Treadmill Recommendations - Budget $2000+

maxyzee on 01/04/2023 - 00:09

So I've been in the market for a new treadmill and have been looking at the various high end consumer options.

Now before I get all the 'wHy DoN't yoU JuST RuN oUtsiDe' comments, I actually already do run outside at around 2-3 days a week for 7-10kms at a pace of 5 - 5:30 min/k which is granted not the fasted but ok. Also I've been through 2 treadmills already, I orginally bought a Nordick Track T17.5 a few years ago in 2014 I think and then the lift arm for the incline broke and I had it replaced under warranty back in 2017 and now that replacement broke at around Christmas last year and wasn't able to get it replaced as it was a quite a few years old by that point and I did use it almost daily for nearly that entire time.

Looking online the reviews point towards the Nordic Track C1750 Comercial which does look pretty nice, but
1. It's Nordic Track and from my experience of going through 2 now and all the horror stories I've read about customer service I'm not so sure
2. I've found Nordic Track decks to a bit springy or bouncy compared to those of the ones that I use at the gym (Life Fitness SE3HD)
3. The screen on them look pretty cool but apparently they're locked to iFit and don't allow for 3rd party apps (WTF!?) (I get it, they want you to subscribe to their service but really??)

Anyway I was just wondering if there was any Ozbargainers out there that might have some thoughts or experience in treadmills on what I should look out for in my next one. I did look at the Life Fitness Treadmills but I can't justify 5 figures on a treadmill so I was hoping maybe there's an Ozbargainer out there that might have some experience in treadmills.

Sports & Outdoors Treadmill

Comments

  • AustriaBargain on 01/04/2023 - 00:16

    Why not an elliptical? You can turn the resistance up to get a proper good workout, instead of just pounding your feet against a board over and over.

    • maxyzee on 01/04/2023 - 00:26
      +2

      I prefer running personally. The calorie burn is the highest on a treadmill and I think is the least boring out of all the cardio equipment options, but that's my personal preference.

      • AustriaBargain on 01/04/2023 - 00:56

        Yeah a guess you can increase the resistance on a $2,000 treadmill a lot by increasing the incline.

        • rumblytangara on 04/04/2023 - 12:03

          Does the incline on a treadmill do anything? When I tried (absolutely ages ago now, I hate treadmills) the inline didn't seem to make any difference to difficulty.

          Which when I thought about it, seemed to make sense. When you run up a hill, you're spending more chemical energy to offset the gain in potential energy (you're lifting your bodyweight to a higher elevation) but on a treadmill there is no elevation gain.

          I was going 45 minute sessions aiming for 80% max HR. And the max slope made no difference to perfectly flat. All it changed was the path of my stride.

          • AustriaBargain on 04/04/2023 - 13:59

            @rumblytangara: Do you feel any different walking up a hill than on a flat surface? On an elevated treadmill you are lifting your bodyweight up aren't you, then the tread lowers you down slightly.

            • rumblytangara on 04/04/2023 - 14:20

              @AustriaBargain: Never tried walking on a treadmill before. But looking at someone running, his body doesn't move up at all. So it seems to confirm my initial "no gain in potential energy" thoughts.

              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaZ8BSkqORE

              First couple of seconds of this. The only thing I can imagine this doing is working the lower body slightly differently from the change in the movement, but no additional energy is used.

              Way back when I bothered training for this, I could run up a 15% treadmill slope just as easy as flat. If I tried this on a real hill, it would totally wipe me out within two minutes. I'm not a treadmill user, or even a runner. I hate running. This was just way back when I was training for a mountaineering trip. (Turns out that running doesn't help much, but heavy squats and lunges were great.)

              Edit: Little bit of Googling suggests that the incline does do something:

              https://www.healthconstitution.com.au/is-treadmill-incline-b…

  • nuker on 01/04/2023 - 00:23
    -3

    You did not actually answer why can't you run outside.

    • maxyzee on 01/04/2023 - 00:28
      +2

      Because I already run outside. The treamdmill is an additional tool, there've been many occasion where I've intended to run outside but couldn't becuase of kids, weather, time at night, pets or whatever else and I just used the treadmill instead.

      • Baa on 01/04/2023 - 04:34
        +1

        Outside running is my preference, but as somebody who is approaching 40 I find treadmills are much nicer in my joints.

        That being said I never use the treadmill as it makes the 30 mins seem like an eternity

      • Mokr on 01/04/2023 - 06:14

        Aerodyne

    • GrueHunter on 01/04/2023 - 11:16

      you dun read good do you son

  • wal990 on 01/04/2023 - 06:36
    +1

    given you don't run a lot any 2k+ treadmill will do, even a c1750 is bit of an overkill (those are good enough for marathon training, one saw through a youtube video pro triathlete Lionel Sanders used one).

    get one with 3+ CHP, wide enough deck, most will come with up to 15% incline, -3% if its fancy.

    screen on treadmills are a big fail, they inflate the treadmill price, usually low res, and are at an awkward angle to look it, bluetooth connectivity to smart apps such as zwift is pretty common, use a tablet instead.

    horizon at 7.0at is an option (and just under 2k), jog up to 15-20km on zwift with it often

    • maxyzee on 01/04/2023 - 09:45

      Thanks I’ll have a look at the horizon. Also I should add the 2-3 outside sessions per week is on top of a 5k that I usually do during the work day, the gym is quite conveniently in the next building to my work so I do quick 20 min 5k at lunch.

  • Downvoter on 01/04/2023 - 08:42

    Nordictrak S45I. On sale at rebel for 2 grand every now and again. Ifit is great, I’d fall asleep and stack it if I just had zwift to look at while on it.

  • SF3 on 01/04/2023 - 09:19

    Sounds like you already own a hedonic treadmill.

  • SRV on 01/04/2023 - 13:43

    Bought a Peloton Tread semi-recently (Already had the bike so had an idea of what I was in for) and love it!

    The instructors are extremely motivating and lots of variety with the subscription (Weights, Yoga, Bootcamps, Meditation etc etc)

    • maxyzee on 01/04/2023 - 14:32

      Yeah the only thing I like just watching YouTube/Netflix etc. rather than using the workouts. And peloton has locked everything down.

      • this is us on 02/04/2023 - 09:51
        +1

        You could hang a TV on the wall in front of the treadmill, with Android TV. That's probably cheaper than buying a treadmill with built in screen if you want to stream other things.

  • maxyzee on 01/04/2023 - 17:51

    So I’ve settled on this https://www.appliancesonline.com.au/andoo/product/adidas-adc…

    • Brashtastic on 29/04/2023 - 15:28

      Are you happy with your purchase almost a month in? Any issues so far? Did you end up paying ~$2,500?

      And did you consider 2nd hand at all? I've been keeping an eye on Gumtree, but concerned about getting a dud, given treadmills can have some reliability issues (from my brief research).

      I'm considering a lower budget option with the Horizon Omega Z (https://www.johnsonfitness.com.au/collections/treadmills/pro…). Did you come across this one in your search? Seems decent specs for the price, particularly if you don't need/want a screen (which I don't).

      • MPorter on 02/07/2024 - 21:29

        Hi, just wondering if you purchased the Horizon Z.
        Im with you, it seems like a good treadmill for a good price, but i cant test it out anywhere.
        What did you end up buying and are you happy with it?
        Cheers

  • GourmetFoodie on 02/04/2023 - 09:44

    Peloton tread

  • mot1234 on 12/08/2024 - 12:53

    just wondering whih treadmill did you end up with? have similar situation now, not sure which one to buy….

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