2006 August

The Reebok RL 900 Elliptical Review — Precor workouts on a budget

Ohiyo!

As anyone who reads the reviews I post knows, the Treadmill Sensei is a big fan of Precor and their excellent elliptical trainers. Precor has done a great job with their quality and engineering. Unfortunately for most home users the high cost of even the “residential” Precor ellipticals is a bit prohibitive. Luckily, although Precor still owns the patent on “ramp technology” they have licensed it for use on a few non-Precor ellipticals.

The Reebok RL 900 (RL900) Elliptical is one of the few units to have access to Precor’s incline ramp feature which lets you change the amount of incline of your pedals to increase your workout. The Reebox RL 900 does give you a number of the features of a higher priced Precor elliptical, but be wary due to the product being manufactured by Icon Fitness. Icon is known for cutting corners on a lot of its manufacturing and their units generally aren’t of the highest quality. However, they’ve done a pretty decent job with the Reebok RL 900 Elliptical. Let’s go over some of the elliptical’s specs.

The main (and really only) reason to check out the Reebok RL 900 is the power incline ramp feature. The ramp adjusts from 10-30% giving you a much tougher workout than on a standard elliptical. This is a great feature and Icon licensed the technology directly from Precor. Now, incline isn’t the same as resistance, but when you’re able to deal with incline AND resistance you’ll definitely feel a lot more of the burn.

One of the things that I like about Reebok RL 900 over most of the lower quality units Icon puts out is the solid feel of the machine. It is rated for users up to 350 pounds and is definitely one of the sturdier-built Reebok/Icon ellipticals. The Reebok RL 900 itself weights about 260 pounds and it makes the Sensei happy that this Icon elliptical isn’t as flimsy as most of the others.

The unit comes with a nice large monitor, workout fans, 12 workout programs, easy access incline and resistance controls and pulse grip handles.

The bad side about the unit still goes back to Icon’s lack of quality control. From experience I’ve seen a lot of these units ship with bad control boards and bad incline motors. Icon will replace these parts on the Reebok RL 900, which is cool, but the added inconvenience can be annoying.

The other downside of the Reebok RL 900 is putting them together. We work on probably a hundred ellipticals a month or more and the Reebok incline ramp units are some of the toughests. Be prepared for 2-3 hours of work to get one together so make sure to have some alcohol on hand to take the edge off (I’m kidding about the alocohol, of course).

Now, one of the things I want to talk about in regards to this unit is how it compares to a Precor 546 (or any other Precor elliptical): it really doen’t. The workouts are going to be similar and the Reebok RL 900 ellipticals are actually very smooth for a home grade unit, but it just won’t stack up to a Precor. It’s sort of like comparing a Saturn to a BMW. Both are good brands when you drive a BMW you know you’re not driving a Saturn. However, at the $899 price of the Reebok RL 900, if you’re on a budget and want a Precor style workout, then this machine will be perfect for you. Just make sure to keep up the maintenance on the machines so they last.

For once, Icon Fitness has done a good job with a unit in the Reebok RL 900. If you want that Precor 546 workout but are on a bit of a budget then the Reebok RL 900 Elliptical may work well for you. The Treadmill Sensei gives the RL 900 Elliptical from Reebok 3.5 out of 5 Golden Buddahs.

3.5 gold buddahs out fo 5 for the Reebok RL 900

Icon Fitness surprises us all wil a decent elliptical in the Reebok RL 900!

Reebok® RL 900 Elliptical Specifications:
Quick Resistance™
Quick Incline™ 10-30%
Dual CoolAire™ Fans
One Year Motor, Parts and Labor Warranty
iFIT.com® Compatible
12 Built-in Workouts
350-lb. User Capacity
Pulse Grip Heart Rate Monitor
18” Stride Length

Cost: $899-999

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

The Horizon T63 treadmill Review – Great Performance for under $1000

Nihango!

Today the Treadmill Sensei ventures forth from the depths of the DOJO to finish off his reviews of the 2006 Horizon Treadmills in preparation for the release of the 2007 models. Late in the day I’ll also be reviewing the 2007 version of the T63 treadmill, the Horizon T73. That should make Hikaru very happy because he was able to procure a Horizon T73 in advance for us to do a full product review on. Stay tuned for that!

The Horizon T63 treadmill is one of Horizon’s mid-range home units. For those of you who are familiar with Horizon’s Elite line (which are very similar to the T-60 line but at a higher price), the T63 treadmill would fall in between the Horizon 2.2T and the Horizon 3.2T treadmills. Although, from working on both, I halfway suspect the T63 and the Elite 3.2T are the exact same unit with Horizon downgrading the specs to make price matching more difficult for customers. Sort of like Best Buy and the other big stores do with electronics — Best Buy will have a TV on sale for $100 and say they’ll beat any price on the same model, but no one has the exact same one. Best Buy will have the Sony 56Te and Wal-Mart will have the 56Tg even tho they are exactly the same inside! Damn manufacturers!

Anyway, the Horizon T63 treadmill performs very well for a unit at the $1000 price range. It’s got a very solid Johnson Tech 2.25 horsepower motor that runs cool and at low enough RPMs to stay consistent even if a user is approaching the top end of its weight capacity. Hikaru is a big boy and he can get a decent, light workout on a Horizon T63 without the thing dying on him.

The deck size on the Horizon T63 treadmill is a decen 55×20 inches. Not spectacular but right along with what all the other units have in this range and actually exceeding a good number of them. Same goes for the 2.4″ tapered rollers which blow away most of the competition and really do help prolong the life of your treadmill belt. Tapered rollers are a great feature because they help to keep your treadmill belt aligned properly. The fans all Horizon units have are also a very nice touch. I do wish the deck was a full inch thick instead of 3/4 of an inch.

An outstanding feature on all of the Horizon T63 treadmills we’ve gone through here in the DOJO repair shop is the hydraulic assisted folding feature. Now, a lot of units have this now, but the Horizon’s hydraulics are above and beyond anything else in the price range. Going up is never a problem, and unfolding on the T63 is smooth and won’t bang down quickly, potentially damaging your deck like a lot of other budget treadmills.

If you’re looking for a solid treadmill under a $1000 then make sure to cast an eye over at the Horizon T63 treadmill. The Treadmill Sensei gives the T63 a very respectible 3.5 Golden Buddahs out of 5.

great performance at a great price, the T63 treadmill from Horizon gets a 3.5 out of 5 Golden Buddahs

The Horizon T63 treadmill performs well for under $1000 and gets 3.5 out of 5 from the Sensei.

Horizon Fitness Treadmill T63 Specifications
Horsepower: 2.25 HP
Max Weight Capacity: 325 lbs.
Folding: Yes
Speed: 12 MPH
Incline: 10%
Heart Rate Monitoring: pulse grip
Programs: 8
Readouts: RPM, watts, time, calories, heart rate, distance, and resistance level
Special Features: Fan
Product Weight: 215 lbs.
Roller Size: 2.4″
Deck Thickness: .75″
Running Area: 55″ x 20″

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

Who is the Treadmill Sensei?

About the Treadmill Sensei
The Treadmill Sensei has spent over 20 years in the fitness industry building, repairing, restoring and maintaining fitness equipment in general, specializing in treadmills and ellipticals. Unlike other reviewers, he doesn’t buy or sell equipment, he just fixes it.

About TreadmillSensei.com
TreadmillSensei.com was founded in mid-2006 by the Treadmill Sensei in an effort to help people confused by the sheer number of treadmills and ellipticals now available for sale. After having looked around and seen the rather anemic, and sometimes misleading, reviews on other sites, the Treadmill Sensei dedicated himself to writing the most detailed and helpful reviews available anywhere on the net. Using his knowledge as a service/repair tech the Treadmill Sensei is able to provide more extensive and in-depth reviews than anyone else online. allowing customers to be well educated before spending thousands of dollars on new fitness equipment.

The Smooth 5.25 Treadmill Review — Top rated under $1000

Moshi Moshi!

Two days in a row…I think the Treadmill Sensei is back on track! Things have slowed down a bit here in the DOJO as the summer winds down and we get a bit of breathing room before the busy season starts back up in October. The DOJO was actually closed yesterday for the first time in a long time as Hikaru, Johnny and the other young senseis took the day off to head down to the beach. Given that I was going to be alone in the shop for an entire day I decided to do a good old fashion treadmill test and review. I had finished the clean up and repair of a 5.25 Treadmill from Smooth the night before and thought that would be an excellent candidate.

Here is what I found.

But, first, let’s talk a bit about Smooth Fitness. Smooth has been around since the mid 1980s and started off as a fitness retail store in Pennsylvania. In the mid to late 1990s they moved their retail operation online and became one of the first fitness dealers on the internet and have since focused most of their sales there.

For a lot of years Smooth has been one of the top names in treadmills and ellipticals, but your own results may vary from year to year because the Smooth equipment has been made by a lot of different companies over the years. What this means is that Smooth is a repackaging company — someone else makes their units and then Smooth relabels and ships them out. There’s nothing wrong with that — look at Sole, their units are just Spirit treadmills and ellipticals with a Sole sticker on them! I know that for a few years the Smooth quality had really dropped, but the Smooth 5.25 treadmill I have here in the shop was well built and ran well.

After having seen a lot of problems with Smooth treadmills over the past couple of years, I was a bit leary when I stepped on to the newly repair Smooth 5.25 treadmill sitting in the center of the main DOJO warehouse. I half expected the thing to fall apart when I got on it. I was pleasantly surprised to find a very solid, well built treadmill in the Smooth 5.25. This 5.25 harkened back to the earlier days of Smooth when their units were built by Sportsart and dominated their price range.

Feeling a bit more confident I set the machine for the quick start program and did a 5 minute warm-up jog. Then, to give the Smooth 5.25 a good workout, I jumped up to the 20 minute running program and finished off with the 40 minute jogging program. During the jogging routine I would jump up and down increasing the impact to the Smooth 5.25. I do have to say, the treadmill held up spectactularly. The 5.25 was surprisingly rock steady for a treadmill under $1000 and the belt speed didn’t slow or change at all no matter how much pressure I put on it. Keep in mind, tho, your Treadmill Sensei is on 5’7″ and only weights around 150 pounds soaking wet!

The 2.5 horsepower motor on the Smooth 5.25 treadmill was a good size and ran quiet. Being used to working with commercial treadmills I wished it was a little bigger and ran at lower RPMs, but for a home unit at a great price,the Smooth 5.25 ran great and I had no complaints with the motor performance.

Big 2.5″ rollers on the Smooth 5.25 are a nice addition to a home treadmill and beyond what most other companies are putting on their budget treadmills. The bigger rollers help with the consistancy of your belt performance and will actually extend the life of your belt.

The belt is a little short for my taste at 20×53 but isn’t anything to laugh at. If the belt size was 20×55 I think this would easily be the top choice under $1200 and far beyond anything else at $999.

Finally, as a cheap bastard myself, I love the longer warranty on the Smooth 5.25 treadmill. At 3 years for parts and 1 year for labor, you can tell Smooth has the confidence in their equipment to back it up for a long time.

To wrap it all up, I was very impressed with the newest incarnation of the Smooth 5.25 treadmills and whole-heartedly recommend it. The Treadmill Sense gives the Smooth 5.25 4.5 golden buddahs out of 5.

For kicking butt and taking names, the 5.25 treadmill from Smooth gets 4.5 out of 5 Gold Buddahs

4.5 out of 5 for the Smooth 5.25 treadmill.

Smooth 5.25 Treadmill Specifications
Motor: 2.5 hp continuous duty
Speed: 0.5 – 10 mph
Incline: 15 degrees
Belt: 20″ x 53″
Folding: Yes
Unit Weight: 195 lbs
Max User weight: 275 lbs
Programs: 6
Display: LED
Heart Rate Monitor: Pulse Grip
Cost: $999

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

The Precor 544 Elliptical (EFX 544) Review — Cheap alternative to the Precor 546

Nihango!

Greetings and salutations, students of the DOJO. Today the Treadmill Sensei is going to discuss one of our most familiar pieces of equipment, the Precor 544 Elliptical. We’ve been servicing these units here at the DOJO for about 10 years now and are always happy to have them come in to the shop. Right now we’ve got 6 or 7 of them in the warehouse waiting to be cleaned and repaired. If you’ve ever thought about trying out a Precor then the Precor 544 is a great starter unit.

The original crosstrainer from Precor was the Precor 544 Elliptical trainer, which first came out back in 1995 or there abouts. This unit, the grand daddy of all Precor Ellipticals, did quite a bit to revolutionize the fitness industry. The Precor patented Ramp technology is still going strong more than 10 years later and the Precor 544 Elliptical is still out doing a great job. Unfortuately, tho, you can only find Precor 544 units used or remanufactured. The units aren’t made new any longer. The upside there is you should be able to find a great remanufactured unit for under $2000 that should last you for many years to come.

The first thing a lot of people want to know is: what is the difference between the Precor 544 and its bigger brother, the Precor 546 elliptical. Well, aside from the price, it’s not a whole lot.

The first of the two main differences between the units is in the degree of ramp incline on the ellipticals. The Precor 546 goes from a 10 degree incline up to 40 degrees while the Precor 544 only goes from 10 to 25 degrees.

A quick aside about the Ramp technology for those who aren’t familiar with it. Back in the day, Precor patented this technology to make their equipment unique and uncopyable. What it does is adjust the incline of the elliptical motion of their units, giving a more intense workout focusing on the backs of your legs and your glutes…exactly the way increasing the incline on a treadmill will do for you. The downside, and not a lot of people mention it, is that the incline, especially at the higher settings, will cause a user to workout at an unusual angle which can be difficult to get used to. However, once you’ve mastered the incline on a Precor 544 (or Precor 546), the benefits are huge.

The second difference is the number of wheels per arm. The Precor EFX 546 has 2 wheels per arm to the Preocr 544 elliptical’s one per arms. That doesn’t mean all that much, but does give the 546 a slight edge in the smooth ride.

The Precor 546 has also gone through a huge amount of redesigns and there are easily 5-6 different types floating around out there with minor, often confusing, variant features. When you get a Precor 544, tho, you know exactly what you’re buying: a well designed, solid elliptical that has been around for 10 years and is the standard against which all other units are measured against.

I highly recommend the Precor 544 Elliptical for anyone who is interested in getting a Precor workout without paying $3000 or more. Check out the Precor 544 and you’ll see what it has lasted for so long.

The Treadmill Sensei gives the Precor EFX 544 Elliptical 4 Golden Buddahs out of 5.

4 out of 5 gold buddahs for the long standing Precor 544 Elliptical

4 gold buddahs out of 5 for the 544 Elliptical by Precor.

Get 3% off of the Precor 544 with the code TMSENSEI
Get more information on a remanufactured Precor 544 for the lowest price online and save an additional 3% with Coupon Code TMSENSEI.

Precor EFX 544 Elliptical Specifications
Elevation: 10-25°
Programs: 8
Unit Weight: 210 pounds
Max Weight Capacity: 400 pounds
Stride: 18″
Power Options: 110 Volt / 220Volts
Resistance: 20 levels
HR Monitoring: Yes

Heart Rate Control: Yes – optional

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

New Horizon Ellipticals – EX55 , EX65 , EX75

Ohiyo!

It’s been a busy couple of weeks but we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and your Treadmill Sensei promises he will be back to his regular 5 days a week schedule of posting treadmill and elliptical reviews. The DOJO has been insanely busy with all of the work we lined up from the show in Denver two weeks ago. Today, tho, I will be posting a couple of things — one is an announcement and then, later on in the day, a review.

One of the highlights of the show for me was the Horizon booth. The DOJO has been working as a Horizon service tech for 5 or so years now and they’ve always treated us well. Add to that their great product and you have all the signs of a love affair. Anyway, to go along with the new line of Horizon treadmills I spoke about earlier this week, there is a new batch of Horizon ellipticals on the…er…horizon as well (pardon the pun). These units are all just tweaks and slightly upgraded versions of last years Horizon elliptical models. The main focus of the redesign is the monitors. The new series monitors are a lot sharper and easier to read and the controls are a bit more ergonomical than the older ones.

Check out the previews of the units below:

Horizon EX55 Elliptical Specifications
Stride: 18″
Maximum Weight Capacity: 250 lbs.
Resistance Control: Magnetic
Resistance Levels: 8
Heart Rate Monitoring: Yes, hand grip
Heart Rate Control: No
Programs: 4 preset
Display Type: LCD
Product Size: 56″L x 26″W x 65″H
Product Weight: 140 lbs.
Flywheel Weight: 14 lbs.
Pedal Spacing: 70mm
Cost: $599

Horizon EX65 Elliptical Specifications
Stride Length: 18″
Maximum Weight Capacity: 275 lbs.
Resistance Control: Magnetic
Resistance Levels: 10
Heart Rate Monitoring: Yes, hand grip
Heart Rate Control: Yes
Programs: 7 preset; 6 interval and 1 heart rate
Display Type: Blue backlit LCD screen
Power Requirements: 12V
Product Size: 56″L x 26″W x 65″H
Product Weight: 150 lbs.
Flywheel Weight: 14 lbs.
Pedal Spacing: 70mm
Cost: $799

Horizon EX75 Elliptical Specifications
Stride Length: 18″
Maximum Weight Capacity: 300 lbs.
Resistance Control: Magnetic
Resistance Levels: 20
Heart Rate Monitoring: Yes
Programs: 10 preset
Display Type: Orange backlit LCD with 2 extra windows
Product Size: 56″L x 26″W x 65″H
Product Weight: 170 lbs.
Flywheel Weight: 14 lbs.
Pedal Spacing: 70mm with pivoting footpads
Cos: $999

These units will be shipping out from Horizon during the first week of October 2006.

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

Horizon Unveils New Treadmill Line – T71, T72, T73 and T74

Nihango!

I have gotten a number of frantic emails this past week. Emails wondering where the Treadmill Sensei had gone and would he return? The answer is a resounding yes! The week after the big fitness trade show out in Denver is always a crazy one for us here at the DOJO. It always brings in a lot of new clients and a lot more work. Things should be calming back down this week.

There was a lot of great new stuff at the show, but one of the best announcements was Horizon Fitness revealing their new line of T70 series treadmills. These new treadmills are a bit beefier than their counterparts from last year and solve a couple of the minor problems those units had. In spite of the upgrade in product, Horizon is keeping prices the same on these units.

I hope to have full reviews of the new Horizon Treadmills in the next month or two once they are released to the general public. Until then, here is a quick overview of the spects for each unit. Enjoy and more tomorrow!

Horizon E71 Treadmill Specifications
1.75 CHP commercial grade motor
One touch speed and incline buttons
Built in fan for keeping cool during your workouts
Featherlite lift system for easy storage
Four preset motivational workout programs
Cost: $599

Horizon E72 Treadmill Specifications
2.0 CHP commercial grade motor for quicker, smoother speed and incline changes
Six preset motivational workout programs
20-inch by 55-inch deck with AirCELL cushioning shock absorption system
300 lb user capacity
Built in fan for keeping cool during your workouts
Cost: $799

Horizon E73 Treadmill Specifications
2.25 CHP heavy duty commercial grade motor for the smoothest, quietest workout possible
Speed to 12 mph and Incline to 12% grade
Oversized easy to read Orange Backlit window plus two bonus windows makes it easy to monitor progress
325 lb user capacity
Six preset workout programs and 2 two custom user programs offer maximum motivation and variation
Cost: $999

Horizon E74 Treadmill Specifications
2.5 CHP heavy duty commercial grade motor will satisfy even the most serious athlete
One touch speed and incline buttons for faster changes on the fly
Full 20-inch by 55-inch deck with C3 Comfort zone shock absorption system and 2.2mm JIS running belt with heavy texture
Eight user programs for maximum motivation
Featherlight lift system for easy storage
Cost: $1299

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

The Noramco Classic Club Treadmill Review — The Bulletproof Treadmill

Moshi Moshi!

The Treadmill Sensei has returned to the DOJO from the recent fitness tradeshow in Colorado. We had a good time and saw a lot of interested new equipment for the upcoming year…lots of goodies! Better yet, Hikaru didn’t blow up the DOJO while I was gone.

Tonight, tho, I am going to tell you a bit about one of the biggest, heaviest duty treadmills around. The monster of which I speak is the Supertread Classic Club treadmill from Noramco…and when I say it’s bulletproof, I’m really not kidding!

The Noramco Classic Club is the airfraft carrier of treadmills. It is big — with a giant 4 horsepower motor big enough to support even the largest of users. The motor itself has Noramco’s Patented Force Multiplier with a “Geared Up” 45 Lb Computer Balanced Flywheel mounted on dedicated “front mount” bearing housings. What this means to a user is that the motor life is much improved and will proved constant, smooth speed under any load size.

Another interested feature is the metal hood that covers the motor. If you’ve ever been on a regular treadmill and accidentally stepped too far forward then you’ve run a good chance of cracking the hood. No such fear in the Noramco Classic Club treadmill. The motor housing is as solid as the rest of the unit.

The unit itself is rated with a maximum user weight of over 600 pounds. Add to that the 63×20 inch deck and you’ve got a treadmill you and a friend could run on together!

The Noramco SuperTread Classic Club Treadmill doesnt have a whole lot of bells and whistles (no programs, no folding…but it does come with heartrate monitoring!), and isn’t really even all that pretty. However, if you’ve got a high traffic gym or need a unit that will stand up to rougher gym crowds (this thing goes in to a lot of prisons, fire departments, police departments and schools), the the Noramco Classic Club will fill the bill nicely. In additional to having working on and test them myself, I’ve seen one of the Noramco reps take a screwdrive to the console to demonstrate just how unbreakable these machines are.

We do a lot of service calls to schools and fire departments here at the DOJO and I have to say, aside from clean up jobs (the self cleaning motor on the Normaco makes this an easy as pie job) and infrequent deck flips (the 13 Layer Birch and Eucalyptus Hard Wood deck takes years to run down even with thousands of hours run on a machine), there just aren’t ever any service issues with these things.

If you do get one for your home, be prepared to lay your bed on it because the Noramco SuperTread Classic Club Treadmill is a giant…make sure you have a two car garage to store it in!

For being as Unbreakable as Bruce Willis in…well, Unbreakable…the Treadmill Sensei gives the Noramco Classic Club Treadmill 4.5 Golden Buddahs out of 5.

The Secret Service's first choice in bulletproof treadmills for the President, the Classic Club gets 4.5 out of 5

If you need something to duck behind during a gunfight, choose the Classic Club Treadmill from Noramco.

Commercial Treadmills - Noramco SuperTread Classic Club

Get more information on the Noramco ST Classic Club Treadmill and find the lowest price online

Specifications
Horsepower: 4.0 DC (8+ HP Under Load)
Max User Weight: 600 lbs
Folding: No
Programs: None
Max Speed: 12 MPH
Max Incline: 15%
Rollers: 2.5 “
Display: Time, speed, distance, grade and calories (More Displays On Programmable Units)
Product: 94″ X 34 x 56″ (assembled)
Weight: 525 lbs
Deck Size: 63″ X 20″
Deck Thickness: 1″

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

Reader Mailbag – Treadmill Motor Maintenance and Cleaning

Nihango!

Things are going well here in Colorado at the Health & Business fitness tradeshow. The Treadmill Sensei is having much fun seeing the latest from treadmill and elliptical manufacturers. Even though I am away from the DOJO (and I dread to see the condition young Hikaru and the others leave the shop in) I still wanted to share the wisdom of the Sensei with you, my fine readers.

This week we have a note from Sandy in Australia about her treadmill motor. Take it away, Sandy!

“Hello, I just came across your site and thought you could give me some ideas. I have a York Runner 61820 that I bought about 4 years ago. Lately it has been smelling like rubber (or motor!) burning. I lubricate the mat probably too much, but I thought that may be the problem. After reading your tips for treadmill maintenence, I thought it could be because I don’t have a matt under it. Is there some way to clean the motor if it is because of the static you mentioned? I tried e-mailing York, but I never got a response. I am in Australia so I maybe I just don’t have the correct e-mail address. Anyhow, I’d really appreciate any advice you may have. I love my treadmill and will probably never be able to afford another so I’d really like to look after it.”
Kind Regards, Sandy in Australia

Thanks for your note! Just from your description of the smell, it sounds like your motor needs to be cleaned. What you can do is remove the hood that covers the motor — make sure your treadmill is unplugged first! Then you’ll probably notice a ton of dust and debris in there. You’ll need to blow it out — we use an air compressor here in the repair shop, but you can also get a couple of cans of the compressed air used for cleaning computer keyboards. It’ll probably be caught in the fan portions of the motor especially. A vaccuum cleaner works as well and probably won’t be as messy, but they take a bit longer to get the job done.

Get as much out as possible.

You might still smell the burning for a few days after as bits and pieces fall away, but it should disappear within a week. Make sure to clean under the treadmill for the first week because if you don’t the debris will get sucked back up in to the motor.

If that doesn’t solve the problem in a week or so, feel free to get back to meand we can try to work it out.

Take care.

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

The Horizon T61 Treadmill Review – Best Treadmill on a budget under $700

Moshi Moshi!

The Treadmill Sensei has returned from his absence! I apologize for the lack of review yesterday, but we here at the DOJO are getting ready for a Health & Fitness tradeshow out in Colorado this week. We’re making our way out to the mile high city this evening for 2 days of fitness fun. I’ll be posting pictures and information from the show this weekend for those of you who are interested.

In an effort to review all of the top rated Horizon Fitness treadmills, this week I want to talk about the Horizon T61 Treadmill. This bad boy is one of the great units available for under $700.

Let me talk a bit about what to expect from a treadmill in the “under $700″ category. The units in this price range are going to be best for walking everyday or doing light jogging. They should still hold up to full running, but if you’re doing marathon training you’ll want to look for something with a larger running area.

Horizon has done a great job with the T61 treadmill. The deck is a little shorter than its larger brothers, coming in at about 50×18 and with a 1.75 horsepower motor. Even tho the motor is only rated by Horizon at 1.75 HP, it’s going to be larger, stronger and longer lasting than a lot of bigger motors from other manufacturers. It’ll run better than any of the Icon Fitness (Proform, Weslo, Image, etc.) treadmill motors as large as 2.5HP. The Horizon T61 motors are made by Johnson Tech (the makers of Matrix and more), and they put out a lot of power and consistency.

The machine also comes with Horizon’s patented GellCell shock absorption, which really makes a difference on the impact you feel on your ankles and knees during a run or walk. The Horizon T61 treadmill also comes with 4 programs, heart rate monitoring via pulse grip sensors, has a top speed of 10 miles per hour, the incline goes up to 10%, and you’ve got the great performing Horizon standard hydraulic assist on folding.

These machines are perfect for smaller people, or women who want to do daily light workouts. If you just want to get your quick workouts every day without the hassle some of the larger machines then the Horizon T61 treadmill is perfect for your needs.

For being a great little machine, especially for the ladies or smaller users, the Treadmill Sensei gives the Horizon T61 treadmill 4 gold buddahs out of 5.

A nice little machine, the T61 Treadmill by Horizon gets 4 out of 5

Once again, Horizon comes through with the T61 Treadmill.

Horizon Fitness T61 Treadmill Specifications
Transport Wheels: Yes
Horsepower: 1.75 HP
Max Weight Capacity: 275 lbs.
Folding: Yes
Max Speed: 10 MPH
Max Incline: 10%
Heart Rate Monitoring: Yes, pulse grip
Heart Rate Control: No
Programs: 4: manual, intervals, golf course, and weight loss programs
Display Type: Blue backlit LCD display
Display Readouts: RPM, watts, time, calories, heart rate, distance, and resistance level
Special Features: Built in personal fan
Product Weight: 195 lbs.
Flywheel Weight: 2.2 lbs.
Roller Size: 1.8″
Running Area: 50″ x 18″