A solid perfomer
Written: Dec 22 '02 (Updated Dec 24 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Sturdy machine, nice size belt, solid construction
Cons: Manual for setup is terrible. Customer service couldn't help track my order.
The Bottom Line: The bottom line.....this is very good treadmill. It is quiet, smooth and built very well.
Recommended if you want a serious treadmill for not a lot of money.
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| drw3773's Full Review: Smooth 9.1 Series Treadmill |
I was looking for a treadmill to walk on and one on which my daughter could run from time to time. I went to various stores to try out the treadmills and then started to search on the Internet.
Let's be frank. If you want a treadmill that is stable, solid and built to last more than a year or two, you will spend at a minimum of $1,000.00. I talked to many fitness people in my community and almost all of them told me to make sure you try out a treadmill before buying it. Well, it is obvious that you cannot do that with the Smooth treadmill as it comes from cyberspace!!
My decision came down to True and Smooth treadmills. I liked the width of the True treadmill (22") but with the same features it cost over $1,000.00 more than the Smooth 9.1.
After reading all the reviews and spending a great deal of time on various websites reading company information, I decided to call and order the 9.1, even though I was more than a little uncomfortable in ordering a piece of exercise equipment for this amount of money without being able to walk and run on it. I made the decision based on the following facts (from their website)...
The Smooth 9.1 comes with Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technology. This highly efficient design offers the following advantages:
Lower amp draw, by at least 50%. Heavy users can workout and not overload household electrical services.
PWM design amplifies 60 Hz (cycle) alternating household electricity to 18,000 Hz (cycle). This assures the motor is receiving virtually a pure voltage input. This signal to the motor is 300 times "cleaner". Motors run cooler, are more powerful and last longer.
The lower components, motor and incline system is controlled with this PWM / power supply. Twin telephone type data cables communicate, at micro second speeds, between this the PWM device and upper console electronics. Eight on-board diagnostic lights quickly assist virtually any trouble shooting that may be required.
Several safety circuits are incorporated in our design. The Smooth 9.1 is built to ETL electrical standards. Dual parallel power devices provide double the load capacity of most other treadmill manufacturers. You get 50% more reserve power ability.
You could put 2,000 pounds of weight on the treadmill and move the load at 0.1 mph. That is unheard of for any other treadmill. We lead the industry in high torque, low speed performance. This is the smoothest, slowest start-up treadmill available. ...
The Smooth 9.1 treadbelts are 100% manufactured in the U.S. .
Some manufacturers claim a four-ply belt. Don't be confused! This is a misleading/false claim! There is no four-ply treadmill belt offered. Only two choices are available - one-ply and two-ply. Two ply belts do have four layers of construction - but only two of those four layers are plys / fabric. Smooth belts are pre-lubricated / waxed to provide minimal maintenance (if any). Expect up to 25,000 miles of service by simply keeping the unit clean (free of dirt). Smooth's lubrication / wax system is a special blend of high-pressure synthetic compounds. It repels dirt and is used exclusively in our heavy usage commercial units.
The Smooth 9.1 treadmill offers a zinc plated, solid steel, large outside diameter flywheel machined from cold finish 1018 bar. Flywheels are CNC machined and balanced to perfection. The flywheel's large 8" diameter design has the exact effect of a 24 pound flywheel. It is an effective design with high kinetic energy.
Smooth treadbelts have special carbon fibers woven in the fabric and spaced evenly apart to dissipate static electricity. A common treadmill problem that can require service. The polyester synthetic backing is the industries finest, longest lasting surface. It's a high tensile strength rating, combined with large diameter rollers, assures virtually stretch free performance.
The sales department was courteous, but not overly helpful. I asked about various options, such as the larger motor, aeropedic belt and was told that the stock item would meet my needs without any options. I took his word on it (glad that he didn't sell me anything I didn't need just to bump up the price) and ordered the treadmill. The sales person told me it would ship the next day and be at my house by Christmas.
After checking the website for five days after my order (and seeing that it had not shipped), I called customer service. While not rude, the lady was less than helpful and could only tell me that they were so busy with orders for Christmas and that they did not update the website on ordering information. She told me she would check with shipping and call me back. I waited until the end of the business day (six hours from my call) and not hearing back from her, called back. Again, I was treated as if I was somewhat of a pain for inquiring if my treadmill had shipped, as they "were so busy." She said shipping had not responded to her request for information and that she would call me the next day.
The next day passed without a call from customer service and by this time I was becoming a little more than agitated. I decided to call my salesperson the next day to see what was going on, as by now I could see that I was not going to receive the treadmill by Christmas.
The next morning, the website showed that my treadmill had not shipped, but did give me a shipping number (that was confusing). I tracked my number on the shipping website and it indicated that it was to be delivered to my house the next day!!
The following morning, the shipping company called to set up a time to deliver the treadmill. As has been reported earlier, free shipping means to the end of the truck. Mine was delivered to my driveway. It comes packaged on an oak platform and is very heavy. Several of my friends brought it in the house and down my stairs. If you are not paying extra to have it brought into your house, you will need a minimum of 4-6 people to move the 350 pounds into your house safely.
Enthused to have the product in my rec room, I unboxed the treadmill and prepared to set it up.
The manual written for setup is HORRIBLE. An engineer must have written it. Even though I have a PhD, I had to read the instructions over and over again. Since there are no pictures to accompany the text to indicate proper setup, it is very difficult to understand.
Finally, I just looked at the treadmill and started to assemble it, using the manual only to refer to the nuts and bolts. This process worked much better than trying to follow the manual step by step.
When placing the uprights to the deck, the motor makes it almost impossible to get your hands to the proper location. In addition, if you drop a bolt, it can get "lost" inside of the deck, requiring a person to go "fishing" for several minutes to recover it. This is a poor design feature.
Once the treadmill was setup, I couldn't wait to get on it and actually try it out. This treadmill is a dream. It is so quiet that I could walk and jog from 3.5 to 7.0 MPH without turning up my TV over the normal volume. The incline is responsive, smooth and quick. The belt is nice size (I am 6'2" and it is long enough). Having been worried about a 20" belt over a 22" with the True, I found that the 20" belt is just fine and not too narrow.
The deck is firm, but cushions well. The best feature is that the treadmill feels solid, not like a toy that so many treadmills under $1,000 feel when you really run on them.
The electronics are simple to understand and use. Do not expect a lot of frills with the electronics. I did not purchase the heart rate control and the electronics are nice, but not expansive. Of course, having this treadmill for only a few days does not allow me to discuss the durability of the treadmill over time, but the way the treadmill feels when you are on, makes me believe that this piece of equipment will last me a long time.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
drw3773
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Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 1 member
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