
Like the other reviewers have mentioned, this treadmill is HUGE. I've owned 3 others in the past and this one has the biggest "head unit" (where the display is located) of any I've owned. The belt seems a bit narrower because I am always nicking the sides when I run.
The display is pretty good, but if I have one complaint other than the non-colored characters (blue or orange would have been better to see in low lighitng): The Speed and Distance swap. I honestly thought from the manual I had downloaded and reading the description that these would both display all the time. To me, these are two things that should ALWAYS be shown. Other things that are less important ARE shown: Heart Rate, Incline percentage (who the heck needs to see that ALL the time?), and Calories burned. Time is also shown separately, but I do consider this one to be important. To me, the items that should ALWAYS show on their own are Speed, Distance, and Time. The rest can swap. Heart Rate especially seems like a strange item to always display since you have to grip the bars to get anything other than "P" displayed.
The reason this layout bothers me is if you happen to end your workout while the Speed/Distance part of the display is on the Speed, you will never know what the Distance was unless you restart the treadmill and let it run until it's time for the Distance to display again. This is what really causes me to give this treadmill a 4 and not a 5.
But this brings me to something that I didn't see explained in the manual that IS a big bonus: when you press Stop it is actually only Pausing so that you CAN continue to work out with the last known stats as long as the treadmill hasn't been powered down (which happens after a few minutes of non-use) or as long as you haven't pressed Stop twice. The button is not labeled Pause, though, so it's not necessarily intuitive.
As for its performance, the only treadmill I had that was as comfortable was my Vision Fitness. This thing runs smoothly, feels comfortable, and costs about four-hundred dollars less than the Vision Fitness. I've only had it for about 3 weeks, but I run on it at least 2 times per week and walk all the other days. It seems durable and doesn't shake much at all. The drink holders could be a bit wider (or maybe just one of them), but it holds a bottle of Propel just fine. I didn't get my free water bottle for some reason.
I bought this direct from Smooth and had the White Glove/complete install service. I agree with the reviewer who said PAY the EXTRA. Seriously, it's humongous and I can only imagine how much a pain it would be getting it inside my house. The people who put it together are the delivery folks, though, and they told me they get to see a short video on how to assemble ONE model of Smooth's treadmills. It showed. They got it done, but treadmill pros would've taken a lot less time and gotten less confused. All in all, I am quite pleased with this treadmill, however. I'd go for a smaller one in an apartment unless you don't bother with furniture.
Buy Smooth Fitness 5.45 Folding Treadmill!
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, March 24, 2009
at 9:29 AM
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