Ohiyo!

Greetings my students and welcome to another evening here at the DOJO. After 20 years working in fitness equipment repair I’ve come to thing there is nothing new in the sun I haven’t worked on. Last week an elliptical came in which I haven’t ever had a chance to work on before. I was giddy as a school girl when the freight truck pulled up and delivered what I now consider to be one of the most underrated elliptical machines available on the market today, the Fitnex E70 elliptical from Fitness Master / Fitnex. I had a heck of a time finding any information at all on the machine online.

The Fitnex E70 elliptical is a sleek, light commercial machine which comes out of the same plant as equipment from Body Solid (a leader in fitness equipment for more than 20 years now) and has the same lifetime parts warranty when used in a residential setting. FOr commercial settings, the E70 elliptical has a 2 year parts, 1 year labor warranty, which is pretty standard for this level of machine.

Since the machine was going to be “stuck” in the DOJO for a week while we waited for a replacement shroud to come in, I decided Hikaru and I would put the Fitnex E70 to the test. I’d only seen the elliptical once before at a fitness industry trade show and thought this might be my only to chance to get my grubby little hands on one!

Not really being in the “testing” business we decided we’d each work out on the machine for at least an hour every day, using a variety of different programs during each work out. The Fitnex E70 we received had the heart rate option so we fiddled with that as well.

After 6 days of hard riding, the Fitnex E70 came through with flying colors. It is easily one of the smoothest ellipticals I’ve ever been on short of the Matrix E5x series, and was head and shoulders over most other light commercial ellipticals and all home models. Not only does the E70 have one of the nicest elliptical motions, but it is also a tank of a machine. It was heavy, solid and sturdy. Even with Hikaru working his nearly 300 pound frame at the highest setting the Fitnex E70 held fast and didn’t budge. The unit had 8 programs, 16 levels of magnetic resistance, and a nice LED monitor which give time, work level, watts, distance, speed, METS, heart rate, and calories in two easy to read screens. On top of that, the Fitnex E70 is one of the snazziest looking ellipticals out there. It’s sleek form radiates cool. Yeah, I know that a cool look isn’t the best reason to buy an elliptical, but for the Fitnex E70 elliptical it’s the icing on the cake. This bad boy would look great in any home or even office setting.

The only downside I saw in this machine was for shorter users. If you’re under about 5’6″ you might have a bit of a stretch when it comes to using the crosstraining bars. They’re a bit short but worked fine for me at 5’8″. The elliptical’s owner also said he was told by the manufacturer that extension bars were available for the Fitnex E70 which would solve that problem.

To sum up our week’s workout, Hikaru and I both feel the Fitnex E70 Elliptical is one of the best feeling machines under about $3500. If you’re looking for a Matrix feel but don’t want a Matrix price tag, the Fitnex E70 may just be the machine for you. The E70s can be found online for $1999-$2395 with free shipping if you poke around a bit on the internet.

The Treadmill Sensei gives the Fitnex E70 Elliptical 4.5 golden buddahs out of 5.

The Treadmill Sensei Gives the Fitnex E70 Elliptical 4.5 Golden Buddahs out of 5.

The Fitnex E70 Elliptical by Fitness Master

Fitnex E70 Elliptical Trainer Specifications
Transport Wheels: Yes
Frame Construction: Steel
Dual Action: Yes
Bi-Directional: Yes
Maximum Weight Capacity: 400 lbs.
Belt Drive: Serpentine
Resistance Type: Magnetic
Resistance Control: Electronic
Resistance Levels: 16
Heart Rate Monitoring: Yes, pulse grip
Programs: 8
Display Type: Dot matrix LED
Display Readouts: Time, work level, watts, distance, speed, METS, heart rate, and calories
Power Requirements: None, self powered
Assembly Tools: Included
Grade: Light Commercial
Made In: Taiwan

Warranty
Electronics Warranty: 3 year
Parts Warranty: 2 year
Labor Warranty: 1 year
Home Warranty: Lifetime parts warranty for home use

-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com

Ohiyo!

A few days ago I testified a bit on how to properly choose a home / residential grade treadmill. This time, since it has been a quiet day at the DOJO, I am going to ramble a bit on the ins and outs of remanufactured commercial equipment. This guide can be used not only for cardio equipment like treadmills and ellipticals, but also for strength equipment…although I get more than enough of a strength workout every day lifting and moving heavy treadmills around the DOJO.

Remanufactured equipment (sometimes called refurbised or reconditioned — it all depends on which company you are dealing with) has taken off quite a bit in the last few years as gym owners and home buyers both have realized they can purchase ultra high quality commercial equipment, in great condition for a fraction of the cost. Most remanufactured equipment with sell for 30-70% off of the original price! If you’ve ever wanted to have a Precor Elliptical or Life Fitness treadmill in your home, now you can!

The single most confusing thing about remanufactured equipment is just what it means…and what the difference between a remanufactured treadmill, a refurbished treadmill and a reconditioned on is. Unfortunately for buyers and poor service techs like the Treadmill Sensei, there are no industry standard definitions for these terms and what you get will vary from company to company. If you are going to buy remanufactured (or refurbished or whatever) equipment, make sure to ask what a company’s definition of what they are selling you is because you might be surprised at the answer. Some companies will just wipe a unit down, touch up the paint and then send it out the door as “remanufactured.” Beware of these companies!

Let’s go over the life of a piece of gym equipment destined for remanufacturing…this is something I do nearly every day for my repair clients so I know of what I speak!

Most larger gym chains lease their equipment instead of buying it. This allows them to trade in their equipment every few years. Once that equipment has been returned the the manufacturer, it is then resold to a remanufacturer (or reseller who then turns the unit over for remanufacturing to someone like your Treadmill Sensei). A quality remanufacturer will then strip the unit down to the frame, sandblast it to remove any traces of rust (a number of less reputible vendors will just paint over rust) and then repaint it using the same high end paint ($250-300/gallon!) used by the manufacturers themselves. We do powder coating here at the DOJO, but the regular repaints can be almost as good. At this point, all wear items are replaced — bearings, grips, rollers and so on. Diagnostics are then run on the electronics to make sure they are up to snuff and then cleaned up or replaced. On most equipment (treadmills and ellipticals, for example) the majority of problems will, luckily, come in the form of the control board. I say “luckily” because the boards can generally be replaced for $30 or so and take almost no time to reinstall. Also, most structural problems with a treadmill or elliptical will pop up in the first 30-60 days. Once you’ve made it past that point you should be in the clear and have a fine piece of equipment on your hands.

In my personal experience, and this may be because the DOJO turns out great work, remanufactured units tend to have a much lower rate of problems or defects when done correctly. This is because the treadmills and ellipticals (or strength equipment) are gone over with such a fine tooth comb and service so completely that any defects or problems which might have been missed by the manufacturer are caught and fixed as part of the servicing.

With a little bit of research, going the remanufactured route will allow a smaller fitness facility to compete with larger chains by offering competitive fitness equipment while saving money. In fact, many fitness trainers and gyms are finding they are able to reach a profit much earlier by taking advantage of the lower cost and high reliability of remanufactured equipment.

For home buyers, remanufactured equipment lets you purchase the same high end commercial equipment you work out on at your local gyms for a fraction of the price. And, if you’ve ever tried to go from working out on a Life Fitness, Matrix, Star Trac or Landice to working out on a crappy Proform machine, you’re already familiar with the disappointment a lot of wind up experiencing when they try to make the transition. Buying remanufactured lets you stick with what you know.

A quick tip on where to buy remanufactured equipment: places like American Fitness and Big Fitness, but the highest quality seems to be coming out of Amazon right now right now. I’ve seen a number of their Precor 544 and 546 Ellipticals and I’ve been impressed every time.

Good luck with your purchasing and feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions or comments. The DOJO is always open.

-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com/

Ohiyo!

I’ve been working on treadmills and fitness equipment for nearly two decades now and, most days, I love what I do. Unfortunately, today was not one of those days. Today was a Bowflex day (A Bowflex Series 7 Treadmill to be exact). You see, Bowflex is my nemesis. Whenever one comes in here at the DOJO I dread it. It’s the same kind of dread I get when Mrs. Sensei announces the in-laws are coming over and will be staying not only for dinner but for the week.

The reason I dislike Bowflex treadmills (Bowflex Series 7 and Series 5 both) is because when one comes in it always comes with a headache riding hard behind it. I know what you’re thinking to yourself, my students, “But Consumer Reports says the Bowflex Series 7 treadmills are the best thing since sliced bread! How dare you speak ill of something the buyer’s bible has placed so high upon a pedastal?”

Well, Consumer Reports is wrong.

There, I said it and I’m not afraid. Let me explain a bit about just how Consumer Reports works. The fitness industry is a very small nice market to the all-knowing editors of the magazine. So small, in fact, that new reviews are really only done about once every one to two years and then just re-edited and rerun. A lot of the products they review are discontinued models. This is because they put word out about 6 weeks in advance of an article being due for any and all treadmills which can be donated (from manufacturers or retailers). Those are the treadmills that get reviewed. Now you know why in an industry with hundreds of models, only the same few are mentioned over and over, good or bad.

If you want a real review of what’s out there, get in your car and drive down to your local gyms or sporting good stores and try some out. Either that or do your research online.

Back to the Bowflex (or, as I like to call them, the “Blowfex”). To be fair, their treadmills really aren’t that bad. They’re a nice mid-range brand. They’re a bit sturdier than a Proform or an Epic, but not as sturdy as a Sole or a Horizon, even at the higher price points. They have a lot of plastic in them which tends to get beat up pretty good over the course of even an average workout — and if you’re a hard runner, don’t expect these things to last very long.

Other problems include poor motors (smaller motors run at higher RPMs to fool consumers with false Continuous Duty Ratings), lower end warranties considering their price point, high price, poor manufacturing, and a very loud work out…I think every piece of this machine is built to make as much noise as possible.

Now, the biggest problem with buying a Bowflex Series 7 (or Series 5) is if something does go wrong. Their customer support has been some of the worst I’ve ever tried to deal with. Just try to get in touch with them! It’s not an easy job. And, if you do finally reach a live person, actually getting service can be just as difficult. The reason for this is because Bowflex, and its parent company Nautilus, have a horrendous reputation for treatment of their service providers and a lot of techs like me won’t take their jobs any more. If they can’t even get a tech to agree to pay you a housecall, how do you think they’ll be able to get your problem fixed?

Don’t even get me started on the evil known as the Treadclimber.

My final analysis on Bowflex units in general is that they’d be great machines at half the price. Don’t get stuck paying $1500 for a Bowflex Series 7 treadmill when you can get a much better BodyCraft, Sole, or Horizon for the same or less.

So what have we learned today, my pupils? That’s right: don’t buy Bowflex because they give the sensei a migraine.

Back to the DOJO for me.

-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com/

Moshi Moshi!

Hello again from the Far East on the West Coast, and greetings from the DOJO. This week, before I get in to the nuts and bolts of the treadmills and the ellipticals I work on, I’m going to start with a quick guide to how to choose a treadmill — well, how to choose a residential / home grade treadmill. Choosing a commercial treadmill tends to be a bit easier — go Star Trac, Matrix, Landice or Life Fitness and, in spite of their great ellipticals, avoid Precor treadmills. Precor is a great company, they just don’t quite have treadmills down as well as the other companies. With the commercial treadmills it’s kind of like choosing between a BMW, a Mercedes and a Lexus. It’s all about bells and whistles more than performance…they’re all great machines and we’ll talk about them another time.

Home treadmills are a tough sea to navigate for most buyers — there are so many different brands and they all look alike to outsiders. Luckily, over the past 20 or so years, I’ve had to repair just about every treadmill ever made. In other words, my pain will be your salvation!

My first piece of advice is: avoid anything and everything from Icon Health and Fitness. They’re the manufacturer of the units you’ll find at places like Sears — nothing against Sears, but the treadmills they sell tend to be on the lower end of the quality scale. Their treadmills seem to have specs that are too good to be true for their cost and, truth be told, they are. The old proverb, “you get what you pay for” comes in to play with them. Small motors with high RPMs to give them a perceived higher horsepower (most of their motors should really be rated at under 1.5 HP regardless of what they tell you — a motor the size of a soda can should not be powering a full sized treadmill!), lots of plastic pieces, tiny rollers, and generally unstable machines are par for the course for the Icon brands like Proform, Weslo, Healthrider and Image. Just stay away from them! There are better treadmills even at the more affordable prices that Icon tempts the unlearned consumer with.

On with translating the arcane lore that is treadmill purchasing for the lay person.

Let’s start with the motor. The first thing you want to do is make sure the motor is rated with “Continuous Duty.” Any sales person or manufacturer who gives you a “Peak” rating is trying to sell you a bag of magic beans. Peak is best described as the maximum a motor will perform at before it breaks down. What’s more imporant is: how the heck is that motor going to perform when you’re actually using it? Another thing a shady salesperson might mention is that a common home circuit (120v/15amps) will only let you run about 2.5 HP and any motor larger than that is a waste of money. Technically that is true (about the amps vs. HP, not the waste of money), but the larger motors will tend to last longer as they are not running at the higher RPMs of a smaller motor. And, if nothing else, the larger the motor, the smoother the “ride.” A bigger motor will allow you to run or walk on it without slipping.

The next thing to look at is the size of a treadmill’s rollers. The bigger the rollers, the longer your belt will last and the better the running experience.

Next, and this is my favorite thing — especially when recommending cardio equipment to my in-laws — the warranty. Like anything else, the better the warranty the more piece of mind you will have. The 5 year parts warranty on Sole treadmills, for example, is one of the best in the business. For me, the more faith a manufacturer has in its own product (i.e. the warranty), the more faith I have in that product. Of course, doing repairs I absolutely love the lower end warranties as it means more paying work for me!

What’s next? The weight and stability of the machine. There is nothing worse than getting on a treadmill and having it move back and forth, or shake, or, even worse, creak as you run on it. The heavier the unit the longer it will last. If you’re used to running on a treadmill at your local gym and then get on most home units, you’ll immediately notice the difference. You don’t want to be running around on something that feels like it is going to fall apart now do you? Don’t answer, that was a rhetorical treadmill question.

The tread and the deck are where most problems for treadmills happen. When the friction from your running builds up between the deck and the tread, the badness begins. Stick with the 4-ply belts/treads that help to reduce the amount of friction, and look at units with reversable, phenolic wax coated decks. Reversable decks let you flip over your running surface to use the opposite side when the original wears down. It’s like having a free second deck if you wear out the first one.

Programs. Don’t be fooled by this. Most people only wind up using 3-4 programs. If the treadmill has 20, that’s cool, but you’ll rarely use them. If you do heart rate training, then heart rate control is great. If not, it’s just an extra you’ll never use…like the clock you’ve never set on your VCR.

Speed and Incline are worth talking about. Most treadmills can go up to about 10 miles per hour and a 10 degree incline. Don’t let speed or incline become a deciding factor unless you’re doing a lot of high speed or high incline training. Obviously, electronically controlled speed and incline are the way to go. If those feature are manual just move on.

Finally, test out the shock absorbtion. You want to make sure you aren’t running on a hard surface. This is a “feel” thing more than a “scientific” one. If the deck is bouncy, move on. If the deck feels like running on concrete, move on. If the deck moves from side to side, move on. You want to find a deck that feels good, with just enough give and little to no lateral motion.

Beyond that fans, speakers, cup holders, magazine racks and even television sets on the treadmill’s console are all just icing on the cake. It’s better to get a good treadmill without a fan or TV and spend $50 to buy your own than to get a crappy, fully loaded treadmill which will eventually just become an expensive coat rack for dirty clothes.

Now, I know I alread typed “finally” but there is one last piece to consider: PRICE. You can only get what you can get but don’t be fooled into buying a lemon. There are decent (and some downright Great) treadmills at just about every price point. I’ll go over some of the best, at least in my experience, treadmills in the under $1000 range in the next week.

Don’t despair, there is a good treadmill out there you can actually afford!

UPDATE: Check out my Online Assistant and Treadmill Chooser! It will help you choose the right equipment for your fitness needs.

-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com/

I am the Treadmill Sensei. For more than twenty years, I have been a service and repair tech for treadmills and ellipticals. If you work out at a Southern California gym then there is a good chance I have installed, maintained or repaired the unit you are sweating on. My warehouse, the DOJO, is always filled to the brim with Precor, Life Fitness, Sole, Spirit, Horizon, Cateye, Star Trac, Matrix and more. Ellipticals and treadmills cover every inch of free space in my home and office!

As I have time I will be reviewing the units I work on in an attempt to guide you, my fitness pupils, in making the best equipment purchase for your money. With hundreds of treadmill and elliptical units for sale nowadays such a choice is not an easy one. Why should you look at Spirit treadmills or Precor Ellipticals? Why avoid the Gazelle or anything made by Icon (Proform, we’re talking to you!)? Why it’s not inappropriate to ask a treadmill manufacturer how big his rollers are? You’ll find the answers to these and other questions as I unleash my superior knowledge and wisdom on the web.

I get my hands dirty on cardio equipment so you don’t have to!

-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com