Customer Reviews

Smooth Fitness 5.45 Folding Treadmill

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

 

 

Consider buying it from the manufacturer web site (smoothfitness.com). Why? This thing is massive! Read on...

GOOD POINTS: My wife and I use it every day. It is solid as a rock and quiet. We absolutely got our money's worth and I'd buy it again, hands-down.

BAD POINTS: It is MASSIVE! Because we bought this from Amazon, it came shipped to us just like you'd think. But at 200+ lbs, it remained in our garage until five guys from church came and carried it to our basement. Once there, I had to assemble it.

Mind you, assembly is mostly-done for you. But there's work for you to do, and don't make any mistake about it. Setting this thing up takes time and effort, but it's worth it.

ADVICE: buy this from the manufacturer's web site and pay for their White Glove service. If you do, once it arrives someone will lug it to any room in your home and *then* assemble it for you. Trust me on this, just spend the money and let someone else deal with it! Learn from my mistake. If you opt to save money like I did, you will be sorry you did when this thing arrives at the end of your driveway. At least I was.

One last thing: make sure where you put it has an AC outlet nearby. You will need it (this thing needs power). If you do like me and put it in your basement, go out and buy a power-strip (with a 10-foot or more cord) and have it handy, so the installation people can plug it in once it's all assembled. In our case, I even taped-down the power-strip cable to the floor, so you don't trip over it.

Again, once assembled and where it's suppose to be in your home, this is money well spent. I can't tell you enough how solid and reliable it is. Just pay someone else to deal with the set-up hassle and you'll be all set.

Like the other reviewers have mentioned, this treadmill is HUGE. I've owned 3 others in the past and this one has the biggest "head unit" (where the display is located) of any I've owned. The belt seems a bit narrower because I am always nicking the sides when I run.

The display is pretty good, but if I have one complaint other than the non-colored characters (blue or orange would have been better to see in low lighitng): The Speed and Distance swap. I honestly thought from the manual I had downloaded and reading the description that these would both display all the time. To me, these are two things that should ALWAYS be shown. Other things that are less important ARE shown: Heart Rate, Incline percentage (who the heck needs to see that ALL the time?), and Calories burned. Time is also shown separately, but I do consider this one to be important. To me, the items that should ALWAYS show on their own are Speed, Distance, and Time. The rest can swap. Heart Rate especially seems like a strange item to always display since you have to grip the bars to get anything other than "P" displayed.

The reason this layout bothers me is if you happen to end your workout while the Speed/Distance part of the display is on the Speed, you will never know what the Distance was unless you restart the treadmill and let it run until it's time for the Distance to display again. This is what really causes me to give this treadmill a 4 and not a 5.

But this brings me to something that I didn't see explained in the manual that IS a big bonus: when you press Stop it is actually only Pausing so that you CAN continue to work out with the last known stats as long as the treadmill hasn't been powered down (which happens after a few minutes of non-use) or as long as you haven't pressed Stop twice. The button is not labeled Pause, though, so it's not necessarily intuitive.

As for its performance, the only treadmill I had that was as comfortable was my Vision Fitness. This thing runs smoothly, feels comfortable, and costs about four-hundred dollars less than the Vision Fitness. I've only had it for about 3 weeks, but I run on it at least 2 times per week and walk all the other days. It seems durable and doesn't shake much at all. The drink holders could be a bit wider (or maybe just one of them), but it holds a bottle of Propel just fine. I didn't get my free water bottle for some reason.

I bought this direct from Smooth and had the White Glove/complete install service. I agree with the reviewer who said PAY the EXTRA. Seriously, it's humongous and I can only imagine how much a pain it would be getting it inside my house. The people who put it together are the delivery folks, though, and they told me they get to see a short video on how to assemble ONE model of Smooth's treadmills. It showed. They got it done, but treadmill pros would've taken a lot less time and gotten less confused. All in all, I am quite pleased with this treadmill, however. I'd go for a smaller one in an apartment unless you don't bother with furniture.

Having all the features I needed (long-wide tread, 2+hp, with good speed, and incline), this treadmill is the best for the money. The only things not attached are some plastic covering pieces and the hand steady bars. So don't even think about moving it part-by-part somewhere. As stated earlier this unit is heavy, but movable by 2 men (even up stairs). Drop off service will not bring unit into your house unless your door can accomidate a forklift.

Pros:
* Best value for the money
* Silent motor
* Rock solid

Cons:
* Deck movement squeeks a little on inclines 2 and 3.

We live in a small house but not an apartment (north-east tri-state area... houses are small) anyway, we bought this from the manufacturer and when it arrived he box was enormous.

It takes some time to assemble and is not really *that* ready out of the box.

Unfortunately we could not find a single place to put it because it was just too big. Even when folded the belt part only goes up at a 45 degree angle so it still sticks out way too much and obstructs everything. It should really fold up closer to 90 degrees.

Also once its set it simply has to stay there because it will not go though a standard doorway assembled and if you try to move it after disassembling it be ready for a surprise; It simply will not stay flat because of the hydraulic device thing underneath it will 'snap' it like a giant inverted mouse trap! You have to find a way to tie the thing together but the strong pressure broke all the ties we had...what a hassle! .. just to get it through a darn doorway!!

Great performance but BULKY, HEAVY and a HASSLE to transport.

When running on this treadmill you can tell right away its very sturdy and smooth even more sturdy then some 2 or 3 times its price. I did notice as some said that the handles or top instrument panel is a little flimsy and it is but i dont hold on to it much so it doesnt bother me. Id rather they spend the money on the running platform then instrument doo dads. There are only 6 buttons so there nothing really there to look at. But with all the bad the base and running deck is clearly the best in its class. Ive tried many treadmills in this price range and most shake like its going to crash but of some did have nice LCD displays and more buttons. Also i weight about 235lb so i was alittle hesitant on the 250lb max but when it arrived the manual and all the info stated the max was 275lb and even at my weight its smooth machine.

I am so sorry I ever did business with this company. The product is not good and the service is even worse.

The belt slips, the speed is inaccurate (mine runs about 10% too fast), and the overall quality of the product is not good.

I notified the vendor of the problem, and they ignored all my requests until I cancelled payment. Then all they wanted to do is get paid. They did not care about my problems.

The specifications on most of the Smooth Fitness treadmills indicate that it has 15 levels of incline. Do not be misled, this is not 15%, it is 15 LEVELS, and it is MUCH less than 15 percent... somewhere around 10%, which makes a huge difference. Instead of walking on a 15% incline, you'll be required to run on a 10% incline, in order to achieve the same heart rate. The industry standard provides maximum incline performance in percentages, not levels... if it wasn't deceptive, I thought it would be funny.

Smooth does this to hang with most of their competition, including Sole, their biggest competitor.

After almost six year using my Smooth Fitness Treadmill, I guess I am qualify to share a few good experience using my treadmill.

The model I got in 2004 was called EVO/FX2 - very similar to this one ($899, 2.5 CHP, a bit narrower 18" x 53", same features, similar functionality and size).

I set it up in my garage and use it five to seven times a week, one hour each time. My goal is simple - to lose weight. Every time, I just power it on, set to 3.0 for walk or 3.5 for jog (Don't laugh, I'm almost 60 yrs old). For six years, IT NEVER FAIL ONCE - VERY STRONG AND STURDY all the way.

I lost 30 lbs (195 to 160) since 2004 and have maintained it ever since. So natually I AM VERY HAPPY and GRATEFUL and willing to write a few good words for this brand.

If you are considering buying anything from Smooth Fitness, buy it from Amazon because they keep records of all purchases. I bought my treadmill on-line and when it died three years later I was unable to find my credit card receipt and shipping slip. I bought it solely because of their lifetime parts warrantee, but now am facing a repair bill of over $500 on a $1400 machine.

Another bit of advice. If you live in a rural area where there are no reliable treadmill repairmen near you, do not buy any Smooth products. Buy something from Sears or another retailer who also has service people who will come and repair it when it dies. I live 60 miles from a large city and cannot find anyone to repair it. I spent about $1400 and it is going to the dump after 3 years.

One of their customer service reps made no record of my first call, another was polite and tried to be helpful, and the manager never returned my phone messages. Although I liked my treadmill, I would never buy another one from Smooth.

I purchased this treadmill at the co's website and paid for the white glove delivery.
When I didn't recieve the treadmill in a timely manner and it looked like it wasn't anywhere
close to be shipped, I asked to cancel the order.
The Smooth reps told me I would not get my money back for the delivery and assembly & would also be charged
a %20 percent restocking fee. Imagine that! I never even recieved the treadmill!
I would lose almost $400.00 if I cancelled.
I decided I wanted to talk or at least be able to write to the CEO or owner of this company. I called Smooth again and the rep would not give me that information but transferred me to a supervisor.
The supervisor appeared to be very sincere when he told me we want to do what makes you happy. I told him I wanted the order cancelled and a full refund ASAP .
He assured me he would make sure that happened.
The very next day I was surprised to see a refund for the shipping charge <$199.00> on my bank statement.
I was baffled why Smooth wouldn't refund the total amount since I paid for it in one payment.
I call the supervisor Jim and ask when I will get the balance of my refund. He doesn't answer the
email or call back after I leave a message for him. The rep says she only sees a refund for $199.00
A week later I am surprised to get a notice the
treadmill is in transit and a co will call me to set up a delivery time. By this time I am furious. I was told this
order was cancelled and I would get a complete refund ASAP.
I try again to get hold of supervisor Jim and finally I do and he is short with me and says the refund is on the way. Finally this morning ten days after I was promised a complete
refund, I have all my money back.
I don't know if Smooth treadmills are good or not. If they are anything like their customer service, I would look elsewhere.