The strength of any treadmill or its Achilles' heel is its drive system. By drive system, we are speaking of the motor control, motor, belt, and deck. If these are well-engineered it will hide a multitude of sins. Components are important but engineering is more important in this area. For instance, one manufacturer uses greatly underpowered components but gets away with it (sometimes) because their engineering is so good. We have also seen others who have fantastic components but poor reliability due to poor engineering.
Ultimately, here is how to determine the good from the bad.
POWER
The transfer of power should feel smooth. You should not hear the motor having to really work to keep the pace. You should not have a great lag when you step on the belt. Don’t worry much with horse power ratings.Right now, HP ratings are so convoluted, you can’t believe the rating. Some people or websites will tell you to look at motor horsepower or if they really think they know what they are doing you will be told to look for continuous duty horsepower. The truth is there is no accepted standard for rating treadmill motors and so continuous duty to one company is different than another company. We have seen treadmill motors hardly the size of a can of soda rated at 2.5 HP while motors that are 5 times the size rated at 1.5 HP.
This is one area where it takes someone who really knows what they are doing to help you figure it out and that’s why our power ratings on our reviews may not correspond with a company’s printed literature. Simply said, we pull the motor out of the treadmill, study it, and determine if a company is trying to monkey around with the rating. Then we tell you about it in the online ratings.
WALKING BELT
The belt should not be any larger than necessary and stay away from overly thick belts. Oversize and thick belts are now the rage but most people only need 18” of width and 52” of length. Some runners need more room but the more belt surface area you have, the harder the power system has to work to keep it all going.Belts that are too thick hold in heat which increases electrical consumption and wears out key components faster. Additionally, the added heat wears out the belt quicker. Find a belt size on which you are comfortable and don’t be lured by the big, cushioned belts…they are unnecessary in most cases and you will pay more in the long run.
NOISE
An overly noisy treadmill points to poor engineering or poor components. All treadmills make noise but a reasonably quiet machine generally means less friction and wear on the treadmill. On the flip side, a dead silent treadmill does not necessarily mean that it is perfect.Some manufacturers have used steel surrounded motor areas and others have used foam to absorb noise, so make sure you know the construction before you judge a treadmill by its noise but generally, the noise a treadmill generates is a good indicator of the machine’s quality. Plus, when you don’t wake up the neighborhood with your morning workouts, it makes for friendlier neighbors.
Treadmill Options
Options in the treadmill business sell more treadmills and are used less than in any other industry we know. Here’s how to steer clear of option traps.PROGRAMS
These provide variation in your workout. Most people never use them and the people that do typically pick 1 or just a few they really like and stick with them. A great option in regard to programs is when the treadmill will memorize your favorite workout and replay it. If you don’t know for sure that you will use programs, don’t pay extra for them.HEART RATE CONTROL (HRC)
This option is sold as a speedometer for the heart. Great in concept but poor in execution. Most require a gizmo strap that is uncomfortable for most people. The best option in this category is HR handgrips you can hold onto that determine your heart rate. The manufacturers have made this system much more accurate than it was in the past but they are still quite inaccurate on the low cost machines. That’s why Proform tells you to stand on the side while measuring heart rate…we know, it kind of defeats the purpose.FOLDING
This was a big selling point in the 90’s until people realized you had to have room to fold it down when using it. Helps with cleaning though.EXTENDED WARRANTIES
Don’t buy an extended warranty unless you get one from UTS or Moses tells you to do it. This is usually a BIG waste of money due to some shady companies. UTS is the best we have seen and it is owned by Icon which is another good reason to use the UTS warranties. On Icon machines, you are going to need it if you use the treadmill.Warranty & Maintenance
A standard treadmill warranty is lifetime on the frame, 3 years on parts, and 1 year on labor. This means that most people won’t need an extended warranty.That’s good because the track record of most warranty companies in the fitness business is not good. The only exception that we are aware of is Universal Technical Services (UTS). We don’t have any reservations about recommending them. Cheaper treadmills usually have warranties as short as 90 days while usually the more you spend, the longer warranty you will receive.
Warranties lately have become crazy so don’t get carried away with the Lifetime warranties on this or that treadmill. Ultimately, you want to make sure you get a treadmill that you like, is easy for you to operate, and feels good for use. If you don’t like it, you won’t need the warranty anyway because you won’t use the treadmill enough to break it.
In regard to maintenance, keeping it clean is the golden rule. To help with this, put it on a treadmill mat and periodically clean the entire treadmill.
