Horizon Fitness Elite T7 Treadmill

I live in the desert, Las Vegas. I need to workout at least five times a week. I have diabetes and am 69 years old. My Wife also likes to stay in shape. Here it can be 115 f in the shade and a bit dangerous to work out , out side. We have always used treadmills to stay healthy and comfortable. Our last one, a Health rider 250i, final;ly crapped pout after ten years. I researched the new ones. The Horizon caught my eye. First , it is the most quiet, second the Motor is the best and finally it has great reviews. I have now had a chance to do a couple of workouts. I feel it is the best Treadmill I have ever used, Gym or home. My wife agrees.

product is difficult to assemble

Wow, this thing is big. I haven't used treadmills before, so while I expected it to be large based on the measurements, it lurks even more than that in person.The box came really damaged, and I was concerned about what state this would be in. But it was mostly untouched. A few scratches where things came loose inside and moved, but not damaged from the outside. So heavy, but mostly untouched.I unpacked it, and it became a little easier to move around once I got the other things out of the box, and was left with nothing but the treadmill base. That has wheels, so I was able to pivot it, roll it "out" of the box, and get it positioned where I wanted to build it.Building was easy, made my back and arms a bit sore, but still was able to do with just one person. Lots of arms up to screw things in, which my arms aren't used to since I work on computers all day. But I was able to assemble it by myself with no issues whatsoever.It uses nasty stickers for the "ads" on it, which don't peel off that neatly no matter how you try. But eventually you'll get them peeled off.Also, I'm a bit disappointed in the letters on the sides - they are little cheap vinyl letters - for this price, I would've hoped for an actual plastic piece or something. On the first one, when I had expected the letters to be fastened somehow, and I peeled off the protective plastic, all but one letter came off WITH THE PLASTIC. So these are basically nothing more than the stuff you'd stick on the back of your car. They didn't seem to cheap out much anywhere else, so it's sad that they had to do so here.Power cord and power switch is on the front bottom left edge (left when standing in front of the unit facing it). Power cord is fine there, but the power switch should've been somewhere else, a more convenient location. It's a bit annoying to always have to go down there to turn the thing on or off.So, when completed, it's solid. The T7 model I have used just the small allen wrench that they included, which also had a screwdriver on the long end. The fact that the screwdriver was on that end meant you couldn't spin any bolts in a complete circle because you had to use the short arm to insert and the larger one to spin. So everywhere you tightened something, either the floor or another part got in the way. There was also a larger allen stock tip tool with a large plastic T handle, which apparently is used for the adjustment / tightening of the belt.I fired it up - got past the initial "Select user" and program and such, and actually got it going. And I was VERY impressed at how quiet this unit was. I was concerned since I wanted to use this while my son is sleeping, and I have no qualms now about doing so. The motor is silent, the belt itself doesn't make hardly any noise, and nothing you'd hear across the house.The system makes these annoyingly loud beeps when it's turned on, especially if you don't have the "key" in it. Every button press sounds a loud beep as well. I've been trying to find a way to silence these, but so far haven't had any luck.The base is easy to lift up and it locks in place. I like the release lever, and how it slowly comes down on its own then, you don't even have to lower it. Just unlock the catch, step out of the way, and let it slowly drop.The plug in for a music player of some sort works well, the speakers are tinny sounding, but the headphone port works fine then if you want to get better sound. And there is a lip underneath the screen, down towards the bottom but just above the ports and buttons for speed and such. The location is perfect for my iPad Mini 4, as I can set it there, even in a case, to read my ebooks while exercising without covering up the status screen on the center console.I like the screen - easily read, good contrast. There is plenty of data there.Handles - poorly positioned unless you're shorter. Even at no incline, I have to hunch over a bit to use them and I have what my mother always referred to as "orangutan arms" since they're long, and it was a pain for her to find me sweaters and such that would fit. Good thing they included the chest strap heart monitor, since there's no way I could monitor my heartbeat otherwise on this thing, especially if I actually get it inclined at all.I saw some had easy up/down buttons on the side handles for speed as well as incline - that would've been nice as well, quickly hit rather than always having to reach up to the center console.The fan has multiple speeds, but it's not going to make that much of a difference since even on high, there isn't that much airflow.The safety key works - you have to insert it to have it run at all, and you can secure it to yourself so if you come out of position, it's yanked and the system will stop.The treadmill itself feels good. It's solid, you don't feel yourself sinking or anything, but it doesn't feel as hard as a normal walking surface would. So there's clearly some cushioning going there in the stride as they advertise, but it's subtle so it doesn't throw off your stride. But I can see already that I can go farther on here than I can out in the "real world" since my feet aren't taking as much abuse on this. And since I've had tendonitis in both feet at random times through the years to the point where I couldn't walk without a cane on whatever side flared up, that is an important thing for me.The Viafit is simple to set up - like many devices, this creates its own wireless network. You start at the Viafit website, go to connect the new device, and it walks you through, even gracefully switching in the background from the public IP's of their servers to the private IP of your treadmill after you connect to its network, and from there it gives you a nice screen to pick the wireless to connect it to, and type in the password. Then you connect back to your home network and hit Next and it continues. A well done procedure, and one I didn't have any issues with.Once you do that, when you power on the treadmill, there's more of a delay - it connects and updates the users. But then you can pick your name from the list of users, since it copies that info from the online account. This is where it's a bit lacking though - I only have two people in my family, being a single parent - my 12 year old son, and myself. I would've liked if I could have created more than one profile in the Viafit site so that this treadmill could track TWO users. Or even more, if there's more in the family. I can see not supporting a family of 13, but come on, it should've been able to work with four... I would've settled for two, but nope. My son will always have to pick "User2" and not have a way to upload anything automatically to track him...If it weren't so "short" (and let's face it, I'm only 6' 1" tall, I'm not some basketball player or something) that I can't use the handles especially if it's inclined, and a lack of buttons on the handles, I probably would've given this a 5 star rating. It does what it's supposed to do, it does it well, it is very, very solid and sturdy, and quieter than I had expected, besides the beeping that I wish I could find a way to turn off. At least they include the chest strap for people who aren't 5 foot tall though and still want to monitor their heart rate. So while it gets a 4 overall, the build quality and noise level are worthy of 5 stars.

This is a decent unit and the reason I give the 3 star rating is because it has had some issues. Firstly I'm giving this review after owning and using it daily for 1 year. Overall I do like the machine however I feel that the quality control could be much better. When assembling the unit I had to make modifications to enable certain mounting/bolt holes to line up. I also had an issue with the safety key not staying firmly in the control panel as another reviewer stated they experienced as well. I solved that issue by sticking a piece of aluminum foil in the female receptacle to solve this issue. Another issue I had was after approximately 10 months of ownership the machine began stopping after running for about 30 seconds, and each time I had to completely shut it off and reset it usually three times in order for it to begin working properly. I finally called customer service and they sent out replacement parts very quickly and after two separate calls and parts shipments I believe the issue has been resolved. It appears the reason the machine was stopping was due to a faulty mother board located near the incline motor. I will say that customer service was excellent and I received the replacement parts within two business days. As of now the machine runs just as it did when brand new, I do believe however that you should not be replacing parts in less than a year on a $1,500.00 piece of exercise equipment. Johnson/Horizon seriously needs to improve the quality control.

Boy, did I struggle with this purchase. I don't spend this kind of money without hesitation. I did my research and finally decided to spring for it. I am so happy I did. Getting a top-quality treadmill means that I will use it more often and for many years. This is my first treadmill and I've never used one much, not even at a gym. This treadmill is wonderful! I put it together by myself. It took me a while, but I wasn't in a big hurry and I took my time. Instructions were clear and items marked well. I use it everyday and really like being connected to the internet and having my progress posted automatically. It's gentle on my knees, hips, and back so I can go farther than on concrete.I highly recommend this purchase.

Just purchased and took it apart in my garage and brought it down the basement in sections. Easier and lighter that way. My 17 year old son put it together in just over 2 hours. Very quiet and easy to navigate the control panel. The operation guide is vague on how to input your bodyweight to get an accurate calorie burn count. Had to call CS to explain this. Overall very pleased with it and would recommend.UPDATE!! - After a year the treadmill suddenly stops while in use! Tried trouble shooting but nothing worked. Make sure you buy the waranty for this POS!

Very good treadmill .i highly recommend

This machine was recommended to me by a local shop, but I couldn't pass up the deal on Amazon! Despite being heavy and cumbersome to put together, it's a solid machine. Also, this model requires little maintenance to maintain. Highly recommend!