Treadmill Review Index

Below you will find ready links to all of our Treadmill Reviews to date. Check them out!

The First Annual Ichi-Ban Best Buy Awards!

BLADEZ FITNESS

BODYCRAFT

BODYGUARD FITNESS

BOWFLEX: The main line of equipment owned by Nautilus.

ENDURANCE: Made by Body Solid, a leader in strength equipment.

FUEL FITNESS:

HORIZON: Owned by Johnson Tech, Horizon manufacturers some solid residential grade equipment at good prices. Click to get more information on Horizon Fitness.

IRONMAN

KEYS: The manufacturer of Ironman, Alliance, HealthTrainer and Keys equipment.

LAMAR FITNESS:


LANDICE: The oldest treadmill company with more than 40 years in the business. The BMW of the treadmill world.

LEISURE WORKS:

LIFESPAN FITNESS:

MATRIX: Owned by Johnson Tech, Matrix produces some of the highest quality commercial equipment around today.

MERIT: The budget fitness lined produced by Johnson Tech.

MILEAGE:

MOTUS:

NEW BALANCE:

NORAMCO: The heavy duty Big Boy of the Treadmill Industry.

NORDIC TRACK:

PROFORM: Another ICON Fitness company. Perhaps the lowest end equipment on the market.

QUANTUM:

SCHWINN: Owned and operated by Nautilus. Schwinn makes treadmills and ellipticals. Click to get more information on Schwinn Fitness.

SMOOTH FITNESS: A quality, internet-only fitness company specializing in treadmills and ellipticals.

SOLE: Click to get more information on Sole Fitness.

SPIRIT: Spirit has been making top quality equipment since the early 80s. Spirit’s equipment is relabeled by a number of companies, including Sole, Inspire, Cardiostrength and, at one time, Smooth. Click to find out more about Spirit Fitness.

SPORTSART FITNESS

STAR TRAC: A top treadmill manufacturer for over 30 years.

TUNTURI: Bringing a bit of European flavor to the American Fitness market. Tunturi produces solid units without a lot of frills.

VISION FITNESS:

WESLO: Another Icon Health & Fitness brand.

YORK BARBELLS:

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

How to replace your treadmill belt

Nihango!

A question I get asked a lot here at the DOJO (and by my wife’s pesky relatives) is: How the heck do I replace a damaged treadmill belt?

If you find your belt slipping, or your deck slowing down and stop, or if the edges of your treadmill belt look worn, frayed or curls up, then you may need to have your treadmill belt replaced. Luckily, replacing the belt isn’t as hard as you’d think.

The very first thing you’re going to want to do is take a look at your treadmill deck. If the deck looks to be in good shape then there is a good chance it just needs to be lubricated (or waxed). If you see signs of wear such as scratches or grooves then both the deck and belt are probably going to need to be replaced.

If the deck appears fine but your belt is torn, curling or frayed, it’s time to replace the treadmill belt. Thankfully, treadmill manufacturers have made it pretty easy to replace a belt even if you’re not the Treadmill Sensei.

Most important: Turn your treadmill off and remove the power cord! This way you don’t get shocked and you’ll guarantee the treadmill doesn’t turn on while you’re working on it. That would be bad. If your treadmill inclines (which most do), adjusting it a few degrees may make the operation a little easier for you.

You loosen the belt adjustment screws in the back of your treadmill’s deck and then slide the rear roller forward and away from the belt. Remove the front roller and then the rear roller. There will be a number of screws along the sides of the deck which attach the deck to the rest of the treadmill. Remove those and you’ll be able to remove your deck.

At this point you can slide your belt off. Now is a perfect time to go ahead and lubricate your deck as well. From there, put on your new belt and reassemble your deck.

Taking the time to wax your treadmill deck while the belt is off may be a good idea. It’ll keep you from having to do it all over again later on.

Finally, once you have it all back together you’re going to want to test the adjustment. Start your treadmill at a slow speed and walk on it firmly. If the belt stops, hesitates or changes speed then you’re going to need to adjst the rear screws. Adjust as needed until you are sure the belt isn’t slipping or changing speed.

And there you have it, how to replace a treadmill belt.

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

The Schwinn 418 Elliptical Review — A Good Solid Elliptical for under $1000

Moshi Moshi!

Every so often, something catastrophic happens in the world and the Sensei must admit he was wro…um…wron…er…wr…maybe not completely right about something. Tonight, much to the glee of some of the younger senseis, is one of those nights.

After coming down pretty hard on Consumer Reports in the past I have to admit one of their choices was dead on. During their last review of elliptical trainers, about two years ago now, the fine folks at Consumer Reports placed the Schwinn 418 Elliptical near the top of their list. As unlikely as it seems they made a good call. Even more unlikely, a decent unit has actually been produced by Nautilus.

The Scwhinn 418 Elliptical is a surprisingly sturdy, well built machine with a decent stride length of 18 inches. It has a solid, heavy flywheel, 12 workout programs, a welded steel frame to keep the creeping shakes from working their way in, and pulse grip heart rate monitoring.

The only real down side to the Schwinn 418 Elliptical would be the lower end warranty on the unit. The 418 Elliptical only has a 6th month labor warranty. Even with the light weight warranty, the Schwinn 418 is a good buy at it’s under $1000 price point.

For being a surprise and proving no company can completely suck, the Schwinn 418 Elliptical gets 3.5 Golden Buddahs out of 5 from the Sensei.

3.5 out of 5 for the Scwhinn 418 Elliptical from the Treadmill Sensei for not sucking
The Treadmill Sensei hads over a 3.5 gold buddahs out of 5 for the Schwinn 418.

Schwinn 418 Elliptical Specifications
Stride Length: 18″
Maximum Weight Capacity: 275 lbs.
Resistance Type: Magnetic
Resistance Levels: 8
Heart Rate Monitoring: Pulse Grip
Heart Rate Control: Yes
Programs: 12
Display Readouts: Time, speed, distance, RPM, resistance level, calories, calories per hour, load, heart rate, and course profile readouts

Warranty
Frame Warranty: 15 years
Electronics Warranty: 1 year
Parts Warranty: 2 years
Labor Warranty: 6 months

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

The Schwinn 820p Treadmill Review — Highly Overrated

Moshi Moshi!

Whenever a new Consumer Reports magazine comes out with a feature on treadmills or ellipticals, the members here at the DOJO gather around for a lot of good laughs at what the “experts” have to say. As you may or may not know, our friends at CR put out another magazine with treadmill reviews this past February. And boy did it cause some laughs.

One of the “top rated” treadmills in particular was worth a good chuckle: the Schwinn 820p treadmill from Nautilus. I’m not completely sure what the reviewers were smoking but I think they need to share it with the rest of us.

If Nautilus had priced the Schwinn 820p at about $699 it would have been an excellent buy, but at the $1000 or more the treadmill sells for, the unit is simply outclassed by the opposition.

The Schwinn 820p Treadmill comes with a sorely underpowered 2 horsepower motor. It’s not a bad motor, it just isn’t quite up to what the top treadmills in its class are offering. When other brands are offering 2.2 or beefy 2.5 hp motors, it’s hard to step down to the Schwinn 820p treadmill’s smaller 2 horsepower one.

Another pretty significant problem with the Schwinn 820p treadmill is the stability. Unfortunately, poor design choices have taken what are normally thick support beams towards the front of the machine and replaced them with much thinner ones further back. What this does is take away from the sturdiness of the front of the machine. As you work out you’re going to be throwing your weight forward and larger owners will definitely be uncomfortable by the lack of support in the machine…even smaller owners who perform harder workouts will have problems. When most other $1000 treadmills have 300+ weight capacities the Schwinn 820p treadmill feels a little flimsy at a max capacity of 275 pounds.

Following the stability problem, the Schwinn 820 treadmill has a lot of plastic in it and overall the machine suffers from lower quality parts. Although most fitness equipment is produced overseas the Schwinn 820p is a victim of poor production standards.

If I was forced to find something nice to say about the Schwinn 820p treadmill the only things I could come up with would be: decent sized rollers on the deck. That and some good marketing people.

Hopefully both CR and Schwinn will get their acts together next year. This time around, however, the Treadmill Sensei can only give the 820p Treadmill by Schwinn 2 Golden Buddahs out of 5…and he thinks that’s being generous.

For being substandard, the Schwinn 820p treadmill only gets a 2 out of 5
The Treadmill Sensei says, “These are not the treadmills you are looking for.”

I'm not sure the Schwinn 820p really deserves a witty remark hidden in the alt tag

Schwinn 820P Treadmill Specifications
Horsepower: 2.0 HP
Maximum Weight Capacity: 275 lbs
Folding: No
Reversible Deck: Yes
Maximum Speed: 10 mph
Maximum Incline: 15%
Heart Rate Monitoring: Polar wireless strap included & pulse grip
Heart Rate Control: Yes
Programs: 5 preset, 2 custom
Display Type: LED
Display Readouts: Time, speed, distance, grade and calories.
Roller Size: 2.5″/6.4 cm

Warranty
Frame Warranty: 30 years
Motor Warranty: 30 years
Electronics Warranty: 2 years
Parts Warranty: 2 years
Labor Warranty: 1 year

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

The Cateye Game Bike Review — An Exercise in Fun

Ohiyo Gozaimasu!

Every so often we get to take a bit of a break here at the DOJO and do something really fun. Today that fun was in the form of a shipment of GB300 Game Bikes from Cateye Fitness which came in. We’ll be setting these up at a local YMCA later in the week, but we got to set them up and play with…er…test them out all day long. In fact, as I write this, Hikaru is leading a number of the younger senseis in a tournament of Motocross. They can have their mountain bike games because later on I plan to reclaim one of the Cateye Recumbent Game Bikes for a few laps of Nascar!

If you haven’t seen the Cateye Game Bikes, which have been floating around for a few years now, the units are upright (and now recumbent) bikes which are linked to a video game controller. You can plug these things in to your Xbox, Gamecube, Playstation 2 or even PC and use them to control your games (last count was somewhere around 100 games I believe..but don’t quote the Sensei on that). You steer with the handle bars and speed up or slow down by pedalling.

What the game bikes by Cateye allow you to do is to add a fully interactive fitness element to most racing games — dirt bike, motorcycle, atv, auto and even water-based racing games all work very well with the Cateye Game bikes.

And the best part is, thanks to perceived exertion, you won’t even realize how much of a work out you are getting while you play! For the layperson, “perceived exertion” basically amounts to your mind tricking your body in to not realizing how much it is working out because of the fun it’s having. That’s right, the Game Bikes distract your brain and you get more exercise out of it.

When it comes to the Cateye Gamebikes, there are basically three varieties: the home Cateye Game Bike, the Cateye Game Bike Pro (or commercial Game Bike) and the Commercial Cateye Recumbent Game Bike. The differences are all pretty obvious. The two upright versions come in a large and small version — one for smaller children, the other for larger ones and adults.

From my experience, the commercial versions are head and shoulders about the home version, but the cost is almost 4 times as much! However, if you’ve got a child who enjoys biking or one you want to get a little more exercise, then the home versions are excellent purchases. In no time flat you’ll see your child spending hours and hours in front of the TV riding hard on his or her Cateye Game Bike. The things are addicting as heck and don’t be surprised if a lot of your child’s friends are coming over to play with the new addition to your home.

The bikes come with 8 levels of manually controlled resistance and optional heart rate monitoring. The commercial Cateye Game Bikes also come with 9 workout programs.

Overall, the bikes are a great buy for a family or even a child oriented fitness facility. Grown-ups won’t get as much out of the home versions because they are fairly light weight in their manufacture. The commercial Cateye Game Bikes and their Recumbent Game Bike cousins, however, will hold up to even the most rigorous of workouts. Personally, the Cateye Recumbent Game Bike is my favorite of the bunch. Sitting down and using it in conjunction with an auto racing game is one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had. The only thing better would be to take one of the Sci Fit Ellipticals and modify it to work with a Mechwarrior style game — yeah….a Mechwarrior Elliptical would be worth just about any price. Cateye, if you’re reading this, make the concept check payable to “The Treadmill Sensei.”

For being ultra cool, the Treadmill Sensei gives the Cateye Game Bike 5 Golden Buddahs out of 5. What are you waiting for? Go out and get one today!!

The Cateye Game Bike gets a 5 out of 5 Gold Buddahs from the Sensei!
Didn’t I just say go get a Cateye Game Bike? Now get going!

The Game Bike From Cateye ... it rocks!

Cateye Game bike GB200 Specifications
Frame Construction: Steel
Weight Capacity: 250 lbs.
System Requirents: Requires a Sony Play Station, PS2, X-Box or Gamecube
Power Requirements: 4 D batteries
Adjustable Seat: Yes, 9 seat settings with locking safety pin
Resistance Levels: 8
Resistance Control: Manual
Resistance Type: Magnetic
Heart Rate Monitoring: Optional
Programs: None
Display Type: Optional LCD / video game display
Display Feedback: Time, speed, distance, and calories
Special Features: Connect the Cateye Gambike to a Gamecube, XBox, PC, Playstation or PS2 and race your way to fitness
Users: Play with up to 4 people simultaneously (Each user requires a gamebike.)

Warranty
Frame Warranty: 1 year
Parts Warranty: 1 year
Labor Warranty: None

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

The Matrix E5Xc Elliptical Review — Simply the Best

Ohiyo!

Today the holy grail was delivered to us here at the DOJO. A Matrix E5Xc Elliptical was brought in for us to set up and deliver to a client near our workshop. I’d seen and gotten a chance to work out on one of these at a recent trade show and was highly impressed by it. Getting to review one up close confirmed everything I’ve expected to see in an Elliptical from Matrix. I’ve worked on the full sized Matrix E5X Ellipticals in the past (and have owned one with much pride) and the more compact E5Xc Elliptical lives up to the legacy of its big brother. Johnson Tech and Matrix continue their award-winning streak with their latest elliptical offering.

If you are looking for the smoothest elliptical ride on the market, then you need look no further than the Matrix E5Xc. With the same 21″ stride and feel of the E5X, the Matrix E5Xc Elliptical is the smoothest, most comfortable and lowest impact elliptical workout you’ll find on any elliptical at any price. If you’ve ever been on an elliptical from Matrix you already know what I’m talking about.

With the highly cushioned, articulating footpads on the E5XC Elliptical, even someone with knee and ankle problems will be able to exercise on it.

Let’s run down the other features of the Matrix E5Xc Elliptical: forward & reverse resistance, 20 levels of resistance, contact and wireless heart rate monitoring, 7 programs, a great LCD screen, quick keys for controlling your workout on the handlebars, a solid 285 pounds and an optional TV screen add on. Add to that being about 13 inches shorter than the old E5X and you’ve got easily the most impressive commercial elliptical available on the market today.

Finally, the Matrix E5Xc Elliptical is just plain cool looking. These things are built and designed for the 21st Century and beyond — it’s functional modern art at its finest.

If you’ve got the budget for the best, make sure to check out the Matrix E5Xc. You won’t be disappointed. The Matrix E5Xc Elliptical sells for about $4795 which generally includes free delivery.

For being the best there is, the Treadmill Sensei gives the E5Xc Elliptical from Matrix 5 Golden Buddahs out of 5. Keep up the good work!

The Matrix E5Xc elliptical gets a 5 out of 5
Top honors from the Treadmill Sensei go to the Matrix E5X.

The E5XC Elliptical kicks butt

Matrix MX E5x Elliptical Specifications
Transport Wheels: Yes
Dual Action: Yes
Stride Length: 21″
Bi-Directional: Yes
Maximum Weight Capacity: 400 lbs.
Resistance Control: Electronic
Resistance Type: Electro Magnetic
Resistance Levels: 20
Heart Rate Monitor: Pulse Grip & Polar Compatible (Polar Strap Optional)
Heart Rate Control: Yes
Display Type: LCD
Display Feedback: Time, Speed, Distance, Calories, Watts, Level, Heart Rate, Profile, Stride Rate Programs: 7: Manual, Intervals, Rolling, Fat Burn, Random, Target Heart Rate, and Constant Watts.

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

The Endurance T3 Treadmill Review — An Average Treadmill with a Great Warranty

Moshi Moshi, loyal visitors to the DOJO!

In response to a couple of reader emails saying, “For someone called the TREADMILL Sensei, you haven’t reviewed a treadmill for a while…when are you going to get back to them?” Well, fear not, true believers, tonight I’m reviewing a new treadmill for your buying pleasure.

For this installment I want to talk about the Endurance T3 Treadmill from Body Solid. Many of you who have home gym equipment of your own are probably already familiar with the name Body Solid. They’ve been producing solid home gyms and strength equipment for more than 25 years now. Chances are, if you’ve ever bought a home gym unit, you’ve owned a piece of Body Solid equipment.

And, like a lot of companies, a few years ago Body Solid decided to move in to the realm of cardio equipment with a line of treadmills and ellipticals. The unit I’m focusing on tonight is the Endurance T3 treadmill (and the Endurance T3fi treadmill, which is the folding version of the Endurance T3).

In spite of being a leader in the home gym arena, the Endurance T3 treadmill doesn’t shine as much as its competitors at this price range. Let’s start off with the problems.

For the price, the Endurance T3 treadmill offers one of the smallest running areas out there — a tiny 50″ x 18″ deck. If you’re a serious running, or even a jogger, then the T3 treadmill comes up well short of the competition.

The motor on the Endurance T3 treadmill comes with is well built…large and cool running at low RPMs. Unfortunately, the size is a bit small for the price: a mere 2.2 horse power. Endurance tries to hide their tiny motor by also giving you the mysterious “peak” rating, but don’t be fooled. For the $1299 price tag you should be getting 2.5 horsepower or more like you’ll find in a Horizon, Fitnex, Spirit, New Balance or Sole.

Even the maximum weight capacity falls a bit short of the top rated treadmills in this class at a weak 275lbs. For a machine that boasts “robotic welded” frames, a 275 pound max capacity is a bit sad. And the 4 basic programs and lack of heart rate control found on the Endurance T3 treadmill don’t do much to shine it up all pretty like.

Now, even with all of those faults, I’d recommend the Endurance T3 Treadmill if you can find it at a lower price. At $899 or so, the the T3 Treadmill would be a killer buy. It’s welded frame really does stand up to a lot of punishment and you won’t find a lot of the “wobbles” you get in lesser built treadmills. The Endurance T3 is solidly built.

The only point where the Endurance T3 Treadmill really shines is in the warranty. Outside of the Fitnex units which come out of the same factory overseas, the Endurance units all come with the lifetime parts warranty Body Solid has become famous for over the past 2 decades. That’s right, a lifetime warranty on all parts. That alone kicks up the rating of this treadmill quite a bit. If nothing else, Endurance has a lot of faith in the T3 Treadmill.

In conclusion, the Endurance T3 Treadmill is a nice, average, mid range treadmill. The price could be lower but it redeems itself with the best warranty in the industry. For that reason alone, the Treadmill Sensei gives the T3 Treadmill by Endurance 3 Golden Buddahs out of 5.

The Endurance T3 Treadmill gets a 3 out of 5 from the Treadmill Sensei
A lifetime warranty gets the Endurance T3 3 out of 5 Gold Buddahs.

A great warranty from the Endurance T3 is the best feature in this treadmill
Compare the Endurance T3 Treadmill

Endurance T3 Treadmill Specifications
Transport Wheels: Yes
Horsepower: 2.2 HP
Frame Construction: Heavy gauge welded steel with powder coat finish
Shock Absorption: 6 point deck suspension system
Maximum Weight Capacity: 275 lbs.
Folding: Yes
Maximum Speed: 10 MPH
Maximum Incline: 12%
Heart Rate Monitoring: Yes, pulse grip
Heart Rate Control: No
Programs: 5
Display Type: 3 window LED display
Display Readouts: Elevation, time, distance, speed, and calories
Grade: Residential

Dimensions
Roller Size: 2″
Running Area: 18″ x 50″

Warranty
Frame Warranty: Lifetime
Motor Warranty: Lifetime
Electronics Warranty: Lifetime
Parts Warranty: Lifetime
Labor Warranty: 1 year

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

The Treadmill Sensei Forum

Ohiyo!

I’ve just set up a new Forum / Bulletin Board for posting, chatting, and buying/selling equipment. If you have any questions for the sensei or just want to yak with other fitness fans, then check out the new message board:

http://www.treadmillsensei.com/forum/

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

The Ironman 600e Elliptical Review — A great elliptical with a lot of different names

Moshi Moshi!

Manufacturers do a lot of sneaky things in order to wrangle the dollars out of your wallet. One of the things they do is rename their product for different retailers so that you, the innocent consumer, cannot price match between vendors. TV manufacturers do it. Computer manufacturers do it. And, unfortunately, elliptical manufacturers do it.

One of the best feeling ellipticals priced at around $1100 is a victim of such clandestine dealers by its maker, Keys Fitness. The unit in question (and one owned by 3 different members here at the DOJO) is the Ironman 600e Elliptical from Keys. If you’ve been researching elliptical trainers then you may have come across this great little machine under the names of the Ironman Evolution Elliptical (sold at places like Costco) or the Alliance A7E Elltiptical. In spite of color and name changes, these are all in fact the exact same machine.

Whatever name you want to call it the Ironman 600e is a sturdy, smooth moving machine based on the old Reebok Bodytrek technology which Keys has licensed from Reebok. Don’t let it’s faux stepper appearance fool you, the Ironman 600e elliptical has a fantastic 19 inch stride and is every bit a full size, natural feeling workout. The long 19 inch stride makes it one of the smoothest machines under about $2000.

Another great feature is the weight and sturdiness of the machine. These things are built well and are heavy enough for even larger people to work out on them without the machine shaking or feeling uneasy.

The other features include pulse grip heart rate monitor (but no integration with wireless heart rate monitors and no heart rate control programs), an easy to read 5 window LCD console, 16 levels of resistance and 6 workout programs.

In the course of our work repairing and servicing the Keys Ellipticals, we have found a couple of problems and both deal with damage done in shipping. First off, a large number of the units show up with the front wheels bent a bit. This is easily fixed with a new bolt and remounting the wheels, but it is an annoying problem that could be solved by better crating procedures at the manufacturer’s warehouse. The second problem, also from poor shipping methods, is cracked shrouds. From what I’ve seen around 50% of the Ironman 600e Ellipticals show up with some sort of damage done to the shrouds — anything from a small crack to a shroud being split in half. In Keys’ defense, they do replace damaged parts very quickly and their customer service is very helpful. It’s a pity their shipping department isn’t as competent.

In spite of the problems, if you’re looking for a great feeling elliptical, then you’re doing yourself a disservice by not checking out the Ironman 600e Elliptical..or the Alliance A7E elliptical…or the Ironman Evolution Elliptical..or the…well, you get my point. The Ironman 600e Elliptical is a great buy at around $1200 no matter what name it goes by.

UPDATE: This unit is now know as the Ironman EVO-1 Elliptica…I wish they’d make up their mind on the name!

The Treadmill Sensei gives the Ironman 600e and its other namesakes (the Ironman Evolution Elliptical and the A7E Elliptical by Alliance) 4 Golden Buddahs out of 5. Check it out already!

The 600e Elliptical by Ironman gets 4 out of 5 golden buddahs
By any name, the Sensei awards the Ironman 600e Elliptical from Keys Fitness a 4 out of 5.

The Ironman Evo-1 Elliptical in its full glory
Compare the Ironman Evo-1 Elliptical.

Ironman 600e Elliptical Trainer Specifications
Transport Wheels: Yes, front-positioned
Frame Construction: Heavy gauge steel construction
Dual Action: Yes
Stride Length: 19″
Step Up Height: 10.5″ at lowest point
Maximum Weight Capacity: 300 lbs.
Belt Drive: Poly V belt
Resistance Type: Magnetic
Resistance Levels: 16
Resistance Control: Manual, button adjusted
Heart Rate Monitoring: Yes, EKG grip pulse monitoring system
Programs: 6 preset; interval, hill, mountain, weight loss, random, and manual
Display Type: 5-window LCD display w/ matrix
Display Readouts: Time, speed, distance strides, calories, pulse, level, and watts
Power Requirements: AC Adaptor

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

The Horizon EX33 Elliptical Review — A pretty darn good elliptical for a great price

Nihango, DOJO visitors!

When people find out I work in the fitness industry in general, and do treadmill / elliptical repair and service in specific, I get asked a lot of questions. One of the most common is “what is the best elliptical to buy under $1000?” Since there is no hard and fast rule or guideline for what exactly is “the best,” I can just go on my own opinion and experience. Hmmm…scratch that last statement because the Treadmill Sensei knows all and sees all, and his word is now Law.

For those of you who have done any sort of research in to quality equipment, Horizon Fitness should be a very familiar name. As the residential arm of Johnson Tech, Horizon Fitness has been making high quality treadmills and ellipticals for quite a few years now. I believe we’ve been servicing Horizon equipment for about 3 years now and I’d say 90% of it comes from moving damage — you just don’t see a lot of issues on these machines as the result of working out on them. In fact, the majority of the problems come from cracked shrouds.

This past year, Horizon has updated their old Horizon E53 Elliptical with the new Horizon EX33 Elliptical. I was a bit skeptical at first because of the great feel of the old Horizon E53 units, but the Horizon EX33 has won me over with great performance and a smooth feel. Don’t be fooled with the smaller footprint of the Horizon EX33 Elliptical as compared to some of the larger home units, such as the New Balance 9.5e. The stride is a full 18 inches and the shorter EX33 allows for easy rear entry for those of you who dislike the unsteadiness of the side mounting machines.

With the solid upfront weight and heavy, 14 pound flywheel, the Horizon EX33 Elliptical is very solid and sturdy and will hold up to even the hardest of workouts.

The unit has 7 preset programs, 10 resistance levels, heart rate monitoring and control, and a spiffy little bright blue LCD screen which makes all your necessary workout information available at a quick glance.

With a great track record and solid engineering, the Horizon EX33 Elliptical Trainer gives you some of the best performance from an elliptical priced at under $1000. I rate the EX33 Elliptical as a better buy than Horizon’s EX44 elliptical because, for about $200 less, you’re not losing much at all over the Horizon EX33 Elliptical’s bigger brother. Look to pay around $750-800 for the Horizon EX33 Elliptical online…Oh, and one of the online ordering benefits is that most retailers offer free inside delivery on Horizon units.

I give the Horizon EX33 Elliptical a well deserved 4.5 Golden Buddahs out of 5.

The EX33 Elliptical from Horizon gets 4.5 gold Buddahs out of 5
The Treadmill Sensei gives the Horizon EX33 Elliptical a 4.5 out of 5!

Horizon EX33 Elliptical Specifications
Transport Wheels: Yes
Dual Action: Yes
Stride Length: 18″
Step Up Height: 23cm
Maximum Weight Capacity: 275 lbs.
Resistance Type: Electronic
Resistance Control: Magnetic
Resistance Levels: 10
Heart Rate Monitoring: Yes
Heart Rate Control: Yes
Programs: 7 preset; 6 interval and 1 heart rate
Display Type: Blue backlit LCD screen
Power Requirements: 12V
Special Features: Single touch resistance controls and a built in personal cooling fan, 2 compartments to store a water bottle and mp3 player
Grade: Residential

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

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About Treadmill Sensei

Treadmill SenseiThe Treadmill Sensei has been in the fitness industry for several years. He is familiar with several brands of fitness equipment and has written several reviews of many different treadmills and elliptical machines. You can see what he thinks are the best treadmills or you can get help choosing a treadmill.


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About My Treadmill Reviews

TreadmillMy treadmill reviews are both subjective and objective. They are objective in the sense that I will provide you with information about each machine, such as motor, weight capacity and other features. But they are subjective in the sense that I am really giving my opinion of each treadmill. You may agree or disagree with my opinion, but my hope is that my elliptical and treadmill reviews can be helpful to you in making a decision on what to buy. Remember that each review is just what I think. You can always check out Treadmill Doctor or these other treadmill reviews if you want another opinion.