Need recommendation for good treadmill for home?

[Anonymous]

I have decided to get a treadmill (instead of a gym membership) and I am looking for recommendations for good ones for home use. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I just went through this myself. I started out thinking I would buy a cheaper Sears treadmill model, and when I did some research online (I think treadmilldoctor.com is considered a reliable source in part because they do not sell treadmills) I learned that the standard recommendation for a good treadmill that you can use regularly and not have it break down all the time is to spend about $1000. Although that's a lot, when I added up the cost of the cheaper model plus the extended warranty, the difference was negligible. We ended up getting the Sole F63 model and have been very happy with it so far. They had a free shipping deal at the time I bought (end of last year), so it was the same price to buy direct as from a store. The Smooth brand also seems to be highly recommended and makes a model at the $1000 price point. Of course you can spend $3000-4000 and higher if you have the money, and get a very high-quality gym-level treadmill as well -- Sole and Smooth make models at that price point, as do some other companies. The Treadmill Doctor site has reviews of each individual model, and if you do a google search you can find some good info on what to look for -- I seem to remember taking a quiz or questionnaire asking about height and weight, how many people would be using it, how often and for what purpose (running, jogging, or walking), to figure out what price point is adequate for you. I'm sure it's pretty easy to locate online. Good luck in your search!

[Anonymous]

Sole. Don't know the model. We love it.

[Anonymous]

I highly recommend a Landice treadmill. My parents had one in our house when I was growing up and I believe it ran for 10 years without a single issue (and with heavy usage) - my father used if for a half an hour everyday, my used it for half an hour every day, and I used it for an hour everyday.

My husband and I bought a Landice for our own home almost five years ago and we love it. We have never had any problems and we use it every single day. It gets almost two hours of usage a day between the two of us. I believe it costs between 2000-2500. It was worth every penny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just went through this myself. I started out thinking I would buy a cheaper Sears treadmill model, and when I did some research online (I think treadmilldoctor.com is considered a reliable source in part because they do not sell treadmills) I learned that the standard recommendation for a good treadmill that you can use regularly and not have it break down all the time is to spend about $1000. Although that's a lot, when I added up the cost of the cheaper model plus the extended warranty, the difference was negligible. We ended up getting the Sole F63 model and have been very happy with it so far. They had a free shipping deal at the time I bought (end of last year), so it was the same price to buy direct as from a store. The Smooth brand also seems to be highly recommended and makes a model at the $1000 price point. Of course you can spend $3000-4000 and higher if you have the money, and get a very high-quality gym-level treadmill as well -- Sole and Smooth make models at that price point, as do some other companies. The Treadmill Doctor site has reviews of each individual model, and if you do a google search you can find some good info on what to look for -- I seem to remember taking a quiz or questionnaire asking about height and weight, how many people would be using it, how often and for what purpose (running, jogging, or walking), to figure out what price point is adequate for you. I'm sure it's pretty easy to locate online. Good luck in your search!

This may be true for newer models with more electronics/etc.

But I wanted to pipe in and add that I'm still using a treadmill I bought 10 years ago at kmart of all places. Cost me $400 and is still going today after many years of at least fairly regular use and no repairs. (Ie, it didn't spend 6 of those years unused! many years it was used at least every other day.)

So don't feel like you necessarily have to spend a lot, just read reviews/etc.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone! These were very helpful suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sole. Don't know the model. We love it.

YES!!! I have the Sole F85 that I purchased for 2K after LOTS of research, we decide on this because it folds and is very sturdy. We also picked it b/c DH is 6'3" and weighs 260lbs and runs the treadmill hard. This treadmill has a really long deck (which you have to have if you are tall). It also has a lot of horsepower to handle my DH weight. If you are serious about running on the treadmill daily (we use ours 2xs a day for a total useage of about an hour and a half)

Dicks has the best prices on this treadmill.

We also considered a Life Fitness (very high end treadmills found in commercial gyms) and the one we were looking at was $800 more than the Sole, did not have as good of a warranty, had a shorter deck, and had less horsepower. The only thing better about the Life Fitness is that is looked "sleeker". The Sole model had better reviews as well.

I had one problem with my treadmill after it was delivered and called Sole and their customer service was awesome and based in the USA. That was a huge plus. The fixed my problem and had a replacement part sent to me via overnight delivery.