Ohiyo!

Spirit Fitness has been one of the little-known companies in the fitness industry for over 20 years now (Spirit entered the fitness industry in 1986 but the company itself almost 30 years old). Not only have they produced their own equipment but they’ve also produced equipment for a number of other fitness companies as well — Smooth, SportsArt and Sole being the the most prominant that pop in to my head.

In 2005 Spirit was purchased by a Taiwanese company called Dyaco International, one of the larger fitness manufacturers in the industry. Unfortunately, Dyaco also has a Chinese manufacturing plant which a lot of the lower end Spirit and Sole products come out of. As those of us in the industry know, Chinese manufacturing is much lower quality than that of the Taiwanese and this lower quality has affected a number of products by units produced by Dyaco for Spirit and Sole. The reduced quality control has led to the recall of one unit (the Spirit XE125) and major problems with a second one (the Spirit Z88).

Spirit remains one of the lesser known brands but is gaining ground due to sites like this one, which extolls the quality of the majority of their products.

This year, Spirit has done a very smart thing by repainting and re-releasing the older model Sole ellipticals and treadmills. In order to keep them from the stigma of the current Spirit X Series equipment, which has been plagued with problems and customer complaints, they have released the fantastic older Sole models under the Esprit brand. This is an excellent decision and the Esprit models have been some very solid new/old ellipticals and treadmills launched this year.

Spirit Treadmills:

• Esprit ET2 Treadmill – 2007-2008 model and poor performer at 1.5 buddahs.
• Esprit ET4 Treadmill – 2008 model with 3.5 buddahs
• Spirit XT10 Treadmill – Ichi-Ban Award winner for $1000-$1500.
• Spirit XT175 Treadmill – A low quality unit for 2007-2008 at 2 buddahs.
• Spirit XT600 Treadmill – 4 buddahs and a decent buy under $2000.
• Spirit Z8 Treadmill – An uninspiring treadmill at 2.5 buddahs.
• Spirit Z9 Treadmill / AKA Inspire IN400 – A great but, sadly, discontinued treadmill.
• Spirit Z88 Treadmill – Experiences a high number of Quality Control and wiring issues.
• Spirit Z300 Treadmill – 4.5 buddahs, now only available as the Sole F83.

Spirit Ellipticals:

• Esprit EL3 Elliptical – the re-branded best buy award winning 2006 Sole E35 of years past.
• Esprit EL5 Elliptical – a repainted version of the 2006 Sole E55 elliptical
• Spirit XE100 Elliptical – an average elliptical in the Spirit 2007/2008 line with 2.5 buddahs.
• Spirit XE125 – 0 buddahs, now under recall by Spirit.
• Spirit XE150 Elliptical – 3.5 Buddahs. From 2006/2007.
• Spirit XE200 Elliptical – another dud in the Spirit 2007-2008 line with 3 buddahs.
• Spirit XE300 Elliptical – 2.5 buddahs may have been a bit too generous for this under-performer.
• Spirit XE350 – 4 buddahs and a runner up in the $1000-$1500
• Spirit XE550 – Spirit’s best feeling elliptical, coming in at 4.5 buddahs out of 5 in the $1700 price range. From 2006/2007.
• Spirit XE700 Elliptical – 2007/2008 Elliptical with 3 buddahs.
• Spirit XE850 – Over-priced and not a great buy. From 2006/2007.
• Spirit ZE110 Elliptical – A solid 3.5 out of 5 Buddahs. From 2006/2007.
• Spirit ZE120 Elliptical – An excellent elliptical for just under $1100. From 2006/2007.

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

Ohiyo!

As the Treadmill Sensei and knower of all things fitness related, a lot of readers email me here at the DOJO and ask, “Oh, great Sensei, where should I purchase my new treadmill or elliptical? Should I buy it at a local store or online? Which is better?”

While I don’t really like recommending specific stores or websites to purchase from, I can break down the pros and cons of placing an internet order versus going in to a local store and buying the unit from a brick and mortar location. I’m not going to get in to “how to choose” in this post because I’ve already done that in my “Treadmill Buyer’s Guide” and “Elliptical Buyer’s Guide” articles. Check them out if you haven’t already done so.

The single best way to start researching a treadmill, and the easiest, is to load up your favorite search engine and start poking around. The internet has more information on it than any sales rep at a brick and mortar store…more than any 10 sales reps combined into a super sales rep. Start with review sites like this one (the Treadmill Sensei, www.treadmillsensei.com). Take a look at multiple sites because a lot of them out there have personal agendas in regards to which treadmill or elliptical they are “prescribing.” I’d suggest checking with at least 3 sources.

Once you’ve got a decent handle on a few ellipticals or treadmills that meet your needs, I suggest trying to find a local store to go and try them out. This is a large purchase for most people and it is for a piece of equipment that you’re going to spend a lot of time sweating on. Make sure the unit feels good to you.

Once you’re completely convinced you’ve found the perfect treadmill for yourself or the perfect elliptical for your den, get back online and start doing some price comparison. There are a lot of places online that will give you some fantastic prices on equipment. You’ll also generally get free shipping and won’t have to pay sales tax. Shopping online can save you hundreds dollars on the “hidden costs” that will pop up when purchasing at a local fitness store.

Let’s go over some of the pros and cons for online stores versus local shops.

Local Stores — The Pros:

• The best thing about a local store is that you’ll be able to try out the actual equipment you’ve been researching online. You can do a run on a treadmill or take a quick workout on that elliptical you’ve had your eyes on.
• The other positive is that you’ll be able to walk out the door with the equipment right there. You see it, you like it, you buy it and you take it home. Instant gratification is a wonderful thing.

Local Stores — The Cons:

• You may get instant gratification, but more than likely it’ll cost you. Even if the actual cost of the elliptical or treadmill is good at a local shop, don’t forget you’re going to be hit with taxes which can add up to a hundred dollars or more on a lot of the treadmills and ellipticals. You might save that $25 or $50 on the price of your dream treadmill but that gets eaten up by $80 in sales taxes!
• From there, you’d better have a big truck or SUV to cart that unit home because once you buy it you’ll have to deliver it yourself! Or, for anywhere from $50-$200, that local store can deliver it for you.
• Now, the biggest Con about brick and mortar stores in product knowledge. Unfortunately, in my experience, most brick and mortar sales cashiers have very little actual product knowledge. In fact, if you go to your local seller of sporting goods/fitness equipment you’ll find it very hard to even get someone to help you! Most of the reps you’ll encounter are going to be young kids who get paid a minimum wage for a minimum amount of work…which is a shame because that will be a turnoff for most people interested in actually buying a treadmill or elliptical.
• The last major problem you’ll find at a local store is: pushy salesmen. There’s nothing I hate worse than a sales person who treats me like an idiot and pushes hard on whatever product will get them the best commission. I dislike the “used car” style sales people you’ll find at a lot of fitness specialty stores. There is a big company here in the LA area that is known for their hard-selling salesmen who bully customers in to some truly bad equipment. If a salesmen gets pushy with you just walk out and don’t go back. There are lots of other places to buy a treadmill or elliptical where you won’t have to put up with that sort of attitude.

Internet Stores — The Pros:

• You’ll find the widest selection of product around. The big fitness sites will have hundred or thousands of products available for you to take a look at and compare.
• With that extensive product selection you’ll also find a lot more product knowledge. If you’ve got a question or problem, you can generally call up or email an online rep and find them to be incredibly well-informed on everything they carry.
  You will also find better pricing, free delivery in most cases and most of the time you won’t have to pay taxes. When you add it all up you’ll find yourself saving a lot of time and money when ordering online.

Internet Stores — The Cons:

• No instant gratification — you will be waiting around 2-3 weeks to receive your order. Most of the units will be shipped out via a freight company which take 7-10 business days to travel across the country.
• The big con for internet stores is that you don’t get to touch or test out their equipment. You’re having to deal with facts and opinions. Luckily, there are tons of sites out there and you’ll be able to get a good idea of what is a well-built machine and which ones are duds (Icon Fitness).

All-in-all, buying online is a lot easier and less painful. The brick and mortar shops have their place (say, for buying a floor model at a ridiculously low price), but for buying a new treadmill or elliptical I’d say check out online stores for a great deal and larger selection.

That’s it for today. Take care!

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

Ohiyo!

Today the Treadmill Sensei stumbles out of the DOJO to talk about the recent IHRSA commercial fitness trade show that went on up in San Francisco. IHRSA, for those of you who aren’t “in the know,” is the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association and they sponsor a couple of fitness industry trade shows each year. This year IHRSA 2007 was held on March 28-31 at the Moscone Center in lovely downtown San Francisco.

Our purpose at this year’s show was to wander around and get some face time as the Treadmill Sensei. In the past I’ve always attended as a service/repair tech. At the shows no one really cares about repair guys so it was nice to be there in a capacity where the larger fitness companies recognized me and we’re actually excited to see me. I felt like a mini celebrity — more like Dan Swayze than Patrick Swayze, but it was still a blast.

The first thing I want to mention is just how darn huge the convention was. It took up the north and south halls of the Moscone and the two days we were there were easily the most walking I’ve done in 10 years or more. I was sore and exhausted when I got back home on Friday night.

To start off, there was a lot of cool new equipment on display. Precor, Matrix, Life Fitness and Star Trac all had spiffy new machines. The most interesting new units were the Precor AMT 100i and the Matrix Ascent trainer, Star Trac also had some interesting new light commercial units which were on display in the back of their booth.

Something that happened more times than I could have imagined were exhibitors and attendees noticing our badges and stopping to compliment us on the website and reviews. A couple of retailers stopped to challenge us on reviews which may have cost them sales because we told the truth, but all in all people were very positive.

Walking through the booths we were able to meet with a lot of the manufacturers of the treadmills and ellipticals we review. We spoke with the fine folks at Matrix, Star Trac, BladeZ/BH, HogganSprint, Quantum, Motus (we love the Motus Girls) and SportsArt. Interestingly enough, we couldn’t get anyone to talk to us at Octane, SciFit, Free Motion or Brudden. Our experience at those 4 booths seemed to be that the sales reps were more interested in talking amongst themselves than in showing off their equipment even when their booths were empty. The Brudden guys only came over because someone knocked down one of their signs and they disappeared once it had been set back up. My recommendation to those companies — don’t ignore your potential customers…it’s bad for business.

Now, one of the questions we were asked quite a few times by manufacturers was “do you take product samples for review.” What that means is “can we send you a treadmill or elliptical to get reviewed quicker.” Actually, what it really means is “if we send you equipment will it get us a good review.” Up until now, the Treadmill Sensei hasn’t taken any equipment from a manufacturer. All the reviews have been done on units that have come through the DOJO for either set up or service. Unfortunately, what this means is that a lot of equipment hasn’t been reviewed because we haven’t had access to it. Going to conventions like the IHRSA show allows me to get on equipment that is new or I haven’t had a chance to work on in the shop yet.

However, I’ve spent the past few days thinking it over. What I want to say to manufacturers is this: if you want to send the Sensei equipment for review, I will take a look at it. BUT, it’s not going to guarantee you a good review. Moreover, I’ll hold equipment submitted that way to a very high standard and will do some pretty extensive testing before I post a review on it. In other words: if you’ve got good equipment, it’ll shine…but, if there are problems with a piece, we’re going to find it and tell the public about it. Also, any reviews that come from a submitted piece of equipment will be announced as such on the website. That’s the honest and fair way to do things.

Anyway, that is it for right now. I’ll be posting some pictures from the show later on today. Tomorrow the reviews will start again and I’m hoping to keep up to at least 3-4 per week.

Take care!

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