I don’t particularly like running on the treadmill. However, during dark cold school year mornings, it would be a lot more convenient to run on a treadmill than outside. My 16-year-old also prefers to run on the treadmill, with reason. You can’t get that far from our house without running on a fairly busy road with bad sight lines. As he can’t yet drive himself to the gym I think having a treadmill in the house would open up more options.
Longtime readers might be thinking wait, don’t you own a treadmill? We did, for a great many years. We got a fairly nice (gym grade) treadmill for our basement in the old house. This basement had a door to the outside, which made delivery of this very heavy treadmill possible.
In the new house, however, the only place the treadmill can go is on the 3rd floor. There are somewhat narrow stairs to get up there. The movers said the old treadmill could not be moved and so we sold it on Craigslist or FB marketplace or something like that (my husband did this particular task).
I’m now in the market for a new one, which would primarily be used by me and my son. There turn out to be a lot of treadmills, and of varying weights and prices, and with lots of different bells and whistles. I’m looking for one that feels decent to run on (both for me and also for an adult-sized young man) but could be installed on the third floor (and, you know, not come crashing through the ceiling or something…).
Does anyone own a treadmill that they would recommend? Why did you decide on it?
And of course, if you hate running on a treadmill (the dreadmill!) feel free to vent about that. It’s not my favorite — but I’m trying to run more regularly this year and maybe do a little speed work from time to time.
Photo: Race photo from many years ago, after running outside, which is still my favorite place to run…
We own one that my 16 you uses a lot and that I use grudgingly on bad weather days. It has held up well but came in a small box and fit down our narrow basement stairs. I chose it because it is somewhat portable but is still high quality and has a fair amount of bells and whistles. I have NO idea what brand it is at this moment but will circle back with the brand when I am able to take a look at it.
@Gillian — ooh, looking forward to details!
I have a sole f63 I really like – it’s a high quality mid range model, and movers had no problem getting it from one place to the next so assume it’s potentially lighter than your old one.
@Rose – thanks for the tip! I will look into that one.
This is not at all helpful given your situtation, but we have an indoor track (1/17 of a mile) at our Y, which I love love love. I usually pause the membership in the summer, but it was so hot and rainy I kept going this year. It’s a little tiny, so there’s ettiquette issues, but it feels like you’re actually running, and sometimes if there’s another runner, you can pretend your in a race.
I learned to run on a treadmill, because it’s really easy to time yourself for short sprints, and then time your walks, and then keep making those walking times smaller. And the mileage counter and timer don’t lie, like my FitBit does. So there are some perks.
@LK – our Y has a track too! But getting there is the same level of pain as it is to get there for the treadmills 🙂 I’m laughing about the idea of pretending I was racing a fellow runner. Or maybe a walker. That would make me feel a lot faster…
(I think some folks on treadmills do pretend they’re racing the people next to them!)
We love, love, love our Peloton treadmill. The instructors and classes make the experience so much more engaging than running on a regular treadmill. I actually like the treadmill now, and I challenge myself so much more on the tread than I do when I run outside. They do not recommend having it on a second or third floor, but I know of people who have done it. They build it for you, so there should not be an issue with getting it up the stairs. I think they still run the 30 day trial so you could always return it if you hate it.
I was going to say this! There’s also the subscription price on top of it, but I’ve run up to 13 miles on it on extremely hot or cold days (even if I’m not doing the instructor’s workout I like having them talk at me to get through it)
I’m not a treadmill fan. However, I have one for those days I can’t go outside. I was able to move my old treadmill from PA to my new house. I have a Landice. It’s knocking on twenty years old and only had a repair person come less than 3 times. It’s still going. Not showing it’s age.
We have the TRUE PS800 Home Treadmill. I’m sure this is an outdated model as ours is six years old – but it has survived for six years of being used 4-5 x week without ever being maintained, so that speaks to quality in the brand. It also has not crashed through our apartment floor (although you will want to get noise-insulating mats to put under whatever treadmill you buy). The quality feels gym-like, and it has a nice touch-screen with multiple user profiles, quick-speed and quick-incline buttons, and various workouts (speed intervals, hill intervals, 5k time trial, etc).
The negatives (which I would imagine might be fixed in a newer/different model) are that the quick-speed buttons are not the ones I personally would choose, the speed and hill interval workouts are locked at 1-minute intervals, and the custom workouts are annoying to set up.
Assault Runner treadmill. It’s manual and close to running outside.
We had this same situation come up after moving 3 times in the past 2 years and needing a treadmill installed in a space with a (relatively) narrow staircase and wanting something that would last. We landed on Sole F65 after extensive research (I love treadmill running and had a number of requirements!). I see someone else mentioned a Sole model as well and definitely encourage you to look at them! They charged $200 for an install which would include taking it down the staircase and installing it in the space we wanted it, and it has been worth every penny. Hope you find something that works for you all!
I have a Landice that I picked out after spending way too many hours reading through treadmill recommendations on the old Runner’s World forums. I picked the exact model after running on a few at a local fitness equipment store. Not sure how it would do on a third floor, though!
I have a Nordictrack T8.5s and we love it. My husband, my 11 year old soon, and I all use it. We have an ifit subscription so you can follow along with trainers as they go through different training plans (5k, 10k, half marathon, etc). They run in beautiful places all over the world so you get to see stunning scenery as you are running. I had a manual treadmill before this one with no bells and whistles and it was horrible trying to talk myself into running. This one is so much more enjoyable!
We also have a TRUE though not sure of model- it’s 10 years old and doesn’t get tons of use (I run on it if I need to do hills or it there is lightning). Both josh and I find it fine to use – we just prefer outside! If I had to replace it I would consider a peloton tread I think …
We got a sole f63 treadmill a few weeks ago and like it so far! It is comfortable for both my husband and myself to run on, and while it doesn’t have a fancy screen it does have a tablet holder and that works for us. We prefer to run outdoors but this will let us both run before work and still have an adult at home since we have small children. We chose this treadmill since it wasn’t terribly expensive and doesn’t require a subscription.