Treadmills - Understanding the Technical Aspects

Once you set out to buy a treadmill, you can be sure that you will have enough options available to get your mind buzzing. So the ideal thing is to have some defined ideas of what aspects are required from your treadmill, and what is simply out of the question.

Horsepower has continuously baffled buyers when they look to choose a motorized treadmill. Some dealers cash in on the confusion and rant the bigger the better rhetoric. Therefore, you have to be well versed, or at least apparently well versed, in what you want. A 2.0 HP motor would do well for your treadmill, anything less than 1.5 is certainly going to wear out much quicker than you d expect, so go for the optimum option. The idea is to look out for the gimmicks don t pay heed to the terms like peak horsepower or treadmill duty ; they mean nothing in the long run when you want consistent speed. The important thing is the continuous duty ; which marks that the motor will be able to produce a continuous 2HP for a full 24 hr motor usage. It is a practice with manufacturers to stamp the continuous duty horsepower on DC motors, so having a look under the hood wouldn t hurt either.

Now a motor s HP will get you going, but bad Motor Electronics can mar the quality of experience you will have with your treadmill, not to mention the amounts you will have to pay for repairs! Seasoned manufacturers make sure that their treadmills have a steady clip which utilizes a microprocessor to sense the belt load and adjust accordingly for silky operation. So the best treadmills will be the ones that sense your resistance if you try to slow down, and adjust accordingly to keep the set pace going smoothly. Try slowing down a treadmill while hanging on to the handle bars, and you ll know what I m talking about. A low quality, cheap treadmill will show her displeasure at your rudeness by jerking and groaning, but the quality ones, I have already described.

The Motor Toque is the thing that rotates the shaft which ultimately moves against your load. So plainly speaking, the motor torque has to be high to take the load of a human body, a potentially heavy human body at that. It s simple enough to understand that you need high torque for your treadmill. But also, the number of revolutions per second have to be low. Otherwise the treadmill might make you appreciate it at high speeds but at low speeds the high revs would really tax the motor. And consequently the motor will not last long enough to justify a good buy.

With a variety of treadmill available, the buyer should be sure what kind of Speed he wants from his treadmill. Whether you want to use it for running, jogging, or just walking determines which machine would be best for you. For walking, speeds from 0 to 6mph would do fine, but for runners the best treadmill would be the one which offers speeds from 0 to 12 mph. Running a motor at top speed of its speed limit over a long period of time is a sure way to wear out the motor is a hurry, so avoid that if you don t like to pay for repairs. For starters, the safe speed is half a mile, per hour, to make sure that the jerk of the initial start won t spill you over.

The treadmill s Belt has to suit your operation style as well. If you want to use the treadmill for running the belt should be 18 to 22 inches wide at least, to keep the runner safe. While the length would have to suit long strides for runners so something between 50 to 54 inches would be good. If the length or the width is not optimum for your use, then stay clear of such treadmills, as tripping on deck moving 5 mph is very likely to have you end up doing crosswords in a hospital bed. With manufacturers competing to be the best treadmill makers, the better ones provide two-ply belts that last longer and are less likely to curl at the sides. So that s the recommended stuff as it will last longer than a cheaper single ply belt.

The treadmill Deck should have shock absorbing qualities to recommend it. Usually a good manufacturer will make sure that the deck provides ease to the user. In comparison with roads, a good treadmill deck provides almost 40% shock absorption to lessen the impact on the feet and joints. Therefore, for buyers who have joint problems, o