Treadmill recs and reviews?

[bekkiz]

I'm in the market for a treadmill, as the weather here in the great Pacific Northwest is getting to the point where I don't want to be outside for as long as I need to to get my long walks in.

Here are the things I'm looking for:
1) It needs to be super sturdy, as I'm a bigger girl and I hate when I feel like the whole thing is going to fall apart if I'm on it

2) I don't really want to spend a crazy amount of money on it. I think my upper limit is $1000, but obviously, the less I spend the better

3) I'm probably going to do a number of longer walks on it, so ideally I'd like one that can handle 2-3 hours of use without exploding!

I guess that's about it! Any ideas?

 

[getnthinr]

I use a Landice treadmill for virtually all my training (though I do a lot of races to keep the feel of the road in mind). My treadmill was a hand-me-down, so it's a lot more expensive than what I could have afforded personally.

On recommendations, I'd say the two features most important to me are that it is quiet (some are very noisy after they get up speed, which means not only does it disturb others but it makes it hard for you to listen to music or watch TV without the sound being at earbleed level) and a very wide belt (which makes it less likely that you will step onto the platform [rather than the belt] as you are walk/running and stumble or fall). You also need some really basic functions like a readout of your pace/distance and it is helpful if it simulates hills. Mine offers a lot of computerized workouts that I have only used once or twice -- I could esily do without them.

I've used mine for nearly 10 years now and would not hesitate to buy another one if it should fail.

 

[Duanerice]

We have a Nordic Trac 4100 that I bought about 4 years ago. It is a step up from your normal home model. It has a large belt and is very comfortable to run on (kind of springy).

We had shopped around and actually found it a Sears for 1/2 price because it was a return. We paid about $750 for it and I added a warranty since it was a return. I didn’t want to take any chances but we have never had a problem with it. I would not hesitate to buy another one.

We initially bought a cheap used treadmill for $250 to begin with just to see if we'd use it. I didn’t want to spend $1,000 on a treadmill if it was going to sit in the corner. After 1 1/2 years of use we decided, OK, we will use it so we went out and bought the new one. Sold the old one for $100

I would rather buy a slightly used model that is real good than a new model that is just OK. You can probably find some real nice ones in the paper that people no longer use, or never actually used to begin with This way you can get a top of the line machine for under or close to $1,000. Mine doesn’t have all the bells and whistles on it that the new ones do, but it works great.
Enjoy,
Duane

 

[monte]

A co-worker of my DH's gave me a Pro-Form 625 and I must say it's holding up very well. I'm not a tiny girl either and thought that it would not hold up to my abuse, but it has! It's just the right size for my study..doesn't take up alot of room, but has plenty of board space to hold my water bottle, book, music, towel..I love it! Good luck!