Refurbished Fitness Equipment: Precor 9.35 Premium Series Treadmill Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Here's the quick summary: I love this treadmill. It's a phrase I never thought I'd utter in my life.But it's true. It's strong, super-sturdy, comfortable, full-featured, high tech, and certainly built to last.

That part was for the people with a lot to do, or maybe a short attention span.If you've got the time, here goes the full review with all the gory details.

I just moved into a new house about a week before receiving this treadmill. I had already set aside one bedroom as an exercise room. I was excited about it, and so I went to the Precor website to see what I could see.On the site they have a "Space Planner" that allows you to create a blueprint-style layout of the room you plan on using the equipment in.It's very cool because it shows you the exact size of the machine in relation to the room.For me, it was a pretty scary revelation because the room isn't all that big, but it worked out fine in the end.

=== SHIPPING / MOVING ===

Shipping is a big deal with an item of this size, so I'm going to talk about it even though it has no impact on my rating because it is not indicative of the item itself. The box containing the treadmill is shipped freight to your door in a box that is over 7 feet long and could pretty easily contain at least two or three full grown men. It weighs in at almost 350 pounds. It's important to keep this in mind -- if you plan on keeping the treadmill in your garage, then you're in luck. The driver will load the crate into your garage for you and you're all set.

I wasn't so lucky. First, my garage is filled with still-packed boxes from the move, a motorcycle and a couple of kayaks that I haven't found a place for yet. There was no getting ANYTHING in there.And even if I could, the garage is in the opposite direction from the "exercise room", so there was no point in putting it there.Well, I guess there's some sort of legal reason, but the shipping guy would not bring the crate into the house. He set it down in front of my door and watched me while I opened it, carrying all of the small pieces into the house and finally dragging the massive bottom piece inside with extreme difficulty, all on my own. When I had finally gotten it all inside, he took his palette back and said goodbye.

So then I started the process of moving everything into the bedroom. I had to do this on my own. Don't. It was awful. Have someone there to help you. It would not fit through the bedroom door, the largest piece (the whole bottom portion is already assembled from the factory) was over 6.5 feet long, about 3 feet wide, and weighed nearly 300 pounds, which was not evenly distributed. The heavier end did have wheels on it, but these are only good when you're in an area wide enough to keep them on the ground.

=== INSTALLATION ===

Okay, so on to the installation. I received a sheet along with the treadmill that offered free professional installation for a limited time, by calling a toll-free number. It said "Offer Expires November 9, 2009", so you may or may not get one with yours, I can't honestly say for sure. But apparently a Precor expert comes to your house to put the machine together. This can still be done without the coupon, but I guess they normally charge a fee to do so.

I decided not to take them up on their offer for two reasons: First, it didn't look that bad. And second, I wanted to be able to include the setup in my review of the product.

The only tool you need to put the treadmill together is a phillips head screwdriver. Any other required tools are already included in the box. In the instructions, they recommend having a second person to help out.I found this unnecessary, although it certainly would have been helpful in connecting the display. Even by myself, it didn't take long to set up. With the main belt housing in position, place the uprights one at a time and screw them on with the provided allen wrench. Place the arm rest/crossbar piece on top of the uprights, tighten with the allen wrench. Plug in the display, set on top of the crossbar and tighten with the allen wrench. Screw the water bottle holders on with the screwdriver, and you're done. The instructions are clear and thorough, and it would be pretty hard to mess up if you're following them.

=== LOOK/FEEL/SOUND/TASTE ===

Okay, I admit I didn't taste the treadmill.

This thing looks like a high end commercial grade treadmill. You'd expect to see it in a REALLY nice gym. It has a beautiful brushed aluminum style with a firm, dark gray rubber on the arms and a large display console that shows a lot of information at once.

The running deck is solid and is mounted on pieces that give in slightly on impact. It's hardly noticeable to the eye, but noticeably easier on the joints. It feels an awful lot better than whatever suspension system they use on some of the lower-end treadmills.

The motor and belt are pretty quiet, too. Of course it does make some noise, but it's really not much. If my girlfriend is on the treadmill in the bedroom with the door open and I'm in the living room, I can hear a slight whisper if there is no ambient noise around. If she closes the door, I can't hear anything.

=== FUNCTIONS ===

A number of different workout modes are available, but I'm not going to go into them in too much depth. Much of this information is readily available in the product description, and I don't want to just regurgitate information that is readily available at the top of the page. But I like the programs that are offered. And as the programs are running, you can make any changes as you see fit, like speeding up or changing the incline to suit your needs. And it will remember your choices. For example, the default "Weight Loss" program is 30 minutes of alternating 3-degree incline and flat segments. Now let's say you're in the middle of a 3-degree incline segment and you want to change your speed to 2.5 mph and your incline to 4 degrees. From that point forward, EVERY incline segment during your current workout will default to 4 degrees at 2.5 mph unless you change it again.

I also like the "Walk in the Park" program which simulates the uneven terrain of an outdoor jogging trail by making small adjustments to the incline over the course of the program.

I also like the "Pacer" feature that shows you how you're doing in relation to your previous best run on a given program.

The treadmill enters a "cool down" period for 5 minutes after each program, which slows you down gently to a walking pace. This is supposedly better for your body than just coming to a complete stop. After the cool down period, you will be shown your overall stats (assuming you're using one of the user profiles), such as how far you have gone, how many calories you've burned, time spent, etc. since you started using the treadmill.

=== DISPLAY ===

The treadmill display shows a lot of good information. It's important to me to have a display that doesn't require a million key presses to get to the info I want to see. Starting from the upper left, there is a full-time calorie burn counter, then on the right is the heart rate and the heart rate scale under that. The big center display shows the program you're running, where you are within the program, and what incline changes are coming up. Then there's a single-line scrolling display that can show you the program completion percentage, alert you
to an upcoming change in belt speed, as well as display a number of different metrics including max heart rate, average heart rate, etc.

The four numerical displays along the bottom, from left to right, are Time (Elapsed or Remaining, selectable with a toggle button), current incline in degrees, current speed, and another button-selectable field (Average Speed, Pace, and Distance Traveled).

There's a piece along the front of the display that allows you to hold an open book or magazine in place, as well. And there's a big pocket at the top for holding a selection of said reading material.

=== GADGETRY ===

The treadmill has two different ways to monitor your heartbeat. The first way is to hold on to the two handles under the display, on either side of the red "Stop" button. After a few seconds it'll get a lock on your pulse and display the information as both a number and on a scale (Warm up ---> Fat Burning ---> Cardio ---> Peak High). If you don't want to use the handles, it also comes with a really nifty wireless chest strap that sends the information to the treadmill. I have no idea how that thing works. It doesn't even take a battery, but somehow it's beaming information around. I prefer the chest strap because I don't want to be holding those handlesevery time I want to see my heart rate.

There's also this self-adjusting belt speed thing that the Precor calls "Integrated Footplant Technology". However they do it, it measures the speed of your feet as they hit the belt and makes minute adjustments to perfectly simulate moving over a stationary surface. It eliminates that awkward sensation you sometimes get when your stride gets a little bit out of sync with the moving belt. I don't feel like I can satifactorily verbally explain how awesome this feature is, but believe me -- it's really cool!

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From the looks of it, Precor has a serious arsenal of good equipment on the market. The 9.35 Premium Series Treadmill is their flagship consumer treadmill for 2009, and it delivers in every way.I could not find a complaint in installation, build quality, use, or feature set. Is it worth the cost? As with most purchases, this is a question you'd have to answer for yourself. I can...Read more›

Click Here to see more reviews about: Precor 9.35 Premium Series Treadmill

Product Description:
The 9.35 Premium Series treadmill from Precor brings the latest design and technical innovations to your home. Whether running or walking, the 9.35 treadmill provides an exceptionally smooth and fluid feel. An innovative design adjusts belt speed to foot speed--fully complementing and supporting your natural stride--while a unique suspension system cushions impact and stabilizes lateral movement, reducing impact on joints, increasing comfort and minimizing fatigue. With a full range of workout programs (23 in total) and advanced options, you'll be able to customize your workout and follow your progress as you achieve your fitness goals.
Features:

Durable design for home use:

The Precor 9.35 Premium Series treadmill.

Integrated Foot plant Technology:

Ground Effects Impact Control System:

Easy-to-read, intuitive console:

Heart Rate Monitoring:

Options menu offers greater choice:

Safety features:

3.0 hp continuous-duty motor

Steel crowned drive

Integrated fan

Multi-ply belt

Phenolic laminate deck

Bio-feedback center with SmartRate

Full-length arms

Heart rate monitoring

Diagnostics:

Accessory holder

Powder-coating process

QuickStart

Specifications:

Manufacturer's Warranty
Frame and welds - lifetime, parts and wear items - ten years, labor - one year
Note on Assembly
Precor highly recommends that you consider a professional assembly and installation of your Precor exercise machine. If you would like to speak to someone about having your machine professionally installed, please contact Precor at askprecor@precor.com or by calling 1-866-593-5568.
About Precor
Precor is passionate about fitness. It all started with a desire to create a better kind of exercise equipment, one that mirrored human movement: fluid, natural, and dynamic. Twenty-six years later the company's biomechanics and engineering experience have led to countless innovations that have captivated fitness enthusiasts of all ages and abilities. Precor has introduced many "firsts" to the fitness industry, including the Elliptical Fitness Crosstrainer (EFX®) in 1995 and the revolutionary, award-winning Adaptive Motion Trainer (AMT®) in 2007. Today, Precor is a celebrated top-tier brand preferred by fitness enthusiasts of all abilities and their machines are used every day in health clubs, hotels, facilities, and homes worldwide.

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