Once more, the DOJO has closed, the day’s work is done and the Sensei may sit back and relax while he shares his fitness wisdom with the world. Being a fitness service tech, I do a lot of work remanufacturing and repair treadmills, ellipticals and other fitness equipment for gyms, hotels, apartment complexes, stores and other commercial locations. However, about 50% of my work comes when home users have issues with their under warranty treadmills or ellipticals and the manufacturer they purchased their equipment from gives me a call to go out and fix the problems. In other words, I work on literally tons of fitness equipment every week.
Today I had a service call I don’t get very often, for a Horizon treadmill, the Horizon T62 treadmill to be precise. I say I don’t get the call very often because, in my experience as an authroized service tech for Horizon Fitness equipment, the units just don’t break down very often. Most of the time, as was in this particular case, the control board just needed to be adjusted and the T62 was back up and running in minutes.
After arriving back at the DOJO (to find Hiraku fast asleep on a Matrix T5X treadmill, but that is a tale for another day), I just knew I had to sit down and write a quick review about one of the best value treadmills currently available — that’s right, the Horizon T62 treadmill.
I’m going to start off with a bit of a secret for those of you who have spent some time looking at treadmills in brick and mortar stores and only encounted the Horizon Elite series — the Horizon T62 treadmill (generally available for about $799 online with free inside delivery!) is almost identical to the Horizon Elite 2.2 T Treadmill (which sells for an insane $1199 in most retail stores!). There are some cosmetic and a couple of program difference, but not enough to warrant the $400 difference in price!
Let’s start with the Horizon T62’s motor. What you get in the unit is a Johnson Tech 2.0 horsepower motor that is bigger and has lower RPMs than anything else in this price range. Where most of the lower end manufacturers have sped up their tiny little motors, the Horizon T62 has a larger motor and runs with bigger magnets to give you more power running at a lower temperature. What that mean is you’re getting a motor that is going to last longer, run more consistantly (no slips or speed changes) and give you a better workout all the way around.
The machine itself is surprisingly sturdy for a unit under $1000 and while I’m not sure I’d like Hikaru’s 285 pound self run full steam on the unit for long periods, someone 200 pounds or more can run on it with very few or no stability problems. In other words, the Horizon T62 is a sturdy little machine and could be used by a “normal” sized person for running.
Something else that impressed me was the T62’s hydraulic folding feature. At first I was a bit suspect of the feature in such a low priced machine, but once I played with it a bit and saw how smoothly it went up and down, I changed my mind. Very well done.
The list of features goes on and on for the T62 Treadmill: giant 2.6″ rollers, Horizon’s patented Gell Cell shock absorbtion technology to help reduce impact from your workouts, a nice sized 55×20 inch running surface, and a pretty spiffy console with speed and incline controls built right in to the handles so you can make adjustments comfortably while you run.
All in all a very nice machine for those who are looking for a treadmill that won’t break the bank but won’t break down. The Treadmill Sensei gives the Horizon T62 Treadmill 4 Golden Buddahs out of 5.
Horizon T62 Treadmill Specifications
Horsepower: 2.0
Motor Make: Johnson Tech.
Motor Rating & Type: Continuous duty DC
Shock Absorption: Yes, 60 durometer GelCell system
Maximum Weight Capacity: 300 lbs.
Folding: Yes, hydraulic assisted
Reversible Deck: No
Maximum Speed: 10 MPH
Maximum Incline: 10%
Heart Rate Monitoring: Yes, pulse grip
Programs: 6: (5) preset, Manual, intervals, golf course, weight loss, race, and (1) user defined program
Display Type: Blue backlit LCD display
Display Readouts: RPM, watts, time, calories, heart rate, distance, and resistance level
Power Requirements: 110v
Special Features: Built in personal fan
Grade: Residential
Dimensions
Product Size: 76″L x 32.5″W x 53″H
Product Weight: 205 lbs.
Flywheel Weight: 2.2 lbs.
Roller Size: 2.6″
Deck Thickness: .75″
Step Up Height: 6.5″
Running Area: 55″ x 20″
Warranty
Frame Warranty: Lifetime
Motor Warranty: 10 year
Parts Warranty: 1 year
Labor Warranty: 1 year
http://www.treadmillsensei.com
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