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 Great machine Jun 16, 2010
I love how small this machine is, and it really does work up a good sweat. I love that my low back doesn't hurt, neither does my knees- unlike when I used a treadmill or stair stepper. The only disappointment is that in the commercials they do not tell you that you have to be almost running to achieve the results they promise. It is a great workout though, and I am always telling friends about how much I love it.
 Customer What? Not Service!!!! Jun 06, 2010
Unless you specialize in nautical equipment....DO NOT BUY THESE MACHINES!!! You will spend countless hours putting it together. About 1 year later, you will then be taking it apart, then putting it together........and if it still doesn't work...well, you have wasted your time and money! They will send you parts that YOU must install, and hope it fixes your problem! Mine is not fixed!!! I did not realize in purchasing this I needed to be a specialist! I will never buy anything from this company again!!!
Good workout, finding parts could be a drawback May 18, 2010
I have a first generation Treadclimber. I'm talking truly first generation because I bought it when treadclimber was owned by "Weider" as opposed to "Bowflex". I have really been happy with the machine as it has survived several moves and wear and tear. It does produce some odd noises now in its age and I would, also, hope that finding affordable replacement parts was a little easier. I need to replace the pistons on it, but all the places I have searched are pretty expensive. It seems a little ridiculous that these parts would cost so much. The cheapest I have found them was for $[...] at [...]
If anyone has had any luck with finding cheap replacement parts or this product, I would be interested to hear what tip you might have.
 shaping up nicely!! Apr 21, 2010
This bowflex is going to be a life-saver for the both of us. We have gotten so sedentarty in retirement that our knees and hips hurt when we get up from the chair or couch and sometimes it takes me a few seconds to take a step..I recently had knee surgery but I am ready to get into action to resume my exercise routine before October 2009. I was active then. With my husband having a travel/then all day desk job he was really "stove up" and stiff. He has started a 15 minute routine 5 days a week and loves it..I will start next Tuesday, as I have had bronchitis 10 days. I can see a difference in my hubby already...i can't wait to look in the mirror and not see this very miserable "muffin top" that has never been there!!!!
 Things that Bowflex doesn't tell you on the commercial Apr 10, 2010
I had originally been using a Cadence G40 treadmill ($200 from wal-mart) as the main piece of equipment for my exercise routine. Then, I would get off that and use my husband's elliptical or my exercise bike. I was using 3 pieces of equipment and they were very bulky because we had it all set up in our dining room. Then, I saw a commercial on t.v. advertising the treadclimber, saying that you could burn more calories in half the time as you would on a treadmill. The girl on the commercial made it look so easy and enjoyable. My husband looked it up on the internet and we found out that it doubles as a treadmill. I thought, what more could I need than that? 2 things in 1! That meant that it would take up less space than all the other equipment. I made what I now consider the mistake of selling my treadmill and was prepared to sell the elliptical and bike at a cheap price, but no one bought them so they are still sitting in our house and in a way I am glad. We bought the treadclimber after selling the treadmill and waited for what seemed like quite awhile for our payment to be processed and for it to arrive. We came home one night and had 4 boxes on our front porch. My husband took quite a lot of time assembling it himself which was no easy task. It is heavy equipment to put together. I tried the treadclimber function after watching the dvd and learning how to use it and what I know is that if you do not look at the chart that it comes with telling you what workout level you should be on according to your weight, you will barely get the treadles to move. I tried putting it on lower settings, but I could not get the stepping motion. I had my feet as far forward as possible on the treadles, but the climb counter was not detecting my steps. The only time it really does is when I have it on setting 10, which was suggested for my weight. They tell you that if it's too hard, you can adjust it and make it easier, but if you do that, it won't count your steps properly! Even when it's on setting 10, it will count it properly in the beggining of the workout, but I think it's when my legs start to get tired and I am not stepping hard enough, it will miss some of my steps. That is frustrating. It's like they want you to take monster hard steps, even when you are tired (and believe me you will get tired before your 30 minute workout on it is over) or else you won't get 1) the treadles to move like you see them do on t.v. and 2) your steps will not be counted.
One positive thing I can say about treadclimber mode is that I can feel it working the muscles in my legs and my butt, but really that is the only good thing that I have to say about all aspects of the machine as a whole.
In treadmill mode, I HATE IT. It is not safe to use like that, especially if you have long legs, larger feet, or a long stride. I am between 5'6 and 5'7 and I wear a women's 10 and sometimes 11 shoe. I noticed right away in treadmill mode, you have to be extra careful to pay attention to your feet because when you lock the treadles in place, it creates a divider between the 2 of them and you have to try to avoid touching that with your feet while in motion. If you do, it will make you slip, trip or fall. There are also platforms for you to stand on, which are on either side of the treadles. If your feet touch those, the same as mentioned above could happen. My biggest problem is that the actual treadles were not made long enough. Sure, I can try to keep my feet within the boundaries width-wise which is hard enough, but then I also have to worry about my feet not getting pulled off the back of it when I am taking my regular stride. So, then I have to try to stay as far forward as I can and even try to shorten or quicken my steps, but it's of no use. It's always the same end result. My feet get pulled off the back because I have long legs and big feet, causing me to have a long stride. Everything that I have mentioned is not so bad if you are going below 3mph, but when I am doing a treadmill workout, my goal is to eventually get up to 4mph. The faster you go, the worse the slipping and falling is and all I hear is the squeaking of my tennis shoes against either the treadle divider, the side platforms, and especially the end of the track. Everytime my feet go backwards, my shoes are squeaking because I am about to be pulled off the back of it. When I was on my old treadmill, I could relax and walk, even text on my phone while doing so, without worrying about any of this. If you do want to use the treadclimber as a treadmill, I saw that another reviewer said that you have to really focus, and I couldn't have said it better myself. You have to keep your eyes directly down on your feet to make sure they stay in a very small area while you are walking...and I don't think that anybody is going to take every step perfectly. If you even try to look at something else, like looking at what's going on outside or in another part of the room, it is very likely that your foot is going to touch one of the "no-no" areas and you could slip or fall. I nearly fell off mine today because my foot touched the side and it started pulling me down and back...I was holding onto the handles thankfully and was able to pull myself back up while the machine was still going. So, technically I didn't fall off, but I did fall while on the machine and if I wouldn't have been holding on for dear life, yes I would have probably been on the floor. So the key to using it as a treadmill is to constantly look down at your feet and to never let go of the handles. Personally, I think that makes a terrible workout, to not be able to just relax and let everything go, and enjoy listening to music or just going deep into thought, but instead you have to focus on your FEET. I must say it was the worst workout I have ever had...and the treadclimber is just a wannabe treadmill that has too many flaws to really be considered one in my opinion. I never should have been intrigued by that commercial or the way the lady looked in it. One thing I know is that they only showed her in stepping mode, not in treadmill mode...probably because they didn't want a lady slipping and falling flat on her back to be televised for all to see. That wouldn't have gotten them much business, now would it? The truth is that they play up all of the positive things about it and make it appear to be the answer to everyone's workout prayers, when realistically, if you purchase one and use it (you will only have to use it a couple of times to know the truth), its flaws will be very apparent and you will be disappointed and short 1 or 2 thousand dollars.
Just stick to using your bulky equipment like a regular treadmill, elliptical, bike, etc. You make have to work a little longer on them to lose the calories and they may take up more space in your home, but you will definitely have a safer and more enjoyable workout.
~Erin
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