First of all: Numbers Can Give You The Wrong Idea
Most people read reviews of several different treadmills before buying. They may notice that one treadmill has more negative feedback than another.
Logically they assume that the one with the least negative feedback is the better treadmill. That’s where the mistake is made.
Here’s the thing. In the treadmill business, certain brands or manufacturers are larger than others. They make and distribute more machines than the smaller brands. This then skews the results that you see with consumer reviews.
For example, let’s say you’re trying to decide between Treadmill A and Treadmill B (different brands).
Treadmill A is made by a large company which sells 10,000 units of Treadmill A per month.
Let’s assume that Treadmill A is a high quality treadmill with a very low rate of dissatisfaction of 1%. That means that out of 10,000 machines, only 100 customers will not be happy and will leave negative reviews of that treadmill.
Now take Treadmill B. Treadmill B is made by a smaller company and only sells 1,000 units of Treadmill B per month.
But Treadmill B is not as high quality as Treadmill A and has a much higher customer dissatisfaction rate of 5%. 1000 treadmills x 5% = 50. So 50 people are not going to be happy with their treadmill purchase. So you’ll see 50 negative reviews of Treadmill B.
Result?
Treadmill A - 100 Negative Consumer Reviews
Treadmill B - 50 Negative Consumer Reviews
So you, as a discerning buyer, logically assume that Treadmill B is the better treadmill since it has less negative feedback.
However in actuality, Treadmill B has a 500 times higher customer dissatisfaction rate than Treadmill A. So it’s actually the worst treadmill of the two.
That's an example of how the numbers of negative versus positive reviews can be skewed - and how many buyers can easily choose the worse treadmill.
Other problems with consumer treadmill reviews are that
#1 - Reviews can often be written by people working for that treadmill company - or even the competition. Trust me - it happens - more often than you think.
#2 - People are much more likely to complain than praise. It's a shame but it's human nature.
This again skews the results. So you may have 1 treadmill with 10 negative reviews. But there's 10,000 people who are perfectly happy with their machine who never leave a review.
So while there’s nothing wrong with reading consumer treadmill reviews as part of the overall picture before you buy, you really shouldn’t judge the quality of a treadmill solely based on consumer reviews.
So how can you find a high quality treadmill?
There’s actually a better way to decide if a treadmill is a high quality unit that will hold up well over the long run. Here are 3 key factors to look at:
1) Price – The market is so competitive that treadmill manufacturers don’t have a lot of margin to play around with their prices.
Because of this high competition, the treadmill market is really very efficient. This is actually a good thing because it means prices are coming down to the lowest levels they’ve been at in years. Manufacturers are squeezing their margins in order to compete.
However it also means that in general, you get what you pay for. A $600 treadmill is just not going to have the same quality of construction as a $1600 treadmill.
If you want a higher quality treadmill, built to take more of a beating, be prepared to spend a bit more. It may actually be worth it in the long run, considering the cost of repairing the cheaper unit.
2) Warranty Coverage – The warranty coverage is a huge indicator of the quality of construction. Servicing warranties cost money. Manufacturers know this.
So when they give a long warranty, it’s because they usually won’t have to repair their treadmills during that time frame. When they know that a certain treadmill is not built well – they don’t want to pay for servicing them. So they slap a short warranty on them.
If you want a well built treadmill, examining the warranty length is a great indicator of quality.
3) Details of construction . If you want a great treadmill, examine the details of construction.
For example, Treadmill A may have a 1 ply treadbelt whereas Treadmill B may have a 2 ply treadbelt. It isn’t hard to figure up which one will last longer.
Treadmill C may have a 2.5 HP motor and Treadmill D may have a 1.25 HP motor. Again – not hard to decide which is the better treadmill. By looking at certain details of construction, you can often see which one is the better constructed treadmill.
So those are 3 more effective ways to find your best quality treadmill. Again, treadmill consumer reviews are not bad – they can actually be very informative and give you a great overall picture of that treadmill. Just don't use them as the main deciding factor of your treadmill buying decision.
- For a list of top treadmills buys - visit our Best Buys list -
