Need a new treadmill

Brian Terwilliger

I love the treadmill. I run on it a lot.  My wife and one of my sons uses it a good amount as well.  So it gets heavy use.  And yesterday it up and died on me.  I think it may have thrown a drive belt or the best broke.  Will try to take it apart and see soon.  But, its aged and worth replacing regardless.  So, need to get a new one.  While budget is always an issue, I don't really have one.  I'm willing to spend and not looking for a cheap one, but am not looking to spend stupid money to run in place.  Doesn't really need a lot of fancy features.  Decent incline capabilities.  Good top end speed.  A basic work horse really. 

Would love your suggestions for both what to get, and what NOT to get.

Rory Gumina

I used Treadmill Doctor site to help with my purchase ... with criteria
very similar to yours Brian, I ended up getting True PS 100 and have no
complaints 2+ years later. 4.95 star rating imho ... if it had Decline
function it'd earn 5 stars (eg. nice to have but by no means
show-stopper). Good Luck!

https://www.treadmilldoctor.com/bestbuyawards-treadmill


On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 7:52 AM Brian Terwilliger <
teamenforums+d24773-s6029573@gmail.com> wrote:

> [image: Endurance Nation Community]
>
> ------------------------------
> Brian Terwilliger started a new discussion: Need a new treadmill
>
> I love the treadmill. I run on it a lot. My wife and one of my sons uses
> it a good amount as well. So it gets heavy use. And yesterday it up and
> died on me. I think it may have thrown a drive belt or the best broke.
> Will try to take it apart and see soon. But, its aged and worth replacing
> regardless. So, need to get a new one. While budget is always an issue, I
> don't really have one. I'm willing to spend and not looking for a cheap
> one, but am not looking to spend stupid money to run in place. Doesn't
> really need a lot of fancy features. Decent incline capabilities. Good
> top end speed. A basic work horse really.
>
> Would love your suggestions for both what to get, and what NOT to get.
>
> --
> Reply to this email directly or follow the link below to check it out:
>
> https://endurancenation.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/24773/need-a-new-treadmill
> Check it out
>
>

Brian Terwilliger

Thanks 

John Katsoudas

I bought a NordicTrack 2950 (the new 2018 model) a few months back, and absolutely love it.  4.25HP motor, +15  to -3 deg. incline/decline ability.  The huge screen and available iFit training videos seemed a little gimmicky to me, but my wife loves them and they really motivate her to work out.  I like being able to go into iFit and pre-program a workout like cruise intervals, download it to the treadmill and then run it.  It's rated a "best buy" by Treadmill Doctor.  If you don't want the huge screen, they have 1-2 other models with the same chassis/motor (the Commercial series) but with  not as many bells and whistles.  The iFit software has crashed on me once mid-run and I had to stop and reboot it, but I had to go to the bathroom anyway so it wasn't a big deal. ;-)

Brian Terwilliger

Thanks John. 

On the iFit, can/does it work like Zwift in that I could program a workout and it  controls the paces and incline for me?

John Katsoudas

Hi Brian,

Yes, that's exactly how it works.  Here's a screenshot of a run I programmed when I first got the treadmill.  You can pre-program both speed and incline, and then load it into the treadmill and it will control the speed and incline.  You can override the program if you need to.

You can also create a Google Maps-based course and run it.  I haven't fully tried this yet though, so can't comment fully on it.  You go into the iFit app and launch the mapping tool (essentially using Google Maps with Street View).  You can map out a route and then run it on the treadmill, and the treadmill will vary the incline based on the .GPX file from the route.  It will show the sequence of street view images on the screen.  It won't quite be a 'video' as it jumps from image to image, but it still sounds interesting.  I've created a route for one lap of the 70.3 Coeur D'Alene run course (at least the part of it that's on streets and has street view images) and plan to run it this week.

Brian Terwilliger

Pretty neat.  Now if it also broadcasts Bluetooth and thus can connect to Zwift Run on an iPad I may be sold.

John Katsoudas

Unfortunately no, it doesn't do that.  I was hoping that I could add the Wahoo GymConnect module to it, to add that capability, but NordicTrack treadmills don't have a CSAFE port.  There are a handful of treadmills by True and Life Fitness (I think) that will connect to Zwift natively, and some others that have CSAFE ports that you can add the Wahoo module to, but NordicTrack doesn't have either.

When I'm running on the treadmill I use Zwift to 'capture' the run and export it to Training Peaks and Strava, but I'm not looking at Zwift the entire time I'm running.  Frankly, Zwift in running mode just isn't that compelling to me like it is in cycling mode.  So, I just have the laptop or iPad running Zwift (with my Stryd footpod) off to the side while I'm on the treadmill.

Brian Terwilliger

That's what I use it for.  Milestone footpod connected to iPad.  Upload to Strava when done.  

John Katsoudas

Just wanted to post a quick follow-up to my previous comment above regarding the mapping capability of the Nordictrack 2950.  I ran the course (two loops) I mapped to simulate the 70.3 CdA run course today, and am mostly impressed with how well it works (when it works).  The way it works is the treadmill controls incline to mimic the course you've mapped, and you control the pace manually.  I was pacing by power using a Stryd footpod, so this forced me to be more attentive than normal when running on a treadmill, which was an interesting and unexpected benefit vs. just zoning out, as the elevation was changing constantly.  The Google Streetview images fade nicely from one to the next, so it's not like watching a video but it's still a pretty cool effect, and I feel like I now have a very good feel for the course, major landmarks, where the big hills are, etc.  Unfortunately, the streetview images froze at the exact same place on both loops. The cynic in me believes this was intentional, as it froze right in front of a home for sale. :-)  There was no way to get the image stream moving again, so I switched to the map view and just watched my progress on the satellite view from there for the rest of the loop.  Luckily, I was a couple miles from the end of the loop when this happened, but it was annoying nonetheless.  Fortunately, it didn't impact the treamill following the course or adjusting incline - just the stream of streetview images.  I may try to delete and re-map the course to see if it happens again, as I'll probably run the course again at least once before race day.  Here are a couple of snapshots attempting to show what it looks like.  Overall, I'm pretty impressed.  It made a long treadmill run a bit more enjoyable, as well as providing some useful course recon.

Gary Lewis

@John Katsoudas I don't like treadmills, but if I were to get one you sold me.  Very impressive.

John Katsoudas

@Gary Lewis I've never been a huge treadmill fan either, but I have tendonitis in my foot that doesn't seem to want to fully go away.  I have reached an uneasy truce with my foot, whereby I don't do dumb stuff like trying to do all my running outdoors, and in return it lets me keep running.  So, treadmill it is.

Brian Terwilliger

Thanks for the followup and new info.  Seems like a pretty great machine.