Ohiyo!
From time to time the Treadmill Sensei will get a follow up email here at the DOJO from people who have written in the past. A couple of weeks ago I responded to “Lisa” in Mission Viejo about where normal, non-sensei people can go to check out treadmills and ellipticals. She followed up with a note asking about New Balance in general and the 1800 Treadmill in specific. Let’s see what she had to say:
Hello again,
I followed your suggestion and looked at the New Balance brand. Sport Chalet currently has the model 1600 on sale for $999.00. It is very quiet, has a nice long warranty and is comfortable to use. The only New Balance model that offers “Silver service” delivery is the 1800. It is being offered for $100 more than the 1600 and includes free delivery and silver service delivery. I think that this model is being phased out. The price is too good and this model isn’t on the New Balance website. I’m tempted to buy it just because someone else will get it in the door for me. I read your reviews of the 1200 and the 1400 and they were very flattering of both models. Do you know anything about the 1800? Apparently it has some sort of Ortho flex deck that is different than the other models. I’m wondering if this feature isn’t very good and if that is why the model isn’t being offered by the main company.
I’m sorry for the long-windedness of this email. I’m getting very discouraged.
Thank you for any insight you can offer. -Lisa
Lisa:
I edited your note down a bit because you had some points I wanted to talk about in another post – including your problems with the Spirit Z88 treadmill and your questions about inside delivery — hopefully I can get to those tonight. But right now I wanted to focus on the New Balance 1800.
To start off, New Balance has some great equipment — treadmills AND ellipticals. This is especially true now that Amazon has dropped their price down so low. If the prices had been this low back when I was doing the 2006-2007 Ichi-Ban Awards, New Balance may just have sweeped the Best Buy ranks. I’m going to go out on a limb and say, at the current pricing, the New Balance treadmills are some of the best deals on treadmills around. Period. No one comes close – not Spirit, not Vision, no one. I’m not sure how or why they’re doing it, but Amazon is just about giving these units away (same with the Tunturi treadmills, such as the Tunturi T30 – another great machine at much too low a price).
That being said, the New Balance 1800 elliptical is a fantastic unit (it is being discontinued, so act fast if you’re going to buy one) and we have been getting in an insane number of them to set up and install for customers. With that in mind, I’m going to do something a little different with my ratings and compare the New Balance 1800 to the other New Balance treadmills which will give it a slightly lower rating.
You see, while it is a spectacular buy at $1299 (and blows away competition at the same price point such as the Spirit XT10), it just doesn’t offer much of an upgrade to the other Balance treadmills out there. The bigger motor, slightly higher speed, incline and programs and the addition of wireless heart rate monitoring isn’t enough to warrant the additional cost. The “ortho flex deck” you mentioned really isn’t anything better than the decks on the other New Balance treadmills and should have been upgraded to a 1″ thickness.
Don’t get me wrong, the New Balance 1800 is great (awesome at $1299, in fact — the 20″ x 57″ deck and 3 HP motor is mindblowing!) when compared to other treadmills but isn’t as much of an upgrade when you check out the other New Balance Treadmills. If you need the 3 horsepower motor, additional weight and programs, then the New Balance 1800 Treadmill is a perfect choice. However, if you can make do with 2 or 2.5 HP, then I’d check out one of the light New Balance treadmills.
For being a great treadmill and a mind-blowing price, the Treadmill Sensei gives the New Balance 1800 treadmill 4 out of 5 golden buddahs.
The New Balance 1800 pulls in 4 gold buddahs out of 5!
Compare and get more information on the New Balance 1800
New Balance 1800 Treadmill Specifications
Motor: 3.0
Max User Weight: 350 lbs.
Folding: Yes
Max Speed: 12 MPH
Max Incline: 12%
Heart Rate Monitor: Pulse grip and wireless
Programs: 20
Readouts: Time, speed, incline, distance, approximate calories burned and pulse rate
Grade: Residential
Treadmill Weight: 254 lbs
Rollers: 2.4″
Deck Thickness: .75″
Running Area: 20″ x 57″
-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com
I purchased a New Balance 1800 Treadmill in 2005. It has lasted for 7 years. The console has a short in it, can you tell me where I can get a new console. The 800 number and the web address on the manual are not responding.
Hello Dale, unfortunately I could not find a specific web address for New Balance treadmills. However I found contact info on their regular website. I don’t know if this is the number you tried, but it might be worth a shot. Hope this helps.
Email: [email protected]
Frequently Asked Questions
(800) 595-9138 (Toll Free)
Customer Care Hours:
Monday: Open 8 AM ET
Tuesday-Friday: 24 hours
Saturday: Close 8 PM ET
Sunday: Closed