Treadmill recommendations?

July 28, 2004 1:13 PM

Treadmill recommendations? My requirements: reliability, ~$1k, distance and rate display. Don't necessarily need: fans, built-in programs, elevation, pulse rate monitors, etc.
posted by joaquim to shopping (6 comments total)

We have owned a Horizon Fitness treadmill for 3 years and it works great. It was $1000. Included elevation, various programs, heartrate monitor, and the all important cupholders.
posted by internal at 2:01 PM on July 28, 2004

your reqs don't include power. i've never used a treadmill, but i've noticed that the lower power ones don't go that fast - if you're planning on running rather than walking, and run moderately well, you might want to check power/top speeds.
posted by andrew cooke at 2:28 PM on July 28, 2004

If you live in the NY Metropolitan area, I have a hardly-used True 450 for sale....special metafilter price - email is in profile. Seriously.
posted by lilboo at 2:53 PM on July 28, 2004

Um, sorry. That link corrected here: 450
posted by lilboo at 2:56 PM on July 28, 2004

Thanks for the tips. lilboo, Texas is a little bit too far away for me to take advantage of your offer. (Wait a minute -- I forgot that George will be heading that way soon. Maybe I can convince him to drop it off on his way back to Crawford. Can you put him up on your couch overnight?)
posted by joaquim at 6:56 PM on July 28, 2004

You might want to check out the reviews at TreadmillDoctor.com. Though he seems to be harsh on the cheaper models, it's a good place to compare features.

We ended up buying a Vision Fitness treadmill at a local shop. It's important to try before you buy, since features vary from model to model. Before you go in, you should try to figure out how much you will be using it, and if you will use it for walking or running.

In general, one of the features I've heard it's best to steer away form is a fold-up. They aren't as sturdy as fixed models, and don't actually save much space.
posted by SteveInMaine at 6:02 AM on July 29, 2004