Customer Reviews

Horizon Fitness T101 Treadmill

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

After researching more than I planned to and more than I would have liked to, I finally came back to where I started at with the Horizon T101. They happen to sell it at a local (& small) sports store where I felt comfortable with the salespeople who actually wanted to help me & with treadmills that were actually able to be used. (At the large chain stores I went to, no sales people were anywhere around and the safety keys were all removed from the treadmills rendering them useless. Hence, I wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospect of giving them my money.)

Anyway, I have read a lot in the past few days about you can't get a quality treadmill for under X amount of money or by buying anything from X brand. Thing is, I definitely don't have $1500-$2000 to spend on a treadmill. I wasn't even comfortable with the idea of spending $1000. I wanted something between $400-$700 MAX. And I didn't want it to shake, I wanted it to have incline, and tell me how far I'd "traveled" and how many calories I'd burnt, and I wanted to be able to jog on it (5-6 MPH for me.) I thought these were fairly simple demands considering treadmills aren't exactly new technology. I don't even need it to support a large amount of weight. Just me, at 150 lbs and hopefully soon weighing less.

So I finally decided I would try the one I liked the most instead of trying to find the one the treadmill reviewers liked the most. I did ultimately decide against Icon made products because I did not like the consoles as much and I feared the fancier electronic stuff meant less quality in the places where it matters most. I also read way too much about subpar quality in the past (although it has perhaps increased recently, shown by their imrpoved warranties) that I could not possibly buy one without fearing it's impending doom. This brought me back to Horizon treadmills, which I liked the look of the most from the beginning. As a bonus and possible deciding factor, the nice people at Play it again Sports where the T101 is carried in my area assured me they are licensed to fix Horizon products. So if it breaks, I don't even have to call Horizon. I just go see them and they come fix it.

I bit the bullet and let them swipe my card. Opted out of having them deliver and assemble it. It would have been nice, but I didn't want to spend any more money if I didn't have to. It is quite heavy and it was difficult to get it out of the car and inside. Putting it together was much easier, although my boyfriend got aggravated a couple times because you have to hold parts just right for all the holes to line up (which all of ours did). Really though all you do is attach the supporting bars and then fit the console in between the support beams on top. After assembly, I hopped on to begin burning calories asap. I jogged some at 5.8 mph and 2% incline, I jogged much slower at a 5% incline, I walked quickly all the way up at a 10% incline, and I sped walk a lot around 4 mph at 3% incline. I was at it for around 45 minutes and it felt very stable and good under my feet. I realize this is not at all showing if it's durable yet or not, but my first impressions are that I am quite pleased and excited to get fit for bikini season. I am glad that I did not spend less and that I did not spend more. I like the console and the overall appearance of this treadmill as well. It does not look or feel cheap or flimsy.

The only problem I'm having right now is it is quite large and doesn't fold up completely vertically. I already knew this but it's still a little bit of a problem for me. It's more or less in the middle of my living room right now as there's not really anywhere else to put it without completely rearranging. My recent weight gain over a tough fall semester followed by the holidays however is more of an issue to me so I am willing to deal with an intruding treadmill. Also one may wish to beware that after assembled it probably cannot move through doorways. It is 33" in width and 40" deep while folded. Finally, the 2 wheels are useless. I have yet to figure out how to tilt it back (towards me, when I'm holding onto the handles of the treadmill while folded) and get it onto the wheels. Thus, it is quite difficult to move around. Luckily my floor is tiled; I don't think I COULD move it on carpet, especially not thick carpet.

In essence, I would highly recommend this treadmill if you are looking for qualities similar to what I was looking for. A fairly basic, safe-feeling, folding treadmill with automatic incline that can easily support an average weight for walking and jogging. It has a lifetime frame and motor warranty which makes me feel like it will be durable over the long haul. Definitely GO to the stores and test them out and see what you feel comfortable on & won't mind looking at in your home. I would also try to find out if there are people who can service a Horizon treadmill near you, if that will ease your mind as it did mine. I am happy with my purchase, which was a large purchase for me, and I will update this review should anything go wrong. Happy treading!

After a long research we decided to purchase the Horizon Fitness T101 Treadmill among others. At first I was a little concerned about Horizon customer service reviews however Amazon customer service reviews were good enough for me to purchase the item. I also tested the same item at a local store. The shipping was lightning fast. It was in my living room the 3rd day(Yes the free shipping). The box was very heavy and not strong enough for a heavy item like this. So it looked torn and damaged and loose. I was a little dissappointed to see someone else's shipping label on the other side of the box. Than I thought ok this thing was sold to someone else, returned and probably sold to me again. Not to my surprise one of the carriage legs that help move the treadmill around were terribly bend. So I took it out of the box to see if anything else is broken and it didn't look like it. I am a ASE certified auto mechanic so I am very handy with tools and have a lot of them. I removed the piece and found a way to straighten it up and installed it back. I completed the assembly, started machine and there was a terrible rubbing noise. I opened the top cover found a loose piece of magnetic sensor attached to the motor that is rubbing against the gear underneath it. Now the treadmill is running like a dream, very silent compare to the others and strong enough. I would give it 5 stars if it folded completely vertical but it doesn't. I called Amazon customer service to see if they can send me a new lower carriage. They were extremely nice and helpful and offered me 2 options, either replacement of the whole unit or partial refund for the defective part. I chose the refund and they said they will do it right now without a hassle. The amount offered is satisfactory and I am giving AMAZON CUSTOMER SERVICE 5 STARS. Thank you Amazon. I will continue to be a customer.
This item is not the most sophisticated treadmill in the market but definitely worth the money for the value. It will definitely get the job done. I will update my review in the future if ran into other problems.
Here is a couple of tips about intallation:
1) Do not try to get the treadmill out of the box or remove the yellow band that wraps around it, Read the manual!. The carriage legs are under the pressure of the shock lift, you may hurt yourself if you tilt the machine sideways. You have to cut the corners of the box for assembly. If you can find someone to help you, that would be great.
2) Start every bolt before trying to assemble the arms and other pieces. Some holes have dirt or paint in them from the manufacturing process. It may be hard to start a bolt first time with one hand while trying to hold the arm with the other. This will prevent cross threading the bolts and ruining the whole assembly process, if you feel the screw is going in too tight don't force it just go back and forward until it slowly clears the threads.
3) Do not tighten each screw (4 screws on each side that holds the arms) individually. Start them all then tighten them all, this will give you enough slack to match all 4 holes and screws an each side. (I saw reviews saying the screw holes doesn't match.)
4) To lubricate underneath the belt you have to remove the back covers on both sides, behind the side rails and one screw underneath each side rail. Than the side rails slides back out. The manual asks you to lubricate the belt before first use, the oil is in the box however mine was already lubricated. So I put everything back together.
Update: 03/30/2010, Everything is working flawless but is started to squeek in every joint, I had to lubricate every metal joint or rubber to metal joint on the treadmill, its silent again.

I was very pleased with my purchase. I had researched treadmills quite a bit before deciding on the Horizon T101. Most of my research stated that this was a good value for the price point and I would have to agree. The unit is sturdy, smooth and quiet. I weigh 230 lbs and the T101 didn't have any issues. You will need 2 people to move the box. Assembling it was straight forward, 3 basic steps took about an 45 minutes to an hour. Now let see how it does over the long haul. I'll amend my review should any issues arise.

My wife can walk or run on it without a problem. I can walk on it with no issue. But when I try to run, say at 5 mph or so, it shakes pretty bad. I'm about 200 lbs.

Also, the instructions state that the belt comes factory set for the tension and centered, but then they require you to loosen the belt to grease it. Was very difficult to get the belt back to the way it is suppose to be, and I'm still not sure it's right.

I can't say that I don't recommend the Horizon T101, because my problem with it might be unique to my particular situation. But it's possible that someone else might experience the same difficulty that I did, and I can say that I found both the owner's manual and customer support just about useless when it came to troubleshooting a solution.

First the good news: For the price the T101 is a solid piece of equipment with more bells and whistles than one might expect in an entry-level treadmill. I wasn't looking for a machine with either bells or whistles--I can come up with my own weight loss or cardio plan, thank you; I don't need a price-inflating onboard computer to do it for me. All I wanted was solid construction with an efficient motor and a easy maintenance walking/running bed (I will admit, though, that I've come to appreciate the built-in fan, and I can't get along without the built-in iPod speakers.) But even with the extra features I'll never use, the T101 was priced well, and it fits the bill satisfactorily in most of the elements that I care about.

My problem, though, was/is keeping the running belt centered on the rollers. While using the machine for the very first time I observed that the belt was drifting off kilter. This didn't surprise me--I expected the belt to stretch a bit until it got broken in, and the owner's manual describes how to make adjustments to re-center the wandering belt. The T101 has typical treadmill adjustment screws on both sides at the rear, and it's easy enough to correct a left or right drift in the back roller with the included tool. My problem, however, was that while the belt was dead center on the back roller, it was drifting to the left on the front roller. No amount of tweaking the rear adjustment screws affected what was happening up front, and neither the manual nor the Horizon tech support people (three of them) I spoke with on the phone was of any help.

I've spent several hours trying to fix the problem on my own. I've loosened the belt completely to reseat it manually, taken the motor cover off to experiment with the one bolt on the front roller that may or may not have any adjustment function, pushed, pulled, tightened left, loosened right, tweaked, measured, pleaded, and cussed. But every time that I thought I had things running perfectly, a time or two of actual exercise on the treadmill would pull the belt back so far to the left that it would eventually drift into the wheel that turns the drive belt.

Finally I remembered a reference in the manual (and I admit I kind of skimmed over it and forgot it) about being sure the treadmill sat on a level surface. So just for the heck of it I got an inch-thick plank and placed it under the left side of the machine (the side towards which the belt continually drifted), and whaddya know--it seems to have corrected the problem. I've used the treadmill two or three times since the prop-up cure, and so far the belt seems to be holding steady. Maybe this just means that the surface where I put the machine was not level to begin with, or maybe I place more weight on one side than the other when I walk on the belt, or maybe I live over a Native American burial ground. If you get the T101 my problem might not ever happen to you. Whatever, I seem to have stumbled on to a solution through no talent of my own nor help from Horizon.

I've read other reviews that called the T101's walking belt "just about impossible" to keep centered, and while I perhaps wouldn't go that far, I'd have to say that after a month of ownership, I've found the belt centering problem a huge pain in the neck. You do get what you pay for, and maybe drifting belt syndrome is just par for the course in an entry-level treadmill. But it shouldn't be.

I researched the hell out of treadmill before buying this one looking at costco, sams club, amazon, sears, etc and reading product reviews all over the internet. What sold me on this the most was the east of assembly and the sturdyness. My husband is 6'-2 and 300lbs. This has a 300lb deck and we have had no problems. Also what this offered over other models in the same class was 2" more of deck, a beafier motor and longer warrranty...all big pluses when you live in a rural area. A pleasant surprise on this model that wasnt listed was a cooling fan feature with three settings to at least move the air around your face when you get that heart pumping and a little sweat rolling down.
This is a fold up model, but I would like it more if folded up a full 90 degrees, but even at an angle, this has one of the highest angles that I've seen, folding at about at 65-70 degree angle...very much out of the way.
The thing is loaded with features, one which is nice is a VERY slow speed....1/2 mph...which for my extended family, is what my sneior father recovering from his second round of CHF needs. He know he needs to walk and has tried other friends treadmills, but they don't go slow enough...usually only .7 of .8 mph. The .5 mph in his exhaustive, delicate state is perfect to start and move him up to .7 and .8 mph for 5-6 minutes. Doesn't sound like much, but when your old and recovering, its alot. He's already seen an improvement in his endurance. On the other end of the spectrum, I like to move that incline all the way up to 10% and move out at 3 mph for 20 minutes (this is when the fan feels really nice, as does being able to plug in your ipod or mp3 player) and then back down to 2-3% grade for 10-15 minute cool down. Even my daughter is liking a treadmill.
I took us about 35-40 minutes to assemble...including unpacking from the box.
Delivery was great, though, because I am rural, I package actually arrived in Reno from the shipper within a few days, but then I had to way 3 weeks for the "truck" to have "a load" to head out into the rural areas for a delivery run. But when it did arrive, the driver moved it right into the garage for us (which sits 150 feet from the street). So 5 stars for the driver.
I can't really find anything that this treadmill doesn't do. I tend to buy things that fall somewhere in the middle when it comes to customer reviews, but a few things...like appliances, TVs and this treadmill, I wanted to get as much bang for my buck as I could. Yes, I would love to have the money to buy a Solei or other high end model, but for my family needs, my budget, the durability that it must stand up to, I am extremely pleased.

This treadmill is a great treadmill for the price. I highly recommend it. I was looking for a treadmill with a wide and long belt, and this one, 55 x 20, gives me a lot of space to walk and run. The treadmill has 10 buttons each for the speed and incline: 1, 2, 3...10, so you can just press the button to get to desired speed or incline, and not to have press the up or down arrow a hundred times. It also has a up and down arrow button, too, on the side so you can adjust by .1 the speed or the incline. The treadmill has a fan with 3 modes, fan 1, fan 2, and fan 3, so if you feel yourself getting hot during the walk, you can blast up the fan and it'll cool you down. The treadmill, like others, allows you to read your heart rate. And you can check calories burnt, distance, and time, like others. After you're done with it, you can fold it up. It's really good. I have no complaints with it.
For $600, it's a great buy.

Received this treadmill 2 days ago. Very easy to assemble. Quality construction. Very quiet motor. Heavy, but easy to roll to desired location. Will append review after using it for awhile.

I first purchased the treadmill on Jan. 26, 2010. The first one arrived very damaged. The treadmill was broken all over the place. I called Amazon and got a replacement sent out near the end of Feb. This treadmill was perfect as far as appearance goes, but it would not work. I tried all of the troubleshooting tips and nothing. I am very disappointed with this whole experience. The customer service at Horizon Fitness is horrible! They do not answer your calls, take forever to call back, and call you hours or days later at a very inconvenient time. When you get their message you have to start the whole process over. I will never do business with this company again. Buyers, beware!

I'd been researching on doing a treadmill purchase for over a month and decided to go with a NordicTrack T5 Zi because of the delivery and assembly convenience from a local store. What a big mistake, the delivery company for the local store failed on the first attempt and the customer service insulted me on the second attempt. I asked for a refund...

My second choice was always a Horizon Fitness treadmill. After reading the reviews about the quality and service of Horizon Fitness, we decided to go with the T101, which is the basic model for 2010. Amazon had this with Free Super Saver shipping, a saving of over a hundred bucks.

Got it today delivered by CEVA on time and in perfect condition packaging. It was very well packaged and really heavy. Assembly was incredible easy, in fact easier than an elliptical machine I got 3 years ago. Quality is excellent, it has 4 points screws on the arms instead of the 2 from NordicTrack, this one feels really sturdy. In fact it looks higher in quality and the belt doesn't have the gap area on the sides like all the other ICON fitness machines at the same price range.

Tested it for a couple of minutes, it have the same feel as a gym treadmill. For now I am really happy. Only time will tell.