The Spirit Esprit ET-2 Treadmill Review — Another flop from Spirit

Ohiyo!

Any regular readers of this site know how much the Treadmill Sensei hates it when a manufacturer releases the same equipment under multiple names, especially when they use some minor cosmetic changes and a coat of new paint. In the past this practive was confined to the larger fitness manufacturers who were renaming their equipment for various large chain stores like Costco, Sears and Target. Now, more and more of the smaller manufacturers are doing in an attempt to confuse consumers.

One of the latest players of the “musical name game” is Spirit Fitness out of Arkansas, and the latest unit they’re playing it with is the Spirit Esprit ET-2 Treadmill. For those of you who don’t know, Esprit is Spirit’s new line of fitness equipment which is sold primarily online and is made up of their former Z Series treadmills and ellipticals with a new paint job. The Spirit Esprit ET2 is just a repainted version of the old Z8/XT8 treadmill and a slightly downgraded version of the Spirit XT175 treadmill. The strange thing is this downgraded unit has the same cost as the already too high-priced XT175 treadmill.

We had a chance to check out the Esprit ET2 Treadmill by Spirit at the recent Health & Fitness Expo in Denver and I have to say I was as disappointed by it as I was by its near twin, the Spirit XT175. the ET2 treadmill features the same small 20″x50″ deck that it was too thin at 3/4″ for anything but light walking workouts. After taking a look at the motor on the ET2 I am almost convinced it is the same motor as is on the XT175. I could be mistaken but this might just be the case of a manufacturer playing around with unit specs to try and differentiate one from another. Whether it is the same mislabeled motor or not, it really isn’t a terrible motor for the light walking workouts the Esprit ET2 treadmill was obviously designed for.

I also share the same disappointment in the poor warranty on the Esprit ET2 that I had with the Spirit XT175. For a treadmill priced at almost $1100 a consumer really should expect more out of a manufacturer.

The final downside of the Esprit ET2 treadmill is the lack of fans and speakers that come should come standard on mid-range treadmills these days. I’m not quite sure what Spirit was thinking when the design for this unit was approved. I do refuse to even talk about one of the worst color schemes I’ve ever seen on a treadmill.

For the positives, the ET2 Treadmill by Spirit shares the same upgraded 4 transport wheels for moving a folded unit around and the great “soft drop” system that all Spirit and Esprit treadmills posses. It’s a shame, as with the Spirit XT175, these two great features are wasted on such a poor performing treadmill as the Esprit ET2 Treadmill by Spirit.

If you’re looking to spend around $1000 for a treadmill I’d check out the Sole F63 for a much better value.

For being even worse than the similarly over priced Spirit XT175, the Treadmill Sensei gives the Spirit Esprit ET2 Treadmill 1.5 out of 5 golden buddahs.

-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com