92 of 95 people found the following review helpful.
By Jeff Kraus
Here's the quick summary: I love this treadmill. It's a phrase I never thought I'd utter in my life. But it's true. It's strong, super-sturdy, comfortable, full-featured, high tech, and certainly built to last.
That part was for the people with a lot to do, or maybe a short attention span. If you've got the time, here goes the full review with all the gory details.
I just moved into a new house about a week before receiving this treadmill. I had already set aside one bedroom as an exercise room. I was excited about it, and so I went to the Precor website to see what I could see. On the site they have a "Space Planner" that allows you to create a blueprint-style layout of the room you plan on using the equipment in. It's very cool because it shows you the exact size of the machine in relation to the room. For me, it was a pretty scary revelation because the room isn't all that big, but it worked out fine in the end.
=== SHIPPING / MOVING ===
Shipping is a big deal with an item of this size, so I'm going to talk about it even though it has no impact on my rating because it is not indicative of the item itself. The box containing the treadmill is shipped freight to your door in a box that is over 7 feet long and could pretty easily contain at least two or three full grown men. It weighs in at almost 350 pounds. It's important to keep this in mind -- if you plan on keeping the treadmill in your garage, then you're in luck. The driver will load the crate into your garage for you and you're all set.
I wasn't so lucky. First, my garage is filled with still-packed boxes from the move, a motorcycle and a couple of kayaks that I haven't found a place for yet. There was no getting ANYTHING in there. And even if I could, the garage is in the opposite direction from the "exercise room", so there was no point in putting it there. Well, I guess there's some sort of legal reason, but the shipping guy would not bring the crate into the house. He set it down in front of my door and watched me while I opened it, carrying all of the small pieces into the house and finally dragging the massive bottom piece inside with extreme difficulty, all on my own. When I had finally gotten it all inside, he took his palette back and said goodbye.
So then I started the process of moving everything into the bedroom. I had to do this on my own. Don't. It was awful. Have someone there to help you. It would not fit through the bedroom door, the largest piece (the whole bottom portion is already assembled from the factory) was over 6.5 feet long, about 3 feet wide, and weighed nearly 300 pounds, which was not evenly distributed. The heavier end did have wheels on it, but these are only good when you're in an area wide enough to keep them on the ground.
=== INSTALLATION ===
Okay, so on to the installation. I received a sheet along with the treadmill that offered free professional installation for a limited time, by calling a toll-free number. It said "Offer Expires November 9, 2009", so you may or may not get one with yours, I can't honestly say for sure. But apparently a Precor expert comes to your house to put the machine together. This can still be done without the coupon, but I guess they normally charge a fee to do so.
I decided not to take them up on their offer for two reasons: First, it didn't look that bad. And second, I wanted to be able to include the setup in my review of the product.
The only tool you need to put the treadmill together is a phillips head screwdriver. Any other required tools are already included in the box. In the instructions, they recommend having a second person to help out. I found this unnecessary, although it certainly would have been helpful in connecting the display. Even by myself, it didn't take long to set up. With the main belt housing in position, place the uprights one at a time and screw them on with the provided allen wrench. Place the arm rest/crossbar piece on top of the uprights, tighten with the allen wrench. Plug in the display, set on top of the crossbar and tighten with the allen wrench. Screw the water bottle holders on with the screwdriver, and you're done. The instructions are clear and thorough, and it would be pretty hard to mess up if you're following them.
=== LOOK/FEEL/SOUND/TASTE ===
Okay, I admit I didn't taste the treadmill.
This thing looks like a high end commercial grade treadmill. You'd expect to see it in a REALLY nice gym. It has a beautiful brushed aluminum style with a firm, dark gray rubber on the arms and a large display console that shows a lot of information at once.
The running deck is solid and is mounted on pieces that give in slightly on impact. It's hardly noticeable to the eye, but noticeably easier on the joints. It feels an awful lot better than whatever suspension system they use on some of the lower-end treadmills.
The motor and belt are pretty quiet, too. Of course it does make some noise, but it's really not much. If my girlfriend is on the treadmill in the bedroom with the door open and I'm in the living room, I can hear a slight whisper if there is no ambient noise around. If she closes the door, I can't hear anything.
=== FUNCTIONS ===
A number of different workout modes are available, but I'm not going to go into them in too much depth. Much of this information is readily available in the product description, and I don't want to just regurgitate information that is readily available at the top of the page. But I like the programs that are offered. And as the programs are running, you can make any changes as you see fit, like speeding up or changing the incline to suit your needs. And it will remember your choices. For example, the default "Weight Loss" program is 30 minutes of alternating 3-degree incline and flat segments. Now let's say you're in the middle of a 3-degree incline segment and you want to change your speed to 2.5 mph and your incline to 4 degrees. From that point forward, EVERY incline segment during your current workout will default to 4 degrees at 2.5 mph unless you change it again.
I also like the "Walk in the Park" program which simulates the uneven terrain of an outdoor jogging trail by making small adjustments to the incline over the course of the program.
I also like the "Pacer" feature that shows you how you're doing in relation to your previous best run on a given program.
The treadmill enters a "cool down" period for 5 minutes after each program, which slows you down gently to a walking pace. This is supposedly better for your body than just coming to a complete stop. After the cool down period, you will be shown your overall stats (assuming you're using one of the user profiles), such as how far you have gone, how many calories you've burned, time spent, etc. since you started using the treadmill.
=== DISPLAY ===
The treadmill display shows a lot of good information. It's important to me to have a display that doesn't require a million key presses to get to the info I want to see. Starting from the upper left, there is a full-time calorie burn counter, then on the right is the heart rate and the heart rate scale under that. The big center display shows the program you're running, where you are within the program, and what incline changes are coming up. Then there's a single-line scrolling display that can show you the program completion percentage, alert you to an upcoming change in belt speed, as well as display a number of different metrics including max heart rate, average heart rate, etc.
The four numerical displays along the bottom, from left to right, are Time (Elapsed or Remaining, selectable with a toggle button), current incline in degrees, current speed, and another button-selectable field (Average Speed, Pace, and Distance Traveled).
There's a piece along the front of the display that allows you to hold an open book or magazine in place, as well. And there's a big pocket at the top for holding a selection of said reading material.
=== GADGETRY ===
The treadmill has two different ways to monitor your heartbeat. The first way is to hold on to the two handles under the display, on either side of the red "Stop" button. After a few seconds it'll get a lock on your pulse and display the information as both a number and on a scale (Warm up ---> Fat Burning ---> Cardio ---> Peak High). If you don't want to use the handles, it also comes with a really nifty wireless chest strap that sends the information to the treadmill. I have no idea how that thing works. It doesn't even take a battery, but somehow it's beaming information around. I prefer the chest strap because I don't want to be holding those handlesevery time I want to see my heart rate.
There's also this self-adjusting belt speed thing that the Precor calls "Integrated Footplant Technology". However they do it, it measures the speed of your feet as they hit the belt and makes minute adjustments to perfectly simulate moving over a stationary surface. It eliminates that awkward sensation you sometimes get when your stride gets a little bit out of sync with the moving belt. I don't feel like I can satifactorily verbally explain how awesome this feature is, but believe me -- it's really cool!
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From the looks of it, Precor has a serious arsenal of good equipment on the market. The 9.35 Premium Series Treadmill is their flagship consumer treadmill for 2009, and it delivers in every way. I could not find a complaint in installation, build quality, use, or feature set. Is it worth the cost? As with most purchases, this is a question you'd have to answer for yourself. I can tell you this: if you look at the price, and then look at the treadmill in person, and maybe use it for a bit, your response would be, "Okay. I get it."
Also, the Precor website has a very useful product comparison tool that will give you everything you need to know about the price differences throughout its product line. I've seen a lot of awful comparison tools that give you no good insight, but this one works. And if you can't justify buying this one, maybe there's another one that will work better for you.
Finally, I'd like to invite everyone to leave a comment on the review if you have a question, need clarification, if you would like to see photos, etc. I'll be sure to respond as soon as possible.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
By Monte Durham
The treadmill was delivered in a open truck. It had been raining earlier in the day, so I was initially concerned. But, the box was dry.
Moving it from the garage to the exercise room was a real pain. Made me wish I would have paid for the delivery and setup option. However, putting it together was pretty easy.
When I first turned it on there was a loud grinding noise. Called Precor and requested a service call. It took week before a service man came out to diagnose that that the front roller was bad. It took another week for the service man come back to install a new roller. So, it was 2 weeks before I could use the thing.
The treadmill continued to be louder than I thought it should be. After another week, the service man came back out and said I needed another running belt. I took another (you guessed it) week for him to come back to a put a new belt on it. After he put it on, the treadmill was still making noise. He made an adjustment to a deck mount, and it seemed to make it a little quieter.
I didn't have much confidence in the serviceman's skills. I had another service company check it out. I wanted to make sure the $5,000 treadmill I bought was operating as it should. The new guy found and fixed a couple of minor issues. I fully expected to have to pay for a service call, but Precor footed the bill.
Ever since the second service company's visit the treadmill has been working as I expected. I'm definitely pleased I bought it.
BWT, No surprise, the first service company has now gone out of business.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
By Adrienne Devita
I searched for 6 months for treadmills and finally decided to buy the Precor 9.35. It was more than I wanted to spend, but when I reviewed all the reviews and features on the other treadmills, I realized this was a long-term purchase and was willing to spend more since it will last me for many years to come. I am so glad I spent more, because the quality and features are amazing!
The fact that it has 4 user settings is fantastic! It remembers all my workouts, my name, greets me, and asks me if I want to do my last workout or a different one! I have just done 40 miles in 13.5 hours over the last 30 days and lost 15 pounds. It was a joy being on the treadmill each and every time, and I've only just begun!
This is the treadmill you use in the gym, but I have it in the convenience of my own home and gym. It even declines...pretty cool! I get excited every time I want to get on my treadmill now, and the one I had for years that broke...it was a chore and daunting to be on, even with my iPod.
The only negative thing I have to say is that Amazon's Precor installer phone number they provide, the people were rude, did not call you back, not friendly, the person who answers the phone doesn't speak English well and you have to call the other guy...and he told me "if" he has other installs on the way back up from where I live, then he'll do it. Otherwise, he told me it's not worth the gas to come down there by me. This was the only Precor installer Amazon provided, and I asked if there was someone else, and the guy said he was it. It took many phone calls and they couldn't even commit to a date and told me I could find someone else since he couldn't commit to a date. I did find someone else locally, and they said they knew this treadmill very well and installed them ALL the time. The guy showed up 1.5 hours late and the install was a NIGHTMARE! He said he never installed one of these before, but "they were all the same." I think the belt is a little off, so I have to find someone to check it now, or it will ruin the belt. And as he was taking my old treadmill out of my house, he hit the unlock bar and it fell and put a big hole in my wall and new, solid wood door! Then he said, I can give you a "deal" on fixing it! So find your own installer if you are single, because you need someone strong to lift it and carry it where you want it.
I give the treadmill 5 stars, hands down! I'm on my way to getting really buffed out and am very glad I made this purchase to get my health back...can't put a price on that :o)
Product Feature
- Professional-quality treadmill for the home with innovative design that adjusts belt speed to foot speed
- Up to 12 MPH speed, 15 percent incline, -2 percent decline
- 23 preset programs including 1- and 2-mile, 5k/10k courses, 5 heart rate, 2 custom, 1 manual, 1 walk, 1 weight loss
- Handheld heart rate monitoring with compatibility for wireless monitors
- Lifetime warranty on frame, 10 year on parts, 1 year on labor
Product Description
Product Features Professional-quality treadmill for the home with innovative design that adjusts belt speed to foot speed Up to 12 MPH speed, 15 percent incline, -2 percent decline 23 preset programs including 1- and 2-mile, 5k/10k courses, 5 heart rate, 2 custom, 1 manual, 1 walk, 1 weight loss Handheld heart rate monitoring with compatibility for wireless monitors Lifetime warranty on frame, 10 year on parts, 1 year on labor Product Description Maxiargos.com Product Description The 9.35 Premium Series treadmill from Precor brings the latest design and technical innovations to your home. Whether running or walking, the 9.35 treadmill provides an exceptionally smooth and fluid feel. An innovative design adjusts belt speed to foot speed--fully
Product Detail
- Amazon Sales Rank: #124691 in Sports & Outdoors
- Brand: Precor
- Model: PHFRT1210211EN
- Dimensions: 56.00" h x34.00" w x79.00" l,335.00 pounds
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