<body><iframe src="http://www.blogger.com/navbar.g?targetBlogID=29479054&amp;blogName=The+Treadmill+Sensei%3A+Treadmill+and+E...&amp;publishMode=PUBLISH_MODE_FTP&amp;navbarType=TAN&amp;layoutType=CLASSIC&amp;homepageUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.treadmillsensei.com%2F&amp;searchRoot=http%3A%2F%2Fblogsearch.google.com%2F" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" height="30px" width="100%" id="navbar-iframe" title="Blogger Navigation and Search"></iframe> <div id="space-for-ie"></div>
Reviews

(more)

Articles

(more)

Reader Emails

(more)



Tuesday, November 27, 2007

SportsArt Fitness Brand Review - A Best Buy Award Winning Company

Ohiyo!

I have been meaning to do a new brand review for a while now, but the holiday season seemed to hit earlier this year and we've been simply blasted with work here at the DOJO. However, now that it's late - the shop has closed down and the other senseis have all gone home - and I have some time to devote to one of my absolute favorite fitness manufacturers, and a long time presence in the industry, SportsArt Fitness.

SportsArt has been in the fitness industry for over 30 years now. In that time they have been known as one of the most consistantly high quality manufacturers in the world. Not only do they produce top quality, best buy award winning treadmills and elliptical for themselves, but they've also produced that same quality for other top manufacturers. That's right, SportsArt is the company behind some of the best rated treadmills and ellipticals from Precor, Schwinn, Universal and Tunturi. So if you've enjoyed working out on a Precor elliptical, then chances are you have SportsArt to thank for that spectacular workout.

This year, SportsArt has expanded their line to include, not just the higher price club equipment they have been so well known for but also more moderately priced home ellipticals and treadmills as well. Their under $2000 treadmills and ellipticals are rapidly becoming recognized as some of the best equipment on the market, and their over $2000 units continue to dominate the competition.

In fact, I am such a big fan of the SportsArt equipment that I have owned two of their ellipticals in the past, and currently own an elliptical (the SportsArt E83) and a treadmill (the SportsArt TR31). These are some great, great machines, and consumers will be hearing more and more about them in the upcoming year as SportsArt has begun to sell its equipment direct online. What that means for those of us looking for high quality, best buy treadmills and ellipticals is that we'll be able to get the absolute best price buy ordering from SportsArt direct. No more dealing with a middleman retailer jacking up prices!

Check out some of my past reviews of the SportsArt ellipticals and treadmills. You will be simply amazed by these fitness works of art. If my mother-in-law weren't so cheap I'd insist she pick up a SportsArt elliptical to help her lose some of the holiday weight we're all planning to gain this year!

SportsArt Ellipticals

SportsArt Treadmills

  • SportsArt TR21F 2007/2008 Best Buy Award Runner-Up
  • SportsArt TR31 (4.5/5) 2007/2008 Best Buy Award Winner
  • SportsArt TR32 (4.5/5) 2007/2008 Best Buy Award Runner-Up
  • SportsArt TR33 (5/5) 2007/2008 Best Buy Award Winner

Click here to compare SportsArt Fitness Treadmills & Ellipticals.


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

Labels:

posted by Treadmill Sensei at 8:35 PM 0 Comments | | | |

Monday, August 27, 2007

Lamar Fitness Brand Review - High Quality and Great Prices

Ohiyo!

This past year the Treadmill Sensei has noticed a lot of companies drop in their levels of both manufacturing and quality control. Formerly very solid companies are now shipping a lot of dead-on-arrival treadmills and ellipticals to their customers and then taking as many as 3-4 service calls before fixing the issues. It has become a very bad trend.

Luckily, the industry has companies like Lamar Fitness, who possess an excellent track reputation for high quality standards and great customer service. The company was founded in the early 2000s by Kevin Lamar, who was a 20+ year veteran of Nautilus Fitness and a well-known innovator in the fitness industry.

The current line of Lamar treadmills and ellipticals features a number of Best Buy and Top Rated units on the market today. They are producing some of the most sturdy, well-built ellipticals made with high quality components you don't often see in units under $1500. Amazingly, Lamar is making some of the best ellipticals under $500 as well as the very best units in the $1000-$1500 range.

Lamar has 3 sub-brands for their product: Ignite, Advantage and Lamar. Ignite is their more budget conscious line and the units tend to have some amazing features never before found in sub $1000 machines. Advantage is their mid-range brand, focusing on high quality and long product lifespan in the $1000-$2500 price range. The Lamar brand itself features commercial quality product at a very uncommercial price. We're not sure how they do it, but Lamar is quickly becoming known for producing best buy equipment for customers at any budget. They beat standards other manufacturers can't even meet.

For ellipticals and treadmills from $350 to $2000 Lamar Fitness is the company that currently sets the bar for performance, comfort, price and quality.

Lamar HFS Ellipticals:
Lamar HFS Treadmills:

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

Labels:

posted by Treadmill Sensei at 7:26 PM 0 Comments | | | |

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The BodyCraft Brand Review - High Quality Commerical Grade Equipment at a Home Price

Ohiyo!

Since the early 1990s, BodyCraft has been known as one of the top producers of high quality gym equipment in the world. While not as well known as a Body Solid they have been quietly producing commercial level strength equipment for home and light commercial use.

BodyCraft itself was founded by Randy Lundquist and Alan Gore in 1993. They had previously worked for the Image Fitness division of Icon Fitness...but I won't hold that against either one of them. Upon leaving they formed an independent representative firm, with Trimline being their largest account. From there they decided to fill a quality void in the fitness industry and BodyCraft was born. Since its founding, BodyCraft has received just about every quality award and accolade a company can get, including recognition from Consumer Digest and Consumer Reports.

As solid as their strength equipment has been, their newer line of treadmills and ellipticals has performed just as well. With the highest quality components and some of the sturdiest equipment around, BodyCraft looks to be on the verge of making its name as one of the top rated producers of cardio equipment as well. Their treadmills in particular, updated and improved versions of the older Trimline brand, have been turning heads since their.

Keep an out eye for BodyCraft if you are looking for some of the heaviest duty, longest lasting, commercial quality treadmills and ellipticals under $2500.

BodyCraft Treadmills:

BodyCraft Ellipticals:
Reviews coming soon.

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

Labels:

posted by Treadmill Sensei at 7:59 AM 0 Comments | | | |

Monday, July 02, 2007

Smooth Fitness Brand Review - The Grandfather of Internet Fitness

Ohiyo!

In spite of having run this website since June 2006, the Treadmill Sensei is actually pretty internet and computer ignorant. Now, I have been online since the mid 1990s, but I've only ever used my computer for email and for playing games online (something I enjoy, but have less and less time for every day). The idea of starting a "blog" was completely alien to me and I didn't even know what that term meant until my wife and daughter suggested I start one after hearing me complain about the shady dealings of other treadmill review sites for the thousandth time. I guess that was their way of telling me to "shut up" about it!

Smooth Fitness, on the other hand, has been one of the leading fitness websites since around 1996 and is easily the most successful treadmill/elliptical manufacturer online. Smooth Fitness as a fitness retailer has been around since the early 80s but has only been producing the Smooth treadmills and ellipticals since the late 90s.

Because Smooth sells its units direct to customers instead of going through retail outlets, there are no additional costs associated with a "middleman." What that means is Smooth can sell its higher end units at a much lower cost, allowing a customer to buy a near commercial quality unit for a very low price. You can see the difference of going manufacturer direct by comparing a $999 Smooth 5.25 to most everything in its price range...the Smooth will out-perform just about everything.

In the past Smooth's ellipticals were a bit under featured and over-priced, but they've taken a huge step in the right direction this year. With new longer strides, better consoles and great pricing, the Smooth CE2.1 and CE 3.2 ellipticals are now some of the best units in the $1000-$1700 price range. Smooth's star unit is its Smooth CE 7.4 Elliptical, which is one of the finest units just under $2000 and one of the best rear drive ellipticals ever produced for the home market.

If you're looking for top of the line treadmills between $1000 and $2000, then Smooth should be at the top of your list.

Smooth Treadmills:

Smooth Ellipticals:


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

Labels:

posted by Treadmill Sensei at 6:34 AM 0 Comments | | | |

Monday, June 04, 2007

Bowflex Brand Review -- I Feel Another Headache Coming On

Ohiyo!

From time to time I get emails from readers who mention that I seem to be a little hard when it comes to my Nautilus equipment reviews. To them I said, I have absolutely no problem with Nautilus. In fact, I think they have some very nice upper end Nautilus-branded equipment, and their Schwinn ellipticals are top notch as well (especially those now made by Horizon Fitness like the Schwinn 438 Elliptical).

Unfortunately, their Bowflex brand equipment comes up quite a bit short in quality. They aren't complete junk like some of the Icon Fitness equipment, but they are generally below average when it comes to manufacture and design.

Let's learn a bit about Bowflex before I get another Treadclimber-sized migraine from talking about their treadmills.

Bowflex began as a company selling its patented gyms back in the mid 1980s -- I believe their first gym came out in around 1986. The company itself grew in to the 1990s and eventually went public in 1999 as Direct Focus, Inc. Based on their huge success selling moderately priced home gym equipment, Direct Focus bough Schwinn, Nautilus and Stairmaster in the early 2000s (is that the proper way to say that? It just doesn't read right to me...does anyone know?), extending their reach and brand name. With the purchase of those companies, Bowflex moved in to the production of treadmills and ellipticals for the masses.

And I've had that Bowflex headache ever since.

In my experience and in my opinion, Bowflex has the potential to be a great brand (heck, their company has more money behind it than a lot of countries!), but they seem to cut a lot of corners in their quality. You'll get a great, solid frame with a lot of low-end, flimsy plastic parts, a so-so warranty and a smallish, over-torqued motor. The bummer is they have a great name from their huge market presence (Hi, I'm Michael Polinko and this is a real Bowflex body!) and that will goad a lot of people into purchasing their below average treadmills. Thankfully, they only have 3 different units this year.

Pass on Bowflex and save yourself my headache.

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

Labels:

posted by Treadmill Sensei at 8:17 PM 0 Comments | | | |

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Merit Fitness Brand Review -- Under $500 Fitness Experts

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

Labels:

posted by Treadmill Sensei at 11:34 PM 0 Comments | | | |

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Schwinn Fitness Brand Review -- Over 100 years old and still kicking

Ohiyo!

The Treadmill Sensei had a bit of insomnia last night. You see, Mrs. Sensei left for Phoeniz, Arizona yesterday and after more than 25 years of marriage I have a bit of a problem sleeping in bed without my wife. I know it's a bit corny but I miss my wife already...don't worry, though, she gets back on Saturday!

Since I reviewed one of their ellipticals yesterday, and since I'm sleep deprived and don't really know any better, I thought I'd talk a bit about Schwinn Fitness. Schwinn as a company has been around since the late 1890s and has been producing bicycles ever since. In fact, Schwinn is probably the most recognizable bicycle brand in the world and their reputation has been excellent for much of its existance.

In the late 1990s, Schwinn enters in to the non-bicycle areas of the fitness industry and then is purchased by Nautilus (known originally as Direct Focus) in 2001. Unfortunately for Schwinn and consumers, the quality of those early Nautilus-produced fitness units did not live up to the 100+ year old standards of quality Schwinn was known for. In the eyes of the fitness industry (and lowly service techs like the Treadmill Sensei), Schwinn became known for putting out some pretty low end, poorly manufactured units...even their higher cost units were full of manufacturing and quality control problems. Top this off with the level of customer service at Schwinn/Nautilus being known as some of the worst in the industry and you've got a company in need of improvement.

I am glad to report those improvement came in 2006 with refinements in the Schwinn ellipticals in general and the production of the very fine Schwinn 430 and 438 in particular. The Scwhinn treadmill line is anemic and a bit of a disappointment, but the ellipticals are solid and worth checking out if you're looking for a good workout on a budget. Finally the company seems to be getting back on track. Hopefully they will be able to overcome their continued reputation for terrible customer service and live up to their 100+ year legacy of quality.

Schwinn Ellipticals:
Schwinn Treadmills:
-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com

Labels:

posted by Treadmill Sensei at 7:08 AM 0 Comments | | | |

Monday, April 30, 2007

Horizon Fitness Brand Review -- Budget Treadmill Champs

Ohiyo!

Today I'd like to start with a story and tell you about my first encounter with Horizon Fitness and their equipment. It all started about 4 years ago out in the now-defunct Van Nuys, California DOJO location we had for about 10 years. An Internet company (which will remain nameless but I hear is now going out of business) had a customer in the area who needed a then-new Horizon T54 treadmill set up in their garage. The seller had a freight company deliver the equipment to our warehouse. I happened to be at the DOJO location and decided to help unload the treadmill.

Bad, bad idea.

You see, the driver was what I like to call a "moron" and he proceeded to drop the boxed treadmill (weighing in at around 210 pounds if I remember correctly) on my hand. Not once. Not twice. But three times. Now, you're probably saying to yourself "you had your hand in his way 3 times, so who is the real moron, Sensei?" and you're probably right, but that's not the point. Because of those injuries I never forgot who Horizon was and, in spite of the pain (and me yelling "Use your damn head, man!" a couple of times), was happy to see they made some darn good treadmills and ellipticals. I never did find out what happened to that driver.

Horizon Fitness is one of the newer kids on the block that is fitness industry. They are one of the many Johnson Health Tech sub-companies -- Johnson itself has been around since the mid-1970s while Horizon has only been around for the last 6 or 7 years. In that very short time Horizon has used the Internet to make itself in to a very fine brand (they even produce some of the better equipment for the Schwinn line at Nautilus). Early on, the only retailers to carry or push Horizon were the Internet dealers. Over the past 2 years or so Horizon has expanded much more in to the big box retailers such as Sears.

Unfortunately, with that expansion has come a a bit of a dilution in their product.

When Horizon started they had somewhere around 12 units (6 in the "Horizon" series and about 6 in the "Elite series -- the major difference in the two lines was where to buy the units (the Elites were available exclusively through brick and mortar dealers) and the cost (the Elites tended to be quite a bit more expensive without any real upgrade in components). Now, however, a quick Internet search will show somewhere in excess of 30 units...every dealer out there seems to have their own model numbers in spite of the units being almost exactly the same from location to location. I'm assuming this is to keep customers from price matching in order for Horizon to keep all of their vendors happy.

Luckily, all those varied units tend to be well engineered and well manufactured. In other words, if you see the Horizon name on a treadmill or elliptical then you can be confident in the quality of the unit. Their parts are of a better quality than most everything else in a similar price range as long as that price range is under $1000. Once you hit that magic $1000 price point the competition gets a lot tougher and higher end Horizon treadmills and ellipticals don't quite match up.

If you're looking for good solid equipment from around $500 up to $1000, then keep Horizon in mind: the do good work. If you're wanted something a bit heavier and over $1000 then I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

Here's to hoping that Horizon gets their insane range of model numbers down to something a little more reasonable in the next couple of years. I can't imagine the customer confusion has done their sales any good.

Horizon Elliptical Reviews

Horizon Treadmill Reviews

  • Horizon T71 Treadmill: A solid treadmill for the most budget conscious of buyers. 4 Buddahs. Discontinued and replaced by Horizon T81.
  • Horizon T72 Treadmill: A $1200 treadmill at an under $800 price tag. 4 Buddahs. Discontinued and replaced by the Horizon T82.
  • Horizon T73 Treadmill: Decent performer with 3.5 buddahs. Worth a look but consider an upgrade. Discontinued and replaced by Horizon T83.
  • Horizon T74 Treadmill: Fantastic treadmill at just under $1000. The best from Horizon and a solid performer with 4 buddahs. Discontinued and replaced by Horizon T84.
  • Horizon T81 Treadmill: 2007/2008 treadmill with 4 out of 5 buddahs. Best buy award winner.
  • Horizon T82 Treadmill: 2007/2008 treadmill and best buy runner up. 4.5 out of 5 buddahs.
  • Horizon T83 Treadmill: 2007/2008 treadmill with 4 out of 5 buddahs.

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

Labels:

posted by Treadmill Sensei at 2:13 PM 0 Comments | | | |

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Sole Fitness Brand Review -- A great marketing company

Ohiyo!

One of the popular lines of treadmills and ellipticals right now is by Sole Fitness out of Utah. Their units are all produced by a Taiwanese manufacturer by the name of Dyaco, who is best known for owning Spirit Fitness and having produced equipment for a number of other companies, including Free Spirit, SportsArt, Red Zone and a few others I'm sure I am forgetting in my old age.

Sole itself has been around since around 2002-2003 and have been known more as a repackaging/relabeling company than anything else, as well as being some of the best internet marketers around outside of Smooth Fitness. From what I remember, before Sole hooked up with Dyaco, they were putting out units based on old Reebok Bodytrec designs (does anyone else remember the horrible Sole E89 ellipticals?).

Due to the high quality, mid-range product that Sole sells, they signed a fantastic deal with the Hilton Hotel chains with Sole equipment, which helped to heighten the public's awareness of the Sole brand. In a further effort to expand their visibility, Sole also signed with Dick's Sporting goods as their major brick and mortar vendor within the last 2 years.

Overall, thanks to some fine equipment produced by Dyaco, Sole has a very solid line of treadmills and ellipticals which are on the top of most "best buy" lists. The only downside to their product is the aforementioned Compton shipping warehouse. This past year, Sole has greatly improved its shipping department and has become one of the quickest, most reliable fitness equipment shippers around. Combined with its top-notch and highly rated customer service department, Sole is one of the most well rounded fitness manufacturer active in the market today.

Sole contines to be one of the best rated fitness companies by both experts and consumers alike.

Sole Fitness Ellipticals:
Sole Fitness Treadmills:

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

Labels:

posted by Treadmill Sensei at 12:34 PM 0 Comments | | | |

Monday, April 09, 2007

Spirit Fitness Brand Review - Decent mid-range company

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:

Spirit Ellipticals:

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

Labels:

posted by Treadmill Sensei at 7:10 PM 0 Comments | | | |

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Brand Review Index

posted by Treadmill Sensei at 7:58 AM 0 Comments | | | |