Difference between cheap and expensive treadmill & is it worth the investment?

I bought one for my sister 3 years ago. She was considerably overweight and this was what we found.. the more expensive machines could hold more weight, more heavy duty motor.

I like to work out, so I am biased on this topic. For equipment for me, comfort, performance, quality, and durability are very important. I don’t want to have to fight the machine when I work out. So I opt for higher-priced equipment that I perceive as better quality.

I have a 11-12 yr old Life Fitness home model treadmill. It feels like a commercial model when I use it. It still feels the same today—sturdiness, belt, motor, etc—as it did the first day I turned it on. I have gone through periods (Like now) where I haven’t been able to use it for sometimes 6-8 months (injuries). Yet I know it’s always there, ready to go. I should probably get it tuned up, but I have not spent any $$ maintaining it. There have been times when it was used daily by me, my wife, and my stepdaughter w/no issues.

So those are my priorities. I have also spoken to others who bought a $500 department store treadmill and were perfectly happy with it.

There are differences between a cheap treadmill and a more expensive one. Like anything else you buy, you have to decide if those differences are meaningful for you.

My husband has set up an exercise room and uses his elliptical almost daily doing any where from 8-16 miles each evening watching tv. He feels guilty watching tv not working out. This has worked great for him as his busy schedule makes working out at home convenient. We have splurged for a life fitness eliptical that will actually charge your phone while you pump and uses no electricity. We bought 7 years ago. Our other elliptical lasted over 10 years, we decided to not move it across the country. I use on occasion preferring to go to gym for group fitness and using on demand videos.

I started my whole “journey” when bought the least expensive Proform treadmill at Sears. I think it was $500 plus extended warranty, plus tax.

The machine is ... compact. The belt is narrow and short (compared to other models), the motor is not very strong, there’s not much in the way of suspension or stability, and the speed & incline adjustment buttons only have even numbers.

I am small framed and short so the belt size isn’t a huge issue for me. Someone taller than 5’4” or longer legs or broader would find it difficult to use.

The motor sounds about like a jet engine, and there’s not much in the way of cushioning for the belt (or the machine) so using it is an extremely noisy endeavor. Not a big issue for me now, but if I were in an apartment/condo/townhouse and/or I were using it when others were trying to sleep, or I wanted to watch TV (without closed captioning), it wouldn’t work.

I blew the motor in it after 3 (I think?) years. It was replaced under the extended warranty (but would have cost more than I paid for the treadmill to do otherwise).

I’ve run thousands of miles on that treadmill. It has served me well. Last summer I ended up running 17 miles of a 21 mile long run on that TM because of severe storms. It hasn’t been the same since (I’m not sure I have either lol). It smells funny, the motor seems...tired. I am fairly certain it will see its last days soon.

When that happens, I will be upgrading considerably to something a bit larger, something quieter, something with better controls, and something with a more stable ride.

I obviously am committed to using it at this point - my friends joked that they had never heard of a treadmill that broke from being used too much. I’m comfortable making the investment and it makes sense for me. I’ve also upgraded quite a bit of my other gym equipment over the years and it’s made a world of difference in my workout experience.

All that said-if I were starting again, or I was planning to buy it to “motivate” me to use it, or I didn’t know if I would like it or stick with it-I would probably go with a cheap model again. I would not go less than $500 (US).

When I bought my treadmill 3 years ago, I did extensive trying out of different brands and models and ended up with the NordicTrack Commercial 2950, which was more than twice what I'd intended to spend. It's definitely one of those you get what you pay for situations. As I see it, here are the main issues (there are many others depending on how in the weeds you want to get, but these are the main ones):

• track width - very important if you're a larger person. Treadmills with wide tracks cost more
• track cushioning - a lot more comfortable for longer walks/runs if it has better cushioning, but you pay for it
• sturdiness - I tried to get past this with the cheaper models, but cheaper treadmills do not feel sturdy. If you spend more money, you get something much more solid and slab-like
• heavier duty motor - depending on your weight, this is a must. Even if you're not obese, a heavy duty motor will be quieter, more reliable, and last longer

In retrospect, the only thing I think is a useless feature for a higher end treadmill is the entertainment module. You pay a LOT for a TV/touchscreen and its maps and apps and various gizmos, but they don't provide much value if you already have a tablet. Often there is a model without all the entertainment gizmos for $500+ less, and that money could easily fund a really nice tablet with $$hundreds left over.