Landice L7 Cardio - Awesome Premium Treadmill
Written: Dec 05 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very refined, smooth, quiet treadmill. The Cardio unit works very well. Warranty
Cons: Initial install quality control issues; water bottle holder poor design
The Bottom Line: The finest home treadmill available. Outstanding engineering, materials, and experience have created a longterm workout apparatus that is smooth, refined, reliable and comes with a lifetime parts warranty.
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| htman's Full Review: Landice L7 |
I have purchased and used a Landice L7 Cardio trainer for about a month now and have been very satisfied with my purchase. Compared to other $3500 and below priced treadmills I found this unit to be extremely refined, smooth and quiet.
The L7 appears to use quality components that separate it from its competitors. Among the components that I noted to be superior are the belt rollers which are metal and far more substantial and solid than the competitors; the belt that is quite thick and of commercial quality; the aluminum rails at the sides of the running belt that are not plastic like other brands; the very high quality floating deck that is vastly better constructed than lower priced treadmills and makes running very comfortable for heavy people like myself; and a reputed quality motor.
The spacious 60" x 20" deck is larger than the previous Landice model and most other manufacturer's models. Operating controls are not the most intuitive but one gets used to them. I thought that the pause and start could have provided a more gradual reduction and start up in belt speed when entering or stopping from pause. I thought the Precor models excelled in this regard. The stop mode stops immediately. The control buttons are different than many other treadmill controls. It is a matter of taste, but I found the panel buttons easy to push and activate. Others may find the larger sculpted buttons on the True and Life Fitness models more to their liking. I suspect over time the flat panel membranes will wear out although the panel seems to be of high quality and is labeled as manufactured in Japan.
The Cardio model is well worth the extra money (@$500 list price) and adds several features such as multiple displays for speed and elevation. I believe these to be worth while additions to the screen from the standard model. These basic displays are standard on almost all other entry level treadmills. The Cardio also has a direct input elevation and speed adjustment 12 keypad control that is nice when new but not really of much benefit as you get to know the machine. The really neat thing about the Cardio monitor is that the heart rate monitor reads your heartbeat and adjusts the speed and elevation of the treadmill to maintain one's heart beat in the target heartbeat zone. This feature works fabulously and reliable. I find it far superior to using a separate heart rate monitor on your wrist and then adjusting the treadmill manually. Unlike its competitors' cardio models, the L7 Cardio adjusts both speed and elevation rather than just elevation in maintaining one's heart beat in the proper zone. The L7 cardio comes with a heart beat monitor belt similar to the Polar unit except it has a user replaceable battery on it, a nice feature. They say Polar monitors will also work with the L7 Cardio, my Polar did not work as well as the Landice provided heart rate monitor belt. The belt monitor is far superior to the heartrate handles that some treadmills use. The cardio program requires continual input to adjust the speed and elevation of the treadmill. Such continual input os not practical with the heart rate handles as one does not hold the handles 100% of the time during the workout. I also follow the recommended use of cardio gel (K-y gel works fine as well) to activate the receptors on the cardio belt at the begining of the workout. The standard cardio program has a program with warm up and warm down program that are not really to my liking. There are two user defineable cardio programs that permit custom adjustment of time, heartbeat rate zone, and max tradmill speed in ten evenly timed segments of a workout. There are also 5 customiseable workout programs for runners and joggers interested in parameters based upon speed and elevation of the workout.
There are several negative things about the L7 treadmill. The water bottle holder in the reading deck is not very supportive of the water bottle. The L7 is not a professional club model. Most club models are in the $5-7K range, use different 22o volt motors and are more robust. That said, the L7 is vastly superior in quality to entry level treadmills and fits a niche between the consumer and club models, the point at which it is priced. The L7 should provide years of trouble free service in homeowner use.
My unit came with a defective upper circuit board that was quickly replaced by the selling dealer. As I have heard from several others, this is not unusual. This brings up the issue of warranty and service. Many people would like to acquire Landice treadmills through the internet. Do not. Not only are these treadmills very heavy and expensive to ship, but may require a dealer to service, set up, explain and repair items that do not work upon delivery. Good luck working out labor work on treadmill problems over the internet. The warranty provides lifetime parts under strict guidelines that among other things, require purchase from dealers within a prescribed geographical area. The warranty covers only one year labor. If needed, labor service could be a major longterm operating cost for this as well as any treadmill.
In negotiating price, Landice has a suggested retail price and a minimum advertised price on its units. It requires dealers not to sell below MAP. If you can negotiate down to MAP you may also be able to get the dealer to throw in a mat, delivery, and extra year or two of labor warranty. The dealer can also sell up to 2 demo Landice treadmills per year below MAP. Those hard core bargain hunters may wish to negotiate for the "floor model". To determine the time in use and "distance logged" on the curcuit board for a recent vintage L7 treadmill key pad entries can be made to reveal this information. Quickly Push the "Stop" button and release. Then hold "programs" button down and push down the "start" button. Hold both down together about three seconds and the treadmill diagnostic menu will be revealed.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
htman
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Reviews written: 4
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