Bowflex Treadclimber

[sLiPkNoT Fan]

The wife and I are sick of our treadmill. Well, actually I hardly use it, but she is wanting to get a different piece of cardio equipment. We are looking at the Bowflex treadclimber. I tried it out in the store and after 2 minutes at 2 miles an hour I was feeling it. Anyone have any opinions or personal experience with the treadclimber?

[justtryn]

I use the treadclimber at my gym... but I think the brand is Nautalis. Dunno. Anyway, I really like it. Good cardio workout (and I HATE cardio)

[lukamar]

There is probably a big difference between the Nautilus Commercial Tread-climber rated at 400 pounds and the Bow-flex residential unit. Although Nautilus brands Bow-flex they keep arms length away especially in advertising and that has to tell you something.

[lukamar]

There is a big difference between the Nautilus Commercial Tread-climber rated at 400 pounds and the Bow-flex residential unit. Although Nautilus brands Bow-flex they keep arms length away especially in advertising and that has to tell you something.

[Mr.Mom]

I'm interested in hearing how you like it, and how it holds up if you do get it....

I bought an Ultimate 2 in late December and I'm very impressed with the way it was engineered and constructed....the welds and material used are top quality for a home gym IMO and I own several pieces of heavy equipment...

Their customer service has been excellent...and if you buy direct call them and speak with them, you may get a break on the shipping etc....

I understand they may have had issues with their lower end gyms in the past but I don't have a bad thing to say about the piece we own. I'd buy again from them.

Let me know how it goes...we have a treadmill as well and agree it can be a drag at times....

[Islandtroll]

Sara has a Bowflex TC5300 Treadclimber. She is really pleased with it, although it is a bit noisy. The only big problem is moving it, seems each time we do it really gets beat up. I hope when we move to the new house it is the last time it has to be loaded up.

[Tyciol]

As far as I can tell, there's not actually much of an advantage to the TreadClimber, and simply using a treadmill on an incline. The 'resistance levels' are a very misleading term. What they do is gauge how much weight you need to place on the elevated platform to make it go down. The thing is... what does that mean?

If you'd think about it, the absolute highest would be if it did not move at all. Ala... an inclined treadmill. Meaning that since it goes down, it takes far less strength than going up on an incline.

This means that the only potential benefit could be ease or some sort of therapeutic thing. There is a difference with an incline treadmill or an uninclined treadmill, although I'm not certain it could be considered the same as elliptical motion.

This is definately not the same as a stairmaster. With a stairmaster, you lift yourself up. With this, you're pressing something down, it can only be less resistance, though the idea of combining it with a forward motion is good. Consider the effort difference between stepping up onto a chair, and pushing a teeter-totter to the ground. It isn't the same as using your bodyweight. If it was, it wouldn't go down. If it goes down, then you're heavier than whatever resistance you need to exert to push it down.

Basically, at the top, it is like stepping onto an inclined treadmill, except as you shift your weight onto that foot, it becomes simply a level treadmill at the bottom. It's an interesting mix, but I don't see how it would be a better workout.

Note that in all the comparisons, they NEVER compared it to an incline treadmill, just a normal one. An inclined treadmill would beat it, that's why. Comparing it to a stairmaster is totally stupid too, because they picked an arbitrary level. A stairmaster at a higher setting would likely kick it's ass.

This device suffers from the same problem the leg function of that 'QuickGym' product does, the only real resistance is your bodyweight, and that would be at the top, if the top level even provided it at all (it doesn't) and all lower levels are just you pulling a lever down with your foot, not stepping up.

Step ups are far more badass, and all these machines are destroying it.

[resurrected]

For the price? I would get a stair climber, Better yet I will climb my staiors from the basement a bunch of times. Same affect....

[sLiPkNoT Fan]

Update.....................we sent the treadclimber back! It is not a good machine for people in decent shape. We had problems with the hydraulics and it was not of commercial quality.