Ohiyo!

In case anyone was wondering, the Treadmill Sensei absolutely loves to get reader email here at the DOJO. I especially love to hear from readers who have had success with a treadmill or elliptical. Today, let’s hear from Scott, who lost an amazing 50 pounds using a Sole E25 and has a question about elliptical maintenance. Take it away, Scott!

Sensei,

Thank you for your wonderful reviews. Because of them I purchased a Sole E25 Elliptical and have been loving it and it has helped me drop over 50 pounds. I have found it to be more comfortable to work out on than some of the semi-commerical units I’ve found in hotel gyms I’ve had to use.

I’ve read where you talked about the white tube of lube that was provided to one purchaser. But since I did not get that I have been using silicone spray to clean the rails once a week and also cleaned the wheels themselves of the gunk that seems to build up on them. Is there anything I’m doing wrong or could you make a suggestion as to better cleaning and maintenance tips? Respectfully, Scott

Scott:

Thanks for your note. It sounds like you are cleaning your elliptical above and beyond what is required. The spray silicone should be ok, but it would be best to call Sole’s tech support and supply them with the brand name you’re using to make sure there are no issues. There shouldn’t be, but it’s best to be certain.

What you’re already doing should keep your elliptical running well for a long time. The wheels and rail are where most of the problems will pop up. Also, keeping the unit dust free is important as well. Aside from that, not much will go wrong with an elliptical.

Thanks again and great job on the weight loss!

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

Ohiyo!

The Treadmill Sensei, master of all things treadmill and insomnia related, just couldn’t sleep last night. I took my early morning hot shower (nothing gets me going like hot water on my old bones!) and headed in to the DOJO by 6am today. I love the workshop in the morning — it’s quiet and it’s a great place to get work done. Well, until Hikaru and the other Senseis come in at 8am. Then it gets loud.

In spite of the peaceful morning so far, today is going to be a bit of a sad day here at the DOJO. The nice lady who drove our local lunch truck announced yesterday was the last day our particular stop was on her route. While I was disappointed because the lunch truck generally made some really good food (except for that time I ordered a bacon and egg sandwich that tasted like fish…), Hikaru in particular is going to be crushed. You see, there was a cute girl on the truck who cooked all the food and Hikaru was in love…ok, maybe LOVE isn’t the word but it works for the story. Since his first day of work over two years ago he’s been plotting to ask her out. Unfortunately, he was never able to work up the courage to say more to her than “breakfast torta and a Mountain Dew” when he ordered every day. Poor Hikaru.

Now, on to fitness related things. I received a note from “Dave” recently. Dave has a low ceiling and wants to know how much clearance is needed for an elliptical. Let’s see what he has to say…take it away, Dave!

Hey Sensei, I wasn’t able to find this information on the manufacturer’s website. How high up does an elliptical place it’s user? I ask as I would like to purchase one for my workout room in my basement. However I only have 14.5″ of clearance from the top of my head to the ceiling. Thanks, Dave

Dave:

Thanks for the note, Dave. The way to determine how much height an elliptical will add to you is to measure the pedals at the lowest and highest points. Then you average that amount to get the added height, i.e., if an elliptical’s lowest point is 8 inches and highest is 16 inches then the height addition would be 12 inches. The standard addition is going to be 12 to 14 inches, but I generally tell people to figure the full 16 inches just to be safe. No one wants to bumped their head during a rigorous workout.

Some units put you up a bit higher, such as commercial ellipticals like the Star Trac Pro or Elite. Your best bet is to either measure yourself or ask the retailer you’re purchasing from what the pedal heights are.

Thanks again for your note!

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

Ohiyo!

The Treadmill Sensei has been wanting to review the Bowflex Series 5 Treadmill for a while now. You see, I’m just a little OCD and needed the closure of finishing up my Bowflex line of reviews. Unfortunately, I generally only review equipment which comes through for set up or repair and I just haven’t seen a Series 5 in a very long time. For a while I was beginning to think they had gone the way of the DoDo bird. Luckily enough we received one in just before the holiday weekend and I was able to give it a bit of a work out before it went out to our customer.

We picked up the boxed Series 5 treadmill from a local retailer whose customer wanted the unit installed in their garage-based fitness room out in Woodland Hills. Normally I’d have one of the younger Senseis (Hikaru, I’m talking about you!) set up the residential grade treadmills but I really wanted to have the whole Bowflex experience myself and took up the tools to do it on my own.

Now, I can’t give anyone a totally unbiased opinion on a treadmill assembly because I’ve done so many of them. However, putting together the Bowflex Series 5 treadmill was very easy. It should take someone with average mechanical ability around 30-45 minutes to assemble. We had ours together in about 10 minutes.

The good news is that, like the Bowflex Series 7 treadmills, the Series 5 had a very sturdy frame and a nice 20″ x 60″ deck on it. The frames on these things are very sturdily constructed. You also get a lot of workout options (12 programs) and some fairly well made 2.5″ rollers — not commercial grade, but still very nice.

The bad news is: that’s all the good news. As with the other Bowflex units, the Series 5 Treadmill has an under powered “2.5 horsepower” motor. I put 2.5 horsepower in quotes because I really think it should have been rated 2 horsepower at best. The motor just doesn’t have the get up and go of other 2.5 hp motors in this price range and I think it is a prime example of a manufacturer tweaking their specs a bit.

The Series 5′s belt is a bit flimsy as well. I only had a few hours worth of working out on the Bowflex Series 5 treadmill we brought in here to the DOJO (over 4 days I worked out a little over 3 hours doing running and walking), but my opinion is that the belts will wear out with even moderate use in about 6 months. If you pick up one of these, make sure to budget 1-2 new belts a year.

The other problem I found, and have been hearing about from other techs, is a sorely under-powered incline motor. I don’t weigh all that much (I’m at about 170 lbs right now thanks to a Mrs. Sensei-enforced, no red meat diet…I love red meat and I think she took it away to punish me for making fun of her family on this website), but the incline motor was obviously straining during my tests and caused the entire unit to power down on more than one occassion from other overheating or an internal short. Not a good sign.

At around $1299, the Bowflex Series 5 treadmill just does not hold up to the competition.

I would have loved to have given the Bowflex Series 5 treadmill the same completely average rating its big brother, the Series 7, received but the poor belt and undersized motors add up to 2 out of 5 golden buddahs from the Treadmill Sensei.

The Bowflex series 5 falls just short of being an average treadmill.

Compare the Bowflex Series 5 treadmill.

Bowflex Series 5 Treadmill Specifications
Motor: 2.5 HP
Max User Weight: 300 lbs. (I’d suggest 250 lbs or less)
Folding: Yes
Reversible Deck: No
Programs: 12
Max Speed: 11 mph
Max Incline: 12%
Heart Rate Control: Yes
Heart Rate Monitor: Pulse Grip
Display: LED
Roller Size: 2.5″ inches
Belt Thickness: 1 ply
Deck Size: 20″ x 60″
Treadmill Weight: 250 lbs.

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

Ohiyo!

The Treadmill Sensei is back to work at the DOJO after the long Memorial Day weekend. It’s always tough to get back in the groove of things after mini-vacations like that…and when we spend most of that time with my in-laws I feel like I need to get back to work just to recover from my “vacation” time. Why God created in-laws escapes me and I’ll always be more than a little annoyed at him for it. Thankfully he also created Coldstone, so everything comes out even.

Because I am recovering from a long weekend with the in-laws, I’m going to do a bit of an easy treadmill review today. While I’ve already done a review of the Sole F63, I wanted to do a follow up on its twin, the Spirit Z88 treadmill, in an effort to answer reader some reader questions about the unit.

Like most of the other Spirit treadmills and ellipticals, the Z88 treadmill has a Sole Fitness counterpart which is as close to identical as you can get under the differing paint jobs. In the case of the Z88, the duplicate unit is the fantastic Sole F63 treadmill. As readers of this site already know, the Sole F63 was top winner of my Ichi-Ban Best Buy Awards last year.

The reason I rated the SOle F63 over the Spirit Z88 version was because of the paint problems the Spirits had. The Dyaco plant which produced the Spirit Z88 treadmills must have picked up a lot of different paint at a great price because the colors of the units seemed to change from batch to batch. This is further evidence of the quality control problems Spirit has been having over the last year or so.

Unfortunately, the QC problems seem to have extended to the walking belts on the Spirit Z88 treadmill as well. Here at the DOJO I’ve gotten quite a few emails talking about belts fraying very quickly from even light usage. So, if you do pick up a Z88 treadmill instead of the Sole F63 version, make sure your retailer gives you a guarantee on the belt as well, at least for 6 months…most problems with faulty belts will pop up in the first couple of months so you’ll know pretty quickly if you’ve gotten a bad batch or now.

Aside from that, the huge 2.5 horsepower motor, well crafted 2.5″, solid deck and great design make the Spirit Z88 an excellent choice for best buy under $1000. If I had any quibbles (aside from manufacturing defects and weird paint issues) would be the lack of heart rate control programs and lesser warranty.

UPDATED: Due to a high volume of reader complaint emails regarding and increased number of wiring and console issues on the Spirit Z88, I have downgraded the ranking of this unit and it is no longer recommended. Check out the Sole F63 Treadmill for the same unit but without the quality control issues of the Spirit.

Because of the QC and wiring issues, the Spirit Z88 treadmill comes up just short of the Sole F63 version and gets 3 out of 5 golden buddahs from the Treadmill Sensei.

A top performer, the Spirit Z88 gets 3 gold buddahs out of 5.

Find out more about the Spirit Z88 and get the lowest price online.

Spirit Z88 Specifications
Motor: 2.5 HP
Folding: Yes
Speed: 10 MPH
Incline: 15%
Running Area: 20″ x 55″
Rollers: 2.5″
Heart Rate Monitor: Pulse grip and wireless
Heart Rate Control: No
Display: LCD

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

Ohiyo!

I’m taking the day off today to spend it with my family. We’re having a bit of a barbecue. Best wishes to everyone and I’ll see you all tomorrow with a new review.

Take care and Stay Fit!

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

Ohiyo!

I can’t believe it, but the www.treadmillsensei.com is about to celebrate its one-year anniversary of being online! It seems like just yesterday that I started writing up my reviews and articles. The magic date was actually June 9, 2006 and in celebration of that day we’re going to give away a FREE Quantum Q-210H Elliptical to a randomly chosen reader who joins our mailing list. The unit is one used for a review, will be fully assembled and will ship curbside to the winner. The contest will run through June 8 and the winner will be announced on June 9, 2007.

Get more information on the Quantum Q-210H elliptical

So hurry up and join my mailing list for your chance to take home this fantastic commercial-quality elliptical trainer from the fine folks at Quantum Fitness.

What are you waiting for?!

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

Ohiyo!

Every month or so we’ll get in one of these Nordic Track units at the DOJO and the repairs are almost always the same: burned out motor, burned out incline motor and broken or bent upright bars. We’ve also had in a few broken decks. In my opinion, based on my 20+ years in the industry, the two motors in the unit are much too small and low powered for the amount of work they are being required to do — 2 HP for a high incline walking treadmill just doesn’t cut it. As regular readers of this site already know, walking (especially at high inclines) puts far more stress on a motor than running does, and the amount of stress at a 30% incline on top of that will burn out any small, over geared motor in just a few months.

When you factor in the light weight upright bars, you have a treadmill that is only meant for the smallest and lightest of users. 165lbs or 180lbs at the most. Any more than that and you’ll have a burned out motor on your hands.

Unfortunately, using the Incline Trainer at lower inclines isn’t practical either with its 20″ x 52″ deck at $1599 price point. Coming in shy of $1600 you can find a number of higher quality treadmills.

For being an iffy workout choice, the Treadmill Sensei gives the Nordic Track X5 Incline Trainer 2 out of 5 golden buddahs.

Two buddahs…that’s it.

The Nordic Track X5 Incline Treadmill

Nordic Track X5 Incline Trainer Treadmill Specifications
Motor: 2hp
Max Speed: 10mph
Max Incline: 30%
Walking Area: 20″ x 52″
Max User Weight: 300lbs
Programs: 23
Heart Rate Monitor: Yes
Heart Rate Control: Yes
Display: LED
Folding: Yes
Unit Weight: Approx. 250lbs
Price: $1599

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

Ohiyo!

Two posts in one night?! The Treadmill Sensei is on a roll! I received a great follow-up note from a DOJO student by the name of Lisa in Mission Viejo. As part of her note asking about the New Balance 1800 treadmill she also had some questions and concerns about the delivery side of her purchase. Questions I’m sure a lot of you have. Let’s see if I can shed a bit of light on them. Take it away, Lisa!

(I’m editing Lisa’s note down to just the portion referencing her freight problem – check out my New Balance 1800 review for the rest of her message)

Here’s my (very silly) question. Just how hard is it to get one of these treadmills inside a house? Does it take more than two people and do they have to be very strong? I only ask because the only shipping offered is curb-side. I just found out that that means it will be dropped on my driveway and I have to get it inside somehow. I really don’t want to permanently injure myself or any of the neighbors I will have to bribe if I buy one of these online. I even called the freight company that New Balance uses and asked if I paid extra if they would bring it inside. They said no. If there is even one step into the house, forget it. The gentleman I talked to thanked me for calling and asking though. Apparently, a lot of people think that the driver will bring it inside and they get a lot of angry phone calls. -Lisa

Lisa:

Thanks for the note and the great question! I know that the thought of buying a treadmill or elliptical online can be a bit daunting…especially when faced with the prospect of a 300 pound box showing up on your doorstep. Most delivery services for treadmill or elliptical purchases are going to be what is called “curbside.” What this means is the driver will pull the unit off his truck and leave it right out in front of your house or apartment. If you sweet talk him a bit, the driver will probably take the box in to your garage if it is off the street.

Most internet retailers will offer an “inside delivery” option and some will offer an “inside delivery with set-up” option for an extra fee (if you’re paying more than $250 for set up and delivery then you’re getting ripped off!). These options are generally NOT performed by the trucking company. Most of the time a service tech (like yours truly) will be on hand to bring the unit inside and set it up, or we’ll have the treadmill or elliptical delivered to our repair shop and then deliver it ourselves. The trucking companies generally do not do that — although some, such as ABF Trucking, will handle the entire job.

About taking the units in yourself…ellipticals are generally no problem. If you have a dolly or hand truck then you’re golden (unless you’re talking about a Star Trac Pro or Elite elliptical, then you’re screwed!). One person can generally handle an average size elliptical. Treadmills tend to be a bit heavier and larger than their elliptical cousins. You need a heavy duty hand truck/dolly and 2 people to do the move safely. I’d suggest having the dolly on hand when the driver arrives and having him place the treadmill on it properly.

As for paying for set up once you have the units inside. I’d say don’t waste your money on a treadmill set up because they are generally very easy to put together. Ellipticals are a bit tougher and can take 1-2 hours to put together for an average person.

Here’s a Treadmill Sensei tip for you: if you want a treadmill (or elliptical) brought inside and set up, and the retailer you’re buying from doesn’t offer it (or if the price is a bit out of your budget), then call around to local fitness shops and see if one of them has a tech who will do it. A lot of times you can get a local repair/service guy to come out, bring the unit in and set it up for under $100.

I hope I’ve helped. Take care and stay fit!

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

Ohiyo!

From time to time the Treadmill Sensei will get a follow up email here at the DOJO from people who have written in the past. A couple of weeks ago I responded to “Lisa” in Mission Viejo about where normal, non-sensei people can go to check out treadmills and ellipticals. She followed up with a note asking about New Balance in general and the 1800 Treadmill in specific. Let’s see what she had to say:

Hello again,

Thank you for any insight you can offer. -Lisa

Lisa:

I edited your note down a bit because you had some points I wanted to talk about in another post – including your problems with the Spirit Z88 treadmill and your questions about inside delivery — hopefully I can get to those tonight. But right now I wanted to focus on the New Balance 1800.

To start off, New Balance has some great equipment — treadmills AND ellipticals. This is especially true now that Amazon has dropped their price down so low. If the prices had been this low back when I was doing the 2006-2007 Ichi-Ban Awards, New Balance may just have sweeped the Best Buy ranks. I’m going to go out on a limb and say, at the current pricing, the New Balance treadmills are some of the best deals on treadmills around. Period. No one comes close – not Spirit, not Vision, no one. I’m not sure how or why they’re doing it, but Amazon is just about giving these units away (same with the Tunturi treadmills, such as the Tunturi T30 – another great machine at much too low a price).

That being said, the New Balance 1800 elliptical is a fantastic unit (it is being discontinued, so act fast if you’re going to buy one) and we have been getting in an insane number of them to set up and install for customers. With that in mind, I’m going to do something a little different with my ratings and compare the New Balance 1800 to the other New Balance treadmills which will give it a slightly lower rating.

You see, while it is a spectacular buy at $1299 (and blows away competition at the same price point such as the Spirit XT10), it just doesn’t offer much of an upgrade to the other Balance treadmills out there. The bigger motor, slightly higher speed, incline and programs and the addition of wireless heart rate monitoring isn’t enough to warrant the additional cost. The “ortho flex deck” you mentioned really isn’t anything better than the decks on the other New Balance treadmills and should have been upgraded to a 1″ thickness.

Don’t get me wrong, the New Balance 1800 is great (awesome at $1299, in fact — the 20″ x 57″ deck and 3 HP motor is mindblowing!) when compared to other treadmills but isn’t as much of an upgrade when you check out the other New Balance Treadmills. If you need the 3 horsepower motor, additional weight and programs, then the New Balance 1800 Treadmill is a perfect choice. However, if you can make do with 2 or 2.5 HP, then I’d check out one of the light New Balance treadmills.

For being a great treadmill and a mind-blowing price, the Treadmill Sensei gives the New Balance 1800 treadmill 4 out of 5 golden buddahs.

The New Balance 1800 pulls in 4 gold buddahs out of 5!

Compare and get more information on the New Balance 1800

New Balance 1800 Treadmill Specifications
Motor: 3.0
Max User Weight: 350 lbs.
Folding: Yes
Max Speed: 12 MPH
Max Incline: 12%
Heart Rate Monitor: Pulse grip and wireless
Programs: 20
Readouts: Time, speed, incline, distance, approximate calories burned and pulse rate
Grade: Residential
Treadmill Weight: 254 lbs
Rollers: 2.4″
Deck Thickness: .75″
Running Area: 20″ x 57″

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

Ohiyo!

It’s been a long day at the DOJO for the Treadmill Sensei. Today we received a huge shipment of equipment for a brand new women’s fitness center down in Orange County. Actually, it was 5 shipments from various vendors and nearly 30 pieces of equipment. It was a crazy time and I am glad Hikaru is still in the doghouse because I put him in charge of getting everything unloaded from the trucks and sorted in the big warehouse space. As Mrs. Sensei constantly reminds me, I’m not as young as I used to be and I shouldn’t be messing with 200+ pound treadmills, ellipticals and strength circuit equipment…leave it to the younger Senseis who have yet been crushed by the weight of the world!

So now that everyone has left and the DOJO is dark and quiet, I thought I’d sit down and write a quick piece on one of the newest entries in to the world of treadmills and ellipticals, Merit Fitness.

Merit Fitness is a line that is less than a year old and is the latest in a very long list of brands from Johnson Tech, which includes Horizon, Matrix and Vision. Merit is Johnson’s first real foray into the lowest end of the realm of fitness that Proform has previously dominated. Luckily for budget-consious consumers, Merit does an excellent job at producing some decent treadmills and ellipticals in the under $500 range.

Now, Merit’s equipment is too new to see how well it will hold up to the test of time, but in their first year there have been almost no major complaints on any of their equipment. Knowing the track record of Johnson’s other budget brand, Horizon, I can see some very bright things in their future.

Merit Ellipticals:

• Merit 710E Elliptical – A solid contender with 4 buddahs.
• Merit 720e Elliptical – a great elliptical now priced at an amazingly low cost, and a unit definitely in the running for a 2007-2008 best buy award from the Sensei.

Merit Treadmills

• Merit 710t Treadmill – A very decent treadmill at a rock bottom price.
• Merit 720t Treadmill – A slight upgrade from the 710t treadmill.
• Merit 730t Treadmill – Merit’s top of the line treadmill at $499.99.

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