Time to Buy a New Treadmill
Read the other parts of the story in Part 1 and Part 2.
My twenty year old treadmill was broken and I was faced with buying a new one. Bob, the treadmill repairman, advised me to get a new treadmill. He gave me names of 2 possible replacements: Horizon and Sole.
I was about to enter the world of buying new sports equipment.
Looking at Treadmills On-Line
If you go into a sports equipment store, the salespeople will listen to what you want, but then steer you to something close. On-line, you can determine whether the equipment really does meet your needs. But you can't see it and feel it. Both ways of shopping have benefits and drawbacks.
I dove in and began researching treadmills on-line first. I looked at Horizon and Sole brand treadmills but they didn’t meet my first requirement: folding vertically. So I then expanded my search. There are so many companies and so many models out there. There are so many features to consider.
I felt overwhelmed each time I looked at a new review site. It was difficult to compare the equipment side by side. I wasn’t even sure which features were important to me in the beginning.
Why Don't Any Fold Up Vertically?
First things to know is that I have a small house and I need a small treadmill. My treadmill sits in the small living room in front of the front door. My new treadmill needs to fold up so I can open the door.
To my dismay, not one current model folded up flat, vertically, the way my Vision Fitness does. What is up with that? How is a folding treadmill space saving if it only saves 2 feet of space when it is “folded?” I saw that most models now are not hood-less. So if the deck is not high enough, the motor basically can’t clear the floor when the treadmill is folded. My Vision Fitness model is hoodless and sits about 8 inches off the floor so that allows it to fold straight up.
New Treadmill Requirements
As I researched, I began to organize the information that I discovered. As a former business software analyst, I used to organize requirements that I gathered from users. Now I was the user. So, I developed a requirements grid and prioritized my needs.
If you are looking for a treadmill, your requirements will likely be different. For me, the console and electronics only need to be basic. But you might like a lot more bells and whistles.
*Priority: M = Must, S = Should, C = Could
That is a lot to consider! How would I ever find one that would meet my needs?
To be continued.
--Kim