Smooth 9.45 ST vs. Nordictrack Elite 9700 Pro

The treadmills for comparison today are the Smooth 9.45ST and the Nordictrack Elite 9700 Pro.

The two treadmills we have today are in quite different price ranges, but we’re still going to compare them, for several reasons. The 9.45ST has been a Best buy winner several times in its lifetime, and the Nordictrack Elite 9700 Pro is one of the top sellers for the price range it’s in.

The Smooth’s motor is by no means up to compete with the Nordictrack’s. The Smooth 9.45ST has a exceptionally quiet 3.0 CHP motor. It is sufficient for most uses, but if you want a bigger motor it’s not hard to find larger ones at this price range. At $1999 you can sometimes find some as big as 3.8 CHP. But if you’re not too concerned with a huge motor, then the rest of this treadmill will be appealing to you. The Nordictrack has a gigantic 4.0 CHP motor which is enough to power Goliath for his daily run. So as far as motors go, the Elite 9700 Pro takes the lead by far. The price of the Elite 9700 pro is $3,299, and that’s one of the biggest advantages it has over the Smooth. So, if the larger motor is worth the extra $1,300 to you, you won’t regret getting it. But if it’s not that important to you, then you’ll be okay with the Smooth’s 3.0 CHP motor.

The user weight limit is an incredible 400 lbs on the Smooth 9.45 ST. That kind of strength is well above average for this price, and makes this a very enticing treadmill. It is very solid and grounded and doesn’t shake hardly at all. The cushioning works great to make this a very comfortably solid and quiet treadmill overall. The treadbelt is a full length 20″ x 60″ running area, the incline can reach up to 15% and the speed can reach up to 11.2 MPH. Got all that?

The Nordictrack is better, yes. That’s not the question here though. We’re seeing if it’s worth the $1,300 price jump. The Nordictrack has a much larger motor, which we’ve already discussed. The treadmill as a whole is actually somewhat less stable than the Smooth. The weight limit is 375lbs (not as strong as the Smooth’s). The fact that it’s a fold up treadmill is one of the main reasons for that. Most fold up treadmills are less solid than non-folding treadmills like the Smooth.

As far as features go, the Nordictrack shines. It has a wonderful 10″ touch screen web broswer display with Ifit Live and google Maps built right in. The console is slick and easy to use, and has the convenient 1 touch speed and incline. They both have an Ipod/MP3 connection with speakers. Check out the specs below to see all the stuff on it.

Here’s a little comparison table:

It’s a hard comparison, but although the Nordictrack offers more, it’s offer isn’t quite as impressive at it’s price range as the Smooth’s The Lifetime parts warranty on the smooth also gives the smooth 9.45ST a good edge over the Nordictrack. Congratulations Smooth, you win..Again.

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