I love my treadmill, but two years in, I cannot recommend it.

On New Year’s Day 2022 I bought a NordicTrack x22i Incline Trainer (a treadmill that supports 40% incline and 6% decline) with the aim of getting in shape to hike Kilimanjaro. I was successful on both counts, losing 50 pounds in six months and summiting Kilimanjaro with my brother in mid-2023. Between its arrival January 24, 2022 and today, I’ve run ~2000 miles on it.

The Good

Most people I talk to about running complain about how awful treadmills are, describing them as “dreadmills” and horribly boring. While I’m not an outdoor runner, I’m sympathetic to their criticism, but it doesn’t resonate for me, at all.

The iFit video training series is awesome for me. I’m inspired to get on the treadmill to see what’s next on its 27″ screen. I’ve had the chance to walk, run, and hike all over the world: South America, Hawaii, Japan, Italy, Africa, Europe, Antarctica, and all over the US. I’ve run races I’ll likely never get to run in the real world, including races (mostly marathons) in Hawaii, London, Boston, Jackson Hole, New York, Chicago, Tanzania, and more I’ve probably forgotten. I’ve probably run the Kilimanjaro Half Marathon a dozen times at this point, and I’m currently working my way through a “Kilimanjaro Summit” hiking series, partially retracing my steps up the Western Approach. Along the way, I’ve learned lots of training tips, some phrases in foreign languages and history of lots of interesting places.

The treadmill hardware is pretty nice — the shock absorption of the deck is excellent and I’ve managed not to destroy my knees despite running thousands of miles. Running on pavement in the real world leaves me considerably more sore.

While there are a variety of annoyances (there are not nearly enough 10Ks or half marathons, and they don’t add new “hard” workouts fast enough) there’s no question in my mind that the iFit training classes are to thank for the success I’ve had in getting in shape.

The Bad

There are many inexpensive treadmills out there, and most of them don’t seem very sturdy or likely to support a serious and regular running habit.

I was serious about my goals and figured that I should spend enough to ensure that my treadmill would last and never give me a technical excuse not to run. Still, the cost ended up being pretty intimidating, with ~$3800 up-front and $1700 on later expenses.

Fortunately, Microsoft’s employee fitness program grants $1500 a year, and I was able to put the first year’s payment toward the treadmill and the following year I was able to pay for the subscription content renewal with quite a bit left over to defray the cost of the Kilimanjaro hike.

The Ugly

Unfortunately, my treadmill has been a huge source of hassles from the very beginning. The assembly folks failed to fully screw in a few screws (they were sticking so far out that I assumed they used the wrong ones) and they cracked one of the water bottle holders. I complained to the NordicTrack folks and they refunded me the delivery/setup fee and within a few weeks came out to replace the broken water bottle holder.

Throughout the first year, my treadmill frequently tripped the circuit breaker; much to my surprise, the abrupt loss of power never resulted in me crashing into the front handrails, no matter how fast I was going. The treadmill was on a shared 15A circuit and while it was never supposed to approach that level of energy consumption, it clearly did. Sometimes, the cause was obvious (someone turning on the toaster in the kitchen) while other times it was the only thing running. Eventually I hooked up a Killawatt and found that it could peak at 16-17 amps when starting or changing the incline, well above what it was supposed to consume, but within the technical specs. I eventually spent the money to get a dedicated 20A circuit, and was angry to discover that it was still periodically tripping. After months of annoyance and research, I eventually discovered that treadmills are infamous for tripping the “Arc Fault Circuit Interrupt” breakers that are now required by code; since having the electrician swap it for the “old” type, I don’t think it has tripped again.

Still with all of the electrical issues, I invested in the extended warranty when it was offered, and I’m glad it did. Somewhere around the one year mark, my treadmill started making a loud banging noise. I looked closer and realized that two screws had broken off on the left and right rails and I assumed that was the problem. Alas, removing the rails didn’t stop the banging, nor did having them replaced. Over the course of several months, techs came out to replace the side rails, idler roller, drive roller, belt, belt guide, and cushions. As November 2023, the treadmill no longer makes a banging sound, but it’s not nearly as quiet as it once was, and I’m expecting that I’ll probably need more service/parts within a few more months.

Closing Thoughts

From a cost/hassle point-of-view, I would be much better off getting a membership to the gym a half-mile down the block. I suspect, however, that much of my success with regular running comes from the fact that the treadmill lives between my bedroom and my home office, and it beckons to me every morning on my “commute.” The hassle of getting in the car, needing to dress in more than a pair of sweaty shorts, etc, would give me a lot of excuses to “nope” out of regular runs.

When I first was shopping for a treadmill, someone teased me and suggested that I make sure it had a good bar for hanging clothes on, since that’s probably the most common job for home treadmills. I managed to avoid that trap, and I’ve fallen in love with my treadmill despite its many flaws.

I don’t know whether other treadmills at a similar price point are of higher quality, or whether spending even more would give better results, but it almost doesn’t matter at this point — the iFit video content is the best part of my treadmill, and I don’t think any other ecosystem (e.g. Peloton) is comparable.

-Eric

PS: If I end up replacing my treadmill in a few years, I might get a “regular” treadmill rather than an Incline Trainer, because I don’t use the steep inclines very often and I think that capability adds quite a bit of weight and perhaps some additional components that could fail?