Customer Reviews

Bowflex TC3000 Treadclimber

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I got my machine earlier this year. As the other reviewer indicates, at first I really didn't like it. It was awkward and hard to use. I was really worried.

The second time I used it I slowed down the speed and worked on getting the feel for the machine. On a treadmill I always walk at about 4.5 MPH. So I set this machine initially to 4.0 MPH. That is much, much too fast for a beginner. (Don't worry it is still a good workout at 3.0 MPH.) That did it.

Now it is the easiest and best exercise machine I have ever used. I get a better workout than a treadmill with lots less stress and pain in my knees. It is more natural for me than an elliptical.

If you get one of these, you will love it. You just have to stick to it for a few times (it took me two workout sessions) to master it.

Because of the business of my life, I do not have the time to make it to a gym on a routine basis. Therefore, I take great consideration when it comes to investing in a piece of work-out equipment. I have been diligently using an elliptical for over a year now and it's done a fairly good job of working my lower body. But, it gets boring and it started to make my hips ache.

After researching the TreadClimber for over a year (the cost was a big factor for me), I decided I'd purchase it because it not only worked my lower body, but was versatile enough for cardio. So the "three-pieces-of-equipment-in-one" was a big selling point to me.

If I could go back, I would not have bought the TreadClimber and here's a few reason's why:

1. The hydraulics with the stepping are awkward and they do not go up and down on their own (cheaply engineered for the price I was paying). So, if you are like me and do not walk "perfectly", the machine will pull to one side - not moving up and down evenly. Therefore, you are spending more time in your workout "getting leveled out" then working effectively.
2. It is small width-size, so I cannot walk without smashing my hands into the side bars.
3. The treadles are slim and if you have larger feet (especially once you have sneakers on - I wear a woman's size 10), you are bound to hit the motionless sides and get catapulted several feet behind you.
4. Because of the increased chances of hitting the motionless sides, you must FOCUS on the treadles constantly, if you are to get the best work-out - which means NOT holding onto the side bars. It is discouraging and distracting to be staring at the belt for the entire workout.
5. Do not believe that the stair stepper is of any use. You are just going up and down on the treadles, this is not an effective work out.
6. The treadmill is misleading also. It is only of use if you wish to walk. It is very short and narrow to do anything else.
7. This model only goes to 4.0 mph. This speed will be met very quickly if you are doing a weekly work out regime.

With that said, the TreadClimber is effectively working my thigh and ab areas. Because I was so excited about my thousands of dollar investment, I quickly made room for my versatile TreadClimber and sold my elliptical -I wish now I wasn't so rash. This product is $1000 too expensive!

Unless you think you can troubleshoot and support this machine yourself think twice before buying this product. Not sure if is a good machine, I never got to find out. I purchased and TC3000 and my nightmare began. It was delivered in 3- 70lb boxes...after several hours of assembly it wouldn't work. I called the tech support number in their ridiculous assembly manual (the salesperson said they would help you with any questions you might have anytime). Long story short, I had that 200 lb, $2000.00 paperweight in my living room for a week. Total tally came to 18 phone calls, 4.5 hours on hold, 2 emails and 5 messages left before I ever got to talk to someone. Customer service and tech support are non-existent. Bowflex/Nautilus is happy to take your money but obviously can't be bothered to take your calls or stand behind their product. I'll never do business with them again.

Thankfuly, we bought this machine through Amazon, and they have given us wonderful customer service so we're not out nearly 2 grand!

This machine does not work properly. We were never able to make the treadles go up and down more that a few inches. Regardless of the setting and regardless of the size of the person using it. Sent the first one back - received the 2nd and it worked exactly the same!!

Unfortunately for Bowflex, they provide you with an instructional DVD. Unfortunate, in that it is obvious that the machine sitting in your home does not work like the one on the DVD. Not even close!!

Please do not waste your money! We called Bowflex to get some customer support (if that's what you want to call it) and really, I think they're aware that this is a cheap product. If even 1/2 the people that order this peice of junk keep it, Bowflex still makes a fortune!

Not only does it not work, but it makes a tremendous amount of noise....not working. Buyer beware!!

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

I just bought this machine and hoped it would be a great investment. However, it was such a terible mistake and waste of money. Puting all pieces toghether took me almost one day. That complex and ridiculous it was. After I finally got it all up and running, I was shocked how noisy the machine was. If you go to a speed higher than 2 MPH, you might need ear pluggs. The hydraulics( however they call them) and the running belts make a terrible sound. Everything looks like it will fall apart and not last for very long. What a waste of money and time! I will return it as soon as possible.

I bought the treadclimber 3000 for my wife. It is not as good as you all may think. The installation was ridiculous,they should have put it together more before the shipment. As for the shocks i have 3 pairs all with cracked tops so you cannot even adjust the resistance. I received 2 replacements from bowflex which both came damaged.I noticed there is no stopper on the adjustment so if you continue to turn it past the 12 and go to a lower # it will throw it completely off.It is definitly not a proffesional unit as in a gym for this kind of $.
My advise to you all is buy what you use and see for yourself in a gym which is used constantly.
This machine looks as if it wont last for 6 months.

I've had this Machine for about 2 yrs. now, My Wife and I use it on an avg.of 1hr sessions 3x weekly. The Machine worked as advertise however, my biggest gripe is the maintenance aspect of it. After about a year of regularly schedule use of our Treadclimber I was forced to buy parts for it. Now I don't mind doing routine mantenance in order to keep things running @ a 100%, but this thing is rediculous. I've purchased Hydraulics for our Treadclimber twice sense I had the darn thing. Mind you I have just made my 2nd year anniversary from purchase date and as I said earlier My Wife and I average a 1hr workout 3x a week. My current Height is 5:9 and my Weight is 205 lbs w/ muscle and my wife is 5:0 ft. and 50 lbs lighter than I am. So we are well within standards for use of the Machine. Now with that said I have spent approx. $250.00 and X amount hours repairing it. All of the new parts have been properly installed and I am having the darnest time reseting the Hydraulics to work with my actual weight. I have come to the conclusion that these parts aren't the same as the Factory one's, so I am constantly setting the dials ea. time I use it. This makes for a very un-happy Consumer. I haven't had this many problems w/ a $350.00 Treadmill from Walmart that lasted a year longer than this Treadclimber without the need for repairs. I can't recommend this product for those who crunch time to try and fit in a workout. There are way to many distractions with this product that involves repairs, Just the effort to workout should be enough. I now use this $2300.00 Treadclimber as an after thought. My Wife and I enjoy the Wii Active workout in place of this thing and we only spent $300.00 total for it.

I bought this TC3000 Treadclimber when it was still Nautilus branded. So, I've had it for 4 or more years. I've really beaten it up. For a time I was on it for two hours a day at 4 mph (top speed). I still use it as a regular part of my aerobic routine (along with my ellipticals, and my rowers).

About 6 months ago I did replace the motor, but I was able to do it myself, but I have no complaints since it had lasted so long with no real maintenance issues. This is a great purchase and it is more reasonable than the TC5000 and has all the required bells and whistles with none of the higher priced frills. I have looked longingly at the newest high end model, but I have trouble justifying the price when the old workhouse is still going strong.

I am 28, and I had three knee surgeries while I've been in the Marine Corps. I bought this machine to help me lose the weight I had gained whle I was hurt, and also to provide me with a workout that wouldn't kill my knees. THIS MACHINE WORKS. I went from weighiing 220 lbs to weighing 150 lbs within 4 months. This machine will give you a workout! I hate going to the gym. I like the fact that I can walk to my garage and get a better workout than I do at the gym. It works your entire legs, your core, everything. With the results I achieved with this machine, I'll never use anything else. I'd rather fork out the money for this machine than have to pay for agym membership and the gas it would take to get me there. Believe me, take it from the Marine, if you use this machine, DILIGENTLY, it will pay for itself.