Consumer Reviews - Treadmills

Buying a treadmill is a serious investment. So before you head off to the stores and part with your dollars, spend some time looking at some consumer reviews. Treadmills are now America's favorite exercise equipment, and more and more people are buying one for home use. This increased demand has led to a large variety of treadmills being manufactured. As a potential treadmill buyer, it can be very confusing to be faced with so many choices. So before you buy, you should browse through some consumer reviews. Treadmills are rated by people who use the machines, so these ratings, unlike information provided on manufacturers' websites, will be completely unbiased.

So where can you find such consumer reviews? Treadmills ratings can be found on many websites, and the Internet is certainly a quick and easy way of finding out which treadmill will best suit your requirements.

First of all you should make a list of of your priorities. For example, if you have limited space at home and must only buy a foldable treadmill, then put this down on your list. It will help you narrow down your choices much more quickly.

Once you've got your list of must-have's, it's time to log on to the web and start searching for treadmill consumer ratings.

TreadmillDoctors.com is a provider of treadmill parts and maintenance products. It does not sell treadmills so the information provided is unbiased. It compares a large range of treadmills and gives ratings on the following elements:

· Price ( Note that the MSRP does vary according to which website you're visiting, so you should only use this figure as a guide)
· Overall rating
· Strengths
· Weakness
· Walking area
· Power
· Cushioning
· Reliability
· Noise Level
· Quality
· Value
· Warranty
· Editor's not and a short review comment

Consumer Reports recently published a report on 22 treadmills made by 16 manufacturers. The reviews inlude:

· Overview
· Consumer Reports quick recommendations
· Ratings
· Which best suits you?
· Features

These reviews are availabe on their website www.consumerreports.org but you'll need to subscribe in order to view them online.

Epinions.com provides a comprehensive treadmill consumer guide. It concentrates on features and the overall quality of more than 300 treadmills.

Prevention.com provides reviews on a small selection of mid-price treadmill. It lists:

· Why we loved it?
· Drawbacks
· Editor's note

Once you've narrowed down your choices with the help of consumer ratings, make sure you actually try out potential treadmills at a store. You need to feel comfortable on the treadmill and the deck area should be large enough for your fitness requirements. A longer belt is a must if you do a lot of running, while a shorter one is sufficient if you'll only be using your treadmill for walking.