it, replacing the worn parts with new OEM parts. Also make sure that the company from whom you buy it has service techs relatively close (like in the same state or within an hour or two if you leave near a border) and don't claim to be part of a "service network". Most companies will give you a 60-90 day warranty, but you can sometimes negotiate a warranty of up to a year if you want.

One of the nice things about the Nordic Trac treadmills is they are iFit compatible. iFit has an app where you can track your runs on your phone. Then, when you run on your treadmill, you can log into iFit from the treadmill screen and it will duplicate your run (automatically adjusting the treadmill for incline) on the treadmill using Google Maps/Earth technology. If that is the route you want to go, I would suggest a deviation on the Nordic Trac (NT). NT is part of ICON Health and Fitness, which also owns iFit as well as Free Motion Fitness. FM has a commercial version of the Nordic Trac called the Incline Trainer. You can usually get a refurbished FM Incline Trainer (make sure it has the iFit compatible touch screen on it) for about $3000-3500 (cheaper than the new NT).

Good luck with your search.

I own a Spirit XT485. Love it! Owned by DYACO which also makes SOLE TM's. The Spirit line is considered to be a cut above SOLE. A few years ago, I owned a SOLE F63 and it was a work horse. Never any problems. Sold it to buy the 485 (longer running belt) and there's no question that the Spirit is a much higher quality machine than the SOLE.

http://www.leisurefitness.com/Spirit-Fitness-XT485-Treadmill-P1446.aspx

What he said 1000x over. Also in the fitness industry, I run a private health club, and purchasing a used commercial treadmill is the way to go. The unit will most likely be the last and only treadmill you will ever purchase in your life and should you ever choose to sell, it will at least be worth something compared to a "home" unit. The motor, belt, circuit board, deck and general construction are all built to withstand thousands of hours and miles. I just got brand new units and our "old" ones were all still completely functional at 30,000+ miles and the only repairs ever done were to replace the belt at about 20,000 miles. The only reason we got new units was for aesthetics and our old ones were all sold to another fitness facility where they were put into use.

Why not just join a gym? Nowadays a gym membership costs like $30/mo for the chains. You can use the treadmills, do some prehab resistance training, and then hit the sauna.