Treadmills Reviews

Most credible reviewers of treadmills believe that price is a good indication of a treadmill's quality, saying walkers should expect to spend at least $1,000, while runners shouldn't look at models under $2,000. But the reality is that amid nearly $3 billion in treadmill purchases per year, most people end up buying a treadmill that costs much less than $1,000. So there's a dichotomy between what fitness experts and reviewers recommend and what people actually tend to buy. For that reason, we especially appreciate reviewers who make a bigger effort to cover the low end of the price spectrum as well as pie-in-the-sky $3,000 treadmills. Owner-written ratings are also useful in gauging whether users end up happy with inexpensive treadmills -- or whether they wish they'd spent more.

To find out which treadmills are best suited to different folks, we turned to reviews by Consumer Reports, Runner's World, TreadmillSensei.com and TreadmillDoctor.com. These comparative reviews hold more weight with us than those from other publications, such as ConsumerGuide.com, TreadmillTips.com and others who make recommendations but don't appear to conduct any product testing of their own. The reviews from Consumer Reports and Runner's World complement each other nicely; both test a variety of treadmill brands and price ranges.

The reviews at TreadmillDoctor.com trump those from Consumer Reports and Runner's World, however. Though the review writeups themselves are very short, the TreadmillDoctor website has the widest scope, with editors having something to say about nearly every treadmill on the market. For each brand, editors include information on the company's history and reputation, component quality, overall repair history and country of manufacture, all of which is helpful in identifying the best treadmills. Because TreadmillDoctor.com has such a long and consistent history of rating treadmills, they hold the top spot on our All Reviews chart.

Less useful are the dozens of self-described treadmill review sites that recommend one or two brands as a means of generating commission income. While these often provide some details on specs and features, they shouldn't be considered an objective source of information on performance or quality. You can generally tell a credible website from a fishy one by checking out the site's "About Us" page (if there is one). We find that when a site discloses its owners and editors and describes what criteria it uses to rate treadmills, its picks hold much more water.

Treadmills are available at close to any price point you'd care to name. At the very bottom of the price spectrum – from about $100 to $400 -- are manual treadmills. Instead of a motor moving the belt at a specific speed, you actually use your feet to push the belt underneath you. Reviews say if you are especially lightweight, you may have difficulty getting the treadmill moving at all, and if you are especially heavy, you might have difficulty, too. Even if you are just the right size, you will have to step off in order to change the incline, then get it going again. Most review sites do not even rate these treadmills, except to advise against buying one. Because your perceived effort with a manual treadmill is high, users find them tedious, ultimately giving up on these models. If you have a very limited budget, experts say the even the cheapest electric treadmill is better than a manual treadmill.

There's a wide range of prices and quality even among electric treadmills, with cheap models available in discount stores for as little as $300. But there's a world of difference between these cheap treadmills and the $1,000-and-up models recommended most often in professional reviews. The difference is aptly represented by the manufacturer's warranty. Treadmills costing less than $1,000, including the Epic 450MX (*est. $850) and Image 17.0 R (*est. $550) often come with just a 90-day warranty on parts and labor.

Besides carrying shorter warranties, most sub-$1,000 treadmills also don't perform as well in tests. While they may be lighter in weight, inexpensive treadmills can be less stable, offer fewer features and have smaller and narrower belts. The Image 17.0 R, for example, comes with a fairly narrow 18-inch belt and a maximum incline of 10 percent. Some reviewers say it's a reasonable choice for people who will be using a treadmill exclusively for walking. The ProForm Crosswalk 300 (*est. $400) also fits in this class, with an 18-inch-wide belt. The Epic 450MX has a more useful 20-inch-wide belt, but it costs twice as much. These machines also have relatively low weight limits -- 300 pounds for the Epic, 275 pounds for the Image and 250 for the ProForm -- making them inappropriate for heavier walkers.

Spending more gets you much better warranty coverage. For example, most Sole treadmills have a service warranty that covers the deck, frame and motor for a lifetime, other parts for five years, and labor for two years. Other mid-priced treadmills come with at least one year on labor. This is important when you're considering fitness equipment that weighs 200 pounds or more, where a technician will need to come to your home for repairs.  ... Continued

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

Landice treadmills do exceptionally well in comparative reviews, with more top ratings going to the basic Landice L7 than to the enhanced -- and pricier -- Landice L8. We chose not to include either Landice treadmill in ConsumerSearch Fast Answers because they are so expensive. For runners with deep pockets, however, they are worth serious consideration.

The NordicTrack S 3000 also gets lots of positive reviews, and experts say it's an especially good choice for heavier and taller runners. For about $1,200 less, the Bodyguard T240 is a good mid-range choice with an especially long labor warranty. The moderately priced Sole F80 also does very well (although the highest praise comes from websites with lower credibility). The discontinued NordicTrack C2255 and the updated NordicTrack C2155 get very good user reviews among under-$1,000 machines. Several very expensive treadmills also do well in reviews, but since our report focuses on less expensive models, they are outside the scope of Fast Answers.